Trimming meat prior to Competition

[The Giggler]

Pretrimmed chicken makes me tired on Thursday night, and happy on Friday! Its the last thing I do when prepping for a contest.

I always save receipts and repackage in ziplock bags. No one ever asked, but I keep them to track expenses.

All the other categories are easy to work with onsite.

 

[Jeff_in_KC]

I found out it's MUCH easier to pre-trim at home. It was seriously sweet to show up at a comp by myself without Stan or my wife with all four categories already trimmed and in bags. Of course that way, no one can prove that my chicken has been shaved. :wink:

 

[Vince RnQ]

Pre-trimming is also legal for IBCA contests.

 

[nthole]

I've been out for a few hours...but I stand corrected! I've always just followed the pork butt rules for all meat. I think our chicken may be getting trimmed early this year.

 

[Nature Boy]

I've been out for a few hours...but I stand corrected! I've always just followed the pork butt rules for all meat. I think our chicken may be getting trimmed early this year.

Hey Neil
By all means, if you have time to trim the meat ahead, you'll have exactly that much less to do at the comp. Never has an inspector asked to see the label the meat came in. They want to make sure it looks fresh, is buried in ice, and doesn't have brown liquid and pepper specks on it.

Good luck out there this year!
Chris

 

[Bigmista]

I always save receipts and repackage in ziplock bags.

Why do you put your receipts in ziplock bags?

 

[Gowan]

Why do you put your receipts in ziplock bags?

To keep the money from leaking out! :lol:

 

[Chipper]

Where can us new folks find info on trimming chicken?

 

[Smokin' Gnome BBQ]

I trim my chicken and ribs at home now. The chicken "trims" I save for soup. The rib trims normally hit the trash can. I just use good bags to repackage the meat. The rules dont call for any proof of purchase, so I dont carry any. Makes cooking solo much easier..

 

[ThomEmery]

Yes do them at home
Then all you have to do onsite
is inject season etc.

 

[tony76248]

I always pretrim my meats unless I run out of time due to other responsibilities. It saves lots of time and is easier done at home as far as clean-up goes. Nothing beats pulling your meat out of the cooler, applying seasoning and placing in the smoker.

I agree with KC Bobby, I hate having to prep chicken and ribs at a comp....plus you get the flies and the buzzkill....

 

[Stoke&Smoke]

I always pretrim my meats unless I run out of time due to other responsibilities. It saves lots of time and is easier done at home as far as clean-up goes. Nothing beats pulling your meat out of the cooler, applying seasoning and placing in the smoker.

I agree with KC Bobby, I hate having to prep chicken and ribs at a comp....plus you get the flies and the buzzkill....

I always tried to pre-trim at home. More control, better lighting, and it doesn't matter what the weather is. The one exception last season, we were running late and couldn't pre-trim. Got to the site, and when I started to trim, the bees came

We will NOT be doing that again! Much easier to pre-trim everything!

Those Racine Wisconsin bees are cranky!

 

[HoDeDo]

I've been out for a few hours...but I stand corrected! I've always just followed the pork butt rules for all meat. I think our chicken may be getting trimmed early this year.

You can trim pork butt at home too... obviously you wouldnt want to trim it under 5 lbs. at home, but I never get butts that would mistaken for 5lbs or less <queue sir mix alot> " I like big butts and I can not lie....":twisted:

 

[Fredbird]

I usually buy a couple of cases spare ribs at a time. That way I can trim and sort them at home. The best ribs are saved for contests and the others are used for practice. Pre-trimming and sorting in advance eliminates the suspense/surprise when opening the cyrovacs at a contest. After trimming all the ribs are vacuum sealed and labelled.

 

[Chipper]

Where can us new folks find info on trimming chicken?

Any help, anyone??

 

[tonto1117]

Any help, anyone??

Try this one Chipper:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46375&highlight=trimming

 

[The_Kapn]

I usually buy a couple of cases spare ribs at a time. That way I can trim and sort them at home. The best ribs are saved for contests and the others are used for practice. Pre-trimming and sorting in advance eliminates the suspense/surprise when opening the cyrovacs at a contest. After trimming all the ribs are vacuum sealed and labelled.

We pretrimmed some chicken a couple of years ago for a FBA contest and were questioned about the "heritage" of it. I had not saved any of the labels or receipts. With a lot of whining and pleading on my part, and our reptutation for being honest, it worked out in our favor. But, a close call and it got my attention.

So now I cut the price tag area off of the origonal packing for ribs and chicken, place them inside the cyrovac facing out, and that seems to answer the question.

I am a convert to pre-trimming for all the reasons listed by the Brothers above.

TIM

 

[smoke-n-my-i's]

When we first started, we didn't realize, understand, that we could prep or trim the meat ahead of time. I do now on Thursday evenings for the chicken and ribs, and some times the brisket. Then vacuum seal, and toss in the coolers, pack down with ice, and load on the trailer. Saves a lot of work after setting up.

The ice machine sure makes in nice. I fire it up when I get home on Thursday, let it run and fill coolers..... :biggrin: :eusa_clap :-D Toss in the meat, and let it keep on running.... don't forget to turn it off when the coolers run over though....

 

[Alexa RnQ]

ice machine

OMG I WANT ONE!!!

 

[Meat Burner]

If you take the skin off, how is the best way to scrape the nasty fatty stuff off the skin. Tried to scrape with a knife and doesn't seem to be the best way. Just a question to throw out. Thanks. Also, I wasn't aware you could pretrim. I will bring that up to the folk at a couple of our local KCBS events. Thanks!