First Competition Complete - Looking for suggestions

[AdventurePartners]

We did our first competition this past weekend in Illinois at the Praise the Lard duel KCBS/MBN competition. We only did KCBS, I'm not as interested in MBN. We were 70th out of 76 overall. I know that was mostly because of our ribs (too salty) and our chicken (too spicy). Despite our 58th place brisket, I was really happy with the first time. Pork took 28th. You can see the full details @http://www.kcbs.us/events.php?year=2013&month=9&id=3954.

I can post raw/calculate scores if anyone is interested. I would really like some feedback on how to get better. Pork and ribs were cooked on Traeger BBQ07E, brisket was started on Traeger and finished (foiled) on Weber kettle with an IQ120 attached. Chicken was all Weber with pecan and cherry wood.

[muebe]

Well the food looks good to me.

I am sure Hub or some others who are familiar with comps will be along to give you advice

[drholly]

Looks great to me. Not in a position to offer advice, but I'd sure eat that!

[pz]

Looks great to me. Not in a position to offer advice, but I'd sure eat that!

Agree - I like to watch some of the BBQ competitions and to my untrained eye, yours looks on par with those.

[GusRobin]

Don't cook to your taste. Cook to what the judges are looking for.

Many competitors sign up for the KCBS judge's class to understand the scoring criteria taught to the judges.

How many of each did you cook? For example, many cooks will cook multiple racks of ribs, sometimes using different methods on each and then sample and select the best. That way if one batch ends up too salty, you have others to use.

That's all I have

[Keymaster]

Looks like excellent turn ins!!!

[Tenpoint5]

The brisket looks a tad dry In the pictures

[AdventurePartners]

Don't cook to your taste. Cook to what the judges are looking for.

Many competitors sign up for the KCBS judge's class to understand the scoring criteria taught to the judges.

How many of each did you cook? For example, many cooks will cook multiple racks of ribs, sometimes using different methods on each and then sample and select the best. That way if one batch ends up too salty, you have others to use.

That's all I have

Everyone one my team are CBJ, so our taste is judges taste. That being said, we over-spiced (chick) and over-salted (ribs). I was using celery salt, which is very strong. That's an easy fix. The brisket didn't end up with a dry flavor, just appearance. So I think what I'll do next time is paint broth or stock on to give a moist appearance.

I cooked 2 butts, 2 racks of spareribs, 2 packer briskets, 12 chicken thighs. I would have actually done more than that, but it was more a space issue for this cook.

Thanks for the comments.

[sliding_billy]

I think you hit the nail on the head already.  Bold flavors are great, but... they can sometimes backfire.  Other times they make you stand out in a good way.  As much as I personally dislike a painted brisket, you are probably right in this case.

[Old Dave]

Your first contest was a tough event for a first time cook. Many of the top teams in the country were cooking that event.

Getting better??  Just how much do you want to spend to accomplish this goal? This hobby is all about money. Mo-money..Mo-better.

For example, while you are using some fine cooker/smokers, there are better competition cookers out there that will make it easier to compete and also give you a better product.  It is difficult to get a competition smoke flavor out of the pellet grill. It can be done but with much more work.

Many of your competitors are using designer meats and to compete, you may need to spend the extra money and do the same.

There are good combinations of competition rubs and sauces out there that work well in these events and you should be using them. Take a class and learn what these are and how to use them.

Some suggestions for your boxes.

Parsley should be deeper in the boxes or more parsley in each box. Spend more time placing the parsley in the boxes. I see pieces that are turned over showing the bottom of the leaf and this changes the color in the box from the nice deep green color to a light green underside of the leaf color. The top edges of the parsley should be square with the edge of the box. Yours are dipping up and down.

Kinda tough to try to judge something from a picture but I can try to make some comments.

Chicken...NEVER, I say NEVER, make a judge take the last piece in your boxes. Try to use at least 8 pieces in each box. Fill the boxes up period. Chicken looks like it doesn't have bite thru skin and this is a must to win in this class.

Ribs...they are not competition done and I would think they came out tough. Should show some clean bone end when cooked right. More pieces in the box.

Pork...fill the box with meat. Use only the sliced money muscle and larger chunks. Some with bark and some without. Do not put any white stringy in the box. Learn all the muscles in the butt or shoulder and use only the best for your presentation.

Brisket...more meat in the box. Looks like a layer of fat on the bottom of each piece and is not needed. Although a smoke ring is not judged, it does look better on your meat. If you continue to cook on a pellet cooker, you might consider using a little TQ to add some color. Meat looks dry and could be sprayed with a light coat of hot water just before you close the box and turn in the meat.

I sure hope this doesn't sound to criticle as it wasn't my intent.

Dave

[Hub]

Don't be too hard on yourself -- not finishing DAL is pretty good for a first effort 

You are already way ahead, being CBJ's.  Many teams don't have a CBJ on board and wonder why they go wrong.  You've got a good grip on where your errors were.  Work on those first.  Some suggestions for priority of your corrections:

1.  Don't "overstuff" your turn-in boxes.  Leave a "frame" of well-tended grass that will focus the judges' eyes toward the food.  Yes, the grass isn't judged, but we have to face the fact that it presents the meat. 

2.  Adjust your rubs and sauces to present a balance of flavors.  A LITTLE meatiness, zing, smoke, and sauce all add up to something greater than the parts.  The most common errors in flavor at KCBS competitions are over-smoking and over-saucing.  This doesn't mean the amount of sauce, for instance, it means the flavor component that the sauce adds.  If one thing (e.g. smokiness) overpowers everything else, it will hurt your scores.

3.  You don't have to buy the best, most expensive meat but you must buy good meat.  Seek out a source of each one that is as fresh as possible.  Air-chilled, never frozen chicken is wonderful but very hard to find.  Find ribs that are not sealed in saline solution.  Non-factory pork and beef finished for custom butchering will have more flavor than grocery store stuff.  Some internet research may turn up some.

4.  Practice, practice, practice!  Tweak your recipes in your backyard, not at a contest.  Adjust times, temps and spicing and keep a log of what you do and what the effect was.  Watch colors and textures, particularly as slight changes in input can make big changes in output.

5.  Use a cook plan.  Know exactly when you're going to do what and who is going to do it.  Organization and very, very, very strict attention to detail will pay huge dividends.

Right now I'm helping a team that includes an old friend of mine -- hadn't seen him in ten years and then he shows up right next to me at a competition last week!  He finished DAL.  First timer errors, mostly.

Hub 

[Patio Cook#1]

Well here goes.
First off for the chicken, The shape look a little bit irregular to me. I would've tried to shape them a tad better and have them more consistant in their shape. Someone mentioned that your boxes needed to be filled up more. Well, I cant see how you could've gotten more thighs in the box. Six is all you need. I don't have a problem taking the last piece of chicken from a box. Not at all. (CBJ 53906).

The ribs are quite long and I would have them trimmed down more to St. Louis cut size.

The first brisket piece show quite a bit of irregularity.

That's about all I can do with pics. Appearance only. Everything about taste and tenderness is purely speculationwhen judging from a photo.

[Palmyrasteak]

I'm just getting started in the world of bbq competition. I don't want to mess you up with my thinking. The advice you got on here so far sounds like some good advice!  Let me know if you ever want to get involved in steak competitions. I can give you a couple of tips on that  . The main thing is HAVE FUN doing it!