The Barbecue Diary – part 9
Ricky Ginsburg (former head cook of The Boca Boys)
Well, it’s over. We’re on the way home and we’re quite puzzled at the outcome.
For starters I thought that our ribs were about the best I’d ever cooked. Everything was perfect, the taste was there, the color was on the money, the meat was just starting to fall of the bone and the box was presented well. But 11th place? How did that happen? What made two judges give us such low scores in Presentation? Why did a third judge give us a 7.5 in taste when the other five judges give us 9’s, 9.5’s and 10’s? I was sure we were in the top 5 in ribs. But no one called our name.
I knew the chicken was good and 4th place proved that. I did taste the first place chicken from the team next to us and I’d have to admit it was superb! Interesting contest in as much as the first three teams in chicken all cooked drummers. And that guy that cooked the Cornish hens did end up dead ass last. What was he thinking? The rub on the chicken was just garlic and black pepper this time. I left out the paprika and the cayenne pepper – this means that no one at home will be able to eat it of course. But we can spice it up for dinner tomorrow night and our judges will give it 10’s.
8th place in pork is around where we’ve been scoring for a long time. I’ve got to figure out what the judges are looking for in taste. We got mostly 8.5’s and 9’s in tenderness with one 10. But our taste scores were from 7 to 9 so there’s got to be something missing. Well we’re going home with one complete cooked butt and most of the one that we pulled for the turn-in box. Lots of PLT sammiches in our future. That’s one of the real positive things about a barbecue contest. You always go home with lots of food to eat!
I’ve only smoked around a dozen briskets and each one tasted worse than the one before it. I guess growing up in world where brisket came out of a stew pot with veggies and sauce just doesn’t prepare you for cooking smoked brisket in a cooker. It also doesn’t prepare you for the suddenness of taking a first place trophy when you do cook one right. “First place brisket… The Boca Boys”, that’s what the man said. I was still in a daze from taking a fourth place in chicken when it happened. I looked at him and muttered, “no way, man” and just stood there. But my buddy gave me a boot in the butt and said to go get the trophy. First place in brisket, us? How did that happen? I remember thinking after I tasted the brisket that it did taste a little better the ones I remember making but no way was it that good. Maybe they mixed up the samples? Nah, that stuff is double and triple checked before it gets to the judges. Maybe the other five briskets at that table were really, really bad. We’ll never know. The brisket was still hot after the awards ceremony and several cooks came over for a taste. No one thought it was a first place brisket but several folks said it wasn’t bad. I had another piece and agreed with them. It was ok but it wasn’t the best I’d ever tried. Well thank you judges!
So we’re on the way home. Three and half hours of driving ahead of us. We’ve been reading the score sheets over and over trying to make some sense of it all to no avail. It’s just one of the great mysteries of the barbecue contest. The teams that won are the teams that have been winning all along. They know what the judges like and they cook to win by pleasing them. I’ve tried but I’m getting more concerned with having fun and bringing home some good barbecue for my friends and family.
Will we do this again? Of course! With a first in brisket and a fourth in chicken all we have to do is figure out the ribs and pork and we’re on the way to a Grand Champion.
Yeah. And my hair will grow back too…
