Pork Box

Not meaning to be cruel but this doesn't entice me to want to try it. It's basically a shabby looking frame of various cuts around a pile of pork that I as a judge am going to suspect it to be cold and dry due to the small size of the shreds. In the tent I'd probably score its appearance a 5.

I agree with Pork Barrel Project, put the types together. While you only need 6 portions, fill the box up. Not over flowing, but really pile it in there. This is for two reasons, it looks more appealing to the judges and the more in there the longer it will stay warm.

Pretty much agree with the 5. Nothing about the box has any appeal, eye pop. It looks dry, sloppy, thrown in approach. You could have at least wiped the edge of the box clean.

Agree, you need to bunch up your meats with more in there. Get rid of the ragged edges. Add some shine to the meat. If you think it needs improvement the judges will definitely think it needs improvement . If you are not happy with it do not include it. Keith

Only put whatever in your box that is your Best, be it chopped, pulled, sliced, etc.

Like others have said, I would put the different types of cuts together. You could probably hide the ragged slices of MM that way.

If you think one of the types are bad I would leave that out. As a judge I try to sample every type that you are submitting. If you took the time to put it in the box, you must want me to judge it.

Doctor, first of all, thank you for being gracious about accepting constructive criticism. Dozens of years of judging experience can be tapped by exercises like this.

It's hard to symbolically pull your pants down like this and ask for people's opinions. Looking through some of my old presentations, I have some that, in the heat of the moment, I thought they looked smashing but when viewed later objectively, looked like badly crafted ransom notes put together by some ham-fisted moron. It's even harder to admit that ham-fisted moron was me.

As others have said, unless the rules mandate to put in multiple cuts - or, if all are equally good, in your opinion - load the box only with what you feel looks and tastes best. Backyard or Pro division, judges are giving to give you the benefit of the doubt when there is a quantity of meat in the box. When you put more than one cut in a box, you are effectively competing against yourself. The bad will always bring down the good.

Thanks once again for being brave in soliciting others' opinions. We really do want to see you challenge yourself, raise the bar with your presentations and succeed.

DoctorCueNC said:

I appreciate the help. You can't get better if you think you know it all already. I did get 1 comment card on it saying it looked cold and dry and was curious what makes it look cold cause it seems it does yet it was taken off the pit less than a couple minutes before this. I know adding some sauce will help with the dry part just not too much sauce.

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Sounds like your on the right track, here is an old box of mine from a couple years ago when I started putting in three meats.....

DoctorCueNC said:

I appreciate the help. You can't get better if you think you know it all already. I did get 1 comment card on it saying it looked cold and dry and was curious what makes it look cold cause it seems it does yet it was taken off the pit less than a couple minutes before this. I know adding some sauce will help with the dry part just not too much sauce.

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Maybe because cold/cool meat tends to look dry.

You might want to use a sharper, non-serrated knife when slicing also, the slices, as other said, look a bit ragged

My personal preference is to only use two meats. I turn in MM and pulled chunks. I believe the chunks hold moisture and heat better than shredded plus you can get a little bark on them. I do a nice pile of the chunks and I slice the MM but leave the medallions together to retain heat and moisture. It's not the prettiest, but it usually gets more 9s than 8s on appearance.

More important to me is it tastes and feels better to the judges. When you fan out the meat so much it's at risk to cool down and dry out more.

1. Put a base of 1/4-3/8" slices of romaine lettuce in the bottom of your box. Slice off the first 2-3" of the bottom of the head of lettuce, then make some slices and put them in the bottom of your box. Then put the parsley into that. Leave your parsley stems a little longer so that they will stick into the lettuce. Try and get your parsley leaves that you put in the box one size. You have a big leaf sticking out in the lower left corner.

2. Get a very sharp slicing knife. Only use it for BBQ. Keep it sharp. If you have ragged meat on the edges of your slices, take a pair of very sharp scissors, I use a pair of Friskars sewing scissors about 3-4" long to trim those off.

3. Get some sauce, mix it with some of the juices that you have put into a gravy separator. Paint it on the slices with a silicone brush. Get a Misto sprayer and fill it half way with hot water, and give the meat very light spray right before you close the box to keep it looking moist.

4. Keep you "like" styles of meat together, and consider doing only 2 styles. I would get rid of the really shredded stuff and go with chunks the size of your thumb, and slices. Fan you slices so that the symmetry is exactly even between the slices.

5. Check out the BBQ Box Turn In Critique Facebook page, and there are other critique websites online, to get ideas on how to layout boxes.

I would agree with the others that scored this box a 5. The color is bland, there are jagged edges, and the selections appear dry. That said, you did receive some excellent tips to get those appearance scores up.

DoctorCueNC said:

Thank you again everyone for your suggestions. This was the latest box I made at a kcbs backyard competition over the weekend. Sorry about the lighting as it was a little rushed based on time to turn in. Still appreciating any feedback (I did wipe the moisture from edges of box before turn in). Thanks!

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I'm far from a pork expert, but my experience cooking MM's tells me that when you put those ends pieces in the box, which some cooks do, do you feel they might be more tender than the slices in the middle?

I would have left that end piece out and chosen another to use.

It throws the whole box off, IMO.