Would you eat your competition que?

[Bigdog]

At a comp I heard someone say: "We don't eat this crap!" This is rather sad IMHO.

I did taste several pieces of 13th place chicken at the Royal that was damn good though.

 

[Ranbo]

I'll eat the brisket and ribs. Sick of cooking and eating chicken period, stupid judges.

Other than brisket, what I like the judges don't. Last cook was worst ribs I've made and took 10th.

Good eating `que is not comp. `que.

 

[This Is How We Que It]

No, We are vegetarians.

 

[KC_Bobby]

If I were to hazard a guess, it would be that backyard eaters don't give a damn about cookie-cutter bites from chicken skin, how quickly the rib bone turns white (and they're happier if the meat falls off), have never met mushy pork they didn't like, more than likely have never pull-tested a slice of brisket, and usually aren't as critical of out-of-balance flavors.

In short, they are not judging the food by KCBS standards. But that's all good, because whatever BBQ they're eating will always be the best they've ever had.

And on top of that, 4 out of 5 dentists neighbors and friends will drown the meat in sauce before even tasting just the meat.

 

[early mornin' smokin']

we eat our comp food, but than again we only do 2 comps a year, and cook to better our skills. We've learned a lot about flavor and what its supposed to be, but honestly, we only cook it twice a year, maybe 4 with practice cooks, so hells yes, im eating it!

 

[Jorge]

I like this and Southern Home Boy's somments. As a proudly non-competitive barbecuer who cooks to please friends, I have never figured out why the comp-winning stuff seems to be so far from what would please a crowd of neighbors gathered in the backyard. Now I realize there are different tastes in different areas of the country and all, but it's baffling to me why the goals are so different from one another. But they seem to be, and there has to be a reason. Can anyone explain this?

When you cook for friends, are there 5 other people there serving the exact same types of food?

The flavors are so much bigger in competition cooking to stand out, and make a favorable impression in the one or two bites a judge will take. On the other side of the coin, I've talked to more than one cook that has cut back on the intensity of flavors in an attempt to stand out and, for lack of a better term, not offend anyone. Sometimes it's worked, and sometimes it hasn't.

 

[ique]

I like this and Southern Home Boy's somments. As a proudly non-competitive barbecuer who cooks to please friends, I have never figured out why the comp-winning stuff seems to be so far from what would please a crowd of neighbors gathered in the backyard. Now I realize there are different tastes in different areas of the country and all, but it's baffling to me why the goals are so different from one another. But they seem to be, and there has to be a reason. Can anyone explain this?

I cook to please friends and usually cook exactly like I do at contests. Pretty much everyone I cook for likes the barbecue. I dont think the goals are different at all, I try to cook a style of barbecue that pretty much anyone would like.

I do think that barbecue cooks (who cook bbq often) tend to like spicy or very basic seasoning on their bbq. But when you are cooking for the masses and are trying to please a mix of kids, seniors, adults etc competition style bbq is very well received.

 

[Mo-Dave]

Shoot I can barley eat my home Q let a lone my comp Q.
Dave

 

[jswordy]

Thanks for the answers, which sort of ran the gamut.

ique, I was at the Jack. It is obvious you have done well with that philosophy.

Jorge, your thought had crossed my mind, as well. The drive to stand out from among a pile of boxes is definitely there. A contest to me, as an observer, is kind of like simultaneous polar opposites of max conformity in some things and divergence in others.

I'm sorry, but I reckon I am just too common and unsophisticated to be able to comprehend DivaHerself and KC Bobby's answers. I guess wondering how the KCBS standards got so far away from the real world is part of why I asked my question.

I like going to comps to watch, but I enjoy feeding a bunch of folks. And I dunno, but I think even unsophisticated people can tell bad cue, though they may not tell the cooker, and the national BBQ passion for certain name restaurants located in these parts seems to prove me wrong. (Marketing is a wonderful thing, I reckon.)

Thanks again for the responses. I appreciate it, since my question is really kind of off topic. I learned some things. Sorry to semi-hijack the thread.

 

[Porkmeister]

We cook the way our Family & Friends like it. Maybe that's why we are never really close to winning, well except Chicken. My Chicken has won more times then not for some reason.

Everyone here likes drop dead fall off the bone ribs, NG for Comp.

We like Sauce & Rub with some "heat" in it, not just a pound of sugar and corn syrup.

Pork, well lets just say we like it.

Brisket, well we don't like it and the Judges sure don't like it!

So I guess the bottom line is yes I eat my "Q" and we always have way to many Friends stopping by at Comps that eat it also. Maybe if we cooked for the Judges I wouldn't be this poor!

Mike

 

[KC_Bobby]

I'm sorry, but I reckon I am just too common and unsophisticated to be able to comprehend DivaHerself and KC Bobby's answers. I guess wondering how the KCBS standards got so far away from the real world is part of why I asked my question.

I assume you are referring to this:

If I were to hazard a guess, it would be that backyard eaters don't give a damn about cookie-cutter bites from chicken skin, how quickly the rib bone turns white (and they're happier if the meat falls off), have never met mushy pork they didn't like, more than likely have never pull-tested a slice of brisket, and usually aren't as critical of out-of-balance flavors.

In short, they are not judging the food by KCBS standards. But that's all good, because whatever BBQ they're eating will always be the best they've ever had.

And on top of that, 4 out of 5 dentists neighbors and friends will drown the meat in sauce before even tasting just the meat.

If so, while I should let Diva answer for herself, I believe she is referring to judging standards as taught by KCBS certified judging instructors. While many of the tests they demonstate may be a bit concrete, they allow for the judge to subjectively judge each sample. I personally wouldn't say many of these tests are off from what makes real world BBQ the best it could be by any cook - competitive, restaurateur or backyard hobbyist.

Perfectly shaped thighs, yes. But overcooked mushy meat is overcooked mushy meat whether it's provided in a Styrofoam box, a paper plate or fine china. The pull test, while actually something many judges do (including me), it can be looked at as a euphemism for saying is it fully cooked, do you need chew on it forever, or did the brisket just fall apart. Overcooked Q is generally better then undercooked due to a friendly texture for eating, but over cooking while often creating a less then optimum texture can also take some of the great flavors out of the meat.

What KCBS standards are doing are providing the judges with methods to test these factors.

I was simply joking that most people who come over to eat in someone's backyard are going to heavily sauce the meat before even tasting it on the merit of the meat itself.

And finishing 38th of 38th doesn't necessarily mean you cooked bad Q. In fact, at most comps I believe nearly all the teams cook good Q. I agree that most people can tell bad Q from good Q. But how many can tell great Q from good Q after they've drowned the meat in sauce?

 

[lunchlady]

yep, I agree with iQue...

We cook the same at home and for catering as we do at comps.
Maybe cook the ribs a little longer and re-heat for catering, but that's the only difference. Never had anyone hate it, and people usually come back too.

We eat our comp Q ALL the time. Personally, I would rather have much more pepper and vinegar flavors than what we turn in, but that's just me. Sweet BBQ just doesnt do it for me, (I probably should live in Texas or the Carolina's) although judges in New England LOVE it!
If you want to be successful competing in your area, you have to figure out what your judges like, and I've found that it usually isn't what I like. So, you adjust.

I gotta say, I cooked last week, in the middle of a SNOWSTORM, a BBQ lunch for about 50 pipefitters, it was probably the best pork I personally have ever cooked. Definately the star of the show. Our own rub, Cattleman's tweaked a bit, and only apple juice injection. Dee-lish! They are still talking about it. I can only hope they call me up the next time they want lunch!

 

[Southern Home Boy]

No, We are vegetarians.

:shock:.....:lol:.....:|

 

[landarc]

If you want to be successful competing in your area, you have to figure out what your judges like,

I can't agree with this more. At the recent CBBQA Hangtown competition, I had the chance to taste some ribs and brisket cooked by the guys next to Humboldt Smoke, and the guy made great ribs and brisket. Perfectly balanced and savory, the pork and beef flavors were right up front, I really loved his ribs. But, it was KCBS judging standards and he was pulling 6's, if I found this product in a roadside stand, I am not sure I could ever drive past.

But, per CA tastes, he was not sweet enough and not spicy enough. Personally, I do not think you can call the flavors that win truly balanced, they are sweet and spicy, you need to hit that profile just right to win. I do want to try Rhythm and Ques cooking though, they are doing something right.

 

[Lake Dogs]

Thanks for the answers, which sort of ran the gamut.

ique, I was at the Jack. It is obvious you have done well with that philosophy.

Jorge, your thought had crossed my mind, as well. The drive to stand out from among a pile of boxes is definitely there. A contest to me, as an observer, is kind of like simultaneous polar opposites of max conformity in some things and divergence in others.

I'm sorry, but I reckon I am just too common and unsophisticated to be able to comprehend DivaHerself and KC Bobby's answers. I guess wondering how the KCBS standards got so far away from the real world is part of why I asked my question.

I like going to comps to watch, but I enjoy feeding a bunch of folks. And I dunno, but I think even unsophisticated people can tell bad cue, though they may not tell the cooker, and the national BBQ passion for certain name restaurants located in these parts seems to prove me wrong. (Marketing is a wonderful thing, I reckon.)

Thanks again for the responses. I appreciate it, since my question is really kind of off topic. I learned some things. Sorry to semi-hijack the thread.

I think DivaHerself and KC Bobby are trying to explain the standard
definition and how to hit it rather than any particular preference, otherwise
a competition without it would be a complete crap shoot. Classic example
would be my father and I. He likes ribs grilled fairly fast and hot, the
kind you have to gnaw to get a bite, lots of fat still in it, and have the
sauce on it the whole time (apparently he likes burned sugars). Being
as that's how he cooked ribs growing up, I thought I hated ribs. Me,
personally, as long as it's still tender, I prefer a more fall off the bone
rib, with little or no sauce at all, spices coming from the rub. If there
were no "standard" set by KCBS (or any other sanctioning body), the
judging would be all over the place.

What jorge is referring to is that your Q has one and only one opportunity
to impress a judge. Everything else being great (moist, etc), the taste
needs to stand alone without offending (via. salt, heat, skunky taste).
I can tell you, more often than not, how your Q is judged/scored is
weighted by how the Q before you tasted. Notice in BBQ Pitmasters when
Jamie "ruined the pool" by slamming the judges with cayenne. Everything
after that got judged down (in theory, per Trigg). At a Pod chili cookoff
(yeah, I'm a CASI dude too) a few years back we had this discussion so
we did an experiment (with all judges agreeing). After judging was complete,
keeping the same order of judges and chili, we mixed a good amount of salt
into the chili located right before the winning chili. As expected, the scores
for the chili's before our experiment came in very close to dead on where
they were earlier, then the salty one got all 1's and 2's, and the next chili
(previous winner) went from 8's and 9's to 5's to 7's. The 2nd chili behind
it was also scored down quite a bit. It was 3 or 4 chilis behind it before
we saw a leveling (back to original) of scores. Weirdly, I think it was the
3rd chili behind the salty one that then scored higher than it did the first
time. No idea why...

Back to BBQ and your original question:

We do pretty much the same as Ique, except ours is probably has a
little more spice in the rub than his (guessing by his response), and that's
probably because we like spicy foods. Mind you, it's not as hot (cayenne)
as I personally prefer, but I really like heat. It's also a little sweeter than
I personally prefer, but again, I like a little more bite than john-q-average.
We have very few leftovers. When we do, it's chicken skins, and the
dogs love that, so it's all good.

 

[CajunSmoker]

It's not just Que that I can't eat. Anything I have spent hours making, I can't eat for a while. I always serve everyone and go have a drink(or two). After a bit I can eat.

I cook our home Q very close to our comp Q. Usually just a little spicier than I would normally turn in (coonass mod):biggrin: and everyone loves it.

 

[oceanpigassassins]

I do like our brisket but everything else needs a little more spice.