Barbecue Tricks

BBQ Tips and Tricks

cookoff

Competitions

Judging BBQ Competitions Fun and Free

The annual BBQ cook off came to town this past weekend and I decided to take a new angle at it.  Each year I had been scraping together a team and spending upwards of four hundred bucks to compete for bragging rights and the hope to make a bit of the cash back (some guys do… I haven’t yet).   There is definately some to that “thrill of the grill” but I wanted to try something different.

This year I signed up as a judge for the self sanctioned competition.     First off… some of the big BBQ sanctioning groups (KCBS and Memphis In May) have training classes you need to take so you may not be able to jump directly in but it’s not difficult.    My event was self sanctioned (they made up their own rules) and the group enlisted judges from other organizations.   This is not uncommon and, in general, the attitudes around the judging tents seems to be fairly loose, laid back and ready to teach newbies.  Don’t be surprised if it seems a bit chaotic.

I learned that being a judge was, for me, better than competing.

Judging bbq competitions may be right for you too if  you are:

  • Non competitive – I’m not selling a sauce  a trophy isn’t that big of deal to me
  • Hungry and love to eat –  (yes despite taking only a bite of each item you will leave FULL)
  • A foodie
  • On a budget.  I didn’t want to spend the $$ on meat, charcoal, extras and an entry fee.  It adds up.
  • Lacking free time – It takes two days to prep, cook , and compete.  Judging just takes a leisurely Saturday.
  • Wanting to feel important.  Teams lacking sleep will act silly when they see you marked “judge.”
  • Fond of sleeping in a real bed with air conditioning.
  • Wanting to compete in the future

The last point is a good one.  You get a whole new perspective on how serious (yes one cooker missed his turn in time and his chicken was eliminated) and sometime subjective judging can be.

BBQ Tricks and Tips I took away:

  • Read the rules – you’re only judged on what’s listed.
  • Appearance matters – it’s usually an individual point in the judging.  I saw a few boxes smudged with fingerprints (yuck) and sloppy with sauce.    Layout the food in the box in a clean, orderly and attractive manner.    In my case they opened the box and we all looked at it and simply judged “appearance” from 1 to 9.   That was almost a third of the total potential score.
  • Keep it hot.    The pieces that were warmer seemed to taste better.
  • Stay away from lighter fluid.
  • Judges expect some sauce, in general like sweet, NOT heat.
  • Perfect ribs won’t fall off the bone (that’s overdone) but they should come off easy.

Overall I was surprised how similar all the ribs were and how everything was still warm.  Judging was an econmical way to experience the thrill of the grill without touching any charcoal and still getting a good night’s sleep.

Competitions

Winning Your First BBQ Cook Off

It can be a bit daunting… These BBQ competitions look kind of intense even with all the beer and funny t-shirts there is an underlying seriousness to it all.

After getting though our “first time” this past weekend at a Kansas City Barbecue Society sanctioned event we have a few tricks to get you through the first big cook off.

First, know all the rules. Head strait to the website of the organization putting on the event. In my case it was http://www.kcbs.us/. Read all the fine print. The K.C.B.S. site also has a great “Your First Cook-Off” article here.

Ask questions… start at your nearest BBQ joint. I was lucky enough to be warned about having a sanitation station. In our case a clean cooler filled with beach-water and clean rags for surface cleaning; plus a fresh water cooler with push-button spigot (upright Gatorade type worked nicely) over a bus-tray as a hand washing station. Don’t forget the hand sanitizer, paper towels and soap.

You’ll need to have a fire extinguisher. No one checked ours; but we were in an amateur division and it was on the KCBS check -off judges sheet.

You’ll need gear. Don’t be intimidated by the huge rigs of the regulars on the bar-be-que circuit. No doubt those guys have it down, but I’ve heard big contests have been won on a couple of small Webber bullet grills. Our team used a single Brinkmann “Gourmet” Charcoal Smoker and it worked great. We only had two divisions (chicken and ribs) so one smoker was easy. For next time (with additional categories of brisket and pork-butt) we’ll add a second “bullet” smoker.

Research presentation and “turn in.” Timing matters. Can you keep the meat hot up until turn-in? You’ll be given official numbered turn in boxes for your team’s entries. I’ve seen some teams use insulated pizza delivery delivery bags to help retain heat.

I had a tough time finding clear tips online. Here area few starting points:
Don’t get too drunk. Not a problem for us… but seeing that we were warned by more than one cooker… and looking at a few of the teams… It must be a common hazard.

Do a test run at home. Use exactly what you’ll be using at the competition. We didn’t used colored cocktail tooth picks (to pin down the skin on our chicken) at our home test. To our horror the green and red toothpicks we used on-site added big green and red spots in the flesh of the chicken. Green spots have got to cost some “appearance” points! We got creative with a knife and sauce.

Don’t forget the little things. There’s potentially a lot. Again KCBS has a great list to get you covered HERE under “First Cook off.” It’s a good idea to start with a hometown (but sanctioned) contest. Out of town travel creates another level of planning. You’ll be amazed how many competitions are in the state of South Carolina alone!

Be prepared. Anything can happen. It will probably rain. They won’t let your car back on the grounds. Through all of it take a few notes for next time. Plus get the judges score sheets to track your future adjustments.