These ribs were for a work event with judges who were apparently KCBS certified.
They had amazing flavor (sweet w/ a little heat), sticky, good bark, smoke was mild, and my main critique was I pulled them a little early (60mins before box turn-in). Ribs were tender and pulled off bone nicely, but not fall off bone. I used q-tips to clean up bones.
Out of 7 contestants, I didn’t place top 3. I truly don’t understand because I don’t think anyone else was in the same ballpark. Even the guy who I thought was my biggest challenge (KCBS regular competitor) only scored 3rd. 1st and second were on pellet grills which feels like a total cheat.
Not a huge deal, but I am really disappointed. I have competed in this event before and thought for sure I’d place this year. I cooked 5 racks and everything not turned in got gobbled up.
What do you see? Did I get a DQ somehow?
by 69BEANS
38 Comments
I think if you give me an incredibly detailed recipe, then I could make them, try it myself, and give you a better idea.
In all seriousness though, I wouldn’t sweat it. This stuff is all subjective, and you get the judges you get on the day you get them. I used to do public speaking competitions and we went through the same thing—sometimes you and the judges just don’t see eye to eye. I wouldn’t worry about it. Those look bomb and you said yourself you loved them.
Maybe they didn’t like the flavor?
They said you pulled them too early. That was the main critique, as you said. What were the lesser critiques?
Ragged. Un even. Not enough sauce/shine, no bones. Look good eating wise but just not presentation ribs. Lookup the KCBS judging criteria and some examples.
Looks a bit dry. Also, im not sure how much scrutinizing the raw rack before you select, but these did not look consistent. I guess, they’re not smooth enough. Nice color though.
Your ribs look great, and I’d be stoked to get a tray of them.
Certified rib taster. Lol.
Maybe try for more uniformness on the rib shape if you can, little thicker and glossy on the sauce, and you could even add a little bit of fat to the sides to make them shine some more.
I am not a comp bbq guy or a judge though, so take those suggestions with a big grain of salt.
You should be doing a Hollywood Cut on these. That is, for each rib cut almost full alongside the partner bone to maximize the meat per rib. This improves the ability to take a clean bite, emphasizing the meatiness, and retains some juiciness. It’s the standard for most comps, and while it does create more waste it is a strategy to better present your ribs.
Either more ribs or a smaller box it seems kinda empty
Yeah, the problem is that you put my food on my food’s food. (But seriously this looks delicious)
I am a KCBS judge #6527.
As the only thing I can judge from this picture is Appearance, this is a 6-7. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s figure out what’s wrong.
One, the ribs are too thin. I know you only need 6 ribs, but there’s too much extra space in the box.
Two. Uniformity. There’s open spaces between the ribs and you can see garnish between them on the bottom set.
What to do to improve:
Use a Texas or double bone cut (meat-bone-meat) especially if you’re going to stack them.
For this particular box, it would have been better to lay the ribs out in one layer to be able to see them better.
Also, if your smoke ring looked really good, take a couple and put them on their sides so you can see it. For this box, with all the extra garnish space, I would have put one rib on each side of the stack with the sides exposed showing the smoke ring. A little spray of “Duck Fat” on each one would give them a shiny finish.
For those not familiar with judging, every table has 6 judges & a table captain. Adding an extra rib to the box lets the table captain have a rib as well. It’s not required or judged for scores it’s just a nice gesture so he can have a taste as well.
When judges show up to judge, you will see them with Ziploc bags and coolers. After they take their first bite, the rest of the rib goes in a bag to take home. Same goes for every meat category.
Any left over meat usually brisket & pulled pork is shared amongst the the table so everyone gets extra.
Looks like a perfect salad to me.
Competitive cooking doesn’t represent real cooking. If me and my family and friends love the product then it’s a 10/10. Who cares what some random people with subjective opinions have to say
Not sure how using a pellet smoker is cheating.
They are looking for ribs like these
https://preview.redd.it/4hqzlbzr45xf1.jpeg?width=952&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b2bdc0461081f197fd51ae36add656ebeb516c71
Does it taste nice?
One thing wrong with them is the plate was not in front me.
But they look a little dry and small to me. Where’s the bone at?
But how did you do?
I don’t know how this will be received here, but from what I have seen, it seems like yours are not presented like everyone else’s.
When I see plating from competitions like these, the food is glossed to a strange high sheen and perfectly laid in a very precise way, such that it looks fake, or almost like it could be on an “is it cake?” feature.
I don’t really like it, myself, and feel like it runs counter to the spirit of grilling and smoking, at least as I perceive it.
But I would guess that’s what’s wrong, from their perspective. That it’s not in line with that spirit. You can look up other pictures of KCBS submissions to see what I’m referring to.
KCBS judge here.
I agree with the earlier judge post as well – too thin and too dry looking. Of course, it’s always hard over the Internet and just with photos. I would’ve scored a 7 here. It would be nice to see a little bone as well.
Clearly the other judge here is more experienced, I don’t think I can add anything to what they said and sadly can’t judge taste or texture on Reddit.
Good luck out there!
wtf is the point of the lettuce
Replace that green shit with some white bread, onion and pickle
It always kind of blew my mind that BBQ competitions are so pretentious. It goes against the very foundation of BBQ history. It almost makes me think a bunch of hipsters came up with it. Those honestly look delicious.
Those look awesome man, that glaze is perfect. Kinda wild you didnt place top 3, but comps can be weird sometimes. Id eat a whole rack of those without even blinking
Bruh barbecue competitions are the worst part of this hobby/profession/cooking style. Like I get that they have to judge on certain criteria and shit but the things the actual judges on here are commenting on are so far away from what the true joys of smoking meat are it’s ridiculous.
Your ribs look amazing and I’m sure they’re delicious
What were your scores? If it’s one judge? That’s one thing. If it’s two or three that’s another. It’s the whole table, then you probably want to reevaluate your presentation. For me, this would be a 6 or 7.
Them shits look so good
Glad I stumbled upon this post. Really interesting on the nuance of judging. Thanks for getting me to know that this is a thing!
I have the wrong job. I need a job where Rib competition is a thing.
Yeah, get rid of that green stuff underneath. I’d go with something like….bacon….or more ribs…lol
It looks dry. Not saying it is but it does look it
Remember that you have to go overboard on your salt in competition BBQ. They’ve had a bunch of bites before yours likely, and their palette is washed out.
Harry Soo and Jeremy Yoder have a few episodes on competition BBQ and why it’s dog shit for backyard BBQ. Mostly has to do with the stupid amount of seasoning you have to use because of pallets being screwed up.
Just me, but I would not have put the lettuce underneath. I think the ribs look nice though.
Being a “judge” requires a 3-4 hour class, no BBQ experience, no palette, and an annual fee. These competitions are a joke.
If I were a judge, I’d grab the ribs, set them in the top of the container, and start eating the lettuce. I bet people would find that funny.
In my professional opinion, the only thing I see wrong is they are not on my table.
(I am not a professional but they look good, I hope you figure out the plating and won’t be too hard on yourself)
BBQ competitions are the dumbest thing ever , and this is why . Beer judging is the same. You know your food was amazing because it disappeared instantly . Keep cooking the good stuff
If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.
I can’t add much, but the judge said it all. But from a fellow pitmaster, your box just looks underfed. You want the judges to open the box and see meat. Remember, judges will eat with their eyes first. So they open that box and see a Hollywood style cut of ribs in there like a smorgasbord.
Very little sauce. Now dont be fooled some competitions aren’t big on sauce so learn which competition likes what. But there is no “sheen” on your bones. No smoke ring. Not enough in there. You have six. Try eight if you can. It looks like you were in a hurry. Im sure they taste good but eyes first, taste second.
Other than that the judge laid it out. Take this as constructive criticism and keep on smokin