Smoke on The Beach Final Results in

[swampsauce]

I thought Captn. Morgan would have a already told us he won . Anyone know what time the awards are or were?

 

[LarryWolfe]

5pm. I spoke with Jim earlier and he said he'd call if he had any news.....................I haven't heard back from him......

 

[swampsauce]

Thanks Larry, let us know the winner when you find out.

 

[Captain Morgan]

big ffn surprise, Handy took grandy.

no walk for me in ribs or pork,,,,ribs were
a big disappointment for me, not the results,
but what I thought I would have.

there was an 8 way tie for first in chicken.
I think.
I think i was one of the 8 but very low on the
tie breaker scale.

not real sure.

no major stories, but a few, and I'll post em tomorrow.

 

[Finney]

big ffn surprise, Handy took grandy.

no walk for me in ribs or pork,,,,ribs were
a big disappointment for me, not the results,
but what I thought I would have. WHAT? :?

there was an 8 way tie for first in chicken. again... WHAT :? Doesn't the SCBA's scoring go out to like .0001 ?I think.
I think i was one of the 8 but very low on the
tie breaker scale. Wouldn't that mean that you should have gotten a call for 2nd though 8th, or something?
not real sure.

no major stories, but a few, and I'll post em tomorrow.

Congrats to Tim Handy (JT) of your GC.

 

[Greg Rempe]

Is it a real competition if you only cook 2 things?

 

[Finney]

Is it a real competition if you only cook 2 things?

It's 3..... Pork, ribs, and chicken.

You only cook 3 in MBN (MIM) comps.

 

[Kloset BBQR]

Is it a real competition if you only cook 2 things?

It's a real comp if you compete in it!

I've been on the losing end of a lot of tie breakers. They hurt!

Good job Cappy and congrats JT on the Grand!

 

[Captain Morgan]

after some sleep, I'm a little more coherent now.

Yes there was an unbelievable 8 way tie for first
place in chicken. So you could say I got first in
chicken.

Tiebreaker knocked me down to 6th, though, one
spot out of the money!

I had a fantastic rib rub and sauce, and I would
up with 2 unbelievably crappy spares....I also cooked
some bb's I brought just in case and we turned those
in....weren't bad, but not awfully small.

 

[Finney]

Congrats on 6th for chicken. Seems that chicken is becoming your thing.

 

[Captain Morgan]

ok, here's the story.

spent Wednesday in bed mostly, felt better on
Thursday, picked up my ribs and chicken and
used my neighbors truck to haul my pit down to
the site. Chained it up and came home.
Friday got the hitch put on and headed
to the sight.

It was hot. Humid. could have been worse.
Could have been a loooooootttt better.
I had asked to set up next to Roadkill Grill
to keep an eye on Jamie....he has the stroke
in the spring and initially wasn't going to cook
but has made enough progress to be there.
Allen from Speedway BBQ was going to be on
the other side of him, but because of the size
of his trailor, they put across the little road which
was fine.

Jamie came through fine and got 2 ribbons Friday
night, one for sauce and 5th place AB. He also
got a rib walk Saturday.

But it was Allen who ended up needing watching.
We're guessing heat exhaustion, he was throwing
up all night, and although he got all his meats turned in,
his wife took him to the hospital and he couldn't attend
the awards ceremony.....where other team members
took a couple of walks for him.

It was hot.

 

[Captain Morgan]

back to Friday morning, I'm setting up when I meet Ken
from Wilmington NC. He's a member of the SCBA and
wanted to cook with a team to qualify for a higher level
of judge or something. I've done this for other SCBA
members, and it's always a bit scary spending the night
with a stranger. Maybe not as scary as spending the night
with Larry, but still strange.

I did a little background check before extending the offer..
he had attended Jack's Pitmaster school so I called Jack
who said he was ok, not real good looking, but probably
not an axe murderer.

Ken turned out to be one of the best teammates I've ever had.
Cheerful, very helpful, always asking what he could do. I was
surprised to see how much he knew about cooking bbq, and
by Saturday morning we were conferring on decisions on an
equal basis. He learned a lot in that Pitmaster school, and
has some cooking skills from home as well. Also turns out
he's a barbershop singer.

I stay all night on site, and he did too...big props to him for
his effort and his ability. He saved my butt several times
especially Sat. morning. It was like we had cooked together
for years.

Didn't get to spend much time with his wife...she was enjoying
ladies night away from the husband, but I think we're getting
together this afternoon at a friends house for a relaxing pool party..

 

[wittdog]

back to Friday morning, I'm setting up when I meet Ken
from Wilmington NC. He's a member of the SCBA and
wanted to cook with a team to qualify for a higher level
of judge or something. I've done this for other SCBA
members, and it's always a bit scary spending the night
with a stranger. Maybe not as scary as spending the night
with Larry, but still strange.

I did a little background check before extending the offer..
he had attended Jack's Pitmaster school so I called Jack
who said he was ok, not real good looking, but probably
not an axe murderer.

Ken turned out to be one of the best teammates I've ever had.
Cheerful, very helpful, always asking what he could do. I was
surprised to see how much he knew about cooking bbq, and
by Saturday morning we were conferring on decisions on an
equal basis. He learned a lot in that Pitmaster school, and
has some cooking skills from home as well. Also turns out
he's a barbershop singer.

I stay all night on site, and he did too...big props to him for
his effort and his ability. He saved my butt several times
especially Sat. morning. It was like we had cooked together
for years.

Didn't get to spend much time with his wife...she was enjoying
ladies night away from the husband, but I think we're getting
together this afternoon at a friends house for a relaxing pool party..

I'd love to hear his side of the story

 

[Greg Rempe]

Glad you found a new boyfriend, Jim!

 

[Captain Morgan]

so we get set up without too much problem....sit and try to
cool down in the shade a little bit. Heat index levels on that
soccer field were easily over 100. It was hot.
By about 4 pm, it clouded up some and the sea breeze
finally kicked in, and it got tolerable.

we prepped for Friday night events. I didn't enter the
sauce and dessert categories. I was going to turn in
the grilled shrimp I got second with in spring, but I
LEFT THE FREAKING SHRIMP IN THE FREEZER.
We were supposed to fix 200 samples for the public,
and at the cooks meeting they told us 300 samples
(um...guys, 2 hours before serve time is a little late
to change the rules that way).

I could have gone home, but instead went to the Piggly
Wiggly less than a mile away and spent another 75 bucks
buying shrimp.

no top 5 this time....first place...ready for this.....

corn on the cob.

I kid you not....haven't talked to anybody who had it,
but it sure must have been some dang good corn.
I was talking with Everett from Swinetime the next
day and he was still in disbelief. I don't know the team
who won, but if you ever get a chance to try their corn,
I guess you'd better!

So we got our butts and started injecting...my freaking
injector case got cracked on the way over, and it working
about 50 percent before finally giving out. We duct taped
it, but it only lasted about three butts.

So we rubbed and put em on. Can't remember any problems
with the butts, but I just didn' feel like it was a top 10 box
when I turned it in. Not bad, but I just didn't feel the magic.

Ribs....wow.....talk about a disappointment. stay tuned.

 

[Captain Morgan]

I had started working this spring on my comp ribs and chicken.
I'm not a rib fan and was talking a good bit with Larry about em.
Larry does great ribs. He talked me into trying his technique
with WRO and his sauce.

I tried it and didn't like it. It was way too sweet for me.
We spent a bunch more emails discussing it. He encouraged
me to try it again. So I did, adding a tad of vinegar pepper
to his sauce, and BAM Home run. Best ribs I ever had, anywhere.
I was reallllly excited about this, and felt I had a top 5 if I could
cook em well at the comp.

But to keep messing with a good thing, I started trying to get
better quality ribs. I ordered a half a case of Kurobuto baby
backs, Berkshire stuff....14 bucks a pound. Was the meat
good, better than regular stuff. Yes. Was it worth it? Maybe.
I cooked em at cookout and just decided I wanted to turn in spares.
My guy could not get kurobuto ribs, so I asked Minion to see if
he could get some and what the shipping charges would be
from his West Coast to my East coast. It was too close to the comp and
he could find anything affordable, so I called a butcher down in Murrells
Inlet who talked a good game, said he could have good spares, St. Louis
cut and peeled for me. I wanted to go down and get some to try,
but he talked a great game and I got busy so I trusted him.

Mistake. Went by Thursday and he had 5 racks, frozen. Couldn't tell
the quality of the meat. Took a couple home and thawed them.. got
a little nervous...thought about and should have run to costco and
got some I knew would be decent.

Time is ticking when you're a one man team, loading and prepping,
so as a safety valve I decided to take the kurobuto bb's as well.

When we went to prep the ribs, I noticed the spares had been trimmed
but they left the cartiledge part on....hmmm....cut that off , removed
the back flap and had to peel em...no biggie, but I had been told
that was already done. Now these spares are close to the same
size of the bb's, very thin meat....I was really pissed. Oh well...
we decided to cook both the spares and bb's.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Although the cook went fairly well, we just weren't happy with
the meat. Both looked too small and not meaty enough.
The flavor was great, but I felt like I had missed here
somehow. I was really pissed and I want to thank Larry
for working with me so hard on this.

I will never experiment on ribs again, I'm sticking with his
method, and if I ever get a chance to enter ribs again,
I feel confidant I can get a top 5 with a normal rack of spares.

No idea where they finished, only the top 10 was announced.

As this was all going on, we started cooking the chicken.

I had about 12 thighs I really liked , had trimmed them Thursday night.
What I didn't have was a final technique I was happy with.
I was close, and I'm posting all my research later, but the
heat was unbearable the week before the contest, and the week
of the contest I was sick.

soooo..
I ended up using a rub that not making me wild. I also did not
brine, instead I marinaded. This was the goal of the expeiments,
deciding on the method and finding a rub that worked well with
the sauce, which I was firm on.

 

[WalterSC]

I had started working this spring on my comp ribs and chicken.
I'm not a rib fan and was talking a good bit with Larry about em.
Larry does great ribs. He talked me into trying his technique
with WRO and his sauce.

I tried it and didn't like it. It was way too sweet for me.
We spent a bunch more emails discussing it. He encouraged
me to try it again. So I did, adding a tad of vinegar pepper
to his sauce, and BAM Home run. Best ribs I ever had, anywhere.
I was reallllly excited about this, and felt I had a top 5 if I could
cook em well at the comp.

But to keep messing with a good thing, I started trying to get
better quality ribs. I ordered a half a case of Kurobuto baby
backs, Berkshire stuff....14 bucks a pound. Was the meat
good, better than regular stuff. Yes. Was it worth it? Maybe.
I cooked em at cookout and just decided I wanted to turn in spares.
My guy could not get kurobuto ribs, so I asked Minion to see if
he could get some and what the shipping charges would be
from his West Coast to my East coast. It was too close to the comp and
he could find anything affordable, so I called a butcher down in Murrells
Inlet who talked a good game, said he could have good spares, St. Louis
cut and peeled for me. I wanted to go down and get some to try,
but he talked a great game and I got busy so I trusted him.

Mistake. Went by Thursday and he had 5 racks, frozen. Couldn't tell
the quality of the meat. Took a couple home and thawed them.. got
a little nervous...thought about and should have run to costco and
got some I knew would be decent.

Time is ticking when you're a one man team, loading and prepping,
so as a safety valve I decided to take the kurobuto bb's as well.

When we went to prep the ribs, I noticed the spares had been trimmed
but they left the cartiledge part on....hmmm....cut that off , removed
the back flap and had to peel em...no biggie, but I had been told
that was already done. Now these spares are close to the same
size of the bb's, very thin meat....I was really pissed. Oh well...
we decided to cook both the spares and bb's.

I well know that feeling, I have had ribs at comps that made me wonder if they were good enough to turn in , I often wished they would let us bring our own because I would head to Sams and get me some Loin Back Ribs that I do at home. Last comp I made mention they needed to give us at least 6 racks of ribs for turn ins instead of 3 to 4 racks. Some of the butts I have had given to me at comps had a bad smell on one or two on em after we were pulling them towards the bottom , that we threw in the trash , the rest of the butts were fine. But what can ya do but move on and do the best you can do. It might be awhile berfore we make it out again we have to afford a new canopy at Hammin and Jammin our 10 x 20 ft canopy was destroyed canopy torn in spots, poles bent, We are looking at a heavy made pop up version that`s 20 x 20 ft , but thats 275.00 we just dont have right now . So its back to judging until then see yall down the road.

 

[Captain Morgan]

except I forgot to rub the chicken....I discovered this
after the initial cooking period and thought about
trying to add it when they went into the sauce, but
I was concerned I would mess up the skin, which
is crucial in my book. If I had brined, it would not
have been as big of a problem. But I didn't. so,
I would have to cook perfectly and hope the sauce
would provide enough flavor.

I tied for first with 8 other teams...absolutely amazing.
I don't comp much, but I don't remember any ties in
any category before, not even 2 teams.

Also don't know how the tiebreaker works, maybe throw
out the highest and lowest score, but anyway, in the
tiebreaker, I was sixth. If I had just rubbed, I may
have gotten a hundreth of a point more, and there would
have been a seven place tie for second.

When I walked up for 6th (no ribbon), they handed me the
prize envelope....as I was walking back I looked in it
and was surprised to find cash. The more I thought about
it, I thought they made a mistake. so I walked back to the
Shriners and asked them. They had. So I gave them the
money, which I assumed was for 5th place, and they gave
me my prize....at two night stay in Myrtle Beach.
Same thing I got for second place in AB in the spring.


oh well, it made a great thank you gift for Ken, my partner
from Wilmington, and I hope he and his wife enjoy it.

After turns in at noon, I went home and showered, and relaxed.
Traffic was unbelievable.

I went back to the site about 5, and after the requisite speeches
from shriner, city people, and anyone else who wanted to babble
on and think anyone was actually listening to them, (each new
speaker was greeted with audible groans from the audience)
we finally got to the awards ceremony.

This was actually the first time I really enjoyed myself all weekend.
Believe it or not, I didn't drink enough to get a buzz until then.
with the cold, I couldn't taste anything , and with the heat, the
traffic and the crowds.....I don't know....just didn't have fun like
usual.

A lot of my friends didn't come...it was good to do the midnight stroll
and talk to friends who were there..that's my favorite part of the comp.

Still unloading today, the part I hate the most.

Thanks to Kelli and Crystal for their help as always.
Thanks most to Ken for helping so much....anyone who
wants to snag him as a teammate, I highly encourage it.
If I cook again, he's invited to be on my team whenever
he wants.

Great to see Jack and Mary for all of about 3 minutes...Jack, sorry
you forgot your kuro-ribs...they are defrosted and I can't save em
for you unless you call me today. Wanted to spend more
time with dem crazy cajuns from Smokin Coles, they were sort of
on the opposite end of the line from us.

Tim was very happy Saturday morning, so I knew his turn
ins were good although he never admits anything.
Swinetime rolled up in a freaking school bus they just bought,
I'm still laughing about Everett talking about the corn on the cob.

Allan from Speedway is a champion cook and an even better person.
I love his wife and daughter, and I'm sure he'll be ok...despite
being so sick he threw up all night, he still made award winning
food....wish he could have been there for the walks.
He lives in Surfside and we've talked about forming a new
competition in this area....nothing serious cause we wanted to
concentrate on SOTB, but we may talk more about it now.

I'm lucky to have Jamie and Pete from Roadkill as friends,...thanks
for breakfast and they laughs all night long.

Dennis from the Shriners has a thankless job and is a good guy.
When he steps out of his official capacity late Friday night and comes
over to bum food and beers, he's actually pretty fun.


Nothing left now but the ashes. As always, I don't feel like
doing this anymore.....I swore last year I would not do SOTB
this year.

Who knows, I know better to say never....but I did sell one of
my wsms, and may sell my big grill this month. We'll give it some
time and see.

I think right now I'd rather join other teams and cook ribs or
chicken, or just go hang out and bother everybody all night
during comps,...I love the atmosphere, but I hate the work.

No one lost an eye!!

 

[Rag1]

Nice report...thanks.
I know the frustration with the ribs. I bought a case of ribs from my butcher that really sucked. No meat, 6 shiners on each rack, one had a broken rib that was greenish all around the break. My last comp the ribs I turned in would have pissed me off if I was served them in a restaurant.
I'm doing a test cook tomorrow with Swift Vac Pac that look decent through the package. We'll see.
The way you feel now makes back to back weekends tough. I did 2 this year and it takes a bit to rally.....unless you get GC which should make it easier.