Our first competition of the season is over!  It was both a disappointment and a success.

It was a disappointment because we made 2 big blunders…  First, we didn’t test the sauce we used for chicken, and it was too thick, resulting in low scores for oversaucing.  Second, I didn’t get the ribs done enough, resulting in low scores for tenderness/texture.  I think those scores also lead to lower taste scores.

Our pork was not bad; we liked it a lot, but we only placed 12th out of 26.  It tasted great!

The brisket, however, was a success… We took 2nd!  Our biggest payout, and a trophy to boot!

Continue reading to see the photos of the entry boxes.  Our presentation scores are with each photo.  The photos are larger than usual so you can see them better!

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Tonight, we get loaded up and ready to go to Fairbanks, IN, for Q For The Kids, our sixth competition.

We’re pretty excited about this one; we just took Dr. BBQ’s class last month, and we think we have a shot to place better than we have in the past.  There are some great teams going, but we’ve cooked against most of them before.  Whether we win or not, we’ll have a great time.

I have my project plan all set, and our checklist is being worked.  I used a form of the checklist on the Smokin’ Guns BBQ website.  Here’s our project plan (click on it to see it full size; it should be readable):

I’ll post results after we get back… hoping to see Bucky McOinkum’s Barbecue listed several times!!!

This Friday, June 1, Bucky McOinkum’s Barbecue will be in their 6th competition at Q For The Kids in Fairbanks, IN!

We’ve taken Ray Lampe’s "Dr BBQ’s Real Deal Cooking Class", and we went through a practice cook over the weekend.  We were EXTREMELY happy with our results.  The ribs were moist and tasty, and the color was great.  The chicken was good, but maybe a bit too spicy; we thought we might need a thinner sauce than the Javacue sauce, and one that’s a bit lighter in color. 

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As of this morning, I heard from Jim Emig of Jim Dandy’s BBQ that their competition in Cincinnati is now officially sanctioned by the KCBS!!!

The comp will be on September 15 and 16, which is a Saturday/Sunday competition.  Turn ins will probably start a bit early so people can get home at a decent time.  I’ve read stuff on people wanting this set up, so it will be worth a try!

Look here for more info; email me at cmcadams@buckymcoinkumsbbq.com for more info if you want.  I spoke with Jim this morning, and he said they’re hoping to have a judging class put together for the end of August, too.

Ohio comps… Gotta love it!

Last weekend, Mark and I pulled the smoker up to Detroit, MI, for Dr. BBQ’s Competition BBQ Class.  The class was very much oriented toward Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) competitions, and Ray (Dr. BBQ) certainly has the background to talk about comps!

The class ran from 3:00 PM on Saturday until about 2:00 PM on Sunday, with set up starting at noon on Saturday.  The weather couldn’t have been better.  Highs in the low 70s, low in the high 40s overnight, clear and gorgeous.  The class was held at an engineering/manufacturing firm, and John Ford, the owner, has a GREAT pellet smoker inside, with a fantastic kitchen, so we did the classes inside mostly, taking the food outside to cook.

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On the startup of Get Your Grill On, the editor, Robert Fernandez, has asked for photos of meat.  I thought about what post to send him pictures from, and I decided it would be a good time to just go through the last 10 months and pull out some good ol’ meat photos… So here they are!

The first photo here is what I consider the King of Steaks, prime grade porterhouse steaks on the grill.  The steaks pictured here were done for my wife’s birthday party back in July, along with basil butter grilled lobsters. 

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I was up early this morning, and I realized that Mark and I have just finished our sophomore season as competitive barbecuers.  Well, I don’t know how competitive we are, but we at least helped me one comp a Jack qualifier!  I thought this was a good time, though, to reflect on the last couple of seasons and how things have changed.

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Here I am at the end of October.  This is the month I tell people shows why Ohio is a great place to live… The fall colors are great!  Living in the woods means I get to see a lot of color, and this year is one of the best recent years to do some leaf viewing.

October is also really busy for us.  It’s great weather to be out, so we do a lot.  Every weekend seems to fill up, almost too much.  Luckily, we have a couple of weekends to relax between now and the holidays starting.  It’s also been a tough October for me, with Woody gone.  He always liked the turn in weather, and I just have great memories of spending time with him at this time of the year.  If anyone reading this has a dog, especially a lab, make sure to spoil them a little extra for me this week!

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Last weekend was our 5th competition, in Nelsonville, Ohio… The Ohio Smoked Meat and BBQ Festival.  This was our latest competition season-wise, and Friday night was COLD!!!  We made due, though, and got through the night to end up with a great Saturday with 60+ degree temps and gorgeous fall colors everywhere around.

One thing that’s different about this comp is that there’s no other festival going along with it, so it’s nothing but teams that show up to cook.  And our biggest contribution was to be the 25th team to allow the winner to be eligible for next year’s Jack Daniels competition.  Other than that, we pretty much blew it, but, most importantly, we had a great time cooking bad food!

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Tomorrow morning we take off for Nelsonville, Ohio, for the Ohio Smoke Meat Festival!!!

It’s possibly going to be raining, so we’re not leaving until about 10:00 am, which should get us there about 12:30.  We’ll have time to set up and prep well before the 6:00 PM Cook’s Meeting.

After last weekend, this cook should be a breeze!  Just joking, really.

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