The All American BBQ Festival - Warren PA

This past weekend, the Three Dogs BBQ road show packed up and headed to Pittsfield, PA for The All American BBQ Festival.  Here is a recap of the weekend.

First, it was nice to show up and set up in sunny weather.  More on how that turned out later...

We really liked the venue.  Shaded lots, dedicated electric and water, and lots of room to spread out.  A great venue for a competition if you ask me.  Unfortunately, there was a 4H horse competition tied to the event as well.  I had to keep a short leash on Hope so that things would get done around the trailer.

Preparation went smoothly.  Since Pittsfield is only about two hours away, we were done early in the afternoon and had some time to mingle with our friends.

After the outstanding potluck that was organized by Melissa and John (Rikk, that Mac and Cheese rocks.  You need to turn that in sometime!), we fired up the smokers and got down to cooking.

It was a great evening up until about 3 am.  The first drops of rain started to fall at that point.  From then on, the rain kept getting heavier and steadier, resulting in some muddy conditions.  Just look at this action photo of Che saucing his ribs in the mud.  Walking to the turn in tent was an exercise in not slipping with your box.

The situation brightened a bit with the 10 am shot.  Thanks to Red Valley and Pig Iron BBQ for organizing.  This was definitely needed on this cold and rainy morning.

So, after our liquid pep rally, onto the scores.  First up, chicken.

This box placed 4th out of 21 teams.  Chicken is our strongest category and we were not disappointed.  Unfortunately, we fell off a cliff after this turn-in...

Our ribs came in 17th place.  We received four good scores and two sets of scores that did not match with the other four.  But, I can understand.  They were a bit underdone.  I have found that spares can tend to not be uniform in meatiness.  This leads to over done and under done racks.  We are seriously thinking about a switch to baby backs for our next competition.  They tend to be a bit more uniform.

Our pork came in 19th.  I have no idea what went wrong.  It was perhaps a bit over sauced.  We will have to work on this a bit before our next competition.

As for brisket, it was looking so good at one point...

But, upon slicing, the flat was overdone.  Therefore, the thick slices.

The burnt ends were spot on.  The brisket was way over done.  Just need to keep an eye on cook times the next time around.  This brisket came in 20th overall.

When you tally everything up, we ended up 18th out of 21 teams.  A great way to waste a good chicken score.

But, as always, we had a great weekend and met new friends.  Mort's Meat Mafia were our neighbors and first time competitors.  They were great to be around and finished 13th for the weekend.  Great showing for your first time out.  Keep it up!

Thanks also go out to Melissa and John for organizing a great event, especially a great pot luck and ice cream after turn ins.

Congrats also go out to Low and Slo BBQ on their Grand Championship and to Red Valley BBQ on their RGC.  Sean from Red Valley said it was the best brisket they have ever cooked, so Red Valley BBQ also walked with a 1st place brisket.  Very nice.  Finally, Pig Iron BBQ gets a call out for a great  showing.  Their best score ever if I am remembering correctly.  A great job from one of the friendliest teams out there.

So, next up, Hudson Valley in August.  It is a long trip to New Paltz.  But, well worth the drive.  We can't wait.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

The Other Side of the Table: Adventures in Judging

Well, Hope and I judged our first competition this weekend. We judged the Warren All-American BBQ Fest in Warren, PA. It was a 17 team comp, so it did qualify as an American Royal and Jack Draw qualifier. Diva Q was the main draw for the weekend.

We became CBJ because we wanted to see if we could learn a few tips and tricks. I must say, it was very informational. I had another competitor at my table judging as well, Brian from Rubber City Smokers. We were lucky enough to have some quality veteran judges at our table that were more than happy to give us insight into what judges look for. Sorry, no pics, other than the fair itself as KCBS has banned pictures being taken in the judging area during the judging process.

Some random thoughts from the weekend:

We have switched to chicken legs at a fellow competitors urging and have had good success. We saw nothing but thighs yesterday. Most good, some not so good. Brining is the way to go. A brined entry just stands out if done properly. The flavor profiles were pretty much the same. Although one was overpowered with cinnamon and another was scorching hot with pepper. The judges were raving about breast entries they have gotten in the past and asked me and Brian why we don't do that more often. We basically said that we don't have the stones to do that considering that they can dry out. Then, they suggested to cook side by side and put in the better of the two, or even both if they turn out nice. I really believe if you could get breast in a box and make it good, you would grab the brass ring.

Out of the ribs, only one stuck out at the table. Perfectly cooked, good bark, nice sweet profile. My guess it that it was Butchers Honey Rub. The vet judges do like sweet. Keep the tomato out of your sauce as well. We had rib with a pasty tomato like sauce that did not go well at all. Finally, when you cut, cut at the bone farthest from the rib you are looking for on both sides. The judges just seemed to like that.

As for pulled pork, the judges hate that category we found out as there are many different types they have to sample. Pulled, chopped, sliced. If one is not as good as the other, the bad will pull your scores down. The judges were saying that if you put one great sample of one type in the box, it is better than going 2 out of 3. For example, I was ready to hand out a 999 for this one pork entry. The money muscle and chunks were perfect. Great bark, taste and tenderness. Then I got to the pulled. It was overpowered with a citrus/vinegar sauce. Really sour. It pulled the taste score down for sure. Finally, don't over sauce. The veteran judges do not like tons of sauce on their pulled pork.

Brisket. What can I say here? The burnt ends I got were not sauced at all. Just rerubbed, dipped in Au Jus, and put back on the smoker. Most were good, but if your rub is salt heavy, go light. We had one that was a pure salt cube and the vets at the table were not happy with that. Fat is ok on a burnt end, but trim it off the flat. Also, this was the only category that I handed a 6 out in. I gave a 6 for tenderness. I got a piece of flat that I could have used to make a slingshot. If you are going to miss the tenderness on your brisket, miss it on the overdone side for sure. The veteran judges do not take kindly to rubber bands. If you have a rubbery one and don't have any time, cut it thin (but you knew that already)

Generally, try and add flavor throughout your meat. Do not just give smoked meat with sauce. With different samples in front of you, those entries did stand out. I would also say that over 50% of the pp entries did not inject their butts. I was leaning toward not injecting for our next comp and probably will not. The non-injected entries tasted more like pork.

Strangely enough, when we compared entries after judging, we pretty much agreed with our individual assessments. I was surprised at that.

I hope that this helps any team out there. I found it enlightening for sure. I would highly recommend becoming a judge if you have a team. It allows you to get some insight from veteran judges and allows you to see what the flavor trends are out on the circuit. We will try and judge at least one contest per year for sure.

Some pictures from the day:

My favorite barn:

There was a 4H horse competition for the kids:

Lunchtime, no que there though:

My favorite t-shirts:

Congrats to Flying Porkers for taking Grand Champion and Ribs n'At for taking Reserve Grand.  Ribs n'At get a special shout out.  Reserve Grand is great any day of the week.  But, on your first time out?  Outstanding!  Keep up the good work.  Here are the Full Results.

Finally, a big congrats to John Beard and Melissa Anderson for putting together a quality competition your first time out.  Hopefully you can work out some of the bugs and make this competition bigger and better next year.  Thanks for being gracious hosts.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill