I have been at this for a few years now and thought this might be something fun to try.
What is the difference between Masters and Backyard? Just less cost and less things to cook? Is it judged differently? I have done some research and know how comp BBQ is waaaay different than your backyard cook, but does that hold for both divisions?
bbq_esq -- Have you competed in KCBS competition before? Did you win? If not, you can definitely enter as backyard. Backyard is only chicken and ribs. It's judged the same way that a masters level is judged. Rules are the same. Look at kcbs.us for the rules.
Never! So I think I would do the backyard division. I have no problem cooking multiple items at once but doing just chicken and ribs sounds fun and manageable. I will look over the rules and come back with more questions. Thanks!
In my backyard judging experiences with KCBS (California), once the judging is completed, the contestants come over to the judges table and the judges critique and give feedback directly to the contestants. Which in my opinion is great. There is no judges feedback in the championship series - only comment cards that can be rather vague and that's if you get them at all.
Oh that is cool. I was considering just going to watch once but honestly there isn't many comps around here, and the "First timer" cost is pretty minimal. I am trying to get my firm to sponsor my "team" though.
Thanks for the responses! I have been reading up on the rules and the specifics for this event. It sounds like a challenge but I enjoy that kind of thing (see my annual birthday bbq party post).
Best advice I can give, is to go into the day with a plan of having more fun than anyone else, play music, dance by your grills, wear funny hats, whatever it is, but my experience says having fun is the most important part of learning, & competing.
You have the Masters contests on Saturday and Sunday (brisket, butt, chicken, ribs)
Backyard contests Saturday and Sunday (chicken and ribs)
Master of Chicken is a chicken ONLY contest Friday, open to all teams
Master of Ribs is a ribs ONLY contest Saturday
Then you have the two ancillaries:
Rib roulette (that one sounds fun)
Fried Chicken (at first I was confused about this one, as I thought the goal was to approximate fried chicken without a fryer, but presumably people will just be deep frying with wood/charcoal as the fuel source)
I definitely want to do ribs. I'm thinking the Backyard contest makes the most sense? Honestly, the chicken is what throws me - does everyone pretty much do the same thing with the thighs and the butter bath and all that?
Master of Chicken/Ribs each are a one-category contest that count for team of year points in the respective categories. Double (2 day) contests for Masters (4 meats) and Backyard. These each count for team of year points. Ancillary events like fried chicken, are generally at the contest organizer's discretion. I.e., you might can use a deep fryer or air fryer, get details from the contest.
If you just want to cook ribs, do Saturday's Master of Ribs and check on what the Rib Roulette is.
Comment