# 2016 Lakeland Pigfest and a 9th place call!



## dougmays (Feb 1, 2016)

Howdy all! My and my guys competed in the Lakeland Pigfest this past weekend in Lakeland, FL. This was our 3rd year competing in this event and its one of the largest in FL and the entire SE. At the cooks meeting they actually told us it was the Biggest Backyard (Amateur) competition in the whole South East.

We got down there Thursday evening to setup and get cooking. Friday was vending only from 5pm - 10pm and Saturday was Vending and Competition all day. I've always hated the Presentation component of my turn ins overall, but i was very happy with the way we plated all of these boxes (see below). Also this year the KCBS allowed Kale to be used for Garnish so that was awesome and drastically cut down our  box building time! Hopefully that rule sticks!

I dont get the results packet for another week because they mail them in but we did get a 9th place call in Pork!! That's the best we'd done in that category and on a huge stage! So i was very happy. I think there were 50+ teams in the Backyard division.

Here are my turn in boxes...would love any critiques on it or even a judging number from any KCBS judges on here! I have thick skin, let me have :)

*Brisket* - Loved the smoke ring but a little drier then mine usually come out. 













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*Ribs* - Was hoping for more uniform bone pull back   













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*Pork* - Still working on my money muscle work but this was the first time i used Horn meat and i really like the results. Adding that into my usual turn ins for now on













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*Chicken* - I could have done a better job with glaze application













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And here are some more photos of the team, our setup and vending!













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Tried out a new recipe for vending...Teriyaki and Coffee braised beef tacos! 













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Part of the crew! @Rob63  (middle) and 2 friends who were first timers!













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Bennet holding our 9th place ribbon!













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My friend Jon displaying his love for this competition in his own special way haha













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I got us some nice Dickeys shirts with patches!













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Friday "night" around 3am













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cutting a sample of the Teriyaki-Coffee beef to Quality-test :)













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## sota d (Feb 1, 2016)

Hey Doug, everything looks great. And it looks like you guys had a great time. Congrats on the ribbon, great job! David.


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## SmokinAl (Feb 1, 2016)

Holy cow Doug!

You guys really got it going!

When I left you were a one man team with a WSM.

Now you look like a pro team.

That's just awesome!

Congrats on the 9th in pork!!

Al


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## dougmays (Feb 1, 2016)

SmokinAl said:


> Holy cow Doug!
> 
> You guys really got it going!
> 
> ...


HAHA...your right Al! I was just learning back when we started the Gathering for sure! That Gathering and the forum have definitely been a driving force! There was awhile for a couple years i was travelling around with just my 22 WSM and Weber Kettle competing and doing all 4 categories!


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## dougmays (Feb 1, 2016)

Results are in!! Holy wow....way better then i thought..out of 61 teams

12th in Brisket

28th in Chicken

9th in Pork
19th in Ribs

*11th Overall in Backyard!*

Not gonna lie...a little giddy over here...maybe a slight tear!


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## foamheart (Feb 1, 2016)

Grats man! Looking at your set up and thinking about you saying it was an amatuer competion...... I like the way you used that corogated tin and wood to build some great breaks to close off your area. Course I used the same type thing for kitchen cabinets with galvanized steel.

Great looking set up/booth. Impressive smoke. 

I always say, a perfectly smoke chicken is hard to beat! Were those cupcake thighs? Maybe a bit thicker sauce, earlier application, where its just really sticks in there. and changes the skin tone? Its the easiest to cook, but everyone worries about the long smokes.

Bet you'll be eating a lot of chicken, what a great thing to happen! LOL..... Can ya tell Chicken is my favorite?

Great pictures. and it looks like a load a fun covering up a lot of hard work.

Again, congrats!


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## bbqbrett (Feb 1, 2016)

Wow, looks pretty good!  If you are looking for some critiques still I would give the advice to add some extra layers of green to bring the meat up closer to the level of the top of the boxes.  Also don't be afraid to trim with some parsley etc around the edges.  I have not competed a lot, only a couple of times.  I did get that advice from some other competitors including Harry Soo from Slap Yo Daddy.  Put that to use and our appearance scores went up a lot from the first to second comp.


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## dougmays (Feb 1, 2016)

Foamheart said:


> Grats man! Looking at your set up and thinking about you saying it was an amatuer competion...... I like the way you used that corogated tin and wood to build some great breaks to close off your area. Course I used the same type thing for kitchen cabinets with galvanized steel.
> 
> Great looking set up/booth. Impressive smoke.
> 
> ...


Thanks buddy! My best friend Robbie (is actually on the forum but never gets on @Rob63) made all the Frontage! We get alot of compliments and many people think it matches our restaurants that we dont actually have haha. Im gonna cook down my sauce more to make it thicker for sure!


BBQBrett said:


> Wow, looks pretty good! If you are looking for some critiques still I would give the advice to add some extra layers of green to bring the meat up closer to the level of the top of the boxes. Also don't be afraid to trim with some parsley etc around the edges. I have not competed a lot, only a couple of times. I did get that advice from some other competitors including Harry Soo from Slap Yo Daddy. Put that to use and our appearance scores went up a lot from the first to second comp.


I'm always open for critique! I was actually afraid of adding more layers to the greenery because i didn't want the meat hitting the top of the box :/ but i've been told also that KCBS doesnt mark down for that because of the green requirement?


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## bbqbrett (Feb 1, 2016)

BBQBrett said:


> Wow, looks pretty good! If you are looking for some critiques still I would give the advice to add some extra layers of green to bring the meat up closer to the level of the top of the boxes. Also don't be afraid to trim with some parsley etc around the edges. I have not competed a lot, only a couple of times. I did get that advice from some other competitors including Harry Soo from Slap Yo Daddy. Put that to use and our appearance scores went up a lot from the first to second comp.


I'm always open for critique! I was actually afraid of adding more layers to the greenery because i didn't want the meat hitting the top of the box :/ but i've been told also that KCBS doesnt mark down for that because of the green requirement?
[/quote]

Yeah, you don't want to hit the top of the box with the meat but the way it was explained to me is the extra greenery makes the box look fuller and "pop" in contrast to the green.  I don't know if KCBS actually marks down or not for lack of green but from what I understand a lot of the judges like the box to look pretty.  Of course I only have a couple of KCBS comps to draw on but I got a chance to talk and pick the brains of a lot of teams and that just seemed to be the general consensus.  In any case I thought your food looked good!  Had good color, nice arrangement too.


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## dougmays (Feb 1, 2016)

BBQBrett said:


> I'm always open for critique! I was actually afraid of adding more layers to the greenery because i didn't want the meat hitting the top of the box :/ but i've been told also that KCBS doesnt mark down for that because of the green requirement?



Yeah, you don't want to hit the top of the box with the meat but the way it was explained to me is the extra greenery makes the box look fuller and "pop" in contrast to the green. I don't know if KCBS actually marks down or not for lack of green but from what I understand a lot of the judges like the box to look pretty. Of course I only have a couple of KCBS comps to draw on but I got a chance to talk and pick the brains of a lot of teams and that just seemed to be the general consensus. In any case I thought your food looked good! Had good color, nice arrangement too.[/quote]
On problem i have is properly trimming pieces so that they themselves allow more greenery to show through. For example i should have trimmed the edges of the brisket and it would have had uniform and more full greenery on the sides to match top and bottom


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## bbqbrett (Feb 1, 2016)

dougmays said:


> BBQBrett said:
> 
> 
> > I'm always open for critique! I was actually afraid of adding more layers to the greenery because i didn't want the meat hitting the top of the box :/ but i've been told also that KCBS doesnt mark down for that because of the green requirement?
> ...


On problem i have is properly trimming pieces so that they themselves allow more greenery to show through. For example i should have trimmed the edges of the brisket and it would have had uniform and more full greenery on the sides to match top and bottom
[/quote]

Looking at your pictures, I see what you mean.  I think that is why a lot of teams I spoke either bring the greens up the edge of the box or fill in with parsley.  Sadly I did not get any pics from our 2nd comp. which is sad or I would share with you.  We pulled a lot of 9's for appearance and were pretty excited.


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## nimrod (Feb 4, 2016)

CONGRATULATIONS on the win Doug!

Mighty good looking BBQ.

Craig


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## JckDanls 07 (Feb 4, 2016)

WOWWW...  just found this post Doug...  That's GREATTTTTT  (tony the tiger voice) ...  What I found worked better for me was to dunk the chicken into the sauce instead of trying to brush it on...  roll it around in the sauce and then gently pick it up from the sides...  or better yet..  use a big spoon to pick it up out of the sauce...  from the bottom...  that way there will be no marks on the sides...  

at any rate...    :first:


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## chef jimmyj (Feb 4, 2016)

Nicely done! That is a sizeable field and a great showing. The boxes looked nice overall but maybe rimming the sides with small or leaf tips would give a red meat on a green background look. More eye appealing...JJ


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## van holton (Feb 5, 2016)

Congrats Doug, Looked great and I'm sure it tasted even better


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## bbqbrett (Feb 5, 2016)

JckDanls 07 said:


> WOWWW...  just found this post Doug...  That's GREATTTTTT  (tony the tiger voice) ...  What I found worked better for me was to dunk the chicken into the sauce instead of trying to brush it on...  roll it around in the sauce and then gently pick it up from the sides...  or better yet..  use a big spoon to pick it up out of the sauce...  from the bottom...  that way there will be no marks on the sides...
> 
> at any rate...    :first:



That is good advice as well!


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## dougmays (Feb 10, 2016)

JckDanls 07 said:


> WOWWW... just found this post Doug... That's GREATTTTTT (tony the tiger voice) ... What I found worked better for me was to dunk the chicken into the sauce instead of trying to brush it on... roll it around in the sauce and then gently pick it up from the sides... or better yet.. use a big spoon to pick it up out of the sauce... from the bottom... that way there will be no marks on the sides...
> 
> at any rate...


Great advice!  I've already purchased a ladle and going to drill a whole in the bottom for drainage that will be dedicated to chicken comps only :)


Chef JimmyJ said:


> Nicely done! That is a sizeable field and a great showing. The boxes looked nice overall but maybe rimming the sides with small or leaf tips would give a red meat on a green background look. More eye appealing...JJ


I'm still working on getting my Money Muscles to come out like this @Chef JimmyJ  !! I think i'm cutting to small and not utilizing the whole money muscle :/  Hence in my picture why i left it bark side up because there wasnt much "meat" to show

Thanks for all the advice and congrats everyone! Still very much a work in progress


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