Our first competition of the season is over! It was both a disappointment and a success.
It was a disappointment because we made 2 big blunders… First, we didn’t test the sauce we used for chicken, and it was too thick, resulting in low scores for oversaucing. Second, I didn’t get the ribs done enough, resulting in low scores for tenderness/texture. I think those scores also lead to lower taste scores.
Our pork was not bad; we liked it a lot, but we only placed 12th out of 26. It tasted great!
The brisket, however, was a success… We took 2nd! Our biggest payout, and a trophy to boot!
Continue reading to see the photos of the entry boxes. Our presentation scores are with each photo. The photos are larger than usual so you can see them better!
Appearance scores for chicken from the 6 judges (low score gets thrown out): 687867
Other than too much sauce, I think this would have been 8-9.
Appearance scores for ribs from the 6 judges (low score gets thrown out): 898878
I can see where we could improve on these; the racks weren’t good at all to choose from, but I cut them the best that I could.
Appearance scores for pork from the 6 judges (low score gets thrown out): 887769
I thought this looked better than a 6-7, but I wasn’t judging. 
Appearance scores for brisket from the 6 judges (low score gets thrown out): 877986
I really think this was at least an 8. I don’t know what the judge that gave us a 6 was thinking, though we got a straight 666 (for appearance, taste and tenderness) from him. So he was either just giving lots of 6’s, or he was Satan. I’m going with the Satan answer!
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Awesome Curt!!! Great job! I thought everything looked great. Do you take your own meat, or do you have to cook what they give you?
Laura
Laura, we always take our own meat supply… I wish the entry included it, but we generally take 2 whole briskets, 2 Boston butts, 6 racks of ribs (2 packs of 3 from Sam’s) and about 18 chicken thighs. From all that, we select about 8 slices of brisket, maybe 1 pound of pork, 10-12 ribs and 6 chicken thighs. At this comp, the organizers asked the teams to donate leftovers to be sold to raise money for local area kids’ programs, which I thought was great.
Congrats on the 2nd place win. That’s huge!
Kristen, thanks! I don’t know if it’s huge, but it’s certainly the direction we want to go.
Congtatulations. Four Q also competed this past weekend. Same mixed results. We placed 1st in ribs, 5th in brisket and not very good in chicken and pork butt. Not sure where we went wrong.
Sylvie, I saw that you all did really great! What a huge trophy! Keep going… You’ll be at the Jack and Royal before you know it.