Tips for First Time BBQ Comp

1st thing, GOOD LUCK. That means that you'll have to be fortunate to get 3 judges tables that like the flavor that you enter.I've seen a wide range of likes and dislikes.Most judges give you one bite, maybe two if the first tasted good.

I have judged 8 contests this year, but they were in the midwest, so the type of sauce we are accustom to on our chicken,ribs may be different then where you are from?

The goal is to produce a product that doesn't offend any judge. Sweet with a little heat seems to work around here. Some judges want to be able to taste the meat, so don't hide the flavor, just enhance it with rub,sauce,etc.

Wish I could help a little more...but it is a regional thing on how to present pork.

Good luck again, and let us know how it goes.

Find out who is sanctioning the event and read up on their rules. Don't forget the brisket!

things you need to know:

What are the rules?
Do they specify judging criteria?
Where do they get judges?
Are they certified or trained or just public off the street?
Turnin; what are their rules for turnin, that will dictate more questions.
What time are the turnins?

There is no magic bullet set of answers to your question, otherwise why even compete?

The goal is to go and have fun, and over time you'll get better.

But some things that will help.

Don't sweat your first contest. Really. If you stress about it you won't have fun.

Consistency. What wins? Consistency. Turning in perfectly cooked meat that tastes great and looks good.

One bite. Keep in mind that the judge isn't going to eat every bit of your entry. Just too many categories and too much meat. Typical judge will take one maybe two bites. So you have to put a lot of flavor in that bite.

Practice. You say you know how to do it, but have you practiced under contest conditions? Set up in your driveway/backyard and used their turnin times? Cooking great ribs with no time schedule is one thing, Turning in perfect pull off the bone ribs (KCBS) at 12:30 plus or minus 5 min is a different story.

I'm sure more people will jump in, so see if you can answer those initial questions.

You don't say if the is a sanctioned event,or some kind of "People's Choice".

There has been an FBA contest in Panama City the last couple of years,but is not on our schedule.

It appears to be to produce a lot of presold meat to give proceeds to the charity.

Probably the judges will be local business folk,fire chief,Pres of Ladies Club,little league basball coach,etc.

If so,they like a full box,which they probably provide?

You are in what we call "lower Alabama",so sweet sauce and don't be stingy.You can always give a little cup of sauce,so they can add some.

Like cal says"don't hurt,or scare anyone" with your sauce.

I'd say your container should be neat and look like you cared about how it looked.Personally,I wouldn't overload it to look sloppy.

Chicken pieces should be of a size folks can eat with their hands.Don't try to cut a chicken into eight pieces and fill the container.Put the couple things you do best and be sure there is a piece of each for each judge to sample.

Submit nicely trimmed St.Louis spares,or loinbacks.A couple for each judge,if it fits the container.

You are in pulled pork country,so give nice,but not too large or small bites.

Good luck and thanks for helping the charity.

Thanks guys for all of your input. To answer a few of the questions that you posed, it is not a sanctioned event, but is a fairly large event and will have alot of participants. I thought that this would be a fun event to enter for my first time since it is for charity and bragging rights and not a sanctioned event.

I have cooked under the pressure of deadlines and serving times, and I keep fastidious notes from each one of my cooking sessions, so I have lots of timelines and history to pull from.

Scoring is based on presentation, taste/flavor, and tenderness/texture. I'm not sure the percentage allocated to each. Turn in times are 10:30 am for chicken, 11:00 am for ribs, and 11:30 am for pork. I'm sure the judges are local folks with some minimal training and a taste for BBQ.

One rule that confused me a bit was, "Meat may not be sauced after cooking stops." That may not be a big deal for ribs which could be glazed and finished on the grill before plating, or chicken where sauce could be served on the side, but that could be an issue for pork butt if you can't sauce or season after it is removed from the smoker. I've never been too big on injecting my butts, but maybe I need to consider it if I cannot sauce it after cooking just to get some additional flavor into the meat? Or maybe I should just stick with how I would normally cook a pork butt, and either mop heavily towards the end or serve the sauce on the side?

I do have one thing working in my favor--Panama City does not have any exceptional BBQ places, so good Q really stands out here. Most people down here think Sonny's is good BBQ. I know the guy who has won the event the past couple of years (he swept every category except whole hog last year), he has a BBQ restaurant in town that is the best that there is, but it still isn't "Cookshack good." Unless he does something radically different for the competition than he does in his restaurant, I think I can give him a run for his money

The no sauce off the pit is a TX contest thing.

Other than that,it sounds like my earlier post.

Tom, I'm pretty sure the event that you are referring to is the Grills Gone Wild event. I talked to the event organizer, and while they are following FBA rules, they have not sanctioned the event only because they want to give as much away to charity as possible, and a sanctioned event requires that they pay out cash prizes. Otherwise it is run like a FBA event.

Once you're over the hump with this comp, think about taking a KCBS judging class. I picked up some good info. Good luck with Comp 1!

Hey, yea Good Luck !! MaxQue is right about the judging class. Also consider a compitition cooking class put on by a wellknown Pro teams. I was told a few years back that a class like that is worth 7 years of touring compititions. For this event try this, "Remember that only 6 or 7 portions need to be PERFECT." You are not feeding the whole tent full of judges. Again Good Luck!!!

If it follows our FLBBQ rules ,you will have the standard nine inch foam clamshell.

There is no garnish,or anything but the meat in the box,and there must be at least eight identifiable pieces.

Sauce,or pooling is not a DQ in the box.

St. Louis spares work better in the bare box,because they don't roll around like loinbacks.

A more full box,looks better than eight small ,bare pieces.

Legs can roll around,so thighs present better.

Eight little ketchup cup sized bites of pork don't impress the judge.You don't have to have individual pieces,but enough.

Nice sized pieces of bark,longer pieces of white and pink inside pieces,smaller pulled pork show you can cook all and they present well.

FBA allows "presentation",rather than just appearance of your entry.It is still around 1/7 of your score.

Taste/tenderness is the rest.
You will have a 10 min window at the turnin table.

Ribdog is another Master judge,but mainly a top cook in FBA and he may stop in to help out.
Hopes this helps some.