1st Backyard Competition - Minnesota in May

[chochico]

I decided to try my hand at competition cooking. We were tasked with cooking chicken and ribs. My chicken game isn't the best. I rarely smoke it, and it showed today. My "backyard" flavor profile tends to be more savory, less saucy, and with a little kick. That didn't play well with the judges. I also could've used a little less smoke. We placed 22nd out of 24 teams.

I'm fairly confident in ribs, but again I prefer a savory profile with no sauce. I ended placing higher in this category, 15/24, so I'm ok with that score.

Despite finishing 22/24 overall, I was pretty happy with my scores. Coming into the competition with zero experience, I wanted to cook what I like for BBQ to get a sense of what the judges are looking for. I definitely learned a lot, and am hungry to gain more knowledge to keep improving my skills for the next challenge.

[JCGrill]

Nice start!

[lonnie mac]

Oh man those ribs look delish brother!

[Mr. Bones]

Congrats, Brother!
Ya already scored higher than I ever have in a Competition!

Yer food looks Great, an I'm sure I woulda ate on it until I was chewin on my fingertips, by accident!

Super glad to hear from ya again; don't be such a Stranger, okay?

[OSB]

Been considering going at it just like you did. Make them how I like them and go from there. I'm sure you already have ideas going for the next run. Good 1st run.

[chochico]

It's not a bad idea. It's an amateur competition so there's not a lot of pressure.

[Pirate Scott]

Great Job!

[RonB]

Great lookin' ribs.

[Frozen Smoke]

Cook for yourself first let the judges fall where they may. Don't let competitions sway you from you know what is good bbq. Most judges couldn't cook as good as most contestants. Your ribs look fantastic! Nice job!

[HawkerXP]

Great lookin ribs!

[Spinaker]

Dang!!! Had I known, I would have come down to check you guys out! Congrats on having the stones to do this! Let me know next year, maybe we can team up or at least get together and BS around the smokers for a bit! (No Shiggin', I promise)

Those ribs look great to me! I am more of a savory man, myself.

[chochico]

There are a few other backyard competitions this year. I might jump into another one later this summer.

http://mnbbqsociety.com/contests/backyard-contests/

[CaptainMike]

I'd eat those. All of those.....

[DWCowles]

If I was judging there and if those ribs taste as good as they look (which I’m sure they did ) you you would be in the top 5 in ribs.

[Thom Emery]

Number 1 priority have fun
You did so its all good

[texastweeter]

you have taken the plunge. Hold on from here. Good news is most back yard contests are regional flavors. Not that over the top sweet syrupy flavor that so many judges on the bigger circuits look for.