My first real competition went pretty well. It was a long day, as I got up at 4:40 am Friday Am and didn't see sleep again until 10:00 Sat night.
The comp had a few snafu's. Had one butthead, he was only there for the fun, wasn't competing....was all we heard from him. Then after we were all sharing samples of our cooks....he tried to get me DQ'd; as I over heard him telling another competitor that he was going to do because he knew he couldn't beat me. of course, he waited until turn in time to make a scene. See, the rules stated: No electric smokers. He told them that I was cooking on an electic smoker and he wanted me dq'd. His mistake was telling them this was straight from the KCBS website and that he had seen others using this kind of cooker kicked out of comp's. They came to me, asked how my smoker cooked and told them. I also told them to tell him that if he knew anything about KCBS, these cookers were legal. That at most KCBS events, maybe half the competitors would be cooking on this style. Rather it was a Yoder Smoker, Mak, ProCooker, Fast Eddy or others. I got to stay!
Story on the canopy is not good. We were supposed to have Tstorms so I didn't set it up. Radar showed the storms were moving opposite and we were in the clear. Set up the canopy and about 45 minutes later, straight line winds came done an alleyway. Hit my truck and trailer and then right into the center of the canopy. It is pretty much toasted. Luckily, the plastic connecters broke and all the supports are 100% good. Will contact the seller and see if I can get some.
Oh, how my cook went: the canopy got hit just as I was ready to put my Butt in. I was about an hour late and it didn't turn out as done as I would have liked, however I did get this:
My ribs turned out pretty good, I got this:
I talked to the judges after, I took last in brisket and asked what was wrong with it. The guy who was heading up the judging said that I had sliced it too thin to try to make it tender. Guess he watched too many episodes of "Pitmasters". He stated that the teams that won...sliced their brisket 1/2 to 3/4 in thick. I always thought and had been taught that pencil thick (maybe 1/4 was it). I also didn't put any sauce on it, electing instead to just let it sit in all the juices and then used that for sauce. He said that "ALL BBQ is sauced and that when I didn't use any, he told the other judges that it wasn't BBQ. The winning Brisket, was cut with the grain and was chewy. But, he'd sauced it and that is what won it.
In chicken, I used Andy Gronemans method of cooking chicken thighs, removed the skin to rub and inject, then put skin back on and trimming it to be purty. I also sliced some breast meat with skin on and then pulled some. He said that they were only looking at whole pieces of chicken the guy that won it (ironically the one that tried to get me dq'd) was the only one who did whole pieces and that is why he was chosen the winner. I said "I did too....did you not see the thighs"? He said that the other guy turned in complete pieces, the thigh and the leg. By only turning in 'thigh', I had not met his requirement of only complete pieces. I then asked if he was talking about turning in chicken quarters. He said, "No, we were just looking for whole pieces of chicken". That pretty much ended my conversation and explained alot to me about the inconsitency.
As we talked the converstation came up, he told me that they also took into consideration that I had cooked on an electric smoker. I thought it was supposed to be blind! We went over again the difference in an "electric smoker" and a pellet smoker. He said that he had been to alot of comp's and had never seen anyone cooking on a pellet smoker. I invited him to go to the Royal next week to find out for himself. For those who know KCBS and other comp rules, please correct me if I am wrong on this point. You are not allowed to put plastic cups of sauce any where in the box. If you do it is a complete disqualification. He said the other teams had included cups of several different sauces for them to "dip" their meat in. I told the judge that I was 100% sure that was not legal in KCBS or any other sanction body. He said, "You're allowed to sauce, they just gave us a choice". One went so far as to mark which sauce was his "hot" sauce. I tried to explain to him that you are allowed to sauce, but that has to be only on the meat or DQ. I told the group I was talking to that I was only there for fun, that my cook was against the judging and not the other teams. But, I would have appreciated having a fairer judging panel, one that knew more about the rules.
Before it sounds like I am upset or a sore loser. Not so, I had a great time, enjoyed some great cooks and made many new friends. One guy is going to come down to Haven (another little town not far from me) and help me cook at their Fall Festival the 11th and 12th. Looking forward to that one and will cook at the Frolic again next year. This time, I will know more about what to expect. The guy who sort of was in charge....he's the guy coming to cook with me; said that he is going to several KCBS cooks and learn more.I told he should take a judging class; he never knew there was such a thing and will try to go to one with me when I go. He said that the problems this year WILL NOT BE REPEATED and asked me if I would come talk with their commitee and give them advice. I told him I would and that I would try to get some real KCBS teams to come talk to them also. Again, it was a great comp and I had a blast for my first comp.
Think I might have got a bug or something!!!!
