Hey all,
Kind of an interesting deal here...a friend of mine took up the meat smokin' hobby about 2 months after I got hooked. This would be about two years ago...I bought a Brinkmann Cimarron off Craigslist, and after hearing me go on and on about how addicted I was to my new hobby - he ran out and got a Silver Smoker.
For the last year, we both have been bragging about how our ribs are better than the other guys, even though we've never sampled eachother's product! We have a lot of mutual friends who are pushing us to do a friendly competition some time in the next few weeks.
My question is, what rules should apply? I know about the KCBS rules, but I'm not sure if we need to be THAT serious? However, one of the sticking points for this deal, is that my friend says he wants to marinate his ribs overnight (yes, I made fun of him...just because I've never felt the need to do that) but I pointed out that for REAL competitions, you can't do that...you have to have your plain, unseasoned meat inspected in the morning - then you can do whatever you want to it as long as you can still get it cooked and turned in to the judges in time. Besides that rule, the only other rules I was going to enforce would be the double blind judging format, and the "no electricity / no gas" rule - which is also part of the KCBS judging format. Point is, I'm not exactly throwing too many rules out there, I don't think!
My question is, should I relax on the rule and let him play with his marinade, or should I tell him that we both have to start with the same product on the day of the comp - and go from there? I still think I could produce ribs good enough to rival his, no matter what he does to them - but like I said, true competition form wouldn't allow someone to do this...so I'm on the fence.
I know it's just for fun, but I thought I'd ask your opinions, as I'm sure some of you have had these friendly competitions before. Can't wait to read what you all think about this - Thanks!
Kind of an interesting deal here...a friend of mine took up the meat smokin' hobby about 2 months after I got hooked. This would be about two years ago...I bought a Brinkmann Cimarron off Craigslist, and after hearing me go on and on about how addicted I was to my new hobby - he ran out and got a Silver Smoker.
For the last year, we both have been bragging about how our ribs are better than the other guys, even though we've never sampled eachother's product! We have a lot of mutual friends who are pushing us to do a friendly competition some time in the next few weeks.
My question is, what rules should apply? I know about the KCBS rules, but I'm not sure if we need to be THAT serious? However, one of the sticking points for this deal, is that my friend says he wants to marinate his ribs overnight (yes, I made fun of him...just because I've never felt the need to do that) but I pointed out that for REAL competitions, you can't do that...you have to have your plain, unseasoned meat inspected in the morning - then you can do whatever you want to it as long as you can still get it cooked and turned in to the judges in time. Besides that rule, the only other rules I was going to enforce would be the double blind judging format, and the "no electricity / no gas" rule - which is also part of the KCBS judging format. Point is, I'm not exactly throwing too many rules out there, I don't think!
My question is, should I relax on the rule and let him play with his marinade, or should I tell him that we both have to start with the same product on the day of the comp - and go from there? I still think I could produce ribs good enough to rival his, no matter what he does to them - but like I said, true competition form wouldn't allow someone to do this...so I'm on the fence.
I know it's just for fun, but I thought I'd ask your opinions, as I'm sure some of you have had these friendly competitions before. Can't wait to read what you all think about this - Thanks!
