Competition Practice Run- FEEDBACK WANTED


 
B

Bryan B

TVWBB Fan
Hello all,

From advice and expertise obtained here and on other BBQ forums, I thought it would be a good idea to do a competition practice run before attempting my first competition in 2 weeks.

I did it this weekend and I would say that it is mostly a success. I got all the meats "turned in" on time, and there were no major issues. I do think some of the meats could've been a bit better though.

I will link pictures below. Here are my assessments of how the meats went (in order of best to worst)

#1- Chicken. I thought the chicken came out exceptionally well. Great flavor, great appearance, bite-through skin, the works, etc.

#2- Brisket. This is the best brisket I've done yet. This is the first time I've trimmed the fat cap and it seemed to make a big difference. I also injected more liquid into it than I ever have before. It was very tender and had a good flavor. One thing I didn't like was that I seemed to lose some of the bark when transferring from the smoker to foiling and putting into the cooler. You'll notice that the bark isn't completely evenly distributed on my slices and a couple slices have little to no bark. I'm sure that would cost me in my appearance score at a competition.

#3- Pork. This is the easiest meat for me to cook as it seems to be truly hard to mess up. I tried slicing the money muscle for the first time, but it didn't work out so well. I didn't get enough good slices so I decided not to put any in the box. I went with "burnt ends" and then a big portion of pulled meat. I think the quality of the meat was great, but I'm not sure about my presentation here.

#4- Ribs. They weren't as tender as they should be which I"m guessing means they were slightly undercooked. I also think I tried to foil/glaze a little too late and the glaze didn't set as well as it should. The glaze looks uneven which I know is a big "no-no" for presentation. Also some ribs had black spots where others didn't. One reason this was my worst turn-in was because it started raining during this part (even though it hadn't rained at all the rest of the time) so that threw me off a bit. I had some garnish issues here as well with some of the lettuce/parsley smeared around the box.

So please look over these pictures and let me know your thoughts as well. Any feedback could be very helpful for me taking my next step in the world of competitive BBQ.

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Why did you slice your brisket with the grain? Seems like that would make it really stringy. I've only ever seen it sliced against the grain.
 
Dave Alvarado said:
Why did you slice your brisket with the grain? Seems like that would make it really stringy. I've only ever seen it sliced against the grain.
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Well, I'm admittedly not very good at slicing brisket. I've watched numerous videos but still struggle with how to slice against the grain. The slices were coming out very tender so I thought I was doing it right. I guess not. Doesn't the grain always run length-ways of the brisket? If so, does that mean you always slice from the top to the bottom?

Is there any 'magic rule' for slicing?
 
When you trim the brisket before it is cooked, cut the end off of it perpendicular to the grain so that when it comes off to can clearly see which direction to cut. You will need to cut against the grain.


Bryan B said:
Well, I'm admittedly not very good at slicing brisket. I've watched numerous videos but still struggle with how to slice against the grain. The slices were coming out very tender so I thought I was doing it right. I guess not. Doesn't the grain always run length-ways of the brisket? If so, does that mean you always slice from the top to the bottom?

Is there any 'magic rule' for slicing?
Click to expand...
 
Yeah, what Mike said.

With a raw brisket, put it fat cap down on a cutting board. If you're right handed, put the point facing left. Look at the flat. You should see the muscle strands running kind of lenghtwise along the flat, but not quite. Make a cut that goes exactly perpendicular to those muscle strands. Then cook the brisket. When you're done, start with the end you cut and keep making slices parallel to that cut off end.
 
You need to secure your chicken skins with toothpicks or meat glue. You'll lose on appearance points if you cook the chicken without securing the skins to the thighs, because the skins shrink with heat if you don't.

The holes left by toothpicks from securing the skins aren't really noticable if you remove the toothpicks before your final glazing.
 
Dave from Denver said:
You need to secure your chicken skins with toothpicks or meat glue. You'll lose on appearance points if you cook the chicken without securing the skins to the thighs, because the skins shrink with heat if you don't.

The holes left by toothpicks from securing the skins aren't really noticable if you remove the toothpicks before your final glazing.
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Make sure to remove the toothpicks or you will be DQ for a foreign object.
 
Dave from Denver said:
You need to secure your chicken skins with toothpicks or meat glue. You'll lose on appearance points if you cook the chicken without securing the skins to the thighs, because the skins shrink with heat if you don't.

The holes left by toothpicks from securing the skins aren't really noticable if you remove the toothpicks before your final glazing.
Click to expand...

Do the toothpicks need to be soaked beforehand? Seems like they would burn. Just wondering- never tried this before.
 
Toothpicks burn at like 450F. Unless you're running directly over coals, you don't really have to worry about it. Certainly fine in the smoker, you may want to soak the toothpick if you're going on a kettle.
 
Thanks for all the feedback so far. I've heard a little bit on chicken and brisket. Does anyone have any thoughts on the pork or rib box?
 
Bryan here's what I think about the ribs

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The bone pull back on these ribs is nice. I like the color too, and the sauce has a good sheen, they're meaty with no shiners.

The turnin box is messy, and there are bits of garnish on top of the ribs. No BBQ judge wants to eat salad!

Here's the bad:
The cuts on the ribs are uneven. The top rib is backwards, and the cut on the next one is crooked. You (or at least I) want the ribs to look like they all came from one continuous 6 bone segment of the rack. The neater the cuts and arrangement of the meat, the more this appearance is maximized.

I think if you're going to turn the front rib up to show the meat, you should sauce the exposed face. I don't really like that look though, the judges will inspect the box up close so they can see the corners without you skewing one rib bone.
 
Hi Bryan.
First -great pictures !!!

Chicken- Color is very nice, need to work on skin and uniformity. But sure looks delish =)
Brisket - Must cut against grain. But looks moist and great color, nice.
Pork - Looks good, Love the bark. Try to sause it a little more.
Ribs - Great color , just a little slapy. Try to make the glaze little move even.

You are doing great ! Keep up the good work. You can only get better from now on.
Hope this helps.

Peter KCBS CBJ.
 
Mike Drewery said:
You need to do some homework and look at other boxes out there. Is this a KCBS comp?
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I've looked at several boxes on BBQ Critic. Yes, this is a KCBS comp.

Does anyone score well without garnish? I found the garnish to be difficult and it took up valuable time that I could've used for the meat.
 
In my few comps, I've found rib presentation to be the most difficult, particularly the slicing. I have the hardest time locating the bone and lining up my cut to achieve that even cutting and sizing. I've got a decent slicing knife, but I have noticed most go with the electric knife. Any hints/suggestions would be nice for Bryan and I both, I presume.
 
Okay I made this mock-up of a brisket in Paint, and this is my understanding of "slicing against the grain."

Please let me know if this is correct or if I am wrong. The orange line represents where I would slice. The black lines are the grain.

brisketlesson.png
 
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