Learned things from a BBQ competition team, applied them to my ribs & chicken (long, few pics)

Foghorn

So, as I mentioned on the "What are you doing now?" thread - a couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to be a guest team member on a good competition BBQ team.  At the time, @lousubcap asked me to share what I learned. It has taken a while for me to digest and apply some of it, but I finally did it yesterday and I'm glad I did. My wife loved pork ribs for the first time in her life. My chicken still has some room for improvement. I didn't get a lot of pictures because I was mostly working alone and it was a lot of work. I didn't incorporate every trick due to the amount of effort required - or just because I didn't want to.  I didn't copy recipes exactly. In fact, I just used the sauces and rubs I already had - most of which had been sitting open for a while. 

Here are the highlights:

Ribs. 

St. Louis cut. Rubbed with Corky's (Memphis restaurant) rub. Cooked indirect over a foil drip pan on foil spacers for 90 minutes at 290 (that's just where the temp settled. I was shooting for 275 or so as I didn't have time for anything lower but I didn't want to go full turbo).  Then I covered the ribs with a thick layer of brown sugar and poured the remnants of some bottles of marinades or sauces that had some chipotle in them. Or maybe it was habanero. I don't honestly remember because it probably doesn't matter. Something with pepper.  I wrapped them in foil and put them back on the grill for 70 minutes. This time was a guesstimate based on the 290 cooking temp and it turned out to be perfect.  In competition we did it for 90 minutes at about 270.  When I unwrapped them nearly all the sugar had melted. I wiped off a couple of clumps that remained. I put the ribs on the grill unwrapped and let some bark set in for 20 minutes. Then I glazed them with a mixture of Sweet Baby Rays Honey BBQ Sauce and Franklin's Vinegar Sauce - because the SBR by itself seemed too thick and with the brown sugar already on the ribs, I thought adding a little salt/vinegar taste would be good. And it's what I had already open in the fridge. The ends of the racks were done (190+ degrees and probing without resistance) within a few minutes.  The middles were lagging (170 degrees and still a little tight).  And I needed to get my chicken on at a higher temp.  So, I cut a few ribs off the end of each rack and FTC'd them and raised the temp.  The rest of the ribs came off about 20 minutes later.  They were money. 

Chicken.

Halfcocked a 5+ pound bird. Rinsed and dried it and applied baking soda to the skin and let it sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.  I rinsed off the baking soda and patted the skin dry.  Then I peeled the skin back and applied a light coating of Granny's Magic Spice Cajun Blend (because I had some open in my cabinet) to the underlying meat.  Then I put the skin back and applied the same rub generously to the skin.  Then I cooked them at 375 with the legs (dark meat) in the hotter area of the grill for about 45 minutes until the breast meat was about 140 and the thigh meat was about 160.  I applied the same sauce I used on the ribs and pulled them when the breast meat was at least 155. 

Corn.

I covered 4 shucked ears with margarine, black Hawaiian sea salt, and a garlic spice mix then wrapped them in foil. They cooked about 40 minutes with the chicken at 375. They were a little overcooked. 

Zucchini. 

Sliced and marinated in a ginger orange marinade (had half a bottle in the fridge) and then grilled indirect at 375 for about 15 minutes. 

Guacamole.

Homemade by my wife

Pineapple (not pictured).

Sliced a whole fresh pineapple into chunks and sprinkled on some cinnamon and put it in a foil pan on the egg at 350 for 15 minutes. Ate it for dessert. 

Competition techniques I didn't use.

Multiple layers of rub

Multiple layers of glaze

Defat chicken skin

Brine chicken

Inject chicken

Apply a layer of squeeze margarine before applying the brown sugar to the ribs

Making a sauce of the perfect consistency such that you can drizzle it on from a squirt bottle and it will coalesce without needing to be brushed

Things I may do next time.

Put more rub under the skin. This is especially important when you get a skinless bite. 

Consider injecting and/or brining the chicken - but probably not.

Use butter instead of margarine on the corn and cook it 5 minutes less.

Pick a different beer. A barrel-aged saison fermented with a sour yeast is interesting and wasn't bad, but there are a lot of beers I'd rather drink. 

Thanks for looking. 

Hotch

Nicely done sir. Now where's my beer?

lousubcap

First up-thanks for sharing and the level of detail above.  But as you have noted, the competition side is a whole lot of work to nail a one or two bite sample for a judge.  While on the work-side you clearly put in a whole lot of effort with your above cook and turned out a great outcome.  Eggcellent results across the board.  

Foghorn

Thanks @lousubcap.  While the competition techniques are not for everyone, I'll probably put brown sugar and some kind of pepper marinade on my ribs going forward - at least any time my wife is around.

Thanks @Hotch.  As always, YOUR beer is in MY cooler.  Not sure how that worked out...

pasoegg

I would say you did a bang up job and appreciate you taking the time to share your adventure.  The plating looks tremendous and I would be proud to do something like that any day!!!!  march on brother.....

bgebrent

Nice detailed description.  I may wrap my spares next time as you described. Smart to cut of the ends when done to finish the thicker portions.  Appreciate the write up. 

Foghorn

Thank you brothers @pasoegg and @bgebrent.

20stone

Great looking cook, Fog. 

On the ribs, I've always been reluctant to add sugar. Does it give you a sweet bite, or does it combine with the sauce and rub?

On the tricks, you might try brining poultry. I think it's worth the extra step. 

On on a different note, I bought some datil pepper sauce, and think your wing recipe applied to StL ribs would be a winner. 

Foghorn

Thanks @20stone.  I've been pleasantly surprised at how the ribs were only minimally sweet even though I used a full 2 pound bag on brown sugar to cook 2 racks.  (This gets into the excesses of competition cooking and some of the techniques that may not be that useful at home on a regular basis.)  I think pork takes on sweet very well - think ham with pineapple or apple sauce.

I've brined turkeys, but not chickens - just because I usually don't plan that far ahead for a chicken cook.  On this one, I had time for EITHER some time with baking soda on the skin - OR - a brine and I went with the skin treatment.  I may try brining in the future.  Thanks.

I've wondered about incorporating a datil pepper sauce into something other than wings.  I think it might work very well if we find the right combination.  The Buffalo/teriyaki/datil sauce I use on my wings would almost certainly be good and interesting on ribs, but I've thought we'd probably want to reduce or eliminate the Buffalo component and replace it with something that is more mainstream barbecuey.  Maybe the next time we're together we could put a couple of different sauce variations together and play with them on some ribs.  

20stone

Foghorn said:

I've wondered about incorporating a datil pepper sauce into something other than wings.  I think it might work very well if we find the right combination.  The Buffalo/teriyaki/datil sauce I use on my wings would almost certainly be good and interesting on ribs, but I've thought we'd probably want to reduce or eliminate the Buffalo component and replace it with something that is more mainstream barbecuey.  Maybe the next time we're together we could put a couple of different sauce variations together and play with them on some ribs.  

If you will cook them, I'd be happy to render an opinion.  I would be interested to follow the same recipe on a rack, though the flavors might overwhelm the pork (but it would certainly be tasty)

WeberWho

It's all about that one bite. Many bbq teams don't use the same technique at home as they do in competition. That one bite might be a great combination but could be overpowering if you were to eat more than that one bite. (Salt for example) Funny how bbq competitions go. I do enjoy it though. 

blind99

Thanks for the write up, it's cool to hear what others are doing for competition. What I'd really like to achieve is the "lacquer" coat on ribs. Any idea how to make that happen?

Foghorn

@blind99, I tried to pay attention but there was a lot going on with multiple meats.  However, after the ribs are essentially done, the rib glaze (I didn't catch exactly what they use) is applied from a squeeze bottle.  It is fairly thin compared to most "BBQ sauces" as most of us know them.  It coalesces just from the dribbling out of the squeeze bottle.  It is a very meticulous process that requires some patience and some relative fine handwork to find the open spots.  They don't want to ever use a brush to spread the sauce.  Then they put it back on the smoker for a few minutes and as it warms up it gets even thinner and forms a nice glaze.  I'm pretty sure there is some sugar in the glaze.   I know that's not enough for you to replicate the process, but it's what I know so far.  I hope to hang with them at some future events and learn more as I go.  I tried to pay attention and ask pertinent questions, but I didn't want to take notes or act like I was trying to steal secrets.  

Foghorn

Here are the ribs we (I use that term loosely) cooked in the competition. They did not finish in the top 20 of 63 teams. 

buzd504

If a saison yeast is different from an ale yeast, why do they call saisons "ales".  Is it because they both bottom ferment?  That's always seemed sloppy to me.

Foghorn

buzd504 said:

If a saison yeast is different from an ale yeast, why do they call saisons "ales".  Is it because they both bottom ferment?  That's always seemed sloppy to me.

@buzd504, I don't know what yeast is used for what - or how they classify/name beers.  I just know that I like most saisons.  But this saison had brettanomyces which (as I understand it) is not a typical saison yeast as it is a yeast used to make sours.  That plus the barrel aging (which I generally do like) made it interesting and gave it some depth, but the sour taste just wasn't for me - even though it was not a full on sour.  

buzd504

Foghorn said:

buzd504 said:

If a saison yeast is different from an ale yeast, why do they call saisons "ales".  Is it because they both bottom ferment?  That's always seemed sloppy to me.

@buzd504, I don't know what yeast is used for what - or how they classify/name beers.  I just know that I like most saisons.  But this saison had brettanomyces which (as I understand it) is not a typical saison yeast as it is a yeast used to make sours.  That plus the barrel aging (which I generally do like) made it interesting and gave it some depth, but the sour taste just wasn't for me - even though it was not a full on sour.  

Yeah, the bret is the souring agent and doesn't have anything to do with the actual beer (I like sours, generally, but that's another topic).

northGAcock

I enjoyed the read and appreciate your sharing your learnings. Beautiful work.

Foghorn

Thank you @northGAcock.

blind99

Dang those are some good looking ribs! I've thinned sauces to get them on smoother but always end up brushing them on. I'm sure I don't have the patience for drizzling it on like they did!  (HELLO, it's 7:30!!)

i like pretty strong flavors but I couldn't get into the sour beers. 

R2Egg2Q

The problem with a brush is not so much the brush but the brush marks that can be left on the ribs.  Thinner warmed up sauces are less likely to leave brush marks.  This can impact your appearance scores but if you're cooking to eat and not for competition brush marks don't really matter.  

Nice looking cook @Foghorn!  I'm hungry now

caliking

That's a pretty cool experience. Bet you had a ton of fun. 

I'm surprised you used that much brown sugar. I recall reading somewhere that on the KCBS circuits, it seems that the judges generally prefer a sweeter  bite. I tried the 3-2-1 variations for ribs, with brown sugar and the squeezy butter stuff in the foil, but I'm just too damn lazy to do all that. Ribs turn out pretty good without all the messing around. 

+1 for brining chicken. Or pork chops. Makes a world of a difference. But I usually haven't planned far enough to incorporate that in my cooks. 

Lastly, do whatever is necessary to keep your better half happy. It will ALWAYS be worth it. Especially when you need to spend a day or 2 cutting up a hog in someone's de luxe garage. 

bgebrent

I'm with brother @Caliking that brining is legitimate for next level eats on the bird.  Setting it out overnight after a 24-48 hour brine sets you up for the best.

Eggcelsior

Have you tried Little Brett from Allagash? Good stuff.

nolaegghead

Looks and sounds great.  Sour beers are both an art form in brewing and require a trained palate to appreciate (which I'm sure you have).  That said, most of mine are accidental.

YukonRon

The presentation was first rate, thank you for sharing. Much work had gone into this, and much will be taken. The effort is appreciated greatly. Everything looked delicious.

Foghorn

Thanks @R2Egg2Q and @caliking.   I've always really like ribs with just some rub.  But when you discover something that will get your wife to eat something she wouldn't previously eat, I think you've found you're new "normal".  So I'm probably going to go with this technique until further notice.

@Eggcelsior, I have not tried the Allagash Little Brett.  It is a sour?  I haven't learned to like sours yet, but I won't rule it out going forward.  My son seems to like them as his new (first) favorite beer is Duchesse de Bourgogne.

@nolaegghead, I have a fairly limited palate in that I haven't learned to like IPAs or sours much.  So I don't know what a "good" sour tastes like vs a "bad" sour.

@YukonRon, thank you for our kind comments.  As always.  

Eggcelsior

It's an American Wild Ale. A little tart on the back end from the Brett. Not a sour though.

Foghorn

@Eggcelsior, that cool and I'd definitely try some if I could get my hands on it.  

Have you tried their Victor - or Victoria?  They sound interesting but I've never found them anywhere I've been.

Ragtop99

Foghorn said:

Thanks @R2Egg2Q and @caliking.   I've always really like ribs with just some rub.  But when you discover something that will get your wife to eat something she wouldn't previously eat, I think you've found you're new "normal".  So I'm probably going to go with this technique until further notice.

Or make two slabs.  One with the sauces and one with rub only.  I'll often not apply sauce to one slab if I'm making 3 slabs, or not sauce half a slab if making 2 slabs.

Foghorn

That's a good thought @Ragtop99.  But I have to admit, I really liked these ribs.  Better than any I've cooked in a long time.