help needed - cooking competition questions

ChuckGGa · August 2008

Not sure where to start - I have a ton of questions and I hope some of you could offer some advice...
A couple of buddies and I have decided we'd like to try our

ChuckGGa · August 2008

well- looks like 3/4's of my post didn't come through for some reason -
anyway - looking to enter a local cookoff with 2-3 buddies and we have a ton of questions... we all think we cook great on our eggs and assorted other cookers, but we have questions related to things like timing, any advice is appreciated - hiccups or roadblocks any of you have encountered in your first cookoffs? and could advice be offered so we could avoid those same rookie mistakes?

We are all local to the Atlanta area (Marietta, Norcorss, Canton) - anyone willing to let us treat you to a lunch or beer and talk competitions / cookoffs for a little while and us take notes?

This is a good excuse for us to get away from the wives for a couple of days here and there, and we simply enjoy cooking / eating - thought we'd try our luck at a KCBS cookoff as a backyard bbq entrant and looking for some advice on timing / scheduling and what have you from some of you seasoned pro's.

Thanks -

Buster Dog BBQ · August 2008

Is there a better payoff or rules for the backyard vs. the kcbs?

My first piece of advice is do a practice run at home. for KCBS turn ins are

chicken 12 (cst. Check your times as I don't know if they change)
ribs 1230
pork 100
brisket 130

you need to be done with each in time to box them

don't go there to party. go to cook and win

don't rush the cooks. get setup and eggs started so when you are ready to go they are too. You have to estimate that ribs take 5-6 hours, pork 1-2 hours per # and same with brisket.

don't get caught up or intimidated by other cooks or cookers.

ChuckGGa · August 2008

Thanks for the reply - good advice.

In reviewing the details thus far, it looks like for the backyard bbq entry you don't have to do brisket -
We just thought for a first time entry, that the backyard bbq amateur entry level might be the way to go - less presure for a first time competition without adding brisket to the mix - entry fee is less, payout is less. turn int ime sare earlier in the morning.

Buster Dog BBQ · August 2008

make sure to practice. also if you need garnish, an all parsely box looks pretty good.

make sure you do enough food in case a piece is burned or dry.

I do 12-16 chicken, 4 ribs, 2 pork butts and 1 brisket.

Squeeze · August 2008

Most Backyard Contests are Ribs and Chicken. If that is what yours is, that is not bad. Do trial runs on both of your meats. Write down everything you do down to the minute and make a timeline. Count backwards from turnin time and that should set your schedule on when you start stuff to when you pull it. If you saw my schedule you would probably think I am crazy as I have down to the minute on exactly what time rub goes on to when I light the egg to when I go to sleep. Consistency wins. Practice, don't party too hard,believe in what you are doing, and mostly have fun.

-Kevin

ChuckGGa · August 2008

This is great info - thanks.

chicken - do you do thighs? or do you do other pieces? the few competitions I have been too, I've seen thighs turne din - is this standard?
We are also reading up ont he KCBS rules and what have you, so we aren't going into this as blind as we may sound - but details form peple that have been there / done that is better to me than reading a manual.

ribs... we assumed 4 slabs would cover us - and 2 or 3 butts - agreed.
on the ribs - in your opinion, sauce or no sauce? there may be a rule for this, I am not sure -

ChuckGGa · August 2008

Kevin -

would you consider sharing your timeline? or any notes you have from your experiences?
that is one of the things we are doing - writing everything down and we have a few practice runs scheduled. the cooks we are looking at include butts also, so one more meat - just minus the brisket is what we are seeing.

Squeeze · August 2008

How many eggs will you have and what size are they, that will make a lot of difference.

Pretty guarded on the direct notes and timeline, but I could give you a rough example. Send me an email to the address listed in my profile and I will try and help you more.

-Kevin

ChuckGGa · August 2008

2 of us have 4 larges amongst us, as well as a small and a mini -
and 3 offset cookers -

i believe we've met before - are you the 10 pound hamburger guy? and the crazy long sandwich guy from eggtoberfest?

Squeeze · August 2008

That is me...

Buster Dog BBQ · August 2008

I do thighs - bone in skin on. I think most people do. How you do them is what you thinks works best for you. Me telling you would probably get you out of your comfort zone.

Ribs, don't sauce till the end so they don't burn.

Celtic Wolf · August 2008

What Competition are you doing? You might find an Egg Team going to it and they should be willing to answer questions on-site too.

ChuckGGa · August 2008

We are looking at the Cherokee Pignic... in Canton, Ga. Problem is, just realized it is the same weekend as eggtoberfest... seems like a sin to have anything bbq related on that same weekend!

ChuckGGa · August 2008

We are looking at the Cherokee Pignic... in Canton, Ga. Problem is, just realized it is the same weekend as eggtoberfest... seems like a sin to have anything bbq related on that same weekend!

Celtic Wolf · August 2008

You might be out of luck running into an Egg team, but you never know. :woohoo:

You can email me if you want. Ask all the questions you want. I compete on the "Pro" side of the competitions

Unknown · August 2008

You will probably find a team or two there.....

ChuckGGa · August 2008

That's good to know...
if you are participating int hat one, drop me an email.
Thanks -

help needed - cooking competition questions

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