4th Overall in Middletown Delaware!

The picture perfect setting as seen from the Peppermonkey camp.

We decided early in the season that we couldn’t pass up Delaware this year.  It’s the only Delaware state tournament so the Grand Champion is automatically invited to the Jack Daniel World Championship Invitational Barbecue … “The Jack!”  Having had top ten finishes in both of our competitions this year, we came into Delaware confident, but well aware of the level of  competition that would be cooking all around us.

Friday evening started with Chef’s Choice and Dessert turn ins.  Our cook went well for both, but apparently the judges weren’t in the mood for what we turned in as the scores showed we landed in the middle of the pack for both categories.  No worries, we knew we weren’t there for the dessert, we were there to compete with BBQ.

Our cooking routine has finally reached the point where we are very comfortable the entire morning of turn ins.  There is always a little pressure as each box nears completion, but being organized and sticking to the same routine helps out enormously.  Our chicken was first place just two weeks ago in Annapolis and when we took a bite, we both agreed, the taste, texture and tenderness were equal to what got us that call.  At awards, as the top ten teams were called off, we realized our chicken may have not been the judge’s favorite this time.  Not only was it not top ten, it was not even top 25.  26th place chicken is not where we wanted to be, but following the golden rule of BBQ, we will not change anything for our next competition and see if we can get some better scores.

Our crystal and clay pigs watch over the meat on our Cambro.

Ribs were next and if there was a moment of stress on Saturday morning, it was when I pulled the ribs to glaze them and realized we didn’t have too many choices when it came to turn in quality ribs.  After the glaze was set we played around with each rack, tasted one or two, and realized we only had one rack that was worthy of presenting to the judges.  Earlier this season we made the mistake of adding a couple of ribs to a box to fill it up more and feel it hurt our overall score as they were not as tender as they should have been.  We learned from our mistake, stuck with cutting up only one rack and Erin did some box building magic.  5th place was the result and we were relieved that we made the right decision.

Peppermonkey camp set against the Delaware sky.

Our pork and brisket went as planned.  There were no surprises with the pork although we weren’t totally happy with some of the meat once we got it pulled.  We managed 13th which is about right where we expected to be.  After a miserable brisket cook in Annapolis, I knew just by touching it this week that we had something better to work with.  The taste confirmed that we had a decent shot at brisket and we ended up with a 5th place call for the beef category.

Delaware was a great site for a competition.  Had we thought to bring a gallon or two of bug killer, it would have been absolutely perfect.  We were very happy with a 4th place overall out of 52 teams, and technically we tied for 3rd, but our tie breaker score dropped us down to 4th.  Gonehoggin.com deserves a big congrats for their GC, good luck at the Jack!  Congrats to 3Eyz BBQ for their reserve place.  We certainly feel like Middletown will be a “Must attend” competition for us next year.  Time to gear up for Frederick, MD in just a few weeks!