BBQ teams

[BigDave]

My son and I are a team. We each support the other and know the recipes we use for the meat categories. So, either of us could cook as a 1 man show and have in the past on a few occasions. If you have multiple team members, they need to have assigned duties and/or meats to cook. That individual is in charge of that duty and no one else messes with it unless asked to assist. You can't have two masters and somebody has to be in charge of the team. So you still need a head cook and whut they say goes! That head cook used to be me, but now, it is Brad. i do the yardbird and brisket and he does the ribs. Both of us help each other when asked & both of us work together to prepare turn-in trays & manage pit temps. Works for us!

[dirty]

My Team consist of 6 of us. Iam the pit boss and do all the cooking. My dad and brother help out alot in checking the temp and controling rhe tempeture. They also help out setting up our spot. My sister helps me prepare the meats. My mom wife and sister are the clean up krew. My brother also is our runner( the guy who turns in the plates). We have a couple groupies who come by and hang out. Dirty Barbque doesn't party to much we Are in it to win it we can party at the house! Do a couple don't try to put on yourself especially in this heat.

[Boots]

Pony, you are just piling up the brownie points there!

Nick, we just did our first comp, with our core 3 guys (2 others can travel in depending on schedules). It helps we have all been good friends for 30 years. While I act as head cook and runner, the reality is we are co-cooks and divvy it up based on the strongest cook in a given event. I run brisket, my buddy Yoda does the ribs and cluckers, Yoda and I collaborate on the fish, another buddy is Dr. Beans for the jackpot and plays utility man, and other is Mr Game. The fifth guy is there to drink and hand out beer and provide comic relief. We all help out and play team on each event, but there is a lead cook for each meat and they rule the roost for that category because they've demonstrated they're the best cook on that meat in the past. We laid out the roles prior to the first comp and it worked great, I was really pleased that we were a pretty well oiled machine, much more efficient that I aniticipated we'd be. Another big factor is the size of the cooker. Ours is big enough to run all the big 3 meats (brisket, ribs, and cluckers) at the same time, and while the brisket starts first, it goes to the back end (cool end) of the cooker by the time we're ready to load the ribs and cluckers anyway. The fish gets blackened on a big skillet cooked right over the coals in the firebox and takes no more than 15 minutes, so it's no sweat for us. Just the way we do it, and had a great time.

[txluke]

I am a one man team. My wife is there to be a runner sometimes. One of my good friends has a drinking team with a BBQ problem. There are at least 12 sometimes over 20 people with him, all wearing team shirts. He is the boss man and they all do what he says. They party hard but do well at comps. I do just as well by myself and don't have to share credit when I win.

[n2dabluebbq]

have done both ways.

with team... nice because i am allowed to focus on cooking. not nice.... sometimes there is the difference on opinions. nothing major, but still there.

solo.... nice because no one to argue about anything except me. not nice... no one to keep other yahoos and whatnot away from me while i am running the smoker is stuff.

each has its benefits that's for sure. personally i prefer a two man team. three at tops. if you were to go with a team, be sure to know the roles before leaving the driveway. if solo, keep focused on the task at hand. very easy to get distracted and lose a precious minute here and there.

[steveblount]

I really like a team better. We have four members. Each of us are focused on one meat each and back up all the other guys. For this last comp I did chicken, did the presentation boxes, and helped out watching temps at certain times. That kind of system works well for us,

[JTB]

I agree, I like the idea of hanging out with my buddies doing what we really love to do. It works well for our team. We have our core group of 4 guys, there are also a couple that comeout every now and then to simply help do whatever just because they love to hang with us. For me, thats what BBQ is all about....

[Snow Bunny]

My team consists of my daughter and myself, she is not always there on fridays but always on saturday, i wouldn't trade her for anyone else, she keeps the time and does the running, there will be a weekend she won't be there but i will survive, sometimes my son-in-law helps and my wife is showing some interest, we will see

[The Bundling]

So I was thinking about this too. I am a 100% rookie but I think competing will just make my Q better. Im thinking about entering a few up here in MN next year (just for Brisket and Ribs) and I thought my buddy (who knows nothing) would be my team. I thought we would just sit around all night have some beer and smoke… will we be way over our head? I know I wont win anything the first few go arounds but I thought I would learn a lot from the judging of my meat and the process. You think its ok if we just go and drink and smoke!??!

[Gomeat]

Bundling, we wouldn't know anything about drinkin' and smokin'. Just ask High Voltage, at Bedford Bluesfest this year our trashcans looked like a beer truck had a wreck with a Crown Royal truck and there were cig and cigar butts everywhere. My head hurt for two days. But we had a great time and turned everything in on time. So of course you can go, drink, smoke, give it a try and you will learn a lot. Just respect quiet time. Have fun!!

[jtilk]

4,5 or 6 member teams arent so bad and in some cases it's necessary. Just kinda depends on why you attend the cookoff, some are a one man show there to compete and others are there to socialize and entertain. My team actually consists of 6 of us, I basically handle all the cooking while my friends will set up the pit, tent, tables and whatever else needs to be done. But then again we usually throw a fairly large party Friday night and make a day of it cooking Saturday. Main thing is if you have a team of this many members you have to have some sort of organization and direction.

[steveblount]

Bundling, we wouldn't know anything about drinkin' and smokin'. Just ask High Voltage, at Bedford Bluesfest this year our trashcans looked like a beer truck had a wreck with a Crown Royal truck and there were cig and cigar butts everywhere. My head hurt for two days. But we had a great time and turned everything in on time. So of course you can go, drink, smoke, give it a try and you will learn a lot. Just respect quiet time. Have fun!!

I'm beginning to think we earned ourselves a bit a of a reputation at Bedford!!!

The way it works for your team may not be the same as ours. Just depends on the guys on your team. We like to have a good time when we are cooking but if you ever watch us...when it's time for one of us to do our responsibilities we are all business. Again it all depends on your team.

...and I seem to remember Tim's team keeping up with us pretty good! LOL! Ditto on the 2 day headache!

[Diamond T Ranch]

We are a family team. Cookoffs are the only time my wife and I get along.(lol) I season brisket and ribs. She seasons chicken and beans. I run the pit. Grown kids run errands, help clean, and entertain guests. Day starts with a BloodyMary at sun up. Party seriously starts after last turn in.