Sometimes, the difference between sculpting your turn-in and an attractive entry is a fine line. Also hazy regarding applying sauce and the pooling thereof. A couple examples--sorry no pictures to illustrate what I am talking about.
For pork butt, I try to always turn in both sliced and pulled. I select one of the long muscles for slicing, which ends up being perfect ovals in shape. I stagger this vertically down the center of the tray. I run two vertical lines of pulled pork, one on either side of the sliced. I fill in with parsley so it kinda looks like a butcher display case.
I was cooking in Iowa and was talking to another cook about this who warned me that some judges consider any sliced meat that does not conform to the natural shape of the meat is sculpting. He thought my slicing style might get kicked out. It did not, but, you need to ask at the cooks meeting for specifics--to make sure you are in sync with the local practices.
As for sauces, I have, on occassion, sauced my brisket after cutting it. A nice painting is all I do. But, I saw some folks turning in brisket, and pork, in Minnesota, that were swimming in sauce. Don't recall how the brisket turned out, but the pork won 3rd place. I would have called it a puddle of sauce in which a little meat had been added.
Go figure.
I would recommend, as have others, to take a judging class, but I would not wait to compete before taking one, if the opportunity presents itself. I think both provide good experiences and you will learn a lot.
Dale
