Competition cooks?

[Toddler]

I've lurked for quite a while, and I don't see posts from people using these in competition.  I know a few are out there, as I've seen a handful at comps and posting on other forums.  Just putting the call out there, if any are here, I'd like to know.  Thinking of adding one (or more) to the arsenal.

[SouthGAQue]

I don't compete, but I am a judge & contest rep. I can't recall ever seeing a PBC at a contest.  I have seen a lot of homemade UDS, which are somewhat similar to the PBC.

[TMB]

Although I do not own one I have seen them in comps, one in mind was in the spring where I seen ten   Not sure how they placed though

[Ericd3043]

At the competition I participated in a couple of weeks ago, there were 2 similar to the PBC's.

The one was a homemade version - complete with metal piping for venting!  I did not get a good look at the other unit - it was on the other side of the area.  The first was next door to us and the guy running it was pretty stoked about it. 

As for results, he did ok.  Middle of the pack (8-12th place) for all 3 categories, but I cannot remember what he cooked on it as he had a couple of different pieces in use.

From what I saw, it is not always the equipment but the person using it and what they do with the sauce.  There are so many variables to the competition, it is hard to pin a win on a specific piece of equipment.  They have an advantage with the larger units but , from what I saw, it is because they can cook more food and be picky about what they send to the judges.

[Hub]

I used my PBC to do chicken in a KCBS contest three years ago.  Finished 6th out of 47.  I haven't used it in a competition since due to limited capacity but I know it can show itself well on that meat (I did muffin tin thighs).  For ribs I need the greater capacity and precision of my pellet cookers (but use my PBC for "friends and family" ribs pretty often).

I've pondered using it for competition ribs but I cook to temperature and find the PBC hard to manage when taking frequent "pokes" at the racks as they get near my set point.  On the pellet cookers all I have to do is open the lid and poke around -- don't have to pull out hangers.  Also, the pellet cookers resume target temperature setting very quickly after being open but the PBC runs hot when the lid is off even for a short while.

As a judge I think the flavor profile I get from the charcoal on my PBC ribs would combine well with the rub and sauce for a potentially winning KCBS rib -- I could find a good balance.  My bugaboo is tenderness, where getting that perfect bite for the judges requires some serious attention to detail that's harder to do in the PBC. 

Early on, Noah did well in some contests (don't remember the sanction body) but wouldn't say much about how he did it.  I suspect you could do well if you could get ribs of consistent size and density so that you could cook to time instead of temperature.

I've cooked pork butts in my PBC and had great results, but they weren't done for competition.  I wouldn't hesitate to try one for competition -- it should do well with a remote-reading thermometer. 

Have never cooked a brisket in my PBC -- the pellet cookers just do it too well so I've never tried.  Several folks have posted good looking briskets, though.

Just thinkin' . . . 

Hub