{"id":788,"date":"2012-04-11T05:00:02","date_gmt":"2012-04-11T10:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/?p=788"},"modified":"2023-09-27T12:14:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T17:14:10","slug":"mbn-vs-kcbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/mbn-vs-kcbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Competition 101:  MBN vs. KCBS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-868 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 346px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 346\/214;border: 4px solid black;\" title=\"KCBS vs MBN\" data-src=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/KCBS-vs-MBN.jpg\" alt=\"Competition 101: KCBS vs MBN\" width=\"346\" height=\"214\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/KCBS-vs-MBN.jpg 346w, https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/KCBS-vs-MBN-300x185.jpg 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 346px) 100vw, 346px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-868\" style=\"border: 4px solid black;\" title=\"KCBS vs MBN\" src=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/KCBS-vs-MBN.jpg\" alt=\"Competition 101: KCBS vs MBN\" width=\"346\" height=\"214\" srcset=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/KCBS-vs-MBN.jpg 346w, https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/KCBS-vs-MBN-300x185.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 346px) 100vw, 346px\" \/><\/noscript>It&#8217;s the National League vs. the American League.\u00a0 Great debate.\u00a0 Big differences.\u00a0 Everyone has a side.\u00a0 Everyone has reasons they will give why one is better than the other.<\/p>\n<p>But just as all true baseball fans know the National League is the best, all BBQ Competitors know deep down that MBN takes the crown.\u00a0 I&#8217;ll give the high points to both, however,\u00a0and maybe you will disagree with me.\u00a0 That&#8217;s why it&#8217;s such a fun debate!<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_65 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/mbn-vs-kcbs\/#KCBS\" title=\"KCBS\">KCBS<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/mbn-vs-kcbs\/#MBN\" title=\"MBN\">MBN<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"KCBS\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">KCBS<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There are\u00a0over 400 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kcbs.us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KCBS (Kansas City Barbeque Society) <\/a>a competitions in the course of a year.\u00a0 They&#8217;re everywhere, from coast to coast, every weekend.\u00a0 And make no mistake, they are awesome.\u00a0 It&#8217;s the world&#8217;s largest barbeque organization.<\/p>\n<p>In a KCBS competition, there are 4 main categories every time:\u00a0 Beef Brisket, Pork Shoulder, Chicken, and Pork Ribs.\u00a0 There are ancillary categories at particular competitions, but they usually don&#8217;t count towards your overall score.\u00a0 They are more for fun and to get people involved, or perhaps a people&#8217;s choice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-dt\">With each of these four, you are required to turn them in at specific times in a styrofoam container with beautiful garnish &#8211; this is called a blind\u00a0box.\u00a0 It has to be PERFECT.\u00a0 Any sauce on your garnish or container gets your points docked.\u00a0 If your sauce is smeared at all &#8211; docked.\u00a0 Anything at all other than perfect appearance gets you docked.\u00a0 Talk about stress!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_841\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-841\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-841 size-medium lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/288;border: 4px solid black;\" title=\"Ribs Presentation SLBS\" data-src=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Ribs-Presentation-SLBS-300x288.png\" alt=\"KCBS Blind Box Presentation\" width=\"300\" height=\"288\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Ribs-Presentation-SLBS-300x288.png 300w, https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Ribs-Presentation-SLBS.png 575w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-841 size-medium\" style=\"border: 4px solid black;\" title=\"Ribs Presentation SLBS\" src=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Ribs-Presentation-SLBS-300x288.png\" alt=\"KCBS Blind Box Presentation\" width=\"300\" height=\"288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Ribs-Presentation-SLBS-300x288.png 300w, https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Ribs-Presentation-SLBS.png 575w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-841\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">KCBS and SLBS Blind Box<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stlouisbbqsociety.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SLBS (St. Louis BBQ Society)<\/a> is very similar to KCBS.\u00a0 It&#8217;s small and growing, but similar rules.\u00a0 The big difference with SLBS is there are additional categories allowed to be thrown into the competition and they DO count towards overall points.\u00a0 The most popular is of course, the famous <a title=\"Smoked Pork Steaks\" href=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/smoked-pork-steaks\/\">St. Louis Pork Steaks<\/a>.\u00a0 But there could also be chili, dessert, chef&#8217;s choice, amongst others.<\/p>\n<p>Both SLBS and KCBS rely solely on the blind box.\u00a0 That&#8217;s it.\u00a0 You cook all night, prepare the perfectly garnished box with your delicious smoked meat and hand it over to a table of judges to taste and score your entree.\u00a0 Good luck!<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"MBN\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">MBN<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mbnbbq.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MBN (Memphis Barbeque Network)<\/a> is a different beast all together.\u00a0 The MBN focuses entirely on pork.\u00a0 Nothing but pork.\u00a0 Sure, they have ancillary categories as well, but they never count towards your overall.\u00a0 Pork shoulder, ribs, and whole hog.<\/p>\n<p>There are only about 20 MBN sanctioned events per year.\u00a0 As you can imagine, with so few events, they are all extremely intense, sought after championships.\u00a0 Nearly every event brings out the best of the best.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-dt\">Here&#8217;s the biggest difference:\u00a0 Not only do you have to prepare a blind box, but you also have to present, at your site, to professional certified judges.\u00a0 How intense and awesome is that!?\u00a0 So, after you get done preparing your blind box &#8211; which by the way does NOT contain any garnish &#8211; you have 3 separate judges come to your site, one at a time, for 15 minutes, to hear every detail about how you prepare your meat.\u00a0 And then they eat it. Right. In. Front. Of. You.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_843\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-843\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MIM-Blind-Box.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-843 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/225;border: 4px solid black;\" title=\"MIM Blind Box\" data-src=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MIM-Blind-Box-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"MBN Blind Box Presentation\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MIM-Blind-Box-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MIM-Blind-Box-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MIM-Blind-Box.jpg 1296w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-843 \" style=\"border: 4px solid black;\" title=\"MIM Blind Box\" src=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MIM-Blind-Box-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"MBN Blind Box Presentation\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MIM-Blind-Box-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MIM-Blind-Box-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MIM-Blind-Box.jpg 1296w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-843\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">MBN Competition Blind Box<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-dt\">And therin lies the reason I believe MBN is superior.\u00a0 It&#8217;s not about the lettuce and parsley in your blind box &#8211; it&#8217;s about the meat.\u00a0 And then, even if you NAIL the blind box and get perfect scores, you still have to knock it out of the park with 3 judges, face to face.\u00a0 It&#8217;s a more thorough contest that shows any weaknesses or strengths your team has.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_842\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-842\" style=\"width: 448px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MBN-Presentation.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-842 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 448px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 448\/336;border: 4px solid black;\" title=\"MBN Presentation\" data-src=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MBN-Presentation-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"MBN Judges Presentation\" width=\"448\" height=\"336\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MBN-Presentation-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MBN-Presentation-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MBN-Presentation.jpg 1296w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-842 \" style=\"border: 4px solid black;\" title=\"MBN Presentation\" src=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MBN-Presentation-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"MBN Judges Presentation\" width=\"448\" height=\"336\" srcset=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MBN-Presentation-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MBN-Presentation-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/app\/uploads\/2012\/04\/MBN-Presentation.jpg 1296w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-842\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Judging Presentation at MBN Competition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I will say, I do prefer having several meats to cook over just pork.\u00a0 Our team, SLABS a&#8217; Smokin, focuses primarily on ribs but have also ventured into shoulder recently at the MBN Invitational Contest.\u00a0 But in St. Louis, we&#8217;ve been on stage for Beef Tenderloin, Grilled Dessert, and <a title=\"Award Winning Chicken Thighs\" href=\"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/award-winning-chicken-thighs\/\">Chicken<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0I do so love cooking different foods.\u00a0 It&#8217;s a significant challenge that\u00a0my team loves to attack head on.<\/p>\n<p>So it&#8217;s close, but I personally give the edge to MBN over KCBS and SLBS.\u00a0 What do you think?\u00a0 If you&#8217;re a competitor, give me your vote and why.\u00a0 If you&#8217;re not a competitor,\u00a0I&#8217;d like to hear your take.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s the National League vs. the American League.\u00a0 Great debate.\u00a0 Big differences.\u00a0 Everyone has a side.\u00a0 Everyone has reasons they will give why one is better than the other. But&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\/788"}],"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=788"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8329,"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions\/8329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}