First competition

ARoehr11 · February 2020

I live in Vegas and just signed up for a competition in Laughlin, about hour and a half away that is in early March. Going to pack up the camper and take the egg down there to try my luck at a competition for the first time. Any tips for a first timer? There is a beef and pork one bite challenge on Friday and the main competition is for pork shoulder and pork ribs on saturday. I have had the egg for 3 years now and have done all of these many times so I feel like I shouldn't have much to worry about but I have no idea what to expect! I just wanted to get some buddies together, cook, drink some beer, and have people try our food. Thanks in advance for any help!

lkapigian · February 2020

Relax and enjoy the event ...see what teams to what ....ask questions .... There will be a lot of learning that weekend, but most of all, have fun

Battleborn · February 2020

There aren't too many of us from Vegas on here, I may have to make the drive down to Laughlin and check out the comp.

johnnyp · February 2020

good luck

DoubleEgger · February 2020

‘Sweet’ generally prevails at these types of events. Good luck, have fun and meet some new peeps.

YukonRon · February 2020

Take Bourbon Slushies. Call it Marinade, hand out shot samples, along with your cooks. You will get quite a crowd at your station.

I second the sweet, smokey and a little spice.

Have fun and represent. Best of luck.

thetrim · February 2020

Good luck and please document the event as best as you can!

Foghorn · February 2020

Wagyu ribeye does well in the beef events for obvious reasons. And too much salt is not your friend.

If they are using volunteer judges that sign up onsite then what has been said about needing to make the meat taste somewhat sweet holds true - especially if there are a lot of women in the judging pool (at least that’s what the competition teams tell me).

Most serious teams make an excel spreadsheet and list every step they need for the cook and the time it needs to be done. It can be very helpful.

Most teams inject everything with stock from that same type of meat as the base. This helps the pork ribs (for example) taste like pork (not candy) even when they were in foil full of margarine and brown sugar for 1.5 hours during the cook and makes you less dependent on getting lucky that you found a particularly good tasting rack of ribs.

At the end of the day, all you can do is put out the best food you know how and hope the judges like it - and have fun along the way. If you do those two things it will be a great weekend.

I hope that helps. I spent last weekend hanging with 3 competition teams in a field of 320. The main team I hang out with got top 10 in 3 categories (dessert, ribeye, and brisket) out of 8 over 2 days. They are well sponsored and take things very seriously. That level of competition is not for everyone. Other teams seemed to have more fun and more of a party atmosphere. To each his own. Just figure out where you want to be on the seriousness scale and go for it with no regrets.

SciAggie · February 2020

@Foghorn A spreadsheet is a great idea. It’s easy to lose track of time and/or forget things. Sounds like these guys have a lot of expertise to share.

Foghorn · February 2020

@SciAggie, I often use notes on my phone when I cook for a large group. I haven't personally taken it to the spreadsheet level, but my friend's team takes it very seriously. They feel that their sponsors don't pay them to "try" - they get paid to get up to the stage when the winners are called out.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · February 2020

I’m headed to your fine town (again) for the week tomorrow. I’m there 3-4 times a year; we should get an egghead gathering setup for one of the weeks I’m there.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · February 2020

Good luck on your comp. I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts. It’s not
my deal but I always have fun when I attend one.

U_tarded · February 2020

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I’m headed to your fine town (again) for the week tomorrow. I’m there 3-4 times a year; we should get an egghead gathering setup for one of the weeks I’m there.

Majordomo just opened there (David Chang from Momofuku). It’s supposed to be amazing he collaborated with APL on some recipes for it (beef ribs). It’s on my list for my next trip this is his second of this concept with LA having the first.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · February 2020

U_tarded said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I’m headed to your fine town (again) for the week tomorrow. I’m there 3-4 times a year; we should get an egghead gathering setup for one of the weeks I’m there.

Majordomo just opened there (David Chang from Momofuku). It’s supposed to be amazing he collaborated with APL on some recipes for it (beef ribs). It’s on my list for my next trip this is his second of this concept with LA having the first.

Thanks. I’ll check it out. We ate at Momofuku Vegas last week. Always fun.

littlerascal56 · February 2020

SciAggie said:

@Foghorn A spreadsheet is a great idea. It’s easy to lose track of time and/or forget things. Sounds like these guys have a lot of expertise to share.

Agree fully...Excel is your friend!

Tspud1 · February 2020

What rules is the judging for the competiton, KCBBQ, Memphis or ???

U_tarded · February 2020

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

U_tarded said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I’m headed to your fine town (again) for the week tomorrow. I’m there 3-4 times a year; we should get an egghead gathering setup for one of the weeks I’m there.

Majordomo just opened there (David Chang from Momofuku). It’s supposed to be amazing he collaborated with APL on some recipes for it (beef ribs). It’s on my list for my next trip this is his second of this concept with LA having the first.

Thanks. I’ll check it out. We ate at Momofuku Vegas last week. Always fun.

Based on your posts I thought this might be in your wheelhouse.

ARoehr11 · February 2020

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I’m headed to your fine town (again) for the week tomorrow. I’m there 3-4 times a year; we should get an egghead gathering setup for one of the weeks I’m there.

just joined the NVBBQ Assoc so I should be getting more info on gatherings, haven't heard of anything like happening before here and that's why I am doing this comp is to find some more people that might want to get together for cook outs. Not sure if anything is going on when you come down but Ill let you know if there is an event going on

ARoehr11 · February 2020

Battleborn said:

There aren't too many of us from Vegas on here, I may have to make the drive down to Laughlin and check out the comp.

Let me know if you're going to make it down there, I'll let you know which site to look for to find us. would like to get to know a fellow egg head as I don't know many bbq fanatics here

nolaegghead · February 2020

Done a few crawfish competitions where I did bbq and cooking on the side for the other 55 teams. It's a lot of work but a lot of fun. Good luck!

Nature Boy · February 2020

Good advice already! We've done over 130 KCBS competitions, and I think the biggest tip I can give you is to have fun. Only way to have fun is to practice, have a system in place that everyone understands. When everyone knows exactly what to do next, it's a lot more relaxing, and relaxed teams cook really good tasting food. Good luck!
Chris

First competition

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