If the "barbecue family" you meet at comps resemble some of the answers and attitude I've seen in this thread, I'm happy to stay home. Lately it seems like there's been an increase in snarky posts from some people who apparently forgot that people are entitled to their own opinion and those opinions are posted her for discussion, not arguments.
Snarky posts lately? Clearly you have not been around for some of the Rusty Kettle beat downs where I get chewed out by an angry mob.:twitch:
In all seriousness, sounds to me like he got his arse kicked and is whining about it. We all have taken arse whoopings in comp. I am still getting my arse whooped as I make the move from amateur to pro. Its part of the game. Got to just pick yourself up and dust yourself off and say where did we fail to do our job. Stop blaming everyone else for your shortcomings as a cook. You only make progress when you start looking at yourself. You are cooking for judges not yourself. Cook what they want not what you may want.
As far as sweet rib candy, not everyone is doing it like Trigg. Well cooked meat wins every time. Sweet can and does win. I have heard from multiple teams that to win balance is key and also from other teams that packing every bit of flavor into one bite is key. Oh and don't forget the cook to not offend camp. All winning approaches when the cook is a good cook.
Comp bbq is more complicated than dumping some sweet stuff all over it. It takes alot of work and if it didn't taste good we wouldn't make it.
Sweet is not the only way to win. Cook the meat well and you will win.
Do I amp things up for comp? Sure we all do. Do I cook differently at home? Starting too. Why? Because I am gaining weight far to quickly. 46 lbs gained in less than a year. At this rate in about 5-6 years I will be over 500 lbs literally or dead.
I have two kids I can't eat comp bbq all the time. It will kill me. So I have to water it down at home.
I only recently started to do this because of rapid weight gain. If I could do it without dieing or being 500 lbs well I would eat every meal every day comp bbq style.
Comments like "real and true bbq" kind of piss everyone off. Your not going to get nice comments or friendly discussion. Its like he is calling comp bbq fake and not real bbq. Sure looks like he is looking down his nose at comp bbq.
Bbq is different region to region. No such thing as "real or true bbq"
As far as the barbecue family goes. They are a great bunch of people.
One fellow helped me put up my tent when I had no idea how it worked.
One fellow helped me break down my tent in a storm. He didn't have to but he jumped in and helped. I have been invited to multiple events from another fellow. Helped teach me some stuff that improved my cooking greatly. Invited me up to a practice cook. Had me go up to an event and watch him cook. I learned alot from that.
Got free beer from multiple teams. On many occassions.
free drinks everywhere I have gone and people just start talking and having a good time even if we just met.
In some of the snarky comments there is usually good advice. You just have to use your brain to find it. Maybe not in my potato comment but in alot of them there is good information.
Potato.