Competition meat question.

Welcome to the forum.

Good questions. Most of the comp cooks I know buy butts, shoulders and ribs from the box stores. It's simply the easiest and most economic way to go. Most teams have preferred brands such as I.B.P., Prairie Fresh, Swift, etc.

If you have a relationship with a butcher, all the better in terms of sizing out butts & ribs. Straight bone ribs and butts with a nice money muscle are a plus. Quite honestly, while I prefer heritage breed pork such as Berkshire or Duroc, when it comes to spares and butts the difference is negligible. A nice 8 bone rib of "prime rib of pork" is a different ballgame

What differences have you discovered in your practice cooks?

It really boils down to the cook. Look for butts and ribs you can easily access. Hone your cooking technique, rubs and sauces and presentation. make slight adjustments as you go. If YOU are happy, chances are the judges will be, too.

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply. I have mostly been buying my meats from the local Butcher. As far as the practicing I have been trying to keep it simple and do what works for me. What I have found out is there is a lot of good info on this forum and if you let it, it will drive you crazy wanting to try this or that. So I have decided to get good at doing it my way and tweek when needed. I had to learn how to cook on the FEC-100 as it was a lot different from the offset I was used to.

I'm particular about the meats I cook, with that said, I have my butcher order me cases of ribs, briskets that I want. I pick and chose from his cooler for PBs though.

A lot of people "chase" the latest internet trends or fads in competitions. But with so many people talking about it, be aware that a lot of that talk is just that.

The real winners are saying what they are cooking with.

I won a lot of money (really) with the pork from Sam's. BUT make sure it's not solution enhanced. Don't want that hammy taste.

The heritage breeds are "different" and that may be good or bad depending on your experience, your rubs/sauces and cooking methods.

Just look for the freshest pork you can get. Track the brands that you buy and how you like them and how they score. It took me into the 2nd year to really start hitting the pork scores.

Lots of good info from the experienced cooks/restaurant owners above.

To tag onto a couple of their comments.Sam's Club works with KCBS and most of the cooking associations.
If you are are a traveling team,you can find them many places,call ahead,and often order what you need.If you get used to cooking their products-which can be different according to their different distribution centers,you tend to know much about their products and your work with them.

I'm guessing many cooks in AL look for IBP fresh pork.We do, in much of the South, and they are common at Sam's.Talk to your Sam's managers and if they get three trucks a week,often they let you pick thru the shipments.Sam's enhances chicken parts,but not beef and pork.

Restaurant Depot also works well with these assoc.,as well.

If you have taken the Judge's class for Memphis,KCBS,and FLBBQ Assoc. you will know what the judges are looking for.[Some of our Master Judges just chuckled,as did our experienced cook teams] But,you need to start somewhere.

Local butchers may cut what/how they want and think you should want to eat.We have found that they charge extra to cut their way and then it increases your work having to rebuild it for the judges' tent.

As Max says about personal dining,some of us may appreciate well preprared Heritage pork,as it is different from what we get at a lesser dining establishment than his.

DIFFERENT can mean" standing off" from what many judges are used to and maybe put off by.

We have cooked all across the SE and were fortunate to have sponsers for Heritage pork,as well.

Good,or bad, our team eventually all became Masters and Table Capts.We felt in tasting our own products and observing other judges, that sometimes folks felt there could be not only a different taste,but "mouthfeel".

You are in heavy Memphis comp areas,so find many teams cook loinbacks and judges get used to judging them.But,cook what you cook well.The judges that travel every week are mostly cross trained in all the comp standards and habits.

Cal is probably the most recent forum member to follow these tracks and might be one of the best to advise on what is near your area.It sure has brought him success.

Enjoy and remember it is consistent.A First may feel warm and fuzzy,but in AL large/good quality comps,four top ten's takes home the money.

I've won with Grocery store butts and with Compart Duroc Butts... Personally I like the flavor of the Duroc butts better, however I cannot correlate scores being better with one or the other... With Butts it depends on how you prep, season, and cook it more than it depends on where you get it from IMHO.

Ribs and Brisket... now that's a different story... I'm more particular about those...

Nordy

Another source for you is a father/ daughter team out of Boaz,AL.Goes by team name that you know is"chicks".He is Ron Montgomery.

Been around the Southern circuit for a few years and they are doing pretty well.He might even be a CS dealer.

quote:

Originally posted by Nordy:
...

Ribs and Brisket... now that's a different story... I'm more particular about those...

Nordy

And those are

quote:

Originally posted by SmokinOkie:

quote:

Originally posted by Nordy:
...

Ribs and Brisket... now that's a different story... I'm more particular about those...

Nordy

And those are

That's what I'm talkin about!

Yeah, I'm liken dat.....

quote:

Originally posted by SmokinOkie:

quote:

Originally posted by Nordy:
...

Ribs and Brisket... now that's a different story... I'm more particular about those...

Nordy

And those are

Compart Duroc Ribs
Snake River Farms Wagu or Creekstone Farms Prime Briskets

Nordy

Some of the old guys mentioned one thing ya'll left out.

Pick a good table.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom:
Some of the old guys mentioned one thing ya'll left out.

Pick a good table.

Are there still some left? Seems to be a lot of chatter on Facebook lately about T.O.D. ---tables of death.

I'm sure there's still plenty of good, qualified judges out there but the "eaters" are getting all the buzz this season.

Well,wintertime and "cabin fever" seem to bring on all the same conversations.At least the last 15 years ,since there have been forums.[Luckily,not at Cookshack. ]

Seems like when the paperwork is just right,you can pick the couple hot and "death" tables out of the eight.

We've been there,but....

Being fortunate to hang with a few good cooks over the years,seems like somehow the "cream still rises".

Thanks Nordy. I knew what they were, but thought you might jump in. Thanks again.

Don't ask me why but, I've got Compart Duroc Butts and Ribs as well as Swift 1855 Ribs and IBP Green Label butts in my comp meat inventory. I've won with both and while Compart is my main go to product, I look at where I'm cooking and make the determination on which brand I use.

Both Ribs and Butts require a different prep method and cooking temperature for me as well. Maybe I'm Chasing the latest internet trends but so are the judges.....

Best advice I can give you is pick a brand and learn to cook it well. Then tweak with particular breeds when you master the cooking side of it.

As for brisket.... I use Snake River Farms once again, its a whole different animal than Creekstone and Sam's Choice or even their Prime Grade Briskets.
Once again, Learn to cook a Sam's Brisket to a good degree of texture and appearance, then you can experiment with taste profiles of the different breeds.

Good Luck!

David, I see The American Dream Team is tearing it up this season.

Stay funky my friend.

quote:

Originally posted by David Qualls:
....Chasing the latest internet trends but so are the judges.....

Ok, feel like Soap Box time.

It's not you David, but that comment so clearly puts out what's wrong with BBQ judging today. When the details of judging are decided in internet forums, and not by the organizing/sanctioning body, then something is wrong with the process. Take chicken skin. In KCBS originally there was no such thing as "bite through" it was the judges talking in forums about what it should be and thus now it's mandatory. Not a bad thing, but the cart is leading the horse. KCBS didn't determine it, it was determined in forums (non-KCBS) over a few years time.

I mean let's go back a few years and tell the founders that you would need to cook Duroc pork or Wagyu to win a category.

It's not BBQ anymore, it's about $$$$ and food science.

It would turned into a thread jack and actually doesn't really matter at this point. I voted with my $$ by not competing. I don't miss the Table of Death, and I don't miss the whole judging thing.

The only thing I miss is the friends I'm made along the circuit, not seeing them each week.

Okay, time to get down off my soap box. Been sick a few days so not feeling the best.

Need to go cook something.

MAX, Thanks! its been unbelievable just solid and not to bland and not too bold profiles.

The wheel could fall off the wagon any week now!

SMOKIN, I agree and understand. I was in Iowa when a top 5 team year in and out got a comment card about his burnt ends because they were "Too Fatty" just a couple of weeks after Tuffy Stone made the comment on BBQ ShitMasters.

I'm seeing the fads come and go, but you still have to feed the judges what they think they want if you want to play the game.

When it isn't fun anymore, I'll check it in as well.