october 25, 26 in sayville, ny bbq battle

any suggestions, im going in for my first q'ING competition, kcbs style, doing the whole thing, chicken, ribs, pork and brisket. Any suggestions, comments, or help would be greatly appreciated

Well guys, its official, my first competition!! Not looking to get a GC, but who wouldnt want one. So im doin baby backs dry rubbed and a secret sweet sauce, chicken thighs, once again top secret, pork shoulder guess what another secret, and im gonna wing it, im doin my first brisket (briskets) at the comp with once again another secret sauce******too many people lurk around and try and figure out all the little details!! ill include a full list pictures and recipes. Its a kcbs comp, so they like it smokey and sweet, thats what they'll be getting!! Results to follow.

Good luck ray and break a leg. If anything, this is a great learning experience! Is everything going on your ProQ Smoker?

2 boston butts, 2 whole briskets, 6 racks of baby racks, all in the excel. Chicken will be done offset in a weber kettle. Im stoked, even if i dont get to walk, its gonna be a good time. Its me and 42 other teams, made all the sauces and rubs, marinades and injections last nite. figured id give them some time to have the flavors all meld together.

Outstanding Ray! I can't wait to see how it goes. Good luck brother, we're rooting for you!

well guys first comp is over with. What a rush. KCBS, all four categories turned in. We finished 30th outta 44 teams. Considering we were competing against some of the best in the northeast, i couldnt be happier.

Way to go sound's like u had a great time

oh, and by the way, we were the only ones there representing pro bbq, every single tent had a weber smokey mountain....when people would walk by and see that beautiful excel 20 with all 3 stackers on it smokin away, they didnt know what to say. And to put icing on the cake, although we didnt win, we did beat our local spicewine smoker distributor!! Scores are at home, but i do know we were 50 points off from first place, and 180 points up from last, so all in all, 30th place, but our scores were in the top third!! Not bad for our first time out

Great job Ray! Not many will even try, you did and congrats on your first try. If you went in and won the comp first time out, I'd be scared

Any pointers you've learned along the way?

pointers...im no expert, but from what ive gathered, follow the KISS mantra, keep it simple stupid...Dont try using too much weird spices, just stick with the required, salt pepper, mustard, garlic onion chili powder. ANything more than that and you are gonna be the standout, and not in a good way. THis was my first brisket cook, went in completely blind, never even saw one til my butcher started trimming it up for me. Next time i wont have it trimmed, smoke it whole till it hits 160, take it out and seperate the point and flat, then trim it up all nice. I had mine completely seperated, my flats came out picture perfect, i trimmed them prior to cooking to fit in the turn in box, that was a great idea, no fat on the outside, not so good, came out a little dry. other pointers, just go do one, see what it is all about, you will undeniably meet some of the most genuine, helpful and knowledgeable people out there. Go to have a good time, dont go to win, cook your best and see how you stack up, set that as your baseline and improve from there. Oh, and make sure you have plenty of beer, i ran out at 4am

Hey ray,

Who won the comp?

SIDE (smoke in da eye) won gc, dicks legless wonders wond rgc