I have always toyed around with the idea of competition BBQ, so I decided to ask a friend of mine to get me on the list as a volunteer in the KCBS judges tent at the Indio California State BBQ Championship & Festival this past weekend.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience. The California BBQ Association held a trimming class on Friday where four amazingly talented pit masters showed us how they prepare each of the competition meats.
The pitmasters were:
Chicken -Jerry Aguilar- Burnin and Lootin - Placed 18th overall at the Jack and multiple CA chicken team of the year
Pork Butt- Sterling Smith - Loot N booty BBQ - Got 10th at the Jack and 1st in Pork!
Pork Ribs- Steph Franklin- Simply Marvelous- Makes some dang good rubs that are used quite a bit on the comp circuit and he's always winning here on the west coast!
Brisket- Darren Warth- Iowa Smoky D's- winner of the American Royal and about a million other competitions
First and foremost, they were all very very nice guys. Of course, they make competition trimming look like a piece of cake. Some very interesting techniques used - one I liked the most was how Sterling trimmed the pork butt so that the money muscle was exposed on top of the rest of the butt- hard to explain but very cool to watch! Also, it will make you cry when you see how much Darren trims off a brisket then tells you what a good burger it will make! After its all said and done I would say the 15lb brisket was down to 6 or so pounds between the flat and the point. Oh yeah, and if the marbling on the flat doesnt line up how he wants it (which you can't see when it's in the cryovac due to to how he trims it), he just starts over with another one.
The highlight of the weekend for me (besides getting to snack at the grazing table after turn in) was winning the raffled off SRF Gold Brisket that Darren trimmed! Not often that you get a wagyu brisket trimmed down by the #1 competition Brisket pitmaster. I attached some pictures of the flat that I cooked on the KBQ, man oh man!
For the day of the competition, I vounteered with a wonderful woman at the "grazing table"- basically clearing the boxes out, saving the shrubbery for the local zoo and rationing off (and snacking on) some of the extra pieces that were put in boxes that the judges didn't eat. Even better was that the lady in charge of the grazing table had been doing it for years (and was also a judge), so she made sure to hook me up with some of the best in show!
Iowa Smokey D's took the cake with Big Poppa Smokers coming in at #2. No big surprise as these guys are always at the top of the list.
I am considering getting into competition BBQ next year so this was a great experience to get my feet wet! Of course after seeing some of the turn ins, I think I could do okay!
Pictures of the flat I cooked up attached. No injection, 1 hour dry brine with a dash of memphis dust and a lot of BBBR.
I cooked this thing hot and fast and oh man... super tender and juicy I had issues with the smoke ring on the KBQ but that seems to have worked itself out.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience. The California BBQ Association held a trimming class on Friday where four amazingly talented pit masters showed us how they prepare each of the competition meats.
The pitmasters were:
Chicken -Jerry Aguilar- Burnin and Lootin - Placed 18th overall at the Jack and multiple CA chicken team of the year
Pork Butt- Sterling Smith - Loot N booty BBQ - Got 10th at the Jack and 1st in Pork!
Pork Ribs- Steph Franklin- Simply Marvelous- Makes some dang good rubs that are used quite a bit on the comp circuit and he's always winning here on the west coast!
Brisket- Darren Warth- Iowa Smoky D's- winner of the American Royal and about a million other competitions
First and foremost, they were all very very nice guys. Of course, they make competition trimming look like a piece of cake. Some very interesting techniques used - one I liked the most was how Sterling trimmed the pork butt so that the money muscle was exposed on top of the rest of the butt- hard to explain but very cool to watch! Also, it will make you cry when you see how much Darren trims off a brisket then tells you what a good burger it will make! After its all said and done I would say the 15lb brisket was down to 6 or so pounds between the flat and the point. Oh yeah, and if the marbling on the flat doesnt line up how he wants it (which you can't see when it's in the cryovac due to to how he trims it), he just starts over with another one.
The highlight of the weekend for me (besides getting to snack at the grazing table after turn in) was winning the raffled off SRF Gold Brisket that Darren trimmed! Not often that you get a wagyu brisket trimmed down by the #1 competition Brisket pitmaster. I attached some pictures of the flat that I cooked on the KBQ, man oh man!
For the day of the competition, I vounteered with a wonderful woman at the "grazing table"- basically clearing the boxes out, saving the shrubbery for the local zoo and rationing off (and snacking on) some of the extra pieces that were put in boxes that the judges didn't eat. Even better was that the lady in charge of the grazing table had been doing it for years (and was also a judge), so she made sure to hook me up with some of the best in show!
Iowa Smokey D's took the cake with Big Poppa Smokers coming in at #2. No big surprise as these guys are always at the top of the list.
I am considering getting into competition BBQ next year so this was a great experience to get my feet wet! Of course after seeing some of the turn ins, I think I could do okay!
Pictures of the flat I cooked up attached. No injection, 1 hour dry brine with a dash of memphis dust and a lot of BBBR.
I cooked this thing hot and fast and oh man... super tender and juicy I had issues with the smoke ring on the KBQ but that seems to have worked itself out.
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