Meat Rushmore BBQ Competition BBQ thread
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Midwest_kc It’s great to see your self critique and then your placing of entries
I’m curious if you ever adjust flavors, cook schedules or doneness to area/regional tastesglen we don’t, for the most part. Competition BBQ has become a bit homogenized over the years to the point where the flavors aren’t that much different. Maybe a touch more vinegar here, more sweetness there, but we don’t cook enough in some of those regions to know exactly how much to change. Our flavors are pretty balanced overall, so we tend to do OK regardless.
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Midwest_kc just curious do you cook at the Dodge City Day’s BBQ Contest?
Tex_77 We did 2 years ago, and were going to cook it last year before COVID took it out. We aren’t planning on it this year, due to the date, but it may get added in.
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Tex_77 We did 2 years ago, and were going to cook it last year before COVID took it out. We aren’t planning on it this year, due to the date, but it may get added in.
Midwest_kc if you make it, hit me up.
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Judges have optional comment cards that they can fill out. Usually, your heart sinks when these come in, as it’s negative. Not today. Apparently the adjustments on our pork worked out (9 is the highest score in the KCBS system)

Here is the traditional GC/RGC picture. The funny part is Brad is a one man team (he’s on the left in the sizzle shirt), and then here we are rolling deep as hell with 5 people. It made for an interesting pic though.

Here are a couple other pictures, a team picture, plus a pic of our awards, including our 700 sticker, which will go on the trailer at the next contest, and the 700 pin.


Midwest_kc
Wow! Nice work. Congrats! Everything looks wonderful.
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glen we don’t, for the most part. Competition BBQ has become a bit homogenized over the years to the point where the flavors aren’t that much different. Maybe a touch more vinegar here, more sweetness there, but we don’t cook enough in some of those regions to know exactly how much to change. Our flavors are pretty balanced overall, so we tend to do OK regardless.
Midwest_kc said in Meat Rushmore BBQ Competition BBQ thread:
glen we don’t, for the most part. Competition BBQ has become a bit homogenized over the years to the point where the flavors aren’t that much different. Maybe a touch more vinegar here, more sweetness there, but we don’t cook enough in some of those regions to know exactly how much to change. Our flavors are pretty balanced overall, so we tend to do OK regardless.
That makes sense, with KCBS turning out so many CBJ’s every year!
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Midwest_kc if you make it, hit me up.
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So, I’ve been dark on here for a few weeks, partly because we have only had one contest since my last post, and partly because I’m trying to figure out a way to not be as repetitive in my posts. For better or worse, there is a lot of sameness in competitions. I have one this weekend, and I’m going to try and get more “social” pictures, but what would you guys like to see in this thread? I want to make sure that it stays fresh, and relevant to the people who are following the thread, and not get stale.
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So, I’ve been dark on here for a few weeks, partly because we have only had one contest since my last post, and partly because I’m trying to figure out a way to not be as repetitive in my posts. For better or worse, there is a lot of sameness in competitions. I have one this weekend, and I’m going to try and get more “social” pictures, but what would you guys like to see in this thread? I want to make sure that it stays fresh, and relevant to the people who are following the thread, and not get stale.
Midwest_kc let’s see some pictures of prep, what the meat looks like before it goes on the pit, how it looks when it comes off etc. What temps you cooked to etc.
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So, I’ve been dark on here for a few weeks, partly because we have only had one contest since my last post, and partly because I’m trying to figure out a way to not be as repetitive in my posts. For better or worse, there is a lot of sameness in competitions. I have one this weekend, and I’m going to try and get more “social” pictures, but what would you guys like to see in this thread? I want to make sure that it stays fresh, and relevant to the people who are following the thread, and not get stale.
Midwest_kc Personally I don’t mind the repetition, especially your opinion of what you turn in vs the judging, the quirks that occur in your prep and cook
May be I am living vicariously through you LOL
By the way, where are you competing this weekend? -
Columbia, MO
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A couple of pics of the general grounds of the area would be interesting
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So, I’ve been dark on here for a few weeks, partly because we have only had one contest since my last post, and partly because I’m trying to figure out a way to not be as repetitive in my posts. For better or worse, there is a lot of sameness in competitions. I have one this weekend, and I’m going to try and get more “social” pictures, but what would you guys like to see in this thread? I want to make sure that it stays fresh, and relevant to the people who are following the thread, and not get stale.
Midwest_kc
I’m with glen . Just keep doing what you’re doing. -
OK, so work has been crazy the last month or so, and shows no signs of slowing down until the end of July at least. Good problem to have, but not great for keeping this updated. Due to the craziness, we took a month off from competing, which was kind of a nice break, but now we’re going to be going hot and heavy for the rest of the year (well, until October when the season ends).
Our last competition was in Bixby, OK where the Rotary club there puts on a Blues and BBQ event. This is a big event for the town, and you can tell they really support it. Walking to turn in was interesting - you had to about double what you thought your walk was so you could dodge the crowds! It actually made us almost miss sausage turn in.
One of the great things about competition BBQ, as I’ve mentioned is the camaraderie, and the family atmosphere. One tradition is the 9:22 shot. At 9:22, someone hosts a good luck shot, and everyone gathers to wish each other the best.
Why 9:22? Well, you may have something to do 9:15, or something to do at 9:30 for your cook. But, everyone is available at 9:22 (or so the reasoning goes). Some contests then also have a 7:00 Good luck beer, 10:00, 10:30. and 11:00 shot as well. Basically if you’re trying to disguise your mild alcholism as a hobby - this is your thing!

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This competition had a sausage turn in, which we always enjoy doing. My wife wanted to try something she was thinking about turning in at the American Royal, so we ran with that.
It managed 7th place out of the 50-some teams at the contest.

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On Friday night, as we were chatting with some other teams, Oklahoma’s love of BBQ bologna came up. I thought, shoot, this wouldn’t work anywhere else, but I wonder how that would do in a competition in OK? Worst case, I get to take home a bunch of bologna, which I love anyways. Problem was, there was zero chance that my wife was going to let us change course. One of the other teams wasn’t doing sausage, so we gave him money to go register, while we ran off to the store to cook BBQ Bologna to turn as him. I’m not going to lie. It was fantastic. It was a risk. It was a hero or zero move…

and it was a zero. Didn’t work. I don’t remember the placing, but it was somewhere in the 20s.
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Chicken is our nemesis. I don’t like trimming it, don’t care to cook it, I do like eating it, but everything about making it annoys me. Our scores show it, too. We thought this one was ok, and we got an ok score. Finished 29th. If we ever figure out chicken…watch out, man.

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As always ribs is up next. This has been our best category this year, but we pushed them a little too far this time. Over beats under in comp BBQ world, for a number of reasons, but we knew they needed to tighten up in the box. They must have. They took 14th, but with a score of 173 out of 180, they definitely weren’t bad.

I know Jonathon was talking on a livestream about whether comp ribs are sauced. My real name is linked to my youtube account, so that’s what shows, but I chimed in about our accomplishments. This is what those comp ribs are about.
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Pork has been our best category for the last 3 years, and last year we finished 8th in the world out of a little over 2000 teams in the KCBS Team of the Year chase. Average score wise, it still is this year, we just can’t seem to get any top results, We’ll get a 176 and still find a way to be 8th or something. This pork was on point taste wise, but we the tenderness was a bit off (again, a touch over), and the appearance was sloppy. So what happened? We got all 9s (the highest score judges give) on appearance and tenderness, and all 8s on flavor…I don’t get this sport some times.

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Brisket was dead on. I really thought that it was going to be top 5 for sure, if not 1st. Loved everything about it. Sometimes, it’s just not your day, though. FInished 11th, just outside the money (top 10) on this one.

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After that, it was time to clean up, have a beer, and wait on awards to start. Not getting any calls in the top 10 in the main meats, we were expecting the worst. but, we ended up a respectable 15th in a really tough field, so we’ll take it.

This weekend we’re back in OK, where they haven’t really liked our food the last 3 or 4 times we’ve been down there so I’m not sure why we go back to that state, lol. Wagoner, OK we’ll see you tomorrow!
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