http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=92453

Not many teams are willing to post winning boxes. Scores can be very close and every litle advantage is important.

But... There are dozens of threads where guys have posted boxes for critique and you can learn a lot from the critiques.

i helped a friend of mine at a contest and building the boxes were the most time consuming thing i have ever done in my life. i have to give props to anyone who makes a good looking box

Just wanted to thank the contributors over the years for that thread, laughed so hard, still wipeing away tears. Fantastic!

NOW I remember why I don't take pictures of my turn ins!

For the cat food turn in... Our first pork turn ever...

Okay, I am brand new to this competition thing, never competed. I have been smoking and building smokers for a long time and plan to enter a backyard BBQ cook off in May. If these boxes are bad then what does a good box look like???

Peep the pickled pig website.

or bbqbug.

not sure pickled pig still hits.

bbqcritic.com will give you a good idea as well.

Smokerhead started in 2011, here's boxes from my first four comps.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...pictureid=5018

^^^A Little Crowded. I didn't do real well with garnish in any of these.^^^

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...pictureid=5019

^^^Lets put those 2 front and center. The black marks are for flavor.^^^:thumb:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...pictureid=5020

^^^just throw it in.....^^^

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...pictureid=5032

^^^Cut Giant burnt ends and hide the slices in the back, also make sure you pick random slices and make sure they don't look alike^^^:doh:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...pictureid=5021

^^^Would anyone like a pink chicken nugget, that's not the camera doing that, that was what color they were. Pool Liner Lettuce^^^

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...pictureid=5022

^^^Poorly cut, dirty ribs just wrecking that beautiful garnish^^^

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...pictureid=5023

^^^I really have no words for this one.....Sorry? I guess? at least it hid the garnish.^^^

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...pictureid=5024

^^^ Here's my brownsket and i made the edges of slices nice and crumbly, I need a glass of water.^^^^

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...pictureid=5025

^^^The chicken itself, I think looks pretty good. Could just be in a better order. Too bad I hid it in sauced lettuce. Appearance scores - 9,9,8,7,7,6^^^

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...pictureid=5026

^^^well, i cooked 6 racks of ribs so I might as well use one from each rack....right? Appearance scores - 9,8,8,8,7,6^^^

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...pictureid=5027

^^^Those were some nice judges. Appearance scores - 9,8,8,8,7,7^^^

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...pictureid=5028

^^^ You've seen me do a lot worse. Appearance scores - 8,8,8,7,7,7^^^

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...pictureid=5029

^^^this is a lettuce and parsley box with some chicken hidden in it. Somehow it scored well though. Appearance scores - 9,9,9,9,8,8 and took 4th place.^^^

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...pictureid=5030

^^^I think I managed to do everything wrong in a box without having it be a DQ. Appearance scores - 9,9,8,7,7,7^^^:crazy:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...pictureid=5031

^^^Another parsley jungle with some lost pork. Appearance scores - 9,9,9,8,7,6^^^

Through the help of this thread and by doing some judging, by my fifth comp I got a little more consistant with the box appearance scores:
(Concentrating on the boxes also made me forget to take pics of them)

Chicken - 8,8,8,8,8,7
Ribs - 9,9,9,8,8,8
Pork - 9,9,9,8,8,8
Brisket - 9,9,9,8,8,8

Your Worst Turn In Box Ever! Pt.2
 

I tried to post in the sticky, wouldn't let me. I really liked the thread, as a newcomer, wanted to share some of my experiences, but my Results were better than my best BBQ. Weird!!
Cooked the ribs to the point that they fell apart when slicing. Thought they were the worst we have ever turned in. 1st place out of 108 entries, chappel hill VFD Tx.
http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/568c0209.jpg
http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/34ee006f.jpg
A year ago, turned in a brisket that was tender but super salty but actually had good flavor when you chased it with a margarita , dominated by a TQ ring, got 3rd
http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/a2b80d5a.jpg
Put too much pickling spice in the brine, tasted like smoky chai tea, got 3rd of 56
http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/e2095125.jpg
Box looks bare, minimal portions, king of coals Brenham Tx last year, got 2nd.
http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/73069eb9.jpg
The pattern I see is cook BBQ really well, do decent. Turn in bad BBQ, crappy boxes and win. I don't understand it. I have only done 12 sanctioned comps, but damn I thought this stiff was gonma get DAL!!!

Sure it will... When you get the warning that you are posting in an old thread there is a check box that shows that you know that and want to post anyway. Rather than have a new thread I'll merge this one into the existing sticky thread.

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly Boxes: Any Other Sites?
 

RE:
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly Boxes
Any Other Sites?

This thread is definitely a great training series for both cooks and judges.

Other than this great thread and bbqcritic.com, are there any other web sites that show the good, the bad, and the ugly of competition boxes?

Who's to decide what upside down is if there isn't a particular way that the rules say to turn in. Our last 3 comps, we have turned In fat side up because it was so tender we didn't wanna chance it falling apart. 2nd, 1st, 2nd.

I am so much of an amateur, I see nothing wrong with any of these...Wow, do I have some learning ahead of me...

This was so overcooked I had no choice
https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&i...560241664-1&zw

Our first comp. we got 3rd in Ribs. It looked waaaayyyy better than any of these:-o

You're not alone!

-Michael Dow
Seabrook, Tx

My worst box ever
 

Last year I came in last place in Brisket because I trimmed ALL the fat off and it was a VERY lean Brisket. I pulled out one of the driest briskets I have ever made. Fat is your Friend.

nice looking food

looks good hogwild

that looks horrible

HAHAHAHA this is amazing!

I know a lot of pics have been removed or the links have stopped working over the years but this has to be the winner for the thread. I was laughing when I saw the smile but the eyebrows made me LMFAO. Like BBQchef33, I couldn't stop laughing. (page 8, post 110)

I don't have a pic to share but the one I can think of was an episode of BBQ Pitmasters where the new guy Paul made a whole chicken and just carved it up and filled the entire box with it.

In my first comp and being from SC, I know ribs, pulled pork & chicken. I didn't know what a brisket was. Then when I bought it, I thought it looked like a boneless uncut loin roast. I cook my steaks to medium (140 degrees) and prime rib to 135 and they are tender as hell. What's the problem?

HAHAHAHA...little did I know. :)

I pulled that puppy at 135, let it rest then sliced it to 1/8" thick. It actually sliced pretty easy, of coarse that's all it did. OMG!!! it was beef jerky. Had great flavor, but all you could do was chew it...and chew it.....and chew it some more before you you either gave up and spit it out or if brave and risking choking to death, swallow it.

Needless to say, I didn't score well. 21 out of 25. What surprised the hell outta me was that there were 4 others that were actually worse than mine. HAHAHAHAA!!!

I have gotten better OBTW. :)

This brisket box was from my first year competing (my 4th comp). It is by far the worst box of meat I have ever turned in. It was the first and only time I ever injected a brisket. It turned out bad, looked horrible and cost me a GC.

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/...ps08bc01a7.jpg

I only made it to page 4 before commenting. This is hysterical. I'm biting my lip so I don't lol at work.

Behold the legendary penis box.......DAL

I wish it were bigger...

That's what she said! :-D

what is wrong with this box?

would have to be my chicken box in my first big contest we made bacon wrapped chicken skewers not thinking I left the chicken and the bacon on the skewers we were DQ

Here is a pork box you don't want. Yep, I did. But then was able to throw another together, made tun in with 13 sec to spare and had 9,9,9,9, 8,8 for appearance. Can't say that for taste and tenderness though

Ground Pork! ^^^^

:becky:

What's wrong with that!,lol

Not what I expected.
 

Page 8 post #110
I didn't know what to expect as I was scrolling down. Then this appeared!
Oh my lord I have tears in my eyes!
:pound::rofl::pound:

Attachment 113945 A few more minutes on the smoker and I could have used my chicken as charcoal.

Sad to say, but many of your worst boxes are better than my best. I just do the comps for fun and the chance to cook the big meats so I don't stress about it.

jb

I've been away for a while but getting back into the game...

To be honest, I look at these and wonder what's wrong with them? Hell, I'd eat 'em myself!

if theres a better one id like to see it :-D

So I've never been to a BBQ competition except to briefly visit a friend who was competing, eat a little bit of BBQ and take the family out for an afternoon. In other words, I ate some BBQ but didn't have to do the work.

What is a GOOD box supposed to look like, if all of these are examples of bad boxes? Like I said -- I'd eat most of the ones I looked at (though I admit that I haven't looked over all 20 pages).

-Michael

Ewwww!
 

Rib box from our second competition at the Get Your Licks on Route 66 event in Eureka, Mo last November. We got second place on ribs at our first event and went in with overinflated egos and didn't pay much attention to detail. Learned our lesson! I knew we were sunk when one of my partners asked which of us would go up for the trophies.

Pit Fire
 

Had a pit fire in my last comp and I barely had anything edible to turn in. (still took 9th in Brisket...go figure)

I was kinda wondering I mean I know this is a worst box thread it looks like there's kinda a lot of partying that happens at these things it seems like it might be difficult to actually make something that kinda isn't a 2 that you think looks like a 10. I mean I might have that problem just saying. Not that I have ever done a comp but I am really interested in maybe trying something some day.

No one wants to revive this thread?

I'll jump in,,,

This is from my first year competing in SCBA. I think it is my ugliest box, but the judges liked it pretty good.

Yep that was a dandy Ol Jim Blake outa AZ turned that in