LONG: First competition in a couple weeks, lots of questions

Hey guys

I pulled the trigger and decided to enter the world of competition BBQ. My first competition is on the 26th in Puyallup, WA. Over the past 2 months I have been procuring equipment and practicing every weekend trying to perfect my timing and consistency. It's been a rollercoaster ride, to say the least!

While this is my first competition, I do have 10 years experience working in restaurants and doing catering events for 50-5000 people (a good majority of this was at a small chain BBQ joint in central IL in my 20s). I am fully aware these are two different animals, but this experience has proven to be very beneficial in choosing my equipment and trying to be as prepared as I can going in to this "blind".

This will be a standard KCBS rules competition, brisket, pork butt, pork ribs, and chicken. Being that this is my first time, I was considering not doing chicken, just so I don't overwhelm myself. I was wondering if this would be frowned upon, or is this something that would be considered acceptable as a greenhorn? I did a practice run on "pillow" chicken thighs this past weekend, and my results were just "okay".

For brisket I went with SRF Black Wagyu. I'll be trimming it down "Butcher BBQ" style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fUClEdzB3k
I am assuming this will cook a bit faster than a whole flat not trimmed down, is this typically correct? I already separate my points and flats, so that part I am familiar with. I was also NOT going to inject it, as I have read these do not require injecting. Looking for opinions on this regarding competitions. My fear is it will turn out way too salty using Butcher/Kosmo/Meat Church type injection due to the high fat content and the salt not being soluble. This happened to me before when I injected a Prime point....WAY too salty, but the flat turned out fine. This is the best brisket I have done so far (it was SLIGHTLY overcooked): https://imgur.com/gallery/7os7ng0

Pork butt I did a practice run trimming out and slicing the money muscle, and feel pretty good with my results. I have a better knife now for making cleaner slices. No injection, will try an injection this weekend to see how it compares. https://imgur.com/gallery/X0rxnCK

Ribs are still hit or miss for me. I can nail the tenderness (not falling off the bone but comes completely off with a little tug) but the appearance is all over the place.

Practice results from my first go at doing a turn in box (I didn't do pork butt on this cook): https://imgur.com/gallery/Mw75Pqk/comment/1565038445

I'm really just hoping to learn a lot and not completely screw up on this first comp. The main goal is to learn and have fun! I used to race RC cars competitively, and slowly grew out of that hobby as I got older. I needed a new competitive hobby, and this just made sense giving my love for BBQ and always trying to better myself.

Here is a list of my equipment, please feel free to critique or make suggestions! (I'm sure I'll forget to list some things)

(2) 6' folding tables
(1) 10x10 pop up tent with walls
(1) Fire Extinguisher
(4) Bus tubs for wash/rinse/sanitize/dry dishes
(1) Cambro that fits 3 4" full pans
(1) Yetti Tundra haul cooler
(1) Carlisle 5 Gallon insulated beverage container with free flow spigot for hand washing
(1) 5 gallon bucket for catching handwash water
(1) 50' rope light to hang from tent
(1) 100' 12AWG extension cord with power strip
(1) Tall "Slim Bar Style" trash can
(2) brisket sized cutting boards
(2) slicing knives
(2) trimming knives
(3) generic kitchen knives
(1) dough scraper
(2) boxes Cast poly and nitrile gloves
(1) cut resistant glove
(1) Thermoworks 4channel thermometer
(3) 4" SS full pans
(15) 4" aluminum throw away pans
(1) knife sharpener
(1) knife steel
(4) SS stongs
(2) sanitizer buckets
(1) sanitizer tester kit
(20) bar towels
A bunch of flashlights
(1) digital and analog meat thermometer
More aluminum foil, butcher paper, and plastic wrap than I'll ever need

I think thats about everything, again I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the small items.

Any advice or tips anyone can give me is greatly appreciated! If you want to see my "portfolio" my instagram is @decentbbq

Again, thank you all for any helps/tips/tricks/advice you can give me! I'm glad I found this place, I spend hours digging through old threads and reading every weekend while I'm smoking.

With Gratitude

Derrick

didisea said:

1. This is a PNWBA sanctioned contest, not KCBS. Pork at 11am, Brisket at noon, Chicken at 1pm, Ribs at 2pm. Work out a timeline of when you start your smoker(s), when the meat goes on, etc.

2. It would be bad form not to cook chicken. We sometimes need all teams to do their turn in's, so no matter what you turn in, wings, thigs, ANYTHING, it would be appreciated.

3. Brisket - Inject your brisket. Butcher's, or Kosmo's mixed with water. If you don't want shell out for a whole bag, you can borrow some from me. You can watch Tom trim his brisket before you give yours a go, unless you want to trim it at home.

Pork - Inject with Kosmos or Butchers. Mix with apple juice. Again I'll let you borrow some if you don't have it.

Ribs - I'll help you through rib trimming if you want.

Chicken - Your chicken looked pretty good. To much black pepper on a couple of pieces. You want all your sizes to be equal.

4. Add Foil and paper towels to your list. And a folding chair to park your butt in. Bottled water to mix injections with and to drink.

5. If you forget something either Tom or I probably have a spare or what you forgot.

6. Remember, you can TRIM the meat at home, but DONT inject or season it until its been inspected by the head judges.

7. Tell Saffron or Jason that you want to be set up by Dances with Smoke, and we will help you out.

8. At the contest, remind me to add you to the Calendar Group on FB.

Diane Mee

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Thank you so much, Diane!

I was under the impression that PNWBA followed KCBS rules and regulations.

I have butchers, kosmos, and meat church injections already

I mixed my rib injection from this past weekend with apple juice instead of water and had good results!

Chicken in that picture was 6 different rubs (I was experimenting). Agreed that they need to be uniform in size. Guess I will have to buy 3-4 packages, trim them down and then cherry pick.

I have foil, butcher paper, plastic wrap, and plenty of paper towels

I'll shoot Saffron an email requesting that we get set up next to each other. I GREATLY appreciate your kindness!

Pig_Farmer said:

Just a couple suggestions/comments. Look into disposable cutting boards. Less to wash. Trim all your meats at home to save time and stress. Make some risers for your folding tables. I used 2" PVC cut to 18" in length and that brought my tables to around counter top height. Sharpen your knives ahead of time. Don't forget to take your time line. Been there, done that. Maybe download 180Que on your phone and put your time line in there. I'm sure there is a bunch of other tips that the more experienced will give. I would do the chicken. Go big!!

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Link to disposable cutting boards? Like these? https://www.amazon.com/Stark-Dispos...spons&keywords=disposable+cutting+board&psc=1

West River BBQ said:

I can appreciate the competitive spirit. Heck, that's what drives me into painful self-criticism, even on weekend cooks at home. I'm constantly nagged with: "what could I have done better." So I recommend this question: What place do you have to finish to be happy? Above the fold of 50%? If so, the first places will come when least expected. While not giving advice to ignore the list of things to do, perhaps remember that it is a subjective taste test by some locals and nothing more than a big tailgating party. Keeping it simple might be your best strategy.

Also, I hope I'm not coming across as condescending or in some other negative way. Not my intention here. I even had my wife read my post before sending to make sure.

Good luck with your cook!

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Like I said, I'll be happy to just not completely screw up :mrgreen: My goal is to not get any DQs, score with a least an "average", and HAVE FUN. I'm not looking to win on my first rodeo, and even if I finish back of the pack, I still beat the people sitting at home!

ronbrad62 said:

While thighs are pretty much expected, you may want to consider doing legs. Quite a few cooks around here are starting to go that way and I have found that the bite through skin is more achievable using them. Good luck and have fun!!

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I had pretty good results this past weekend by removing the skin from the thighs, scraping off the fat, then reapplying it to the thigh. LABOR INTENSIVE!

My biggest reservation with chicken is that it is best cooked broasted/fried, not smoked. Given the response from Diane, though, I'll go ahead and give it a shot.

If you trim your meats at home, what do you wrap them with for transporting to the competition?

didisea said:

Chicken your probably going to need to cook 12-20 pieces of chicken to get 6 good ones.

I'll give you some disposable cutting boards so you don't have to shell out for the cost of a big order. Then if you like them you can order yourself some.


Walmart sells Hefty 2.5 gallon Ziploc bags. Also Cash n Carry, or SmartFoodService as they call themselves now, carry 2 gallon zip bags in a box of 50. So you can fit a brisket and pork butt(s) in those. Chicken a couple gallon zip bags. 3 slabs of ribs in the 2.5 gallon bags.

KCBS and PNWBA have pretty similar rules, but PNWBA has the big meats first, then the small meats, and we have an hour between turn ins as opposed to 30 minutes, which is beneficial when your just starting out.

Here is the link to the rules: http://www.pnwba.com/2018/03/cooks-rules/
Read them before you get to the contest, because our cooks meetings are short and they don't go over them, they assume you've read them.

What kind of smoker(s) are you bringing to the contest?

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This is my smoker


I'll do the brisket and pork first, hold in the cambro for resting then throw the ribs and chicken on. I'm doing a test cook Friday night to get my cook/hold times dialed in.

Edit: I got one of these propane heaters today as well
https://www.homedepot.com/p/ZOBO-15-000-BTU-Propane-Tank-Top-Heater-ZBTT15/301695489

ModelMaker said:

Like I said, I'll be happy to just not completely screw up :mrgreen: My goal is to not get any DQs, score with a least an "average", and HAVE FUN. I'm not looking to win on my first rodeo, and even if I finish back of the pack, I still beat the people sitting at home!

I have never found hoping not to fail to be a secret to success. I started each competition I entered with the mindset that I had all I needed to win each meat I was about to cook.
To plan otherwise, means your digging yourself out of a hole before you even begin.
Set your mind right, and go get 'em.
Ed

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I can agree with this mindset, to an extent. My response was based on my racing experience. I remember my first real race, I had practiced a lot prior, and was nailing consistent laps within a few seconds of each other. Not bad for a beginner. Being that it was my first race, I got put in a class with all the other noobs. I went in with the mentality that I had this, and was going to win. What happened? I didn't complete a flawless lap the entire weekend. I was over confident in myself, was trying too hard, which caused me to make mistakes. If I would have just calmed down, focused, held my line and did what I knew up to that point and drove within my limits I would have done much better. I learned this the hard way, got beat by a bunch of kids. My second race, I held my line, drove within my abilities, and had a podium finish in the mains.

As I progressed in racing, I was able to tune out the nervousness and could nail laps within tenths of a second every lap. I am betting competition cooking is going to be a very similar affair, so I am just going to do what I know and am capable of so far, and hope for the best. I'll get better with time.

Theres no sense thinking I can come in with zero experience in competition cooking and run with the teams that have been doing this for years. There are going to be variables and circumstances that I have no clue about, and thankfully there are good hearted people out there to help people like me out along the way