02-26-2021, 12:13 PM
(01-15-2021, 12:18 PM)michaelsean Wrote: Does anyone do competition? I have no desire even if I became proficient, and I doubt I ever will. But as a new person to smoking I watch a lot of videos, as you can imagine, and some of them are about how to cook for competition. And I hate them. They ruin my image of barbecue. They cut the ribs down to these perfect little McRib looking slabs, and they cut the brisket down to look like Spongebob dressing as a ghost. (Ya’ll know what I’m talking about.) I get trimming, but this cosmetic stuff is not what I picture when I think of southerners cooking barbecue. Play the lie you’re given. That to me is what takes talent.
My son and I competed for years on the KCBS circuit, and did fairly well, won some money and some trophies. Forget competition BBQ unless you have a crap ton of money you just want to give away. Too much money ruined the sport. When we started out, you would have people coming in with pop up tents and a smoker and some coolers.(which is how we did it) My last competition the cheapest RV there was probably north of 250K. Then you have the people bringing in whole cooking trailers with 10 man crews. Figure entry fees and meat, gas, supplies etc. and you're looking at 1000 dollars per competition. And if you've never eaten competition BBQ, here's a hint, it sucks. In competition you get judged on one bite, and so cooks try to get as much flavor in that bite as possible, to the point if you ate a normal meal of it you would be sick. Also, the key to scoring in competition (and this is the running joke) is to have your entry offend the least number of judges as possible..... ie, you can't spice it up, or be too bland, etc. This is where getting a look at the judges before turn in comes in handy. If it's mostly women or older, you don't go spicy or even tangy... stay sweet and away from any heat. If it's a younger crowd of judges and a lot of men, you can go spicier. It's all a guessing game. But in the end, we would wind up taking leftover brisket and pork butt home (because we cooked it in competition just like I do at home), but would throw the remaining ribs and chicken away, because it was not what I like to eat.
If you are looking at videos, check out Malcomb Reed's "How to BBQ Right" series. You can tell after 5 seconds this man knows BBQ (you'll see what I mean) Malcomb has "Killer Bees" competition BBQ, and does quite well selling his rubs, sauces, etc. The difference with him is he sends out videos focusing on how he cooks at home as well as how he cooks at competition. You can subscribe to his channel free and get about 1 recipe a week sent to your email, and all his videos are on You Tube.
