Wing Tips......on/off....Whats your take

[B&K Smokers]

So there was a pretty heated conversation concerning rules when it comes to Wing Tips. Current TGCBBQ rules state that a tray will not be accepted with missing wing tips. One side of the argument is that some people can not find chickens with wing tips when they purchase their meat. Me personally i have never had this issue. The other argument is no one eats wing tips so why have them on. I tend to think you need to leave them on and judge the skill of the cook by not not burning the wing tips to a crisp.

What way do you lean?

[k.a.m.]

If a person cant find a bird with wing tips I am not sure they should have driven to the store. I do know that sometimes Debbie will get birds that are whole and in plastic and the tips are missing, This is why we buy two birds for comps or get halves that we can clearly see the whole half. The whole and intact bird rule along with a clean turn in box evens the playing field for not having a possible marked bird or box. It does not bother me at all keep it in place I say.

[BAR "G" BBQ]

It is my understanding LSBS has recently voted to allow turn in with no wing tip. A large number of BBQ competitors live in small rural towns with only 1 store and are having the devil finding birds with wing tips. There is a large demand for wing tips in China thus the US is exporting massive amounts of wing tips to China. Bottom line is wing tips exported to China bring more $ than the whole bird in USA. I personally live in a 1 store town of which that 1 store has not stocked birds with wing tips in years. When I was comp cooking on a regular basis I had to drive a minimun of 50 miles one way to get a bird with wing tips. With or without doesn't give me a heart burn either way but it would be nice not to burn the gas on a 100 mile round trip to purchase a nasty yardbird with wing tips.
By the way I need to explain "I HATE SHICKEN WITH OR WITHOUT WING TIP".
WHERES THE BEEF. Nothing would make me happier than if shicken were deleted as a required turn in.

[3 star redneck]

Having cooked forever and have been a head judge with more than one assn ... IMHO tips or no tips... Brisket slices with ends cropped or not ... As long as there are more than one tray this way it CANNOT be considered a marked tray... So what does it matter ... When all th assn's make this easier and more cooker friendly their numbers wi grow... Lots of folks don't want to move with th times in th BBQ world... It not that hard guys we are all adult professional cooks here ... So why not act like it ??? Ok off my soap box... Lol

[k.a.m.]

Jeff, I do not see it as not wanting to move with the times. I see it as rules in place just like any type of competition whether it be BBQ or baseball. Without rules there is usually chaos. Heck I would rather see them drop the no pooling rule instead of wing tips. As for the more than one box, if someone was so inclined to cheat in a small comp with the option of tips or not. Your buddy could judge the table and look for a clipped bird heck just give tens to all the clipped and ones to the non clipped the chances increase if he knows what your sauce tastes like. I am just putting out scenarios for the sake of argument. The more conforming turn ins are the more even the playing field becomes as far as judging. Personally I do not care either way just let me know the rules ahead of time.

[B&K Smokers]

What the heck are they doing with wing tips in china?

I just left sams buying birds for my comp this weekend and every one of the chicken's had wing tips. You would figure all those birds would not have wing tips if the China market is asking for them.

[BAR "G" BBQ]

What the heck are they doing with wing tips in china?
I just left sams buying birds for my comp this weekend and every one of the chicken's had wing tips. You would figure all those birds would not have wing tips if the China market is asking for them.

Considered a delicacy in Italy, Romania, Brazil, China, and Germany most often utilized in soup dishes/to make chicken stock. A cheaper alternative to a meal with some protien as whole bird, beef and pork are extremely high dallor.

I would not imagine nor did I indicate all US producers were removing wing tips. For the most part rural area stores purchase cheap be it meat, vegetables, fruit, ect. On most occassions you won't find a whole bird at the one store in my area with wing tips, gizzard, liver, heart, and neck. These items are removed and sold seperatly except wing tips. The issue came up at comps due to many cooks having to drive long distances to purchase their comp chicken. It would be nice if everyone had a local Sams Store but thats not the case. It's 115 miles one way to the nearest Sams from my location and a heck of a lot futher for others. Competition Cooking is by no means cheap and with the price of fuel if individuals have to drive considerable distances just to purchase a chicken with wing tips you will start seeing a decrease in comp cookers. I would assume a sizeable amount of cookers questioned the wing tip issue or it would not have been an issue in the first place much less come to a vote. As I stated in my original thread it does not give me heart burn either way. Rant over and sorry for a long winded response.

[B&K Smokers]

Ya I see your point. Guess I have not thought about the folk who do not have big markets close to them. Im like you. Im fine either way, but i do think it has to be one way or the other. It makes since now what you say and the next vote I may just vote to remove the wingtip period.

[Swamp Donkeyz BBQ]

It doesn't matter to me either way. I just do my best to abide by the rules. As we all know "You can't please all of the people, all of the time".

[BAR "G" BBQ]

As we all know "You can't please all of the people, all of the time".

You can't imagine how true that statement is. Just spend some time as an officer in a BBQ association. It gets to the point you had rather stay home than deal with it.

[atcNick]

Dont really care. As much effort as it is to get organized and ready for a cookoff, wing tips on or off makes little difference and takes little effort.

[Scott P]

I have never bought a whole chicken, halved chicken or fresh whole wings with the tips missing. I cut them off when cooking for myself. You would think there would be plenty of wing tips available from the sale of all the frozen chicken wings.

[dub']

The packs o' wings I get still have the tips-
heck,they aren't even cut apart.
I cook 'em whole.

dub(eat the tips too)