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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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04-17-2019, 10:56 AM | #1 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 01-14-06
Location: At home on the range in Wyoming
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Competition Test Cooking (3) - Pork Butt
Previously I posted our test cooks for chicken and brisket, and again thanks for all the advise. Our first competition is still 4 months away and yesterday the adventure continued with pork butt. Since my last post the head cook has attended a judges class and is pre-registered at a couple of events, hopefully he can judge at least once before we cook. One team member has a new pellet smoker and has never smoked a butt.... so he was in charge of cooking two trimmed down butts. The kale boxes are getting easier to build, so we stuck with that garnish. We're cooking everything at 275°, so we stuck with that pit temp. We looked through about 30 examples of boxes, and picked four to use as a guide.
The good: Good balanced flavor and moistness. Tenderness was very good. We actually wound up with more (box worthy) pulled than we needed, and it all came from the horn and the little layer of strands that lives just under the fat cap. One butt's injection was Kosmo's + water, the other was Kosmos + apple/white grape. We liked them both. The bad: We opted to cook this practice run in pans and the smoker was crowded. I think the pans influenced the airflow and confused the thermostat because we had temp swings. And even though the butts were wrapped at 155°, we overshot the color of the bark. The money muscles were skimpy and we had to also use the next inboard muscle for some of the slices. The ugly: We allowed 15 minutes to breakdown each butt and get the meat into the box, the first one took 20 minutes... is this normal for most teams, or do boxes get easier to build as time goes on? The boxes were full and weighty, but is that too many choices for a novice team to submit? Is it safer to go with 6 slices and some pulled? The cook didn't have a de-fatter, so we weren't able to dip the meats in juice... but we thinned some sauce and tried to make due. For next time: We'll only cook one butt and fine tune the cooking and resting time table. I'll probably go a tick stronger on the injection to push out more porky flavor. We'll do a traditional wrap instead of just covering the pan. Here are photo's of the finished boxes for comment. __________________
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~thirdeye~ Barbecuist ~ Charcuterist ~ KCBS Master Judge & CTC Big Green Eggs, Big Drum Smokers, Big Chiefs, Weber Smokey Joe "Custom Tall Boy" Oil Patch Horizontal, SnS Deluxe Kettle Visit my Cookin' Site by clicking HERE Barbecue is not rocket surgery “The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it's hard to verify their authenticity” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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04-17-2019, 11:20 AM | #2 |
is Blowin Smoke!
Join Date: 07-31-11
Location: Beaumont, CA
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Disclaimer: I only judge what's in the box ... blah blah blah ... whatever
First Box - very busy ... the left portion of pulled/chunks do not look as appetizing as the others ... I would consolidate the center and right piles into one ... fanning out the slices as opposed to submitting a turd shaped log (I've done it, and got slammed by judges) is preferable ... I wouldn't submit the bottom MM due to the shape inconsistency (not concerned with the appearance aspect, I'd be more afraid that one end will have different tenderness than the other, thereby giving a swing for judging) Bottom Box - much better ... I have no justification for this, but having the right section of MM facing away from me as a judge looks weird (can't say it would impact my score, but it would result in me looking longer at the box than I generally do when I see a "9") ... I would use this box, keep the pulled in the front, change the direction of the right MM, and fan them both out
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[I][COLOR=Red][B]Green Card Q[/B][/COLOR][/I] - Pitmaster (term used loosely) KCBS MCBJ & CTC Humphrey's Long Weekender, UDS, Red Box Smoker, SJS/Tamale Pot Smoker, Weber Performer, Weber 18.5 OTS, Alton Brown Flower Pot Smoker (died), Blue Ember Gasser (died} Member of the Hall of Zero's (Noobians v. Veterans Throwdown) |
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04-17-2019, 11:43 AM | #3 | |
Moderator
Join Date: 12-09-04
Location: Wandering, but not lost
Name/Nickname : Captain Ron
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As far as breaking down the butts and building the box, pork is out longest box to build. We start it at 12:40 and it is usually out the door no later than 1:00. There is no way that you can spend 15-20 minutes on one butt at a competition unless you have a parallel effort, someone doing chicken and ribs, and someone doing pork at the same time?
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"Ron Rico, Boss. You can call me Captain Ron..." Naked Fatties Rock! PKGo X 2/PK360/Weber Q1000/Blackstone Camping Griddle/Pit Boss Pro Series 850 |
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04-17-2019, 11:55 AM | #4 |
is One Chatty Farker
Join Date: 07-05-11
Location: Pierre, SD
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Box 1 does not look good. The slices on the bottom of the box do not look good. I'd have a hard time believing the smaller slices would be as moist as the bigger ones. Second box looks much better.
My advice as a cook is to put your Best 6 slices in the box. Then pulled, or chunks or whatever else you have that is your BEST. No need for multiple piles of it, keep it simple and clean. Your second box you posted you could have just put that fanned out row of slices right above your pulled and it would be an awesome box. The more options you put in a box, the more opportunities you give the judges to taste something that isn't as up to par as something else and lower your scores.
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Last Call Heroes BBQ - Outlaw Smokers - Gateway Drums |
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04-17-2019, 12:06 PM | #5 | ||
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 01-14-06
Location: At home on the range in Wyoming
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Quote:
The direction of slices in box #2 didn't even catch our until we were ready to sample but you are correct. Model box: Quote:
On the timing... if you start at 12:40, that's 20 minutes until 1:00. Or do you mean at 12:40 your butt is all broken down, muscles sliced etc.... and you spend 20 minutes on assembly alone??
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~thirdeye~ Barbecuist ~ Charcuterist ~ KCBS Master Judge & CTC Big Green Eggs, Big Drum Smokers, Big Chiefs, Weber Smokey Joe "Custom Tall Boy" Oil Patch Horizontal, SnS Deluxe Kettle Visit my Cookin' Site by clicking HERE Barbecue is not rocket surgery “The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it's hard to verify their authenticity” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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04-17-2019, 12:27 PM | #6 | |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 01-14-06
Location: At home on the range in Wyoming
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Quote:
The camera is brutal. I snapped photo's minutes before the tasting party, and looking at them today I saw all kinds of little flaws three of us missed.
__________________
~thirdeye~ Barbecuist ~ Charcuterist ~ KCBS Master Judge & CTC Big Green Eggs, Big Drum Smokers, Big Chiefs, Weber Smokey Joe "Custom Tall Boy" Oil Patch Horizontal, SnS Deluxe Kettle Visit my Cookin' Site by clicking HERE Barbecue is not rocket surgery “The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it's hard to verify their authenticity” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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04-17-2019, 12:59 PM | #7 |
Babbling Farker
Join Date: 10-28-14
Location: Mizzory
Name/Nickname : Jeremy
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IMnotalwaysHO
As a judge only, my first glance says the second box is better looking. On second glance, I think it is weird that you have slices arranged two different ways, and it makes the box look strange! Pick one version (I like the fanned out version but they both will look good) and go with it. I think it would look good if you still made the V with the slices. The color of all of it is great, so that part looks good to me! As far as garnish, I dont give a flying chicken neck about it as long as it isnt on top of the meat. I only look at it long enough to see that it is legal. You could have a judge (not me) see the hole in the middle and think it is not full enough?
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9 out of 10 cannibals agree...vegetarians taste better! |
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04-17-2019, 01:30 PM | #8 | |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 01-14-06
Location: At home on the range in Wyoming
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Quote:
Fanning seems to be winning out over not fanning for now, and thanks for the color comments.
__________________
~thirdeye~ Barbecuist ~ Charcuterist ~ KCBS Master Judge & CTC Big Green Eggs, Big Drum Smokers, Big Chiefs, Weber Smokey Joe "Custom Tall Boy" Oil Patch Horizontal, SnS Deluxe Kettle Visit my Cookin' Site by clicking HERE Barbecue is not rocket surgery “The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it's hard to verify their authenticity” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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Thanks from:---> |
04-17-2019, 01:51 PM | #9 | |
Moderator
Join Date: 12-09-04
Location: Wandering, but not lost
Name/Nickname : Captain Ron
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The bulk of the butt time is breaking down three butts and deciding what goes into the box. Assembling the box and doing final QA is only a couple of minutes. But, we've been doing it for 10 years :)
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"Ron Rico, Boss. You can call me Captain Ron..." Naked Fatties Rock! PKGo X 2/PK360/Weber Q1000/Blackstone Camping Griddle/Pit Boss Pro Series 850 |
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04-17-2019, 02:14 PM | #10 | |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 01-23-04
Location: DFW, San AntonioTx
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Quote:
If Chicken isn't ready to go to hit the opening of the window, it doesn't go. The same applies to all categories. The only thing worse than not having as much time as you'd like, is not using the time that you have and losing points as a result.
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You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer. --Frank Zappa Keeping Valspar in BBQ, one cook at a time. Recipient of a Huggies box! Shut up, and cook!!!! |
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04-17-2019, 02:14 PM | #11 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 05-26-18
Location: Sturgis, SD
Name/Nickname : Bill
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I agree with everything said above. I would have liked the last box more if there was more bark included in the pulled pork. I've seen ice-cream scoops of pork and it just seemed that it would be mushy (turned out to be true too). I know you's isn't an ice-cream scoop, but to me the bark would have added another dimension.
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04-17-2019, 02:24 PM | #12 | ||
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 01-14-06
Location: At home on the range in Wyoming
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Quote:
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Our plan for now is for each guy to take the lead on different meats and have one guy help. This frees up guy #3 to have a little head start (if needed) on the next meat. I just don't want to get luxurious with the time.
__________________
~thirdeye~ Barbecuist ~ Charcuterist ~ KCBS Master Judge & CTC Big Green Eggs, Big Drum Smokers, Big Chiefs, Weber Smokey Joe "Custom Tall Boy" Oil Patch Horizontal, SnS Deluxe Kettle Visit my Cookin' Site by clicking HERE Barbecue is not rocket surgery “The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it's hard to verify their authenticity” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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04-17-2019, 02:38 PM | #13 | |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 01-14-06
Location: At home on the range in Wyoming
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Quote:
__________________
~thirdeye~ Barbecuist ~ Charcuterist ~ KCBS Master Judge & CTC Big Green Eggs, Big Drum Smokers, Big Chiefs, Weber Smokey Joe "Custom Tall Boy" Oil Patch Horizontal, SnS Deluxe Kettle Visit my Cookin' Site by clicking HERE Barbecue is not rocket surgery “The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it's hard to verify their authenticity” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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04-17-2019, 05:25 PM | #14 |
is One Chatty Farker
Join Date: 09-14-12
Location: Springfield, MO
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It takes 25 minutes to breakdown pork and build my box. Your instinct about bark is the correct one. Don’t do it unless you know what you’re doing. Below is a link to a video showing me building my box. This box has won the last three team of the years in pork, 2 180s at the Royal and a Jack Daniels World Pork Championship with a perfect 180. Time to switch it all up!
Best of luck! https://youtu.be/Weh-OloCeqM
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Gateway Drums - THE Insane Can Posse - gettinbasted.com |
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04-17-2019, 05:48 PM | #15 | |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 01-14-06
Location: At home on the range in Wyoming
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Quote:
__________________
~thirdeye~ Barbecuist ~ Charcuterist ~ KCBS Master Judge & CTC Big Green Eggs, Big Drum Smokers, Big Chiefs, Weber Smokey Joe "Custom Tall Boy" Oil Patch Horizontal, SnS Deluxe Kettle Visit my Cookin' Site by clicking HERE Barbecue is not rocket surgery “The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it's hard to verify their authenticity” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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