1st whole hog comp

[Diver]

I got the opportunity to join a NC Pork Council whole hog comp this weekend. It was definitely eye opening experience for me. I was setup next to the 3 time defending state champ so it was an awesome learning experience. Finished 2nd in showmanship:-D....DAL in pig:sad:. It was still farkin awesome. I went in thinking I knew a lot because I have cooked a lot of whole hogs through the years and came away understanding that I know little about cooking one for judges had become very set in my ways. Any way, here's my DAL hog:

before judging:

after judging:

 

[cdollar]

I assume DAL is Dead A.. last?

Bummer


Chuck

 

[Rookie'48]

So what was wrong with it?

 

[J_Don]

I assume DAL is Dead A.. last?

Bummer


Chuck

I know what you mean. I don't text and my kids are grown, married and left the roost so I really don't understand all of the acronyms so I did a search and found the latest. It is only 45 pages long.

 

[Lake Dogs]

DAL is a cookoff thing... I've been computer savy for many years, just found out what
DAL was a few months ago, here, on Brethren.

 

[Lake Dogs]

So what was wrong with it?

Agreed, it looks really good. So, what was wrong? Cold in the box?
Not moist enough? It sure looks good....

 

[Diver]

I assume DAL is Dead A.. last?
Bummer

Chuck

Unfortunately, that's what it means. I learned that one here from the brethren as well. I guess that means I am not the first to enjoy the distinction. :icon_blush:

There were multiple things wrong. The NC scoring is quite different. They score at the pit so no turn in boxes. The grade is broken out by color, cripyness of skin, texture - basically it has to be really moist, taste, sauce and completeness. The judges go straight to the thermometers to ensure the shoulders and hams are at least 170 degrees then they start ripping the bones out. All must come out cleanly. They roll the hog and check the skin. Pull meat from each section and squeeze to check the moisture. They then take a piece or 2 and dip into your sauce for the taste. The completeness, which everyone should nail because it is basically having everything layed out per there rule book, killed me. I was supposed to have 4 knives out and only had 2, all sides of the cooker were not accessable and we had to move things around, etc. The hog finished early and it had dried out a bit. I was a last minute addition. It was a ten team comp but my cousin who is ranked top 5 in the state, got them to add an eleventh because he knew I was itching to do one of these and it was close to home. Just geting to sit with the champs and talk BBQ all night and seeing them in action was worth a ton to me.

 

[dmprantz]

Sorry to hear about the place, but it looks nice. If you don't mind me asking, how big is your pit and how big was that pig?

dmp

 

[Diver]

This is bad but I have used that cooker since high school, I am now 40 years old and I do not know the exact dimensions. That was a 120lb hog. The largest I have cooked on it is 160lbs. It will hold 22 boston butts in the 8lb range.

Interestingly enough, this style of competing is done primarily on propane fired cookers. That's the reason I try to refer to this one as a cooker and not a smoker/pitt etc. I went into this terribly unprepared. I totally understimated the difficulty and level of perfection required to actually compete.

I grew up cooking with this machine and only got into the KCBS style about 2 years ago when I visited a friend on the lake of the Ozarks. I cooked ribs with his father-in-law and fell in love with the whole live fire and smoke thing. 2 totally different styles but equally challenging in their own way.