Judge my chicken box please

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DoctorCueNC

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I did my first comp at the beginning of the month and my chicken box was my very first box ever built (no practice boxes just practice cooks). I think for the most part I got ok appearance scores 8s and some 9s but just was wondering what those who have done this for longer may see. Thanks for any feedback!
 

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I'm probably at a 7, but that's staring at it for longer than a judge would.

Uneven sizes and then some light pieces and dark pieces.
Back left is a good looking piece of chicken to me!!
 
OK... I have to be honest. 8's and 9's are generous. I would give that a 7 at best. The pieces are all different sizes, the color is different with some pieces dark and some light, and the sauce is blotchy.
 
Pieces are not uniform, and the sauce is almost pooled on top of the chicken. See the thread about setting sauce for a few suggestions.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212834

You want to take care to trim the chicken to a uniform shape and size if you can. If needed, you can shape chicken a little by hand before it goes on the heat. Once cooked, you have to live with it's shape.
 
I would likely give this box a 7. I'm happy (for you) that you hit a table that gave you 8's (2) and 9's (4) however.

Agree with the previous comments about color, saucing and shape. The back left and right are you best 2 pieces, the front left is a consistent shape but different color. The other 3 don't look like they belong, and just make for a jumbled appearance.

ps: congrats on the 4th place call in dessert!!
 
Ron_L said:
OK... I have to be honest. 8's and 9's are generous. I would give that a 7 at best. The pieces are all different sizes, the color is different with some pieces dark and some light, and the sauce is blotchy.
Click to expand...

Exactly this.
 
Agree with the color, sauce, size, and generous judge comments above.

I will add to the size comment though. Aside from appearance, it is good to trim your chicken all to a very similar size, so that they all cook the almost the same. With varying sizes, hence different thicknesses and mass, they will cook at different rates, so you may end up with a small one overcooked, a medium one perfect and a large one undercooked.
 
While there is no rule in KCBS regarding similar size or color or even sauce coverage it has become the norm as you can tell from the comments above.
The ability to trim meat, cook to a similar level of doneness and sauce just enough to add flavor without being overbearing is your goal.
Go get 'em.
Ed
 
timzcardz said:
... it is good to trim your chicken all to a very similar size, so that they all cook the almost the same. With varying sizes, hence different thicknesses and mass, they will cook at different rates, so you may end up with a small one overcooked, a medium one perfect and a large one undercooked.
Click to expand...

+1^ THIS! Yes it looks pretty when they're all the same size/shape, but chicken is the one meat you will cook that every piece could end up being it's own tenderness (ribs have variance, but not like chicken). You are setting yourself up for failure when you cook 12 different pieces that are 12 different sizes/masses. When I trim chicken, I trim them all up then the hubs takes out the scale and sorts them into three different piles based on weight. From there, I pull the 12 I am cooking based on weight and shape so all 12 are almost identical. If I don't find 12 I like based on weight and how it was trimmed, I go buy more...
 
Photo's can be slightly deceiving (angle. color etc.) but I would score it 6. Possibly a 7 in person.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I knew I got some luck in getting the scores I did. One thing I learned was have more backups and get better tongs. I had 2 other pieces that were the similar shape but my tongs cut the skins when I was trying to dunk them in sauce, and the third I dropped on the ground so I had to pick the closest I had. I tried dunking in sauce but returned the results as seen for some glop and color. Is there anything special to do while dunking to prevent the pooling?
 
Heat the sauce, ensure the consistency of the sauce is thin enough, and possibly reconsider the use of tongs. After a few recommendations, I have since changed to using my hands to handle the hot meat, put a knit cotton glove on under my disposable nitrile gloves
 
DoctorCueNC said:
Thanks for the feedback. I knew I got some luck in getting the scores I did. One thing I learned was have more backups and get better tongs. I had 2 other pieces that were the similar shape but my tongs cut the skins when I was trying to dunk them in sauce, and the third I dropped on the ground so I had to pick the closest I had. I tried dunking in sauce but returned the results as seen for some glop and color. Is there anything special to do while dunking to prevent the pooling?
Click to expand...

Thinner sauce.

Also, I use a pigtail food flipper for handling chicken...

pigtail3.jpg
 
I've used tongs, pig tail flipper, and knit gloves with disposable gloves over them for dunking, and I've found I like the gloves the best. It is hot and hard to handle at times, but there is something to be said for being able to feel what you're doing and not risking dropping stuff.
 
I'd give it a 6. Don't use tongs. I take plastic forks and bust off the middle 2 teeth and use 2 of these modified forks to handle the chicken both when dunking in sauce and putting in the box.
 
Thanks for the advice. I tried using just my food prep gloved hands and things got a little hot.
 
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