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Competition BBQ *On Topic Only* Discussion regarding all aspects of Competition BBQ. Experiences competing or visiting, questions, getting started, Equipment, announcements of events, Results, Reviews, Planning, etc. Questions here will be responded to with competition BBQ in mind. |
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08-16-2006, 11:57 AM | #16 |
is one Smokin' Farker
Join Date: 04-26-06
Location: Orange, CT
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Having just started competing this year, the best advice I can give is to do your homework before you go. There are tons of places on the Internet, on this site and others, where you can learn so much about the do's and dont's of competing.
When I went to my first event this past May, I was ready for almost everything that came our way. But I learned a few things: 1. Make sure you buy good tents. Our cheap Wal-Mart tent snapped in the first hour in stiff Rhode Island winds. 2. Make friends with the teams around you quickly. If you forget something or even just have questions, established teams are a great resource. Everyone seems eager to help. 3. Do your research on turn in boxes. There are plenty of teams that put pics of their boxes up on the Internet. The pictures can give you good ideas about what your boxes should look like. Make sure you have the right lettuce and garnish. 4. Remember to have fun!
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Ted Lorson Q Haven BBQ, Orange, CT qhaven.com facebook.com/qhavenbbq Backwoods Competitor, Backwoods Party G2, Backwoods Party |
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08-16-2006, 12:19 PM | #17 |
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Join Date: 02-15-06
Location: Waynesville, Ohio
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I cooked more than that at the last comp... but then, I had a new smoker that needed the exercise! :) We did 4 brisket flats because I was injecting with FAB-B Lite, 3 boston butts... 2 to pull, 1 to slice, 6 slabs of spares, and about 24 thighs. We also cooked a bunch the night before to feed a group of people that came by.
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Curt McAdams Livefire Blog Livefire Whisky CBJ, some comps, a few awards, Certified Artisan Steak Taster. XL Big Green Egg, Bubba Keg Convection Grill, Weber Kettle, Charbroil Infrared and mad livefire cooking skillz! :) |
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08-16-2006, 03:40 PM | #18 |
Knows what a fatty is.
Join Date: 06-19-06
Location: Jasper Ga
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Once you get some experience, you will be able to cook less food. Your gut will tell you when buying meat and cooking it as well. A small but very helpful item during crunch time. Get a dry erase board and write on it not to ask for samples during that time period. After turn in you will have sample available. I acually take a table with tongs & paper towels and place it up front and out of the way to place my samples on. When I am done with a box, the food goes in a pan & up front. Spectators are free to help themselves to what they want. It only took 1 time for a spectator to walk in & reach over me during turn in to fix that. I love the public, but leave me alone for 2 hours.
Bubba |
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08-16-2006, 03:49 PM | #19 | |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 07-23-06
Location: NW Indiana
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Originally I was only going to cook one brisket and butt along with 3 slabs of ribs and 12 chicken thighs for comp. However after reading several threads here about having multiple butts and briskets I decided to go with two each. I will be using my weber as well so I will be cooking the chicken on that and it should be ok. The only concern I have is having to watch two cookers but I don't see that as a major problem. Dr. Guy, I couldn't agree more about the value of searching this site for the info. I have probably saved a bunch already. g
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gary "BassAckwards Bar B Q Co." PCC 24"X48" Backyard Smoker Weber Q100 44 qt Bayou Classic Sears 4 burner gasser w/rotisserie Weber kettle Bookers and Coke I refuse to kiss anything that uses its tongue for toilet paper |
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08-16-2006, 03:58 PM | #20 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 05-24-04
Location: Long Beach, CA
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I've only done one contest but I made it a point to make friends with the people around me. Easiest way to do this? Make some fatties and pass them around!
And don't take too much stuff! That is the main lesson we learned the first time out. We had four truckloads of stuff and didn't use half of it. OF course we have four people on our team. This probably wouldn't be AS MUCH of a problem on a 1 or 2 person team but it can still get out of hand.
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Wait! Bigmista wrote a cookbook? Rec Tec RT-700 Bull Pitmaker Vault Remembering Scott |
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08-22-2006, 09:27 AM | #21 |
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Join Date: 07-13-06
Location: Memphis, TN
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Lessons from the Road
I thought I'd add some of my personal experiences from our first competition this past weekend. I know a number of the things mentioned on this thread really helped out (zip ties were a lifesaver in the rainstorm and I made sure we had our tent sides down during turn-in times to avoid visitors with empty guts, for example).
* Organization. Create storage boxes, tool boxes, whatever, for everything you need and make sure it ends up back there so you know exactly where to reach when it's crunch time. Also makes loading and unloading much easier. * Tall tables make a heck of a difference. We brought standard wooden folding tables and realized after getting only 1/3 of the way through trimming all of the meat that bending that far over for long periods of time does terrible things to your back. I saw a lot of PVC extensions (legs inserted into pieces of PVC) and Bad Bones had some great expandable tables from Costco. * Again, don't try to do everything yourself. Divide responsibilities, whether assigning each person a category of specific duties. Lay it out in advance and stick to it so you're not stepping on each other. * If there's grass, why setup your site on dirt? It looked great in the sun, next to the bathrooms and turn-in station, but the downpours turned it into a swamp. I think that's an basic rule of camping too but I was a pretty bad boy scout. * Make sure your tent is well staked. At about 2am it lifted up and took off like a 12x12 foot kite, breaking a couple legs. Luckily we were able to bend them enough to put it back up, otherwise it would have been an even nastier night in the rain. * When in doubt, use multiple gauges, especially on our relatively inexpensive smokers. Drilling an extra external thermometer or bringing one extra wireless thermometer would have alerted us much earlier on that the smoker temps were way too low, instead of finding out six hours before turnin and racing to catch up (unsuccessfully on the brisket, unfortunately). * Above all else, don't take it too seriously, at least out of the gate. I almost drove myself nuts after a bad showing instead of focusing on what did work, what we had overcome, and what we accomplished. One great showing (fifth in grilling on Sat) and one bad showing (37th on Sun) equals one average overall showing with a ton of great lessons, new friends and memories. - Clint |
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08-22-2006, 10:29 PM | #22 |
Babbling Farker
Join Date: 04-03-05
Location: Marietta, GA
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Clint,
Well said, and replies like your's is what I was looking for. It is really nice to pull up a thread like this when you are new to the sport. Also, I will never be able to compete like the pros with my schedule and budget, so your advice about not taking things too seriously really rings true!
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Noah \#/ Nauti-Que BBQ Team Pitmaster and KCBS CBJ & CTC Lang 60 Marie Laveau Deep South Single Chamber Glenda WSM 22.5 Asmarelda 22.5 OTG Samantha Weber Genesis Mocha |
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08-23-2006, 05:40 AM | #23 |
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Join Date: 02-15-06
Location: Waynesville, Ohio
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Noah, we only compete now and then... we did 2 last year, we'll do 3 this year, and 4-5 next year. That's as much as we ever expect to do... But we try our best, while having fun!
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Curt McAdams Livefire Blog Livefire Whisky CBJ, some comps, a few awards, Certified Artisan Steak Taster. XL Big Green Egg, Bubba Keg Convection Grill, Weber Kettle, Charbroil Infrared and mad livefire cooking skillz! :) |
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08-23-2006, 09:24 AM | #24 |
On the road to being a farker
Join Date: 08-13-06
Location: Brantford, Ontario
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Just a small tip for "staking your tent" on cement, Grab 4 of those colapsable water jugs used for camping, fill them with water and tie them to each leg of your tent. Beats the heck out of bricks because you dump the water out and only transport empty plastic jugs.
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"That's not my tan, it's bark" Oaklahoma Joe trailer rig WSM Traeger 70 ECB starter model |
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09-12-2006, 03:22 PM | #25 |
Found some matches.
Join Date: 09-08-06
Location: Santa Rosa Beach, Florida
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Noah (and others who posted here),
Thanks for the benefit of your experience. In addition to the place here in Florida, we also still have our place in Covington, Ga. I plan to visit the competition there on the 13th and 14th of October. I hope to meet you and others there. I've never been to a competition so I'm really looking forward to it.
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Florida Bill Charbroil Silver Smoker SS Great Outdoors Smoky Mountain Big Block Weber 22" Grill |
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09-12-2006, 03:37 PM | #26 | |
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: 04-08-04
Location: Marianna, FL
Name/Nickname : Tim
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Yesterday, I bought a lot of 5 collapsible 5 gal bottles off of EBay for about $14 delivered. No more concrete blocks to deal with--YEAH! TIM Twas gonna tell ya about this Chad--but you get to hear it here first
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"Flirtin' with Disaster" BBQ Team (RETIRED)
New Ninja Woodfired Grill for Christmas 2023 |
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09-12-2006, 05:15 PM | #27 | |
is one Smokin' Farker
Join Date: 08-13-03
Location: Nekoosa, Wi
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Quote:
Buzz |
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09-12-2006, 05:31 PM | #28 | |
is Blowin Smoke!
Join Date: 12-14-05
Location: New England
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Quote:
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09-12-2006, 06:07 PM | #29 |
is one Smokin' Farker
Join Date: 08-13-03
Location: Nekoosa, Wi
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file that underlessons learned--after that it has been hammer time!
Our ezup went through the roof of "Everybody Loves Raymonds" tent--he was cooking out of Cali. then now he is in Minnesota running a distillery--cooked next to him a few weeks back--both laughed about that incident--now! Buzz maybe looking for another competitor |
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09-12-2006, 08:22 PM | #30 |
is one Smokin' Farker
Join Date: 08-22-06
Location: Tomball,Texas
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This site and one other has provided me with the most usefully information.
but the only way to get better is to actually go cook under pressure. Nothing like it I love It have yet to have a really bad time some just better than others just like????? well you know
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"She Thinks My Slabs Are Sexy" One Man Dual Offset Stick Burner Ole Hickory Ultra Que 22" WSM Backwoods Chubby "Never let your persistence and passion turn into stubbornness and ignorance." Anthony J. D'Angelo |
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