nugget rib cook-off: best of the west

[sparky]

road trip. me and the mrs are heading out right now to go to the reno rib cook off. stop off at costco to fill up the f-150 and away we go. should get there in less then 2 hours. i want to see what everyone is cooking on. kinda taking note on what equipment is needed to comp. i learned alot at the WOW bbq festival in stockton. i'll take lots of pics for ya'll. cya later.

 

[Chili Head]

Have a great time sparky! Can't wait for the pics!

 

[muebe]

Have fun and stay safe

 

[Big Poppa]

have a blast!

 

[dc1956]

When they find out who you are they'll be asking you for pointers.

 

[ACW3]

Sparky,
Did you get a phone call from someone on the Millionaire about cooking ribs? You're thier expert, right? You had to go show them how to cook ribs!!

Art

 

[sparky]

welp, this was 1st stop.

they had some music going. sounded like bob seger.

thats a big cooker.

thats a pile of turkey legs.

me: oh dear, i think i need another one.

dear: fine. its the last one. two is your limit mister.

so we ate at 5 places. ribs and butt sandwich here.

ok. well, this was the worst butt i have ever had. it tasted like they boiled it then ran it threw a salamander and put some diluted sauce on it. two bites each from me and my wife and then we threw it out.

the ribs we tried from 5 different places. my wife wanted to see how my ribs were compared to everyone elses. places gave you 3 or 4 bones for one serving costing $9 - $10.

oh my god. these ones were the worse. one bite and in the trash. really bad. out of the 5 places 2 of them didn't pull the membrane off the back. everyone had the ribs already cooked and grilling them and slopping the sauce on. some sauces were better than others. all in all a real disappointment. i realized that my ribs were way better than anything i ate at this rib fest and the one in stockton. now i know that these ppl were making alot of ribs. come on ppl. take some pride and make them taste good. how could you possible serve a product so damn icky. on the way back the the car my wife squeeze my hand and gave me a kiss. she said my ribs were way better than anything she tasted. and, she said that i could get myself some new weber fish spatula i've been wanting.

side note. took us 2 hours to get there. on the way the the rib fest traffic was backed up the other way. so when we left we were going back over tahoe and back down to 50. well, everyone else had the same idea. 6 hour drive home. guess whos idea it was to go that way. not mine. so when we got back to town my wife took me for steak and lobster for her goof. it was the best part of the day. ribeye, maine lobster and 2 milks at rudy's. perfect day w/ the wife.

 

[Chili Head]

Nice! Steak and lobster on the wife's coin! Sweet!
I think what you said was true..the people serving the food need to take pride in what they are serving instead of pawning overcooked bad tasting food. I wonder what they would have done if you took the food back and asked for your money back. It looked like you guys had a great time anyway though. Next year you need to take the girls there and show them what ribs are supposed to be like!
Thanks for sharing sparky!

 

[FLBentRider]

As least you got some Steak and Lobster.

Disappointing that either they don't care or don't know what good ribs are.

 

[Big Poppa]

This is the problem at KCBS events....too many people there just to pound out mediocre Peoples Choice....There are very strong teams that do PC but as a rule the better teams only cook for the comp.

This was a vending festival....sad.

 

[muebe]

You know Sparky it goes the other way too. Sometimes people have only had second rate BBQ and think that it is great because that is all they have ever had. All slathered in BBQ sauce because the meat is so dry and tasteless. That is the only reason I imagine these places stay in business.

I experience this with sushi also. I have people tell me that their favorite sushi place is fantastic. I give their place a try and they are second rate. Then I take them to one of my go to places and they realize what real sushi should taste like

 

[dconder1]

I second what muebe said. Since I started smoking only a short 2 years ago, I go back to places that I used to love their BBQ. Only to find that what I can now make is far better. In my area I have yet to find a place that I enjoy going to as well as my own back yard.

 

[scooter]

For the most part, the best BBQ at any contest goes into the judges tent. The product they sell to the public is volume produced and lacks the attention to detail and quality of the product the judges receive unless you happen to receive the excess comp product that was sold as Peoples Choice. Most backyarders can produce better BBQ in our backyards than you will purchase at a contest.