headbanger
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2014
- Location
- Lawrenceburg, KY
Man, I really need to find a neighbor like you! Everything looks awesome! :thumb:
That pork box is immaculate. You might even say ... sublime :mrgreen:
Seriously though, I loved the pork box. You would not be in any trouble with a formed mound like that anywhere around here.
The ribs look to be a little heavy on sauce and maybe a bit off-kilter, but they're still an easy 8 from me. Chicken also looks great, another 8/9. Brisket looks great with and w/out the chunks, but I think your slices look so good by themselves, I would have presented them w/out - 9s all day on that box.
Man, I really need to find a neighbor like you! Everything looks awesome! :thumb:
Great Post. I'm also a newbie looking at doing a comp. this fall. Your post sure raises the bar for my expectations.
Looking good guys. Especially chicken box. Looks are only one category of judging though, so even if some of your boxes don't look "perfect" (whatever that is), you could get great scores taste and tenderness (I assume this is a KCBS event???). Appearance is the lowest weighted score: Appearance - .5600, Taste – 2.2972, Tenderness - 1.1428. That brisket flat looked really nice.
One suggestion, and I don't know how many teams do this, but it is always nice to throw in an extra portion (extra rib or thigh) for the person who oversees the table of six judges that will get your box so they can get a taste for volunteering their time.
That looks like a great time, and it sounds like you got out of it what you needed in terms of extra stuff, missing items, timeline, etc.
Now, for the boxes. First, I wish you had pictures of all of the boxes from the angle that a judge would look at them at the table. It looks like the chicken and ribs are from that angle.
I like to give my opinion on pictures of boxes in two parts...
1. Table score. At the table I would get 10 seconds or so to look at it.
2. Picking nits score :-D I can stare at the picture and pick it apart
Chicken
Table Score - 8
Nit Picking - The color looks a little orange and the sauce looks too heavy. It's also a little blotchy. Finally, the pieces are not very uniform. Uniform pieces make the box look better but also help the chicken cook evenly across pieces.
Ribs
Table score - 7 or 8
Nit picking - The sauce looks too heavy and uneven. The cuts are not even and the pieces are not placed in the box very neatly. There is a chunk of something on the left hand rob in the top row that should be removed.
Pork - Table score - 8
Nit picking - Sauce looks a little heavy. The slices look good but I'm not seeing them at the same angle as I would at the table so it's hard to tell. The tubes could use some clean up, get rid of loose pieces of met, mostly. The bowl shaped dome of pulled pork doesn't look good to me. It's not appetizing. You would be better off with a neat, but freeform pile of pork IMHO.
Brisket
Table score - 8 or 9 (depends on the face of the slices)
Nit picking - It's hard because of the angle, but I'm thinking an 8 because the little I can see of the first slice looks like the sauce is blotchy and there are bits of stuff on there, and the slices are not arranged uniformly. Also, the slices look thicker than "normal". Typically a slice should be the thickness of a pencil. Finally, around here, brisket is typically presented without sauce, or with very little sauce. I'm not sure what scores well in your area.
The box with the cubes looks good, but the same comments above apply.
Overall, the garnish is uneven and there is some yellow parsley in there. It's not supposed to be scored, but it takes away from the overall perception of the box.
Thanks for the insight! It helps a ton on what to look for when doing the box up. As for the parsley, I knew the discoloration was going to be mentioned. We just ran out of parsley and I know to buy more! I do know I have to work on having it sit and not get crushed down when putting the meat on it. I tried using leaf lettuce cut into medallion shapes, but that didn't work to well, this weekend I am going to try something else to help with the appearance.
12) Garnish is optional. If used, it is limited to chopped, sliced, shredded or whole leaves of fresh green lettuce, curly parsley, flat leaf parsley and/or cilantro. Kale, endive, red tipped lettuce, lettuce cores and other vegetation are prohibited. “Illegal” garnish shall receive a score of one (1) on Appearance.
good show !!!!
Your ribs, in particular look way better than a practice of just awhile ago.....
"take deliberate actions"........from the time you pull out of the driveway to head to the event........SET your intention......maybe take a short few minutes of silence with your mates to do this......it will help later when the crazy rush points start to happen, just remind each other that you are calm, cool, collected & have SET your intention to do your best............
"This allows me to know what 25 minutes feels like when I'm under some stress, so I get a better feel of internal timing."
excellent idea.......................
You're on to everything that makes a difference, or someone has pointed it out already......the "internals"....clock, calmness, etc. are all I had to add..............
All looked great from here!
Not sure if it helps, but that UDS thermo you thought was at 250 was actually at 275.
Great looking practice cook!
aawa,
Congrats on getting into the competition game! You've been really kind to give me advice along the way. Man, I think that is one heck of a practice cook! Seems to me that saucing and boxing are the only areas you need to improve. That brisket looks perfect. I predict you'll be getting some calls in August! Wish I could be there to share in the festivities. Good luck, brother!