Trimming meat prior to Competition

[Jeff_in_KC]

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!

A VERY sharp paring knife! And if you have some tougher fatty stuff, I start off with a serrated edge paring knife to losen it then finish with the sharp paring knife. Once it's see-through like a lady's silky nighties, it's good to go! :lol:

 

[Meat Burner]

Thanks Jeff. I know you do well in the chicken categories. I especially like the vision of the see-through nighty. Since I am a real visual person....that worked for me. Thanks.

 

[JD McGee]

The only meats I pre-trim are my ribs and chicken. I usually do them the night before and transport them in a cooler wrapped with saran wrap (ribs) or 1 gallon ziplocks (chicken). It saves me a lot of time that I can spend shiggin' Swamprb's pits! :twisted:

 

[Meat Burner]

My wife and I were discussing this tonight. Here, it may be the health department requiremnt in out county that prohibits pretrimming. Not sure, but I think here, the meat has to be in the original packaging. Will check it out. Thanks everyone.

 

[Chipper]

Try this one Chipper:

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

Huge help, thanks!

 

[Big George's BBQ]

I suggested this last year to my team and they did not want to do it. I think this year I will try the idea again and push for it more.

 

[Juggy D Beerman]

Nobody mentioned one of the most important advantage of pretrimming contest meat at home. Anyone ever open up a factory sealed package of chicken, ribs, pork butt or brisket at the contest site to discover the meat had spoiled?

This spoiling problem seems to be more common with chicken, but I have had the same problem with briskets that I have wet-aged. Chicken isn't that hard to find in the stores at the last minute, but briskets can be hard to locate at the last minute in some of the towns I have cooked in. Same goes for larger pork butts and decent ribs as well.

Lager,

Juggy

 

[gordo]

Sometimes I trim at home...all depends on what the weather is
like out at the contest...

Normally I trim and season right after meat inspection,
while downing a couple of beers..!

 

[Scottie]

Nobody mentioned one of the most important advantage of pretrimming contest meat at home. Anyone ever open up a factory sealed package of chicken, ribs, pork butt or brisket at the contest site to discover the meat had spoiled?

This spoiling problem seems to be more common with chicken, but I have had the same problem with briskets that I have wet-aged. Chicken isn't that hard to find in the stores at the last minute, but briskets can be hard to locate at the last minute in some of the towns I have cooked in. Same goes for larger pork butts and decent ribs as well.

Lager,

Juggy

That's one of the main reasons why I like to trim at home. If my meat is bad, I would rather know about it before I back up the RV and go to a contest. As some of these contests are out in the sticks...

 

[Juggy D Beerman]

Yo Scottie, One time at the Laurie (MO) contest, I had to drive over 30 miles to the nearest "big" city to find a brisket to replace the one that was bad. If I had been an hour later making that brisket run, I would have SOL as all the grocery stores would have been closed.

Speaking of the Laurie contest, I found some old photographs from there. One of them is a picture of some blond headed guy from Chicago with a Jed Master rig with a Weber Kettle mounted on the front. Any guess to who this guy is?

Lager,

Juggy

 

[Scottie]

That was his first love... Did he have a goatee? Ir should I say... How long was the goatee... :roll:

 

[Jorge]

I've seen similar pictures, he was so svelte!

 

[Juggy D Beerman]

Scottie, That picture is dated August of '98. The goat was just a kid. And I am referring to the facial hair, not the person in question.........

Lager,

Juggy

 

[RixCue]

The more I think about it the better this idea sounds. It would sure take off some stress at an event.


Rick

 

[Divemaster]

I've been doing my chicken ahead but never the other meats... The more I think of it, the more I like it!

 

[scottyd]

I like to trim my meats at the comp site, I mean what the hell else is there to do anyway. I roll in with my trailer my setup time is like nothing so no time wasted there so I have nothing but time. I can only talk so much, if I am drinking I get tanked and can't do anything, so I would rather trim and prep my meat. keeps me focused and eye on the ball. Then it is time to bother the other teams. Look out because now its the time when most of the guys have been talking and not gettng anything done and there crabby and say I gotta get things done come back later. blah blah blah go figure.

 

[Jorge]

..... I can only talk so much, .....

I'm confident you'll get over that shyness one of these days:wink::icon_cool:mrgreen:

 

[Finney]

I've started doing ribs at home in advance. Seems that when I trim at comps I bag up all the trimmings to save but end up throwing them away by the end of the weekend. When I do it at home they go into the freezer for use later in beans or something.

 

[Big Ugly's BBQ]

We did both last year, now I have a freezer full of rib trim. They do come in handy, when needed. I think we might do the same this year, depending on how far we have to travel, and how much help I have there.

 

[Brew-B-Q]

Last year (our first) I would always trim chicken, sometimes trim the rest. I did have all of the meat trimmed for one contest, and that made things much easier. But I also drank too much that event, so sometimes it can be good to be busier. That said, I am planning to trim all meats in advance as much as possible.