Departmental cookoff


 

Wayne Ficklin

TVWBB Fan
I'm mostly a hermit at work. I go in, do my job, and go home with little fraternizing outside of a couple folks. That said, the whole IT department is gathering for a cookout, and they're including a contest with the categories Pork Butt and Sauce. (I'm in SC, so bbq = pork.) . There will be judges (as opposed to people's choice), but I'm not sure they're certified. They're likely not to be.

"Each entry will be judged on presentation, taste/flavor, tenderness, and texture. Meat may be sauced or unsauced."

I'll be reimbursed for the meat and any ingredients for the sauce, so the barrier to entry seems pretty low. I know enough about competition bbq to be dangerous, having watched a few shows, read a few books and websites, and visited a couple in person. For these informal cookoffs, is over-the-top competiton bbq too much? Any tips?

As I get more information, I'll update here in case that changes any advice.
 
Some warm-up pics: I put the meat on at 9:45 this morning. Took it off at 2:45. I need to do a little work on some things, but this was a good way to spend a day.

I don't usually wrap, and usually cook at 275. These were cooked at 315-325 and I wrapped at 160-ish. Until toward the end I didn't have the offset set correctly on the meat probe. It took me a while to catch that. Had to make a new batch of sauce. Neighbor/friend saw these pictures and she brought sides and our families ate together. (This was the first time I'd ever bother to differentiate the money muscle for medallions, the tubes, the horn for chunks, and the rest for pulled. I thought it turned out on the plated pic pretty well.)

(I'm posting these photos from my phone. Not sure how well this is going to go. I might have to take care of it when I can get on my computer. )

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Number 1 rule for me in comp bbq is "Only turn in your BEST meat". When you're separating the butt after cooking, feel for the most tender spots and turn those in. Don't waste your time with pieces that are dry, dark, or unappetizing.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes
 
Good luck! That sounds like a lot of fun. At the place I used to work, those tended to turn into big drunk-fests, and this was way before I knew how to cook at all. I remember a team cooking wings in a turkey fryer. I asked a guy about ten times if he had a thermometer. Someone tossed the first wing in and the whole thing went ablaze. That was a good time.
 
So, they awarded 2nd and 1st prizes. I didn't win either. It was fun though. (And the guys who won cooked brisket and ribs. I wasn't aware that was an option. Neither were most of the other folks who only had pulled pork. I served it 3 ways. Sliced, pulled, and chunks. I've obviously got to work on getting my pictures hosted somewhere I can share them. When I do I'll show a "plated" picture.)

Lesson learned. Leave plenty of time to pull 2 butts when that's what you cooked. Technically I could've been DQ'd because I was 2 minutes late. Also, presentation appears to count in the appearance scores more than I was aware that it would. Live and learn.

I guess now I can say my barbecue is NOT award-winning.
 
Also, had a group of guys come back for ...fifths. They were pointing folks toward mine after having sampled everybody's ...so there's that. :)
 

 

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