2 butts 14.5 lb packer, comp test...photos


 
B

Brandon A

TVWBB All-Star
As some of you may know I'm attending my first comp. next weekend, so this is my weekend to do a test run. I am doing 2 butts over a med/large packer tonight, then (maybe ribs) but for sure a cheese stuffed fattie, and some roadside chicken (on the kettle) tomarrow.

I originaly started with Kevins metamorphesis rub, but have strayed pretty far from it, a little bit at a time. If anyone is interested, this is what I'm using for the brisket, the butts are a slightly different rub. (the version before this one lol)

My ever evolving BBQ rub

1/2 c Light brown sugar
2 T Kosher Salt
3T Ancho
2T Guajillo
1.5T Allepo
1/4 cup granulated onion
1/3 cup granulated garlic
1T Savory
1.5t Allspice
2T Blues Hog rub (cinnamon, ginger)
1t Cajun Cowboy

Pepper mix:

grind 2T white/pink/green/black peppercorn
grind 1T dried green/red pepper
add a few more healthy twists of black pepper

I'm sure Kevin could point out many glaring short commings (see also, mistakes) in my rub, but I just wanted to try to make it my own, and it tastes pretty damn good on your finger
icon_wink.gif


So heres the photos of the beginning of the cook, the smokers now leveled out at 235, 2 dampers closed on full open, and I will moniter until I can't keep my eyes open anymore, enjoy!

Oh and sorry Bry, but I was stuck home today and couldent make the hour round trip to get out to buy some more lump, so its a K cook. Almost an entire 18lb bag. (I had a friend roll and weld me a ring that is 1" taller and 1" wider then the original) seems to work ok.



Brandon
 
Good luck Bud on your cook, and keep them pics coming.
icon_cool.gif
Yep, same price of $1.72 so many miles away. I'm a super huge fan of them Wal-Mart packers. It's alot of meat for so little coin.
icon_biggrin.gif
And they are just so darn tasty.
wsmsmile8gm.gif
 
Brandon...good luck next weekend!! If you have been taking advice from Bryan and Kevin, I would have the think you are in good company with techniques and traditional ways of getting it done!! Be sure and let us forum readers know how it turns out!
icon_smile.gif
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Brandon A:
(I had a friend roll and weld me a ring that is 1" taller and 1" wider then the original) seems to work ok. Brandon </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Ok Bud, but I do worry about the wider part. The taller is fine, no worries, but the wider part, which will put you on the very outside of the charcoal grate, wories me some. Keep an eye out for falling ash, clogging up the charcoal bowl, air intake vents.
icon_wink.gif
Might not be an issue, but then again it could be. Looking forward to the rest of the pics and your cook.
icon_cool.gif
Beans Man!
 
Well the photos have been updated and the cook went well. The cook lasted much longer then I anticipated due to the fact that I "fell asleep" with the vents closed and when I woke pit temp was down around 190
icon_rolleyes.gif


The only thing that bothered me was the almost complete lack of smoke ring
icon_confused.gif
I used 4 pretty good size chunks of hickory and 3 chunks of maple. I guess it dosen't matter as long as the meat comes out moist and tasty, but its just strange. The meat went straight from the fridge to the smoker, so I dunno...

What I do know is, I have 5 bags of pulled pork, 3 bags of chopped brisket point, and a half a stuffed fattie in the freezer. Plus sliced brisket in the fridge, looks like a brisket leftover week. I did my first stuffed fattie today and it was pretty amazing
icon_smile.gif
It was almost too hot for me though, I used Jimmy Dean Bold Country sasuage, and stuffed it with pepper jack. I drank alot of milk with it
icon_biggrin.gif

Heres a little eye candy...
IMG_7451.jpg

Bry, I did notice alot more ash fell out of my dampers having the modified charcoal ring, but I dont think it will be as much of an issue when I get some more lump.

All in all, another great weekend hanging out with the Webers!

Brandon
 
Pics look great. Real nice bark on the flat slices. Fattie looks great with all that cheese in there. Real nice job on everything Bud.
icon_cool.gif
 
Brandon, I took a quick look. The photos take a while to load so I only looked at the brisket.

My only comment is that there does not appear to be much of a smoke ring and this may impact your contest results.

I'm not sure if I have a pic from our last contest, but we had a distinct smoke ring and got a 9th in brisket.

Suggest using best quality, Prime if available. Place meat on the cooker cold as soon as the coals are lit (don't wait to get the WSM up to temperature). This allows the meat to be absorbing smoke as long as possible.

Also we remove the point before slicing and of course cut across the grain of the flat about pencil width. Usually the meat under the point is the best to use.

Good luck,

John
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Brandon A:
Bry, I did notice alot more ash fell out of my dampers having the modified charcoal ring, but I dont think it will be as much of an issue when I get some more lump. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
As long as it was falling through no worries. I just wanted to give you a heads up to keep an eye out for the possiblity that the wider ring might/could clog up the lower air intake vents, doubtful though, but you never know.
icon_wink.gif
Glad to hear all went well for you.
icon_cool.gif
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by J Reyes:
My only comment is that there does not appear to be much of a smoke ring and this may impact your contest results.

Also we remove the point before slicing and of course cut across the grain of the flat about pencil width. Usually the meat under the point is the best to use.

Good luck,

John </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

John, I too was puzzled by the lack of smoke ring. The butts barely had any pink to them either.

I always fire the same way. I light my chiminey, the start putting the meat in the smoker. When my coals are lit for minion I dump them on, arrange, add wood, then assemble. The meat probably waits a max of 10-15 min between fridge/smoke. The probes usually read 40-43 degrees initially. Better luck next time *shrug*

I also remove the point before slicing, and slice pencil size, or a little smaller. Across the grain etc..This will be a very small comp, I'm guessing maybe 10-15 teams. If I place 9th in brisket, I will be very disapointed to say the least
icon_wink.gif


I have to add that I pulled the rest of that fattie out of the fridge last night and sliced it very thin, ate with some ritz crackers and a few beers Loved it! I know what I'll be saving fatties for now.


Brandon
 
Ya 15-20 teams is smallish, is it a KCBS comp?

43 teams at ours last weekend. Actually found out we tied for 8th, not sure what the tie breaker was. Anyways our brisket beat out a lot of big name teams; past team of the years, most using high end cookers (Traegers, Fast Eddys, various trailered off sets like Klose, Tucker's etc.) We actually tied with the team using a Fast Eddy FEC300 and came very close to beating an all Green Egg team.

Many if not most of the teams in the top 20 are in the business one way or another, either as caterers or smoker distributers.

So comparing the WSM to what many of the other teams had is like going to a bar fight with a knife while everyone else has automatic weapons.

Even beat out many teams using Stoker devices.

Oh ya the brisket winner used Wagyu beef which I beleive I heard they paid around $120 for.

If it was just simple smokers like WSMs I'm sure we would be at or towards the top. So considering what we were up against, we're very happy with the results.

IMO, if you finish anywhere in the middle of the pack for your first comp, that is a good accomplishment.

Good Luck

John
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by J Reyes:
... My only comment is that there does not appear to be much of a smoke ring and this may impact your contest results.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

In KCBS the smokering or lack thereof is not supposed to be a factor at all. Has anyone else experienced or heard of anything otherwise?

Tony
 
KCBS rules, excluding the little one about using gas
icon_rolleyes.gif
so no, its not sanctioned. I hope I school some gassers!

I'm no judge, but I like it when my meat has a smokering, and consider it better then when it dosent have one. But lets not go down that road, it borders on argueing politics and religin
icon_wink.gif


Now that I think about it, the lack of smokering may have been caused by me falling asleep with the dampers closed off. Maybe the low pit temp (190* LID when I woke up) during the early morning hours halted the smokering formation, I know it prolonged my cook by close to 4 hours.
icon_rolleyes.gif


As long as I can get my meat done in time for a good rest and feel that I've put my best Q to date in the turn in box, I will be happy. I may even try to limit my beverage consumption until Saturday's turn in. We'll see how that goes
icon_wink.gif


Brandon
 
I will say that I thought I had a shot at first after the turn ins. Everything came out better then I could have hoped for and I was stoked for the results.

After waiting 4 hours for the results, I didnt place in anything. Out of 12 teams I took 8th overall, 5th in brisket and shoulder, 8th in ribs and 10th in chicken. I was supprised to say the least. Nothing lots of free beer from people supporting me couldent help
icon_wink.gif


The thing that really got me pissed...My friend's team confided in me before judging that they overcooked their brisket so badly that it wouldent slice it just crumbled. Some commented that it would be good with carrots and tators...When it took 2nd place and I dident even get a mention I about flipped. I even took leftovers to them that night and they coulden't tell me why they won
icon_confused.gif


I cant complain though, there were alot of smokers in the 1-5k range and a couple in the 10-20k range. Not that I was intimidated by the big offsets, but the trailored gassers I was for sure
icon_smile.gif


I didnt add anything to my meat, and I wonder if I should have. Perhaps it would have been a good idea to sauce the ribs. And maybe I should have smoked my chicken instead of grilling it. But I thought my brisket and butts were the best I ever made, and I didnt add apple juice or any kind of finishing sauce to either.

So, to get down to it here are my first comp turn in baskets. And here is a link to more photos of friends and family etc.. We all had a great time and I'm glad I got my first comp under my belt. I am looking foreword to my next one.

Brandon
 
If you don't mind: Work on the presentation. It's in the details. It might be just the pics themselces, but the chicken looks too dark. The skin from piece to piece looks uneven. Shoot for pieces that look pretty much the same. The ribs need to be cut more evenly and could use a little sauce. The rib in the middle, at its bottom, looks ragged. A little sauce can cover that. Sauce will even out the appearance. (And ribs at comps are meat candy.) The pork needs the moisture and bit of shine of a finishing sauce or a regular sauce, imo. (I'd prefer the former.) It will improve mouthfeel and better convey flavor. The brisket box needs 6 evenly cut, similarly sized pieces (5 are okay in size; the one at far right, no), and they need to be clean--no flecks of meat and bark hither and yon. Be careful when slicing and putting them in the box then clean them up. The pieces read as dry--in the pic anyway--but even if they are not, if they look dry the taster is mentally prepped for 'dry' and they can read that way in the mouth just because they look that way, regardless of reality. If the sauce you are using is on the thick side, simply paint it thinly on each slice with a pastry brush, or mix a little of the foil juices or a 50-50 mix of chicken and beef stock into your sauce to thin it, then use a pastry brush to paint it on--carefully, on the sides facing up, lifting each piece gently to do so. (Alternatively, paint each side of the slice as you slice, before arranging; my preference.) Sauce will provide shine, cut the tendency of the brisket to dry after slicing, and even out appearances between the slices.

Practice like crazy between comps. Good that you had a great time. And good luck on your next!
 
Welcome to the world of comp barbeque. As you found out cooking in the backyard compared to cooking for judges can be very different. Comps can be humbling.

I find two distinct type of competitors; (1) those that are in the business (cookers, equipment, sauce, caterers, etc.) and (2) backyard guys. With the first group their results are used to help promote/support their business... so it can be very serious for them and they usually are in the top 50%.

Some of those teams may cook 4-5 racks of ribs, 20-30 pieces of chicken, 2-4 briskets, 2-4 butts just to get the best 6 pieces.

If you want critique of the turn ins, post your photos in the competition section.

Example... under KCBS rules ribs and brisket could have been DQ'd (ribs-sauce on garnish), (brisket- meat/sauce on turn in tray). Other comments... and I don't want to be too negative but the truth is the presentation is below KCBS standards.

But we all have to start somewhere... some ideas to improve...

1. Attend a KCBS com and don't enter just observe if you can and ask questions. Other WSM owners are usually friendly and should offer to help you.

2. If they have one, enter a KCBS comp in the Competition division, this is a first timers division which is usually ribs and chicken and on the west coast tri tip.

3. Attend a judges class and judge an event. Will allow you to see and taste what your competition is presenting and cooking.

Good luck.... and welcome to the comp side of barbeque.

John
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top