What turned out to be 1st place chicken is sauced and resting on the grate.
We warmed up 2012 with the Go Naked competition in April, but the Naptown BarBAYq was our first full KCBS competition of the year, and for the most part, we were happy with how things turned out. We missed the first Naptown BarBAYq in 2011 because we were at the Waldorf, MD Eggfest. This year we were eager for a competition and Annapolis was just too close to home to pass up. Don and his crew did a fantastic job of meeting all the needs of the competition teams. Seeing how this event was run and knowing it was only the second year (and the first year at the new location) we are certain to come back next year.
Friday night we entered two ancillary categories, but we never heard our named called for chef’s choice or for the seafood category. It seems as though beating 3Eyz BBQ at any ancillary category will be the challenge of 2012. We chose a dessert consisting of a peanut butter pie filling served over a brownie and topped with a chocolate dipped bacon coil ….. And for the record, it was very tasty!
The chocolate dipped bacon coil really topped off our peanut butter pie dessert!
We were fortunate to set up camp next to a first time team … I believe the team name was “We Beat Your Meat” (sorry guys if I have that wrong). I say fortunate because we enjoy helping out new teams any way we can. We realize we are far from veteran status, but we always look back to how nice Chris Capell and his Dizzy Pig crew treated us when we set up next to them for our first competition in 2010. After that experience, we vowed to always assist a new team any chance we got and ensure they are treated the way we were when we were rookies. Ryan, the chief cook, led the team to an early call Friday night when they got 2nd overall in the ancillary categories. Well done !!! There were a lot of seasoned cooks at this event and these guys pulled in a nice check before the true competition even started!
After just a couple hours of sleep, the alarm sounded in the wee hours on Saturday morning, reminding us it was competition day. The eggs were soon fired up and closely monitored. Our best cooks have been using no electronic temp controllers or fans … so we decided to start this year out the same way and cook using nothing more than thermometers and vent adjustments. Overall, the cook went really well for the first of the year. We waited to trim the brisket at the competition site and realized it was smaller and more thin than normal and we weren’t able to compensate enough during the cook. Our brisket was early and had to rest longer than prefered which resulted in a poor brisket score. The ribs were a different story; after a history of having them come out slightly over cooked, this time they were slightly under. We had one rack that was just right, and should have boxed only that rack; but we decided to take a few others to fill the box and in hind sight, that may have affected our scores. Pork and chicken landed us top ten calls; 6th in pork, and 1st in chicken! We weren’t 100% confident in our chicken, but that has been a strong category for us and Erin forecasted early on that it would be our best of the day.
All smiles after a 1st place chicken call!
The Annapolis BarBAYq turned out to be a success for us. With two calls and a 6th place overall, we are motivated to head to Delaware and improve on everything we did this weekend. Thanks to Don and his crew for all the hard work they put into the event. This is one that everyone should consider adding to their schedule if it isn’t there already. See you there next year!
Joel and Erin that totally looks like 1st place chicken to me! You’re on the rise and it’s only a matter of time until you take the big prize!
Thanks Kit! We are hoping that all four categories will be on the rise on the same day in Delaware! Looking forward to seeing you out there.