{"id":3224,"date":"2013-01-27T15:58:39","date_gmt":"2013-01-27T21:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/?p=3224"},"modified":"2023-09-27T12:13:05","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T17:13:05","slug":"the-thrills-and-frustrations-of-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/the-thrills-and-frustrations-of-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"The Thrills and Frustrations of Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s early in 2013.\u00a0 The days are short, the weather is cold, and BBQ season is still a ways away, so why am I writing about competition?<\/p>\n<p>Because yesterday my team, SLABS a&#8217; Smokin, took part in a fun, one day competition in St. Louis called Freeze Que.\u00a0 It&#8217;s a great event that gives all proceeds to charity and gives nut jobs like me\u00a0a chance to fire up our smokers in the dead of winter.\u00a0 A challenge to be sure, but fun nonetheless.<\/p>\n<p>It also was another reminder of the thrills and frustrations of <a title=\"Competitive BBQ\" href=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/about\/competitive-bbq\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">competition BBQ<\/a>, so I thought I&#8217;d share with you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The THRILLS<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They had a mystery meat category.\u00a0 We were given the meat at 9:30am and had to prep, cook and present by 4pm.\u00a0 This is a real measure of how creative and knowledgeable your team is with preparing food.\u00a0 We were given <a title=\"Bacon Wrapped Turkey Tenderloin\" href=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/bacon-wrapped-turkey-tenderloin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">turkey tenderloins<\/a>, which we marinated, sliced in half, stuffed with deliciousness, rolled up, rubbed, smoked, breaded, seared, sliced and presented with miniature stuffing balls.\u00a0 I&#8217;m thrilled to report that team effort\u00a0landed us in the top 10.\u00a0 We even\u00a0finished ahead of\u00a0a couple of restaurants!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 349px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 349\/232;border: black 4px solid;\" data-src=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Freeze-Que-4.jpg\" alt=\"BBQ Competition\" width=\"349\" height=\"232\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: black 4px solid;\" src=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Freeze-Que-4.jpg\" alt=\"BBQ Competition\" width=\"349\" height=\"232\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Nailing Ribs.\u00a0 Yes, we absolutely nailed them yesterday.\u00a0 They were perfect.\u00a0 Wouldn&#8217;t change a thing.\u00a0 Any of you\u00a0who have tried to cook perfect ribs understand how difficult it is.\u00a0 It&#8217;s truly an art.\u00a0 Yesterday it all just went as smoothly as can be and we finished #5.\u00a0 I&#8217;ll take top 5 any day.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a title=\"Competition 101: Team and Timing\" href=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/competition-101-team-and-timing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Team Effort<\/a>.\u00a0 You won&#8217;t understand until you&#8217;ve been at a competition from beginning to end.\u00a0 There are SO many aspects that go into it&#8230;from planning to set up to cooking to\u00a0cleaning to tear down and transporting.\u00a0\u00a0There are insanely intense times &#8211; turn in&#8217;s &#8211; and plenty of relaxing times, but there is always something to do.\u00a0 I am lucky to be surrounded by the best team anyone could ask for.\u00a0 The team members of SLABS a&#8217; Smokin are second to none and I am constantly humbled by their work ethic,\u00a0kindness and team-first attitudes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The Frustrations<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Inconsistent <a title=\"Competition 101: Scoring\" href=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/competition-101-scoring\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Judging<\/a>.\u00a0 Yes, I know it&#8217;s all subjective, but c&#8217;mon.\u00a0 How is it possible for me to give 6 ribs to turn in that I know I nailed, and 5\u00a0of those judges agree, with one judge basically telling\u00a0me they&#8217;re terrible?\u00a0 Did he drop the rib on the ground before taking a bite?\u00a0 Yesterday I had one silly judge.\u00a0 If he isn&#8217;t\u00a0a complete lunatic,\u00a0and my next lowest score is dropped, instead of placing 5th,\u00a0we place top 3 for sure.<\/li>\n<li>Things NOT going as planned.\u00a0 We tried a slightly new method for our <a title=\"Award Winning Chicken Thighs\" href=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/award-winning-chicken-thighs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">chicken <\/a>yesterday.\u00a0 I thought they turned out fantastic, but not perfect.\u00a0\u00a0We could have done better.\u00a0 The\u00a0skin of the thighs shrank more than I expected and our presentation was left\u00a0looking something less than perfect.\u00a0 Sound crazy?\u00a0 Well, I&#8217;m not.\u00a0 Every tiny point helps, and if a judge sees exposed meat instead of smooth skin, he&#8217;s going to dock you.\u00a0\u00a0We came in 9th yesterday &#8211; that&#8217;s\u00a0outstanding!\u00a0 But what was the difference between 9th and 3rd?\u00a0 4 points.\u00a0 That&#8217;s all.\u00a0 That&#8217;s 4 judges giving us an 8 instead of a 9\u00a0because of the shrunken skin.\u00a0 Every.\u00a0\u00a0Detail.\u00a0 Counts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 349px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 349\/232;border: black 4px solid;\" data-src=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Freeze-Que-2.jpg\" alt=\"BBQ Competition Chicken\" width=\"349\" height=\"232\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: black 4px solid;\" src=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Freeze-Que-2.jpg\" alt=\"BBQ Competition Chicken\" width=\"349\" height=\"232\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Teams that&#8230;don&#8217;t handle themselves well.\u00a0 At nearly every competition there&#8217;s at least one team that gets a little out of hand.\u00a0 Usually it&#8217;s related to their beverage of choice that day, and not\u00a0knowing when they&#8217;ve had enough.\u00a0 I&#8217;ve seen teams\u00a0falling over themselves, heard them scream profanities, and even\u00a0threaten\u00a0and try picking fights with other teams.\u00a0 That&#8217;s always a shame.\u00a0 There really is a brotherhood in BBQ, and when teams don&#8217;t get that, they ruin it for everyone else.\u00a0 I think everyone should read Mike Mills&#8217;, Peace, Love, &amp; BBQ.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All in all, the thrills outweigh the frustrations for me.\u00a0 I&#8217;ve accepted the fact that sometimes it&#8217;s just not your day &#8211; even if you believe you&#8217;ve put your best product forward.\u00a0 Sometimes you just\u00a0get the &#8220;wrong&#8221; judges.\u00a0 But at the end of it all, for me, it&#8217;s about coming together as friends and family, having a good time, enjoying each other and the competition, and\u00a0being proud of the products you turn in.\u00a0 When those things happen, I feel like a winner every time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 448px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 448\/299;border: black 4px solid;\" data-src=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Freeze-Que-5.jpg\" alt=\"BBQ Competition\" width=\"448\" height=\"299\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: black 4px solid;\" src=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Freeze-Que-5.jpg\" alt=\"BBQ Competition\" width=\"448\" height=\"299\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s early in 2013.\u00a0 The days are short, the weather is cold, and BBQ season is still a ways away, so why am I writing about competition? Because yesterday my&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1011,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3224"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1011"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3224"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7090,"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3224\/revisions\/7090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}