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A judge at a local comp told me my ribs were mushy, had to fix my whole process
Back in May at the Oak Ridge BBQ festival, this older pitmaster walked by my tent while I was pulling ribs off. He asked to try one, and I thought he was just being friendly. He chewed once, then told me they were soft like boiled meat, not smoked. Said I was probably wrapping too early and steaming them. I used to foil at 160 internal every single time. After that I started waiting until 185 before wrapping, and I also stopped adding liquid to the foil. Next comp I did in Knoxville, I got a 7th in ribs out of 40 teams. Still not great, but the texture was night and day. Has anyone else had to unlearn a habit that a stranger caught in one bite?
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the_sam11d ago
My first comp in Pigeon Forge, some old timer watched me sauce my ribs and told me they looked like I was painting a fence post with a mop. He wasn't wrong. I used to glaze them so thick you could have used the rack as a canoe paddle. Took me two more contests and one nasty call from a judge saying my sauce tasted like candy corn before I backed off and let the meat do the talking. Now I just brush a light coat on the last 10 minutes and call it a day. Some lessons cost you a trophy, some cost you a whole bag of ribs when your buddy won't eat them.
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