In 2018, the Three Dogs team entered the world of Steak Cookoff Association (SCA) competitions. The SCA is a sanctioning body for steak cook offs and ancillary categories such as ribs, wings, dessert, Bloody Mary's, and much, much more. SCA is based in the Fr. Worth, TX area and sanctions contests in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Japan. The SCA is a great way to enter the competitive cooking world with minimal investment. Let's take a minute and delve into the pros and cons of competitive steak cook offs.
Pros:
Lower entry fees when compared to KCBS. Most entry fees for SCA run $125-$175 per contest. Most contests pay $1000 to the winner and usually pay out to the top five teams. Ancillary contests run about $25 to enter.
The contest provides the steaks. This is a bonus on many fronts. One, you do not have to go out and buy the best cut of meat to compete. The organizer provides you with two steaks, boneless ribeye, choice grade or better. Two, steaks are chosen via a randomly pulled draft. If you pull number one, you go first. Then your second steak is chosen in reverse order. A nice level playing field for all. No need to go spend $100+ on prime or waygu steaks, adding cost.
Competitions are only one day. You show up in time for the cooks meeting and steak draft, 8 am in most cases. Generally turn ins are at noon and they have you headed home by 4-5 pm.
A lot less equipment. All you need is a grill, your tools and knives, a cutting board, seasonings, a thermometer, a canopy for shade, and a cooler with lunch and drinks. 20 minute set up, 20 minute break down. What's not to like?
Low stress atmosphere. Mingling between reps, judges, and teams is encouraged. Everyone talks and has a grand old time. Then, about 30 minutes before turn ins, the judges disappear and you get down to cooking. As for turn ins, the window is 30 minutes. Easy peasy.
No garnish. No need to spend cash on kale, parsley, or lettuce. The steak goes into a 9x9 box with a foil disk on the bottom for cutting and to make sure the box doesn't melt.
Overall cost. We can do 10 SCA competitions for the total cost of two KCBS competitions. Win, win, win.
Cons:
No comment cards. Doneness for steaks is graded on the following chart:
Medium is what you are striving for. You can't cut your steak before turning in to be judged. If your score is anything other than a 10, you do not know if you were over or under cooked. Knowing would be helpful. Also, some general comments would be nice, but not needed.
Not many comps in the Northeast. But, that is changing. It is looking like in 2019, this will drop off of the con list.
As you can see, the Pros way outweigh the Cons.
In 2018, Three Dogs entered three SCA competitions. In our first two outings, we finished in the bottom 10%.
Our first steak was a bit under trimmed and my guess is that it was a bit overdone due to a raging hot grill.
Pros:
Lower entry fees when compared to KCBS. Most entry fees for SCA run $125-$175 per contest. Most contests pay $1000 to the winner and usually pay out to the top five teams. Ancillary contests run about $25 to enter.
The contest provides the steaks. This is a bonus on many fronts. One, you do not have to go out and buy the best cut of meat to compete. The organizer provides you with two steaks, boneless ribeye, choice grade or better. Two, steaks are chosen via a randomly pulled draft. If you pull number one, you go first. Then your second steak is chosen in reverse order. A nice level playing field for all. No need to go spend $100+ on prime or waygu steaks, adding cost.
Competitions are only one day. You show up in time for the cooks meeting and steak draft, 8 am in most cases. Generally turn ins are at noon and they have you headed home by 4-5 pm.
A lot less equipment. All you need is a grill, your tools and knives, a cutting board, seasonings, a thermometer, a canopy for shade, and a cooler with lunch and drinks. 20 minute set up, 20 minute break down. What's not to like?
Low stress atmosphere. Mingling between reps, judges, and teams is encouraged. Everyone talks and has a grand old time. Then, about 30 minutes before turn ins, the judges disappear and you get down to cooking. As for turn ins, the window is 30 minutes. Easy peasy.
No garnish. No need to spend cash on kale, parsley, or lettuce. The steak goes into a 9x9 box with a foil disk on the bottom for cutting and to make sure the box doesn't melt.
Overall cost. We can do 10 SCA competitions for the total cost of two KCBS competitions. Win, win, win.
Cons:
No comment cards. Doneness for steaks is graded on the following chart:
Medium is what you are striving for. You can't cut your steak before turning in to be judged. If your score is anything other than a 10, you do not know if you were over or under cooked. Knowing would be helpful. Also, some general comments would be nice, but not needed.
Not many comps in the Northeast. But, that is changing. It is looking like in 2019, this will drop off of the con list.
As you can see, the Pros way outweigh the Cons.
In 2018, Three Dogs entered three SCA competitions. In our first two outings, we finished in the bottom 10%.
Our first steak was a bit under trimmed and my guess is that it was a bit overdone due to a raging hot grill.
In our second competition, our steak was trimmed a bit aggressively and perhaps a little underdone.
Some research was needed. I picked a few brains, hit the Internet for articles and videos, and held a few practice cooks at home. In September, all of the research and practice payed off...
Three Dogs won the first SCA event in the Pittsburgh area at the Grill Your Ace Off held by Williams Ace Hardware in West Newton, PA. With this win, we get to attend the World Steak Championships in Fort Worth, TX in October and perhaps the 2019 World Food Championships to cook in the steak category.
Over the past year, Three Dogs has found the SCA to be a nice, relaxing, low cost way to participate in the world of competitive cooking. We will never fully quit cooking KCBS competitions. But, considering the ever escalating cost to compete in the world of competitive BBQ, I think that over the next few years, we will be participating in fewer BBQ contests and transitioning into more SCA cook offs.
So, if you happen to see a SCA competition in your neck of the woods and you think you cook a mean steak, you just might want to throw your grill in the back of the truck, grab your seasonings, and see how your steak stacks up against the best.
Thanks for stopping by,
Bill