Signed up for my 1st SCA cook

[cmiller0711]

So after watching alot of youtube videos and forcing my family to try my steak experiments, I finally decided to enter two SCA steak competitions. The first competition is August 19th in Memphis TN and the second is October 21st in West Memphis AR.
Im really excited about this and I was wondering if anyone on here has cooked in a SCA cook. If you have, is there any advise you can give me?
I plan on cooking on a PK360 with GrillGrates, but I also have an original PK grill I can use.

[DWCowles]

Guarantee you won't be the only one there with a PK360.

[DWCowles]

This might help you some. I sure he will be there also since that's his home turf.

https://youtu.be/OwNSAr7lJow

[cmiller0711]

DWCowles Thanks for the link! I have watched that in the past. Malcolm Reed is actually my inspiration for doing the SCA event. He will be there I already saw his name on the roster. My goal is to not come in last place!

[CandySueQ]

I think the hardest thing is choosing your steaks! You don't have a lot of time. You pick a number, line up and go through the line twice to get 2 steaks to cook. Steak quality may be really good, but it may not. Be prepared to get it tender if you need to do that. Practice cooking to medium and getting that 90 degree rotation for grill marks. If the steak is thin, use Meathead's cooking thin steak technique so you don't overcook. You only need nice grill marks on one side of the steak!

[cmiller0711]

Thanks for the insight! That is the part I'm most nervous about... steak selection! I have been researching a lot on what to look for in a ribeye steak. LOL

[BarBQ22]

Those look like ALOT of fun. Kosmos has a good video as well. I'm entered in Beat the Heat this weekend. It's part of the great American bbq tour. On Friday they have a steak competition. Why not it was free for me to enter. I'm using a weber kettle. Tried to get a pk. Wife said no. Following weekend there's a comp in Idaho springs, colorado. Good luck.

[cmiller0711]

Here is a practice run I cooked tonight! This is right before I took them off the grill.
The pk360 has been pretty consistent on the steaks im turning out! Altough on this run the left side of my grill got a little hotter than the right. No biggie I still got the steak off before it went over target temp.

[cmiller0711]

BarBQ22 I actually got lucky and found my original PK on craigslist for $150. So keep on the look out!

[Mr. Bones]

This sounds excitin'; I'm rootin' fer ya'!!!!
Main thing is: try to enjoy, amidst alla th' angst, an' chaos!!!
I got faith in ya'!!!!
Do yer level best, an' walk away, head held high!!!
(Maybe with an award???)

[cmiller0711]

Thank you sir!!!

[JoeSousa]

I almost signed up for the SCA cookoff here in Jacksonville but the more I researched I don't think the steaks I can turn out would be good competition steaks. I definitely prefer a good overall sear, keep the seasonings simple, and am not a fan of grill marks. I know the steaks I can cook are excellent but just don't think they would do well in one of these competitions. Am I off base here? Are grill marks a necessity for these competitions?

[cmiller0711]

From what I understand grill marks are not necessary for the win. I used to never do grill marks on steaks before deciding to do these events. I will say I have been turning out some of the best tasting steaks I have ever made though. I don't think its the grill marks making them taste great but just understanding proper technique.

[cmiller0711]

Did a practice cook tonight just to make sure Im good for tomorrow! Here are the results.

[kmhfive]

I'd eat that for sure! Looking good. You've got this!

[DWCowles]

We wish you the best of luck and skill

[BarBQ22]

Believe it or not I DIDN'T trim outside of steak. Around the eye until AFTER the steak was done. Remember the edges get more done then middle. This way ALL of the judges get the same meat at the proper doneness. Hint hint bro: shhhh ... Throw a couple of hand fulls of masquite woodchips on the coals. Worked for me! never hurts to have an un light side just in case your not done after the 8 min of searing. I needed 2 min on this to finish my winning steak. After 8 min it was only at 127. Pulled at 132.

[cmiller0711]

So I took 39th out of 53 entries. When I was done with my steaks I chose the one that was absolutely way more tender than the other. I mean it was so tender that when I probed it for temp it felt like I put my thermometer in water. I felt like I could cut it with the back side of a plastic butter knife! My scores where great everywhere except of texture so I have a feeling it was too tender. I you look at the score sheet the best score you can get is a 50 and how they do that is by having 5 judges at a table and they score 1-10.
I had a blast doing it and I look forward to competing again in October!