Thinking about "anything but.."

Hi Fred,
I know a guy that won that catagory with a brisket a few years back.

Brisket was the first though since it is the only beef I've ever cooked in competition. Also thought about beef ribs but I'm not sure how to approach them.

Fred,
What about those cross cut beef ribs? I'm new to the competition thing but I do like the cross cuts.
I'm not real sure what anything but means. Is it anything other than the competition meat, or does it exclude all beef, pork, chicken?
Thanks,
Peggy

Fred,

We always consider the "return on investment" when we cook these categories. If money is good, consider prime rib or a whole tenderloin. We cooked prime rib in the FE for the Vegas contest. It was our first effort and I'd do it again in a minute. If the money is so so, consider steaks like ribeyes, strips, or even filets, although filets kind of put you back in the top money category. If the money isn't good, but you want to do it for fun, find something you can cook for under $20. At that price, you can't be disappointed if you don't hear your name.

I like the brisket idea for sure.

Rod

A like a good tenderloin, stuffed or not stuffed.

There is $7000 in total prize money in the four categories so I'm guessing 1K to a winner plus Cattlemen's has in the past matched prize money if you mention them on stage.

Rod, how did you present prime rib in the box?

Peggy, for MIM contest it is anything but pork. At larger contests, they divid it into four categories of beef, poultry, seafood, and exotic.
I'm not sure how it works in KCBS. What is a cross cut rib?

I never did "anything butt" before I had my FE.
With the FE you can prepare anything that you can do in a home oven so the choice is wide open to you. How about meat loaf or bologna en broch (SP), maybe Filet de Boeuf Braise Prince Albert
(Braised Filet of Beef Stuffed with Fois Gras and Truffles)
My point is to let your mind run wild and practice it several times before you get to the contest and be shure you can do put it in their container if required.
Good luck and let us know what happens!

Fred,
I might not have used the right term. But I remember getting beef ribs that were cut so you get a little piece of the bones maybe 1 inch or so with a lot of beef still attached. They were maybe about 6 or 7 inches long with kind of small diameter bones in them. Maybe they were from near the neck, since the bones were small for beef rib. The meat is pretty tough, but I bet they'd be great in the FE. They had some kind of weird name in the grocery store, maybe flank ribs or something like that. They were very tasty if you cooked them low and slow.

The whole tenderloin always gets a lot of attention from judges.

It they let you use your own container,which they sometimes do,prime rib would be ok.

Tom-Fl

The entry has to go into a box, but you can garnish. Right now, I'm leaning to brisket because I need all the practice I can get. I guess the good news is we have until May to decide. I must admit that Peggy's ribs sound interesting.

I'm sorry, Fred. I looked for them and can't find them anymore. They were really good. It must have been a thing where the grocers tried them for awhile and only sold them to me.
I'd like to find them again, too.
I wish you the best!
Peggy