Competition cooking VS Backyard cooking

how is competition cooking different than backyard cooking?

i have noticed that there are competition bbq ppl here on this forum. by my estimates at least five teams. there are also ppl like me who just cooking in the backyard. what is the difference of cooking styles between the two? your using the same smoker at me right? same meats? same spices? same rubs? aren't you using the same stuff i am using? you cook the same or are there secrets?

Sparky,
I will add my personal observations to your question.

Shortly after becoming a KCBS BBQ judge, I took a BBQ competition cooking class from Rod Gray. Not long after that I bought a MAK and started cooking at home. Then I started judging. To me, the biggest difference is that you have to be able to TIME everything perfectly in order to not miss a turn-in time. At home, you probably only cook one of the four meats at a time. In competition, you have all four to coordinate. This is assuming that you are entering all four meats. In talking to judges from other states, a few competitors only concentrate on one meat. This takes a lot of practice, IMHO, in order to develop a system/approach that is repeatable every time you cook in a contest. You can "experiment" at home on rubs, injecting, cooking times, etc. The long term successful teams don't change anything at the competition. They go with what they know. Feedback from judges can be very useful (if the judges provide feedback) to improving their end product.

I am sure you can expect to get some "expert" opinion from some real competitors.

Art

Along with Sparky's question, I hear several teams mention they ramp the flavors up for competition. How many of the competitors here do that as one difference between comp & home BBQ?

everything is different. First off the bone will get you last place...the chicken is scientific...youo must have bite through skin....the butt rarely gets used except for the money muscle and there are some tips for briskets too...

The big picture is the same Sparky... you put your pants on one leg at a time for a day at a comp or in the backyard.... but to win at a comp there are alot of other things that come into play.

Appearance - people eat with thier eyes first... so prepping the turn in boxes/garnish is the first step to a winning entry. Yes at home, you want things to look appetizing also... but at a comp, you are trimming to fit boxes, trimming for uniformity, trimming for flavor, etc. etc. When I trim a brisket to eat at home, it takes me less than 5 min. Trimming out a comp brisket can take me 20min. Getting every fleck of silverskin. Ensuring the flat is trimmed so that you will get slices with straight grain and proper length to fit in a box.... etc.

Taste - Everyone has a flavor profile they are trying to hit, but at a comp... you have ONE bite to portray that to the judge. Those 6 judges are going to look at and touch a piece of your meat, then take a bite, and score it. (they have to eat 5 other entries afterall).
If it doesn't grab the judge in that one bite, you will end up in the middle of the pack, even if you have a solid product.
So comp cooks constantly try to find ways to amp up that bite so that it drives a "9" score. Getting it to "pop" without overpowering any one part of your profile is tough.

Tenderness - Competitions have guidelines that may not match what John Q. Public likes best. Ribs, should bite off the bone, but not fall off. and if they are dry or hammy... dont expect to hear your name. Brisket can's fall apart on it's own... and chicken needs skin that will bite through when you test it... Crispy skin is hit and miss, and no skin usually costs you points.... etc etc.

Other than that, many of the techniques are the same. Everything I share here, I would also use at home or in a comp. -- it is the minutiae that makes up the differences between comp and backyard.

And don't forget my beautiful parsley boxes!!!

Nailing your times and having a good flavor profile.most of the time we cook 18 pieces of chicken; 4 slabs of ribs 3 butts and 2 briskets. we start cooking at 5 a.m. for a 12:00 12:30 1:00 AND 1:30 turn in. and like Kim said making the dreaded parsley box