Seeking Feedback

[fatback joe]

Mballi posted something in a Roll Call thread that made the light bulb come on in my skull...rare occurence. He said "There's nothing like a new set of eyes to give and new way to make things that little differant to make things alittle better." That gave me the idea of posting pics of some of my contest turn in boxes and seeking feedback from a "new set of eyes".

I know that the majority of SMFers don't compete and seem to have little or no interest in competing, so it would be interesting to know what the feedback would be from people who are into smoking but not into the contest side and would probably see the pics differently than those who compete or judge. Although the feedback is more than welcome from those of you on here that do.

A disclaimer or two.......these pics are from some of my FBA turn ins where garnish is not allowed, that is why there is no parsley or lettuce. I think garnish makes a better looking box, but FBA is meat only. Also, my photo skills suck, so the pics probably leave a bit to be desired but are good enough to get the general idea (I hope). Also, I just grabbed some more recent ones (disregard the dates) and not ones that I think are my best or got my best presentation scores but a pretty good example of what my "normal" turnins look like.

I know what I think is wrong/what I would like to improve on with each of them, but would like to know what you think as well. OK......enough of the rambling.

Brisket

Chicken

Ribs

Thanks in advance.

 

[scarbelly]

I think they all look good. My only suggestion would be on the brisket to eliminate one or two slices to give it more of an angle and to show a little more of each slice as you layer it back - The chicken and ribs look good to this untrained eye

 

[the dude abides]

Looks awfully friggin good to this backyard hack.

 

[oneshot]

With the ribs maybe you could put a piece or two in the middle and the rest of them in teepee fashion showing off the bark and sides of the ribs at once.....

 

[smokeguy]

All of them look good! The suggestion on the brisket with less being more is good advice to help show it off more. Also I would clean the knife each cut so that you're not smearing the outside seasoning colors onto the inside meat colors that look so good.
The rib comment was also a good one. If you can't TP it because you have to close the box, try to arrange to be able to see the sides of one or two.

Just looking back again, you have 14 pieces of brisket, 8 chicken and 10 for ribs. I would try and pick the best of your best and just put the number needed to have one for each judge. That shows off your best, and leaves an empty box which subliminally might make them think it was so good it's all gone.

Of course, I've never competed and don't know the rules, but just what comes to mind. I'd eat every piece of everything I see on those pics!

 

[Dutch]

Hold on Joe, lemme put on my new glasses. . . .

Not sure what the turn-in protocol is for the comps you're in, do they frown on the use of leafy greens to line the boxes and do the specify how much to put in each box? For example there are 6 judges so you only need to put in 6 pieces of meat in the box.

Looks good to me, and to echo what scarbelly said, reduce the amount of brisky in the box and maybe hit it with a bit of finishing sauce.

 

[raceyb]

I'd like to see what the brisket looked like in a pinwheel type of layout. the meat looks too crowded in that box. The chicken looks perfect and the ribs look OK, but might look better with a more non traditional layout. they just look kinda square.

You are right about garnish. That makes presenting real tough without it. Good luck and win some trophies!

 

[rivet]

Hey fatback, nice looking food to me, great actually, but then I'm not a judge nor have entered any comps.

For the brisket, I agree with above: take away a few slices, definitely the "side" ones and scallop them more to show off the goods. This display looks a little "busy".

For the chicken: Rock on, man- They looked outstanding! Nothing I'd change there at all. Beautiful color and domed shape.

For the ribs: never seen a teepee style, though I can imagine that well enough. How about the back row on their sides to show off the insides, and the front row as you have them? They look so pretty and tasty that I would want to keep the "outside" part up front-and-center like they are.

The judges must be some tough folks, 'cause all this looks professionally cooked to me.

 

[seenred]

I don't know if I could add anything else productive to the good advice your getting. All I know is that is some beeeautiful lookin' grub!

 

[plj]

Well Mr Fatback Joe, looks great, you can cook for me any time!

I dont know squat about presentation, never competed, dont care to, dont have a clue what judges look for. Probably couldnt ever win even if I tried. But that seems to be what youre looking for, so I'll comment. Take it for what its worth - probably nothing!

Brisket
- why the 2 slices on the sides? Trying to hide something? (not trying to be wise, that was seriously the first thing I thought.)
- Some of my family likes the end cuts, some like the middle. So when I serve I dont just stack the middle slices like you did, I'd want to see ends too.
- I also tend to "fan it out" a little, show off more than just the same top strip of every piece.
- I want some "sauce." You know how restaurants drizzle chocolate or raspberry syrup over cheesecake... can you do that with some sort of sauce or is that considered "garnishing"? (We almost always want something for dipping/slathering, messing up our fingers & faces)

Chicken
- what are they all aligned the same way, looks boring & uniform. Why all breast up? What's the other side look like? Or... can you stand them up and bend their legs like their ready to jump off the platter onto my plate? Put some tiny nike's on them, LOL.

"Runners, take your mark..."

Ribs
- I wanna see the edges of those ribs so I can pick the ones with the right fat/meat ratio!

 

[fatback joe]

No garnish of any kind......period or you are DQd, FBA is a minumum of 8 pieces must be in the box.

 

[bbq engineer]

Hey FBJ,

What...no pork category? Maybe FBA doesn't have that one...I want to see your pork box, because that is always the one that I struggle with.

Let me tell you where I sit, before I tell you where I stand...I have competed. Pulled a couple of ribbons from a couple of events, and I am pretty happy with that. I will be doing more events in the future, and the garnish and presentation is one of the most difficult things. I worked with a guy that was on a winning American Royal team, and he offered me this advice which I thought was pretty good. If you are going to compete, go be a judge at a few events too. That way you can see what is in the boxes and what other teams are turning in. It will help your boxes in the process. I do plan to get certified early next year and then judge a few.

For your brisket, I like the slices, but would remove the ones on the side.

The chicken looks great. Maybe some light grill marks on the skin...(fire up the grill and then just sear the skin with some marks). Had a buddy do this and it was great...(but they actually de-boned the thighs too, almost like little chicken sliders. He fit 9 thighs in his turn in box).

Nice gloss to the ribs. Wouldn't change a thing there.

I will try to send you a couple of pics for reference...it's always good to compare.

 

[fatback joe]

Yeah, trying to hide the side of the box. LOL The sides of the boxes are sloped so I thought I would try putting a slice on each side.

The general advice is to cover up as much of the box as you can, but that is the reason for this post......get some comments outside of the "normal" stuff you hear at the contest.

Thanks to all who have responded, your comments have got me thinking of a few things to try and see how it looks at home.

 

[fatback joe]

LOL I wondered how long it might be until someone called me out on that. I didn't post pork on purpose.....I have a presentation that I like, I think is unique, and I wasnt' quite ready to share. LOL I got to have some secrets. FWIW Pork was my hardest catagory as well.

 

[raceyb]

LOL on the secrets.... I kinda feel ya on that one. Some of the recipes I post I don't post the amount of spices, just what i put in. But as you stated, most of us don't compete, so show us some porky pig!

 

[blue]

I would say the brisket looks crowded. Send a couple peices my way and that should open things up for you.

 

[meateater]

I'm not sure of the rules and such but id set them on a angle myself if allowed. Mine make it from the grill to the gut at home.

 

[grampyskids]

There a a lot of cooks out there that don't cook but have carved out a career by spending their time setting up food for photo shoots. Trust me, it is a lucrative job.My feeble mind tries to think outside of the box. I would probably do a weave with the brisket. This presentation would force the judges to pock their special slice of meat as opposed to a random selection.

 

[gofish]

Fatback,

Great idea for some feedback .... send me very full & fresh boxes so I can judge you on taste

On second thought, you shouldnt do that cause you'd have to share with the whole class, and that could get pricey. Seems like some good ideas so far. When I have 'perfect' ribs, I love showing off the side view with some smoke ring. I am banking all the previous suggestions as well for my 2010 turn ins. sound like folks like non linear displays! Great thread ... good to see you again.

 

[cowgirl]

I'm with Blue.