Meat prep at home

[nucornhusker]

I am new to the competition game, and I'm actually doing my first comp in a week. I know you can trim your meats at home before hand (at least for now) and save you that time on the cook site. My question is how do you wrap them once you have them trimmed? Do you just wrap them in shrink wrap and a ziplock bag? I assume you can't use foil because the inspector needs to be able to see your food.

What do you do so you don't have any problems with the inspector?

Thank you in advance!

[Jason TQ]

2.5 gallon zip lock bags for ribs and butts. I can get 4 racks of ribs in a bag and 2 butts in a bag. 1 gallon zip lock bag for chicken. Brisket I have been trimming on site, but the 2.5 works well for those too. You can also vacuum seal if you have a sealer. They might be Hefty brand.

[Doorbusters]

Every contest I have done you cannot touch the meat until it is inspected. Of course that was several years ago so maybe that has changed. Below is what KCBS has in the rules book, kind of open to interpretation.

7) All competition meats shall be inspected by the Official
Meat Inspector during the times established by the contest
organizer but not prior to the day before judging. Once the
competition meat has been inspected, it shall not leave the
contest site. Cooking shall not begin until the competition
meat has been inspected by the Official Meat Inspector. All
competition meat shall start out raw. No pre-seasoned meat
is allowed other than manufacturer enhanced or injected
products, as shown on label EXCLUDING but not limited to:

[jbrink01]

You can do anything EXCEPT inject or season. The requirement that it be in the cryovac is a fallacy.

[K-Train]

I literally just finished prepping chicken for a contest this weekend. I put them back in the original package that still has the label, then slide those into a big zip lock. Ribs and Butts go into a zip lock. My teammate does the brisket on site.

[matthew burt]

I trim my big meats on Wednesday, and ribs and chicken on Thursday. Then vacuum seal them. Never had a problem!

[GreenDrake]

I am a habitual chicken trimmer, I do a lot of work on mine. So this last competition I decided to trim early at home...very happy with how they turned out. In fact, by placing them neatly in the vacuum sealer bag and keeping them on ice, they were wonderfully firm and pre-formed when it came time to season and smoke. The skin was nicely attached and easily lifted for seasoning under. Will definitely do it again. Big cuts, well I think that's part of the fun, you have plenty of time to prep the big cuts for the overnight smoke.

[pigmaker23]

So not true....



Every contest I have done you cannot touch the meat until it is inspected. Of course that was several years ago so maybe that has changed. Below is what KCBS has in the rules book, kind of open to interpretation.

7) All competition meats shall be inspected by the Official
Meat Inspector during the times established by the contest
organizer but not prior to the day before judging. Once the
competition meat has been inspected, it shall not leave the
contest site. Cooking shall not begin until the competition
meat has been inspected by the Official Meat Inspector. All
competition meat shall start out raw. No pre-seasoned meat
is allowed other than manufacturer enhanced or injected
products, as shown on label EXCLUDING but not limited to:

[GreenDrake]

Every contest I have done you cannot touch the meat until it is inspected. Of course that was several years ago so maybe that has changed. Below is what KCBS has in the rules book, kind of open to interpretation.

7) All competition meats shall be inspected by the Official
Meat Inspector during the times established by the contest
organizer but not prior to the day before judging. Once the
competition meat has been inspected, it shall not leave the
contest site. Cooking shall not begin until the competition
meat has been inspected by the Official Meat Inspector. All
competition meat shall start out raw. No pre-seasoned meat
is allowed other than manufacturer enhanced or injected
products, as shown on label EXCLUDING but not limited to:

Says nothing about pre-trimming.

[early mornin' smokin']

pre trim all you want, save the labels if you feel necessary, but i've never had an issue. I use large clear butcher bags for all my meats, usually pre trim everything at home. Meat inspector comes around, here's a butt, here's a brisket, here's my ribs, here's my chicken...move on to sanitation, temp probe. fire extinguisher etc.

[Balls Casten]

not as big a deal as it sounds.
keep it sanitary, keep it cold and have it accesable when they arrive.

home work ... what temp does it need to be stored at?

[rolfejr]

not as big a deal as it sounds.
keep it sanitary, keep it cold and have it accesable when they arrive.

home work ... what temp does it need to be stored at?

Below 40deg