Pigs and Peaches, Kennesaw GA Aug 4 & 5

[daleinga]

Words of wisdom for first time BBQ competitor?

I have put together a team and we are entering our first event this weekend -- Pigs and Peaches, in Kennesaw, GA. This is a serious event for the professionals as it is KCBS sanctioned. My team will participate in the backyard/amateur bracket but will follow the same rules and be judged similarly. We have entered the chicken, shoulder, and ribs categories.

I am a long time backyard smoker (Weber kettle and Big Green Egg). We have "rehearsed" with the commercial rig that we will be using for the event. We believe we have the smoking part down pat but I would appreciate any words of advice to someone who hasn't done this in competition before.

Thanks in advance!

Dale
Atlanta, GA

 

[Kloset BBQR]

Dale,

Welcome to the forum. I'm not that familiar with backyard competitions but I would imagine they would have four categories like the pros? I didn't see where you were entering brisket and I would encourage you to do so that you can at least have a chance at winning the competition.

If the competition were a few weeks out I would encourage you to do a practice cook with your team that exactly duplicates the condition of the competition (i.e. pack up cook away from the home). Get yourself a checklist of things to bring to a competition. Make sure everyone knows what their role is at the competiton. Work on garnishing your boxes for turn in. Go to numerous forums and learn as much as you can about competition bbq. One of our members here, Paul Olstrom runs an excellent site, called The Pickled Pig. He has excellent tutorials on the different categories with step by step instructions on how he selects his meat, prepares it, cooks it, and builds his boxes. I would encourage you to take a look at it.

http://www.thepickledpig.com/forums/bbq-contests/

For your first competition focus on getting everything cooked and turned in on time. If you find yourself running out of time, turn the box in as is. You will receive points, but none if you are late. Relax at the competiton and have a good time. Talk to as many of the competitors as you can including the pro competitors. They will go out of your way to help you. Identify yourself at the competiton in the cooks meeting as a first time competitor. Many contests are assigning mentors to first year teams.

Above all have a great time take a camera with you, take plenty of pictures, especially of your turn in boxes. Take notes of what you've done, look carefully at the judges scoring to see if there is a trend and learn what you can improve upon for the next contest. This takes time but it is well worth the effort.

Best of luck to you at your comp. Please report back and let us know how you do and if you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

Dallas

 

[daleinga]

Wow! What a great weekend. Our team won 3rd place in ribs and 9th overall in the backyard competition. Pigs and Peaches was very well run we had a great time, learned a heck of a lot, and have the fever to enter another contest. I also want to thank Dallas for his reference to the Pickled Pig discussion board -- great information there for first time competitor.

Dale
Big Bad BBQ Daddies

 

[Captain Morgan]

fantastic job!