The Pickled Pig's 2009 Belton Contest Pics

[The Big Pig]

We competed in the Belton contest this weekend. It was our first time at Belton. The contest was held at a park. We paid for a 20 x 40 space but because of the layout, ended up with as much room as we could use and that was extremely nice.

Jon straightened out our bent canopy poles using a fancy "hydraulic press" (truck raised on jack and lowered on bent poles) so we were able to erect our walled circus tent again. That beast takes a lot of work to put up and take down, but it sure is nice and comfortable when in use. A small propane heater keeps the temps at 65F and there is plenty of room to work or relax in.
Even though the forecast was grim, the weather was exceptional. Very little wind (:Penguin:), almost no rain, and cool temps made for a pleasant weekend. One of the nearby teams had a concert like stereo system that bothered others, but we actually enjoyed their eclectic music selection for the most part.

Our food turned out okay and we finished 6th overall out of 31 teams. Our chicken missed for the second week in a row. Our ribs were really good but under appreciated. The Piedmontese brisket hit for the second week in a row. And this was our first serious attempt at dessert and that was certainly challenging. It ended up in 4th place but there is definitely a learning curve in that category we will have to master.

[barnburner]

Paul... Cut down a little on the sauce, especially your ribs. You are oversaucing the ribs. Just honest feedback. Chicken, pork and brisket look really good. I would have given them all 9's.

[The Big Pig]

Good advice! We flip the ribs face down when slicing and added another layer of sauce afterwards for appearance purposes. In retrospect that's a lot of sauce for such a small cut. I understand how sauce can impact appearance and taste scores...but am baffled by our tenderness scores on these ribs.

BTW, our appearance scores were 787989, our taste scores were 897966, and our tenderness scores were 798866.

Judges 5 and 6 did not do us any favors with the 6-6 taste and tenderness scores. We really thought the ribs were exceptionally tender going into the box...possibly even too tender. These could have hardened in the box but I'm wondering if the 7 and two 6's were because they were too tender (i.e., fall off the bone)?

Anyone following our performance knows that ribs have been our downfall for the last several years. I think our main problem has been getting them done at the right time and we usually know there's a problem when they go in the box. This time I think the tenderness was spot on and am still a little baffled. So any and all suggestions and criticisms are welcome.

[jasper]

Everything looks great!

How do you get the ribs to cut so perfect? When I make ribs I find that the bark tends to rip away on the slice?

[Finney]

It all looks good.

[barnburner]

Good advice! We flip the ribs face down when slicing and added another layer of sauce afterwards for appearance purposes. In retrospect that's a lot of sauce for such a small cut. I understand how sauce can impact appearance and taste scores...but am baffled by our tenderness scores on these ribs.

BTW, our appearance scores were 787989, our taste scores were 897966, and our tenderness scores were 798866.

Judges 5 and 6 did not do us any favors with the 6-6 taste and tenderness scores. We really thought the ribs were exceptionally tender going into the box...possibly even too tender. These could have hardened in the box but I'm wondering if the 7 and two 6's were because they were too tender (i.e., fall off the bone)?

Anyone following our performance knows that ribs have been our downfall for the last several years. I think our main problem has been getting them done at the right time and we usually know there's a problem when they go in the box. This time I think the tenderness was spot on and am still a little baffled. So any and all suggestions and criticisms are welcome.

It's hard to say without actually trying your ribs. Overcooking them (fall of the bone) is as bad as undercooking them. If you want a brutally honest opinion of your ribs, PM me let's hookup and I'll try some sometime.

[TN_BBQ]

Everything looks great!

How do you get the ribs to cut so perfect? When I make ribs I find that the bark tends to rip away on the slice?

Mine aren't nearly as nice looking as these, but I'd still recommend you try:

A very sharp knife.

Might want to back off on the rib bark.

And....practice (of course)