It's official now. My first Comp.

[JohnMcD348]

I got my packet today for the Plant City Pig Jam. Rubs and Scrubs will be there(that's just me). I'm doing backyard for my first time out. If I score at least better than D.A.L., I'll see about others. I still gotta lotta work to go to get there.

[G$]

Good luck and have fun.

Prediction: It will be more challenging than you think, and you will do better than you anticipate!

[Sledneck]

Cool! It will be nice to see you again, i will be down for the entire weekend

[Bbq Bubba]

Congrat's.........what ya cookin??

[JohnMcD348]

Cool! It will nice to see you again, i will down for the entire weekend


It sure would be nice to score at least 13th in Chicken:mrgreen::mrgreen:

[MilitantSquatter]

Good Luck John...

Why not just go for the full contest and see what happens ? You might surprise yourself !!.

[bbqbull]

John, A competition to me is doing how ya do things at home.

Just keep a cool head, do what you do well and run with it.

Good Luck and keep us posted. You will do just fine.

[JohnMcD348]

Good Luck John...

Why not just go for the full contest and see what happens ? You might surprise yourself !!.

Let's see, first time out doin it myself. Going up against people like Ray(DrBBQ), Kevin(HomeBBQ.com), Jimmy(Smokin Cracker), Myron(Jack's Old South), etc, etc, etc............Snowball comes to mind and I'm already in Florida. Don't get much hotter....:mrgreen:

I'll cut my teeth in the backyard and maybe eventuallyA(if the wife lets me) move into the pros after awhile. Heck, look how long it took me to finally go out and do it myself.

[White Dog BBQ]

Let's see, first time out doin it myself. Going up against people like Ray(DrBBQ), Kevin(HomeBBQ.com), Jimmy(Smokin Cracker), Myron(Jack's Old South), etc, etc, etc............Snowball comes to mind and I'm already in Florida. Don't get much hotter....:mrgreen:


What's there to lose competing against these guys? If you get buried by them, you know you got beat by the best of the best, so no shame there. If you hang with them or maybe beat some of them in a category or two, you have one heck of a moral victory (if not a real one).

[Sledneck]

The backyard division is not a bad concept to get your feet wet. You compete with all of the same rules and your entries get judged with the pro teams at the same time. You get scored seperately.

[michiana mark]

Let's see, first time out doin it myself. Going up against people like Ray(DrBBQ), Kevin(HomeBBQ.com), Jimmy(Smokin Cracker), Myron(Jack's Old South), etc, etc, etc............Snowball comes to mind and I'm already in Florida. Don't get much hotter....:mrgreen:

I'll cut my teeth in the backyard and maybe eventuallyA(if the wife lets me) move into the pros after awhile. Heck, look how long it took me to finally go out and do it myself.

Those guys all put there aprons on the same way. Get off the porch and run with the big dogs, that way you know where you stand. That's what I did my first comp, last weekend. Finished 10th out of 34 teams, with room for improvement, in Libertyville IL Go ahead the waters fine.

[swamprb]

Have fun John! I think you'd be surprised if you were to do the whole comp. though!

[watg?]

John, Good luck, the backyard is a great way to get your feet wet. Have fun and just do your best, I'll bet you'll be surprised! But most of all, enjoy yourself.

[Ron_L]

Good luck! You'll do great! A couple of things that we learned after our first couple of contests...

1. Do a practice run at home. Set up just as you would at the comp and then keep notes on what you forgot to "bring" with you and also notes on what you didn't need.

2. Get a cheap white board or chalk board and work out a schedule. We work backwards from turn in so that we know when we want to fire up the cooker, season the meat, etc.

3. The organizers should have an official clock that you can synchronize your clock to. Do it. It would be a shame to put all of the effort into a meat and then miss the turn in window :-D

4. Have Fun!

[JohnMcD348]

Good luck! You'll do great! A couple of things that we learned after our first couple of contests...

1. Do a practice run at home. Set up just as you would at the comp and then keep notes on what you forgot to "bring" with you and also notes on what you didn't need.

Doing that This Week
2. Get a cheap white board or chalk board and work out a schedule. We work backwards from turn in so that we know when we want to fire up the cooker, season the meat, etc.

Done

3. The organizers should have an official clock that you can synchronize your clock to. Do it. It would be a shame to put all of the effort into a meat and then miss the turn in window :-D

Got myself one of those Atomic Clocks from Sam's Club. So far every event I've been to, that was the clock they were using. Hopefully it'll sync up the same with there's.

4. Have Fun!

Oh I will, even if I come in D.A.L. I'll be surrounded by all my friends and Brethren. How could I not have Fun..

[Arlin_MacRae]

Best of luck, bro!

[tonto1117]

Good luck and remember as a wise man once said (Jeff, Big Creek BBQ).....I'ts just BBQ not brain surgery!!!

Have fun!!!

[Sledneck]

Oh I will, even if I come in D.A.L. I'll be surrounded by all my friends and Brethren. How could I not have Fun..
Dont worry i will be by every hour to second guess everything you are doing:tongue:

[tonto1117]

Dont worry i will be by every hour to second guess everything you are doing:tongue:

Well that will at least guarantee you 13th place chicken:-P:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

[Roo-B-Q'N]

Like ScottieD told me at our first comp, don't worry about coming inn D.A.L. someone hass to be there to hold up the rest of the field. :cool: Or something to that effect. So we rolled our eyes and said no D.A.L. and got third in chicken.

So don't worry about where you are going to place or who you are cooking against. (Our last contest this year we were up against Great Grills the American Royal Invitational winners, Bubba and Jeff the American Royal Open winners and Team Q 3rd best ribs IN THE WORLD). We took 7th in pork and 14 or 16th overall out of 30 some teams. But had we worried about who we were cooking against we wouldn't have met the great people of Greal Grills, Bubba and Jeff and Team Q PLUS the other 26 odd teams (and they were odd :wink:).

Doesn't matter if you do backyard ot the the pro side go have fun, meet people and learn from them. Good luck!

[ZBQ]

Best of luck John!!

My 1st comp I was SO nervous and keyed up that I couldn't even sleep when I tried to catcha few winks. Drink a few and relax but above all, have fun.

One BIG time saver I learned is to have your meat trimmed before going to the comp. You can't do anything to it other than trimming it though. No rubs, marinades, brines or injections, just trimming.

Get it all trimmed and then foodsaver it.

That's what I prefer to do now.
Just something I learned that I thought I would pass on.
Watch others and learn from what you see.
Ask questions, most of the guys will help you in a heart beat.

Good luck!

[Spydermike72]

Good Luck and remember to have fun, that is the reason for doing this wild and whacky "hobby"!!

[JohnMcD348]

Well that will at least guarantee you 13th place chicken:-P:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:


What more can I ask for then.:mrgreen:

[shadetreebbq]

How did you do with this comp or have you done it yet?

[JohnMcD348]

The comps Nov 17th. Still practicing and getting ready.

[timzcardz]

Let's see, first time out doin it myself. Going up against people like Ray(DrBBQ), Kevin(HomeBBQ.com), Jimmy(Smokin Cracker), Myron(Jack's Old South), etc, etc, etc............Snowball comes to mind and I'm already in Florida. Don't get much hotter....:mrgreen:


Heck, if you're going to lose, might as well be able to say that you lost to the best! :wink:

Good luck!