Personally, I think that if electricity is involved then it shouldn't be allowed with the arguable exception of thermometers. Hell, half the fun of BBQ for me comes from knowing I tended that fire the whole time to produce good food. When it comes right down to it, that's a large portion of the skill involved in good BBQ.
I'd be willing to enter a competition where the rules state that the entry booth will take the temps and reject anything under a safe temperature if one wanted a really "traditional" BBQ cook off without the use of any modern gadgets such as a Maverick or Thermapen.
Yes, I admit there is some contradiction. I have no problem calling braised chicken in a smoker and then hot grilled "barbecue". What I am critical of is KCBS and their contradictions. No gas or electric because it is not traditional, but pellets are OK. Thermostat controllers are OK. And then the cooks all go around telling us they are upholding the great American age old tradition of barbecue. Competition barbecue is as far from traditional barbecue as is grilling hot dogs on a hibachi.
Apparently, sous-vide is not an acceptable tecnique in KCBS events. From the official rules: Parboiling, Sous-vide, and/or deep-frying competition meat is not allowed.
I'd have to agree with you there Gunderich. The only difference is with the DigiQ and a kettle or a WSM you're still using charcoal & wood, not an entirely automated rig. Again, I don't mean to fuel the fire (pun intended) of debate among pellet heads, I'm just saying the satisfaction I get from doing it old school is what I prefer. If a knob and a dial is not allowed at a competition (gas smoker) why is a knob and a dial allowed on a pellet rig? Pellets aren't traditional. I say either make ALL cookers/fuels allowed and judge the finished product, or ONLY allow charcoal and wood chunks (no pellets).
Aaron, let me ask you this: what about Weber's or WSM's with the Digi Q or some variation there of? Doesn't that do somewhat the same as a pellet smoker? Just asking because of a discussion locally between me and some friends talking about this very thing. I haven't got one because I'm not sure they are worth it, depending on which reviews you read.... Anyway, am I being too old school by wanting to control my fire the old fashioned way? And yes I do have good thermometers so I guess I'm not that old school. Looking forward to everyone's feedback especially since I am getting ready to get into some local competitions. Doing a lot of research. Thanks all.
Some people don't turn in the skin. That's what my instructor said. "Don't judge what isn't there!" he said when I asked what if an entry has no skin? To me, this means the better odds are to 'turn in meat with no skin', so it's not there as a potential nail in the coffin.
What would you think of a scoring system along the lines of: for each protein you get 100 points to spend across entries, you are free to break them down as you wish.
The instructor at my class said he'd rate everything he tasted there (and we tasted) as a 9. I specifically remember looking around thinking "this guy's a nut case" and others in the class were nodding in agreement with him. It was sad. Either my standards of what stellar BBQ is is way too high, or there's a vast need of improvement in how these classes are conducted and judges are trained.
Food at CBJ classes generally sucks. That's because one cook is preparing every entry on the table in every category. It ain't contest food. I could argue that samples (particularly bad samples) aren't necessary to train a judge...
I'm new to this whole BBQ competition idea. But the idea of segmenting your scores seems like it elevates the picky ahead of the total package.
NASCAR figured out that having the guy who hardly ever wins a race, buy consistently finishes decent, win the Cup is boring. So, they changed and gave more emphasis on winning races than they used to. Fans like that more!
If your taste is great, but your skin didn't pull perfect (like it does on the cupcake pan chicken, barely cooked over flame at the end), and you loose, then that's silly.
When I set up the scoring system for the First Kingsford Invitational, the world's richest pot, I used a one number system. Food scientists know that if you add up points you don't get an accurate appraisal. You don't rate an orchestra by giving points to the woodwinds, strings, percussion, etc. It is the OVERALL impression that matters. So that's how we did it. One number for overall impression. If appearance means a lot to you, well then let that figure in your thinking. It is a well known system developed by the Army of all things for their procurement at the Natick Research Center. It is called the Hedonic scale. Again, a concept very well known to sensory scientists but unknown to BBQ judging events.
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