# Weekend BBQ competition lots of Pics



## travisty

Been competing in Pro comps for a few months now, having a great time. Thought id share some of my turn ins, and such from the most recent comp this weekend which was a Jack Daniels World Championship, and American Royal qualifier. Please feel free to follow me on Instagram and Facebook, my BBQ team name is "La Luna BBQ" both instagram and facebook are "@lalunabbq" (I have a twitter with the same tag, but don't use it at all really)

I didn't actually place in the top ranks, but I had a blast, made some great connections, and did get really good scores from the judges, just that the competition was so stiff even the great scores I got weren't enough. Anyway, im just doing it for fun, not for fame.

Here are my boxes:













collage.jpg



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__ Jun 20, 2017






Here is my competition set up. Pretty basic at this point, no fancy RV or anything, just a trailer with my smokers on it, and a 13x13 canopy for prep area.













Comp setup.jpg



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Chicken cooking and box:













Chicken box.jpg



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chicken on.jpg



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chicken smoking.jpg



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*I use a modified Yardbird rub, in which I add some chipotle peppers and some honey powder among other things. I also brine my chicken in Oakridge BBQ's "Game Changer" brine.

Pork cook and box:













Pork box.jpg



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Pork on.jpg



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*I use my own rub on the pork which has a strong salt and pepper base with some coffee and ancho chillies among other things. Even in comp I still do a 12-14 hour smoke on my buts, I know that most comp teams now do hot and fast methods, but for me the long cook is part of the fun of BBQ. I also inject my comp butts with Big Poppa Smokers Pork Prod.

Ribs cook and box:













Ribs box.jpg



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ribs on.jpg



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*I use a 3-2-rest method (see my post: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/262876/3-2-r-method-ribs-recipe-with-q-view) The rub I used in this comp is called "Porkstar" and made by a local BBQ supply store chain called the BBQ Pit Stop. These things were really tasty!

Brisket cook and box:













Brisket Box.jpg



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Brisket on.jpg



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*My burnt ends turned out with a strong creosote flavor for some reason unbeknownst to me, as the flat was perfect and cooked separated. I use a rub that is basically a 50/50 mix of Traegers "Prime Rib Rub" and Big Poppa Smokers "Cash Cow" and also add in a bit of fresh Colombian coffee grounds. I do inject with Butcher BBQ Prime Brisket  Injection.  again, I still do a low slow smoke at 12-14 hours. I normally wrap in butcher paper, but I've been just doing an aluminum pan covered in foil with about the same results, mainly so I can have more of the juices to baste with in the box. My brisket is off the hook.

Hope you enjoyed!


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## noboundaries

GREAT LOOKING TURN-INS T!  They all tasted fantastic from my POV.


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## phatbac

That chicken and brisket is awesome looking! I use Butcher BBQ products i might have to try the brisket injection. Points!

oh btw the ribs look amazing too!

Happy Competing,

phatbac (Aaron)


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## jetsknicks1

Great looking Q buddy!


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## smokinbill1638

Great looking Q.  Anytime you need to practice let me know, I'll taste test for ya!


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## SmokinAl

Very nicely done!

They all look like winners to me!

Point!

Al


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## ab canuck

Wow, Great looking Qview, way to go, Glad to see it's fun, I have never had the chance to attend one of these as a spectator, would be good to check out. Point for the awsomeness..


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## travisty

Noboundaries said:


> GREAT LOOKING TURN-INS T!  They all tasted fantastic from my POV.


Thanks NoBoundaries! They tasted great in person too! Thanks for the points.


phatbac said:


> That chicken and brisket is awesome looking! I use Butcher BBQ products i might have to try the brisket injection. Points!
> 
> oh btw the ribs look amazing too!
> 
> Happy Competing,
> 
> phatbac (Aaron)


Thanks Phatbac, The Brisket injection can be really strong, so I recommend cutting the powder way back to half or less than what they call for. Ive used the pork too, and liked that.


Jetsknicks1 said:


> Great looking Q buddy!


Thanks Jetsknicks!


smokinbill1638 said:


> Great looking Q.  Anytime you need to practice let me know, I'll taste test for ya!


Thank you! Swing by and test it out any time your in SLC!


SmokinAl said:


> Very nicely done!
> 
> They all look like winners to me!
> 
> Point!
> 
> Al


Thanks Al. like I said, I was really happy with the results and proud of what I put in the box, so they were winners for me personally.


AB Canuck said:


> Wow, Great looking Qview, way to go, Glad to see it's fun, I have never had the chance to attend one of these as a spectator, would be good to check out. Point for the awsomeness..


Thank AB, you should attend one for sure! show up between noon and 1:30 and you're bound to get plenty of free BBQ from the teams handing out extras! I cook 29+ pieces of chicken and only use 6-9, cook 4-6 racks of ribs, 2 butts, 2 briskets, and again that's all I put in boxes. I also try not to take much if any home, as I don't like the phosphate injections for my own stuff, so I hand out pretty much all I can, as do most teams!


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## GaryHibbert

That's some fine looking Q.  I'd certainly eat any or all of it.

Great Qview too.

POINTS

Gary


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## b-one

Looks like some great BBQ,glad you had fun!


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## sauced

Great job....all 9s to me!!!

Points!


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## hardcookin

Looks like some great looking food and a good time.


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## travisty

Thanks everyone! it was pretty fun, though when I describe a BBQ comp to most people: "You go to this hot parking lot, set up your stuff then sit there for 2 days, do some hard labor, and prepare raw meat outside in the heat. Get a sunburn, and stay up all night tending a smoker all for free while away from your family. Go through the most stressful box building process, and then WAIT for some random strangers to determine your fait"  its sure hard to try and recruit team members! lol. Hard to explain to people why its fun and worth it.


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## 3montes

I've been using Oak Ridge BBQ's rubs for awhile but just recently started using their Game Changer Brine mix. Like all their products it's awesome and saves me a lot of steps in having to make my own. All your stuff looks excellent!


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## travisty

3montes said:


> I've been using Oak Ridge BBQ's rubs for awhile but just recently started using their Game Changer Brine mix. Like all their products it's awesome and saves me a lot of steps in having to make my own. All your stuff looks excellent!


Yeah they make some pretty good stuff. Originally, I wasn't too impressed with their black ops brisket rub, and still feel its more like a butt rub, but I guess that's the Texas brisket lover in me. Anyway, I had given them an "okay" review on Amazon, so the guy actually reached out to me and sent me a bunch of their stuff for free, just to try out the other stuff, cause he said they have a 100% satisfaction guarantee! So the guy sought me out from an amazon review to make sure I was happy with their company. Pretty cool I thought.

Anyway, a long story just to explain that the service and out of the way support they gave won me as a customer for life. I don't use their stuff on everything, but I do keep a stock of most of their rubs for regular use now.


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## hardcookin

Travisty said:


> Yeah they make some pretty good stuff. Originally, I wasn't too impressed with their black ops brisket rub, and still feel its more like a butt rub, but I guess that's the Texas brisket lover in me. Anyway, I had given them an "okay" review on Amazon, so the guy actually reached out to me and sent me a bunch of their stuff for free, just to try out the other stuff, cause he said they have a 100% satisfaction guarantee! So the guy sought me out from an amazon review to make sure I was happy with their company. Pretty cool I thought.
> 
> 
> Anyway, a long story just to explain that the service and out of the way support they gave won me as a customer for life. I don't use their stuff on everything, but I do keep a stock of most of their rubs for regular use now.



Mike is a good guy and goes out of his way to try and make sure the customer is happy.

Travisty  how do you like that Hunsaker ?


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## travisty

hardcookin said:


> Mike is a good guy and goes out of his way to try and make sure the customer is happy.
> 
> Travisty how do you like that Hunsaker ?


Those are actually both just UDS smoker's I built myself using primarily Big Poppa Smoker parts, but also a bunch of my own mods, and left off much of the BPS kit. The Hunsakers are nice though, I was between one of those and a Gateway originally when I decided to save the money and do my own. A good friend of mine uses a Hunsaker and REALLY likes it. He as both a Hunsaker and a Gateway and says he uses the Hunsaker more. The think I really like about the Hunsaker is the dolly style mobility kit, especially considering the wheels on the Gateways are sooooo small. Mine have drum dolly wheels on them, which are 4 inches in diameter, and still have a hard time going over cracks in the sidewalk sometimes.

(that's what Im assuming you meant when you were asking how I liked the Hunsaker)


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