Competition Recipe Question

[jtilk]

Just curious as to how many of you guys have one particular recipe you stick with even thru dry spells on ribs, chicken and brisket, and how many of you guys are always changing/ tweaking your recipes for competitions?? ... I've hear proponents of both, some live by the thought you should always be trying to improve upon what you have and I've heard others say they haven't changed in years and dont intend to as long as they get the occassional call (this was mentioned to me by my friends dad who has cooked for years and Big Dave told me the same). If you subscribe to the latter thought, how often should you be getting walks in order to not even consider changing things up??... I'm not saying either is right or wrong, just some food for thought.

[FR8 Train]

We pretty much change something everytime we cook, it's funner that way. We are constantly trying to get that perfect recipe and once we get there I'm sure we'll settle in. We've only been competing for a couple years now so we have plenty of room for change. I'm sure once we've been at it a while we'll have some pretty set recipes, but for now we're pretty flexible. I think we cook our meat really well and with that we get plenty of calls regardless of what flavors we choose for the outside. Getting the texture and moistness you want down first is very iimportant. Judges are going to have a wide varying preference for flavors, but most of them can agree on whether or not the meat is cooked to perfection.

[3 star redneck]

I cook the same exact recipe every week......haven't changed anything in a few yrs.....at my class I tell people when ypu get your flavor profile th way ypu want it , don't change anything for 6-8 months....win or lose.....after that just tweak your recipe......

[Fullofbull]

I agree with Jeff I don't change crap. It has been working for me so far so
If it ain't broke don't fix it.

[RWBTEX]

Agree too, once you have a consistently winning recipe dont make big changes. I do constantly tweak and experiment at home but so far still using same on ribs and chicken as the last couple years Gonna try that Redneck rib dust next

[BigDave]

I agree with Jeff I don't change crap. It has been working for me so far so
If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Well Full of Bull if'n it was "crap"....I'd definitely be a changin it! Sorry just couldn't resist!

[ecto1]

I changed my ribs once last year and didn't hit changed it back the next month and hit with a 1st place. Momma said don't try to fix it stupid. Now my brisket is the only thing I am still working on the ribs and chicken I won't change.

[jtilk]

Well here's what I'm up against so I'll let you guys tell me what you think... I've been feeling fairly strong about all of my categories (ribs, chicken and brisket), of those 3 ribs are most probably my strongest with brisket about a 50/50 shot of getting a call. However chicken has me baffled as of late, about June of last year I changed my recipe with chicken and took 1st in a small cookoff of about 15 teams, added a glaze in our county fair and took 1st out of 152 teams... but just when I think I'm headed in the right direction, past 2 cookoff of about 30 teams each, didnt get a call in either. Would you guys start to consider tweaking/ changing things up??? Or just weather the storm with what I've been using considering past success??

[js-tx]

Would you guys start to consider tweaking/ changing things up??? Or just weather the storm with what I've been using considering past success??

I'm a comp. newb myself, but to me it sounds like you got a winning formula. I would weather the storm a little bit longer. You are positive nothing has changed? Fuel, brand of whatever?

[critter01]

You need to think about the area you are cooking in, sometimes their taste change and you might tweak accordingly.( wood,heat,sweet,amount of smoke to meat,sauce,glaze,etc.)

[BigDave]

50 percent hit rate is purty darn good! I wouldnt change a thing right now. If the same results in another 4 to 6 cooks...maybe tweak a little. Don't recommend anyone that has been hittin do any large scale changing of techniques. Sometimes ya just gotta deal with them taste impaired judges!