Not only do you have to follow recipes; you also have to practice, patience and experiment to get the right techniques.
Before any contest, you must dedicate enough time on refining your techniques and on such equipment that you should be completely familiar with. During practice sessions,
season your meats with your signature rubs and marinades, cook at various temperatures and time your meats to achieve the right amount of tenderness and one of a kind flavors.
To end up with consistent results you must know your smoker or grill. And long cooks of several hours or overnight can pose problems as far as temperature control.
If you do practice regularly you can predict the way your equipment will handle in varying weather conditions and what various fuels will do for you.
Reliable thermometers and meat probes used to check your internal meat temperatures will keep your entries safe to eat, and cooked to the right temperature.
Repetition not only promotes your technical skills, but also improves confidence. Simulating contest conditions,
like cooking multiple types of meat at the same time or working on presentaion,
are great ways to prepare the mental and physical effects that contest day brings. Practicing also allows you to learn those techniques first hand and try out new flavors – your team will stand out in a field of very skilled competitors.
Putting Together the Right Equipment for competition.
Skill was just as important as the right equipment to have in barbecue contests. Your centerpiece is your smoker or grill,
and it has to be reliable, efficient and suitable for your style of cooking. No matter if you cook your barbecue over offset smokers,
pellet grills, or traditional charcoal pits, keeping steady heat and smoke flow is yet another key to making championship barbecue.
These items are just as necessary as cooking devices, thermometers and meat probes.
The key to the temperature monitoring was that it prevented entry from being made or broken due to overcooking, or undercooking.
For safe, precise meat preparation, knives, cutting boards and gloves are needed.
Hand sanitizers, first aid kit, and cleaning supplies are set up to guarantee high hygiene and safety of everything that happens during the cooking event.
Insofar that many contests run over multiple days being prepared for whatever comes along is the wise thing. Of course,
you’re not required to have uniforms, team banners and tents but these things definitely set
you off as an actual organization and also help you look more professional and build your brand presence. Finally,
these visual elements will also add to the team’s camaraderie, and it will draw the eye from judges and sponsors.
When you enter a barbecue contest, who wins and loses has a much more scientific basis than you may have anticipated.
Barbecue is a highly skilled and precise procedures in judging. The evaluation is carried out by strict professional judges following standardized criteria of every entry fairly and consistently.
For any competitor, who wants to succeed, it’s extremely important to know these judging parameters.
The things that they look for include appearance, tenderness, flavor, and occasionally creativity. Each of these
will give you the best chances of scoring high and standing out among many candidates.
