Eagle event, pics and report

[SmokinLee]

Congrats to you both. Man I wish I could of made it to the comp, as I was so looking forward to it. I guess you did fine without me LOL. It sounded like a great time. Seems I will be busy for the next month trying to juggle work and taking care of my dads affairs. Congrats again fellas. I was trying to reply to this a couple times but the power outages just keep me doing so.

[wutang]

Congrats. Looks like lots of fun was had. And some good food too. Sounds like a good time to me.

[Bbqgoddess]

Congrats!

Capt Dan and Sir Richtee, what a great comp you had, congrats on your hard work and your lucky raffle tickets your new uds is a perfect match!
Your chicken looked really beautiful, I thought everything did!
I think you all should be very proud!! Congrats! Thank you for the pictures and the stories!

I am not sure I get the whole "comp" thing, we had a KCBA comp at the Stagecoach festival this past weekend, I did not see the plated turn in boxes so I can't comment on those, (yours looked great from what I have seen on t.v. comps I have watched) however we did a lot of tasting, and I have to tell you, (and maybe I don't know what the hell I am talking about) the butt was mushy, like applesauce with no real smoke flavor at all, they seem to hide the flavor or lack there of with the bbq sauce, which in every case but one, tasted like it was out of a jar. The briskeys not much different, they did have a better texture, but no real smoke ring and no real smoke flavor. I had some friends with me who have eaten my smoked food and every taste "they said this is nothing like yours, not even close"
I am not sure what the rules are, and if they very from comp to comp? Or if people here just don't know what good q is?

[cowgirl]

Way to go guys! Looks great and sounds like fun!

[Capt Dan]

Thanks everyone for the kudos and comments.

BBQG,
Rich is offline this week working out of town again, but he would agree with me when I say, comp food is NOT what you would serve your family and friends.It's really too bad it is that way, but we have 6-7 judges to impress by them taking a quick 3-4 second peek at your presentation, and then 1 bite, maybe 2 if they really like the meat. In that amount of time, they have to compair yours to the previous entry, and to the one to follow. So many cooks are looking for flavor combinations that "wow" the judges' taste buds.Many times I have also been told, "your food is better than that". But remember, try making good food without your kitchen nearby, in the elements of mother nature and under a strict timetable.

We are still trying to learn as much as we can and yet keep it fun. Do I enjoy it? yes, I do.But it is alot of work and planning, and the day after, you just want to rest and regroup,and share it with your friends.

I think of these events as a fun get together with people you know, and folks who have the same passion for Q! As long as we are all getting together, might as well cook something, we all hafta eat, and heck, lets put some money on it, just for chits and grins.

I have yet to find a better group of people to be around, many will treat you as family. Hugs and handshakes upon arrival ,and at departure,toasts to friendship , safety and health,evenings full of laughter.
Many different styles of cooks and equipment, the smells are wonderful around 2-3 in the am. When 11 am comes around, everyone gets a bit more intense, and we all try not to mess up what we have worked for 10 hrs to create. After the turn -ins, most teams are sharing info, and their left over meats with other teams for input, or to compare tastes. Then its clean-up and pack away time, while the judges tabulate the votes/scores. Usually 1-2 hrs later, the awards are ready for presentation, and folks are ready to head home, until the next event.

[HawgHeaven]

Congrats Dan and Rich, looks like you guys had a real blast! Dan, you definitely had some major mojo going on there... ya' shoulda listened and bought that lottery ticket! Oh well...

Rich, that looks like iced tea yer chuggin'... correct?

[Okie joe]

Dan and Rich thank you for the post... So glad you placed and looked like a good time was had byn all....Also thanks to Bubba for the Nice looking Drum....that was some raffel Clean sweep ....Good pics points to all

[Bbqgoddess]

Capt Dan
Thank you for all your info.
Some of the peeps at the comp had huge elaborate booths with lots of props doing various things, but the food? not so great!
I did notice to a lot of them use regular charcoal, some that kingsford comp charcoal, very few using RO...
I tried that kingsford comp stuff did not like it at all... a few stick burners as well. I couldn't smell smoke tho..
What are the rules other than turn in time? Do they look for a smoke ring? does it have to have BBQ sauce on it? do they care about texture?
These cats started Thursday for Sat and Sunday with 100 lbs of meat. I went on Sat to taste test and I was really surprised at how much I did not like the meat.. I think Ry would agree, maybe we can start at a small comp and work our way up to this one next year!
Thanks again Capt Dan for the info!

[flyin' illini]

Kel - Check this link out for KCBS standard info.
http://www.bbqdan.com/kcbs/index.html

I took the judging class in Feb. It was interesting but agree it can vary. They coach the standard in the class. Our Instructor was very solid.

As many have said, the standard is what it is, but your personal preferences are very likely to be different. Still figuring this out for sure as I have yet to cook much beef.

Hope this helps some...

Capt Dan
Thank you for all your info.
Some of the peeps at the comp had huge elaborate booths with lots of props doing various things, but the food? not so great!
I did notice to a lot of them use regular charcoal, some that kingsford comp charcoal, very few using RO...
I tried that kingsford comp stuff did not like it at all... a few stick burners as well. I couldn't smell smoke tho..
What are the rules other than turn in time? Do they look for a smoke ring? does it have to have BBQ sauce on it? do they care about texture?
These cats started Thursday for Sat and Sunday with 100 lbs of meat. I went on Sat to taste test and I was really surprised at how much I did not like the meat.. I think Ry would agree, maybe we can start at a small comp and work our way up to this one next year!
Thanks again Capt Dan for the info!

[Uncle-Honky]

Dan and Rich what a fun story and the pics are great. The kind of things that put a smile on anyone's face. BRAVO GUYS! רררר Big round of applause ררר

I did try the BBQ comp at our fest., but did not try any pork. I had only the brisket from many diff teams. I dont know enough about the brisky to pass much judgment. Although some beef ribs I had were not very impressive at all.
The many items I have seen on this forum in the qviews if ya will...definitely look better than some of the stuff I have seen at the comp.
Cheers

[Rod Glupker]

Great Eats, Great people and Great time in Eagle

I want to thank everyone from the Great Lakes Barbeque Association. I had a great time. I also wanted to say, I think I gained 20Lbs. that day. Oh So worth it...

[jbchoice1]

that's a great story... don't know how I missed it... guess it just happens sometime...

[sweet_magnolia]

I know I'm late getting to this, but GREAT JOB, DAN AND RICH!!!! The turn in boxes all look awesome!!

I have yet to find a better group of people to be around, many will treat you as family. Hugs and handshakes upon arrival ,and at departure,toasts to friendship , safety and health,evenings full of laughter.

That's the way it should be, Dan. Not much gets better than that!!

Congratulations to you both and thanks for sharing the stories and pictures!