Cooking and Competing

First and foremost competition barbecue is a hobby for both judges and competitors. So the primary reason for getting involved must be to have fun and enjoy the events. While competitions have a serious side to make them fair and ensure they have integrity, the primary reason to get involved is to enjoy yourself. That maybe because you love the competition nature of it, or maybe because you really like the social aspect of it. Either way you will love cooking barbecue. 

While on the surface, barbecue teams may look like chefs or cooks. While some are, the majority are just enthusiastic amateurs. You don’t need any background in food to get involved in competing in barbecue contests. You don’t even need to be a competitive person; competition barbecue is as much about the social aspect as it is the competition.

Teams come in all shapes and sizes, and the word team can mean one person of a group of people. Some teams have multiple members who all take a leading role, often each being responsible for an entry (known as a turn in). Others also have multiple people but with one or two being the primary cooks with the others helping. There are also teams of one person, a single person is better suited to some forms of competition than others. So, make sure you know what team resources you will need to do everything you need to do in the time frames of a competition.

Equipment is probably the single biggest consideration for a new team apart from what they want to cook. But what you want to cook is a good place to start. You will need to make sure you have enough barbecue capacity for everything you need to cook at the contest and remember you will be likely be cooking different turn ins at the same time. Teams who have been competing a while have usually built up their equipment over time, but it is entirely OK and expected that new teams will have limited equipment. Each team will have their own requirements for equipment, but it’s worth getting an understanding of the basics.

Barbecues

This is after all a barbecue contest. What you need will depend on what and how you want to cook it, and how much capacity you need. This is where having two or three likeminded team members helps to combine equipment but isn’t essential. If you are planning on smoking things, you can use a kettle barbecue, but if you need more capacity, you may want a bullet or barrel smoker. If you need to grill things, again is a kettle enough, or do you need a couple. Most contests allow pellet smokers, but make sure you know if you will have access to electricity. If you want to use offset smokers or ceramic egg type barbecues, remember these can be big and heavy, so think about transport. Ultimately though, there are generally no restrictions on type of barbecues although most contests do not allow gas barbecues except for some steak contests.

If you are looking to purchase barbecues for contests, then look on places like Facebook market place and eBay for second hand ones. Reasonably priced second-hand Weber kettles are versatile and effective for contests, where as Weber Smokey Mountain smokers or barrel smokers can be picked up much cheaper than buying new.

Shelter

There is no getting around the fact that the British climate can be challenging for outdoor cooking sometimes. As much as on a nice sunny day at home its nice to be outside in the sun flipping burgers if you are going to spend all day preparing and cooking multiple dishes, you are going to want some shelter to do it in.

Teams generally have a gazebo that they use as both a shelter from rain and sun, and an indoor space for storage and prepping. Most will have a 3m x 3m pop up gazebo but depending on the space each team is allowed at the contest, some have a second 3m x 3m and some have larger gazebos. If you have seen contests in America, you will no doubt have seen huge 10m trailers being used as kitchens on wheels and massive offset smokers made from 500 gallon propane tanks. That’s not how we do things in the UK, we are little more reserved and restrained.

If you have a popup garden gazebo or are planning on acquiring one, that will absolutely do the job. If you are planning on or end up competing regularly, you may want to invest in something a little more robust. If you have a local supplier, you may be able to hire a commercial gazebo to use, but it’s worth noting that it won’t take many contests before its more cost effective to purchase one.

Work Surface

Inside your shelter you will need somewhere to work. Folding tables are the logical solution and fit nicely in a 3m x 3m gazebo. It is also generally quite easy to hire folding tables if you need to, either plastic or wooden. One thing to make sure of is that the height of your table is suitable. Most folding tables are designed to be the right height for people sitting down and may be too low to comfortably stand and work at. So, you may want to give consideration to raising you tables in some way to make them a better height for working at.

Commercial folding gazebo prep tables are available, but these can be expensive. You will also probably want surface area to increase storage so everything isn’t on the floor so you may want three or four tables in your gazebo 

Cooler

Health and safety is paramount when it comes to food and keeping food at the right temperature is actually checked at some contests as part of the rules. Some events may also be subject to local council H&S inspection, and while generally you won’t be cooking for the public, you may be asked to show that you are storing your meat etc. correctly and at the right temperature. 

To that end you will need a way of doing so and the obvious answer is a cooler. Again, it’s worth highlighting that you make sure your cooler is big enough for what you want to store in it and the ice to keep it cool, and if you want to store both raw and cooked ingredients you will likely need to do so in separate coolers. Don’t forget also that you may want food and drink for yourselves, so make sure you factor that in for coolers and storage space.

Good quality coolers need less refilling of ice over time, but just make sure that if you think you will need to restock ice etc. that you know how you can get it. Most contests you will be able to leave the site to get things like ice and any forgotten ingredients, but always check before arriving.

Light – If you are going to be working in the dark, or even a dark coloured shelter, you may need some lights in your gazebo.

Fuel – Those barbecues are going to need feeding, so make sure you have enough charcoal, wood or pellets

Knives and Stuff – Think of all the knives, spoons, graters, tongues and chopping boards you use at home, its easy to forget that you might need all that stuff for a contest too.

Ingredients - We all know that what goes in to a good barbecue dish isn’t just meat, so know what sauces, herbs, spices, veg and other ingredients you need to bring. 

Presentation Equipment - Depending on the contest type, you may need platters, serving boards and any presentation props.

Consumables – You might want things like tin foil, clingfilm, kitchen roll and Tupperware.

Cleaning and Refuse – You will want to be able to wipe your surface down, wash up if needed (you may have access to water, but it may not be hot) and collect your rubbish.

Transport

You will probably have a fair bit to bring with you, depending on the contest it may be more than a cars’ worth. If several of you are arriving in separate cars, you may be able to make that work, but a lot of teams will borrow or hire a van for transport. Transit size vans are relatively easy and reasonably priced to hire for a weekend from national hire chains but do explore local hire companies as these are often cheaper.

Overnight

A lot of contests happen over two days, or if only one day, may allow you to arrive the night before. As we know if you are cooking low and slow, you may need to get cracking nice an early or even overnight. If this is the case, you will need somewhere to sleep. You may want to bring a tent if the event allows or if you are lucky enough to have a caravan or camper, you can explore with the organiser of it is possible to bring that. If you have arrived in a van, once you have unpacked and set up, that van might make the ideal basic caravan. Many teams will put a mattress, airbed or camping bed in the back of their van to sleep in overnight. 

Most contests will be multi-round format contests, they may be a mixture of round types or even include several individual contests in a single day. The main contest types are:

Traditional American Low and Slow

This is the format for most American contests that has been imported to the UK and Europe in that last 10 – 15 years. These used to be much more common in the UK, but in recent years have reduced in number. They are however still popular and the most common style of contest in continental Europe. 

Whilst there are many organisations in the USA that run and sanction hundreds of these contests. Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) is the sanctioning body that is most prevalent for these contests over in the UK and Europe. These contests require teams to turn in chicken, pork ribs, pork shoulder and beef brisket over a 90-minute period (12:00, 12:30, 13:00 & 13:30). The turn ins are always in an anonymised box and does not include any additional elements other than the meat.

Steak Cook-Off 

Gaining in popularity in the UK and Europe due to the simple nature of it and the ability to run it in addition to a bigger contest. The basic contest involves teams first choosing from a selection provided and then cooking a steak. The aim is to achieve the perfect appearance, doneness, texture and flavour. The Steak Cook Off Association (SCA) is the main sanctioning body for these contests

Chili / Curry Cook Off 

A format that seemed to have disappeared following COVID, seems to be making a comeback. These contests involve teams cooking a chili or curry to be judged. Due to the nature of a big pot of chili, these contests are often judged by the public. They can of course be judged by a panel of judges or a combination of both.

A British organisation does exist to sanction contests (UK Chili Cook-off Association), but historically these have also been organised independently of any official body.

Freestyle

Probably the most common format in the UK currently and the most exciting. As the name suggests these contests give teams the greatest freedom to be creative. The rules and requirements for turn ins at each contest differs and is tailored to the event. The turn in rules can restrict the turn ins in terms of ingredients and presentation, or they can offer free reign to work within a loose theme.

CompBBQUK both organises and sanctions freestyle contests, but several independent organisers also organise contests to their own rules and other organisations also organise freestyle contests. Both SCA and KCBS have within their rules the ability to have freestyle rounds that are sanctioned by them, but these are generally bonus rounds at contests that are using their regular contest structures.

Like any niche hobby competition barbecue comes with its own language, here are a few you may hear.

Sanctioning – This is the process of an organisation, for a fee, providing its rules and process to a contest organiser and proving a representative of that organisation to run the contest on the day. The benefit of this is that teams can earn points for entry in to other contests, compete virtually against other teams taking part in other contests and use a consistent set of rules that are also used and applied in the same way across many different contests.

The primary sanctioning bodies in the UK are KCBS (Kansas City Barbecue Society), SCA (Steak Cook-off Association) and CompBBQUK.

Turn in – What a team presents as their entry for a round, i.e. what the team “turned in”.

Round – One turn in by each team within a designated turn in time window all produced against the same requirements laid out by the organiser.

Competition (Comp) – A collection of rounds where the scores and results of each round are aggregated together to rank each team against the other producing a overall competition winner.

Grand Champion (GC) – The overall winner of a competition (or a round if the competition consists of a single round).

Reserve Grand Champion (RGC) – The second-place team in a competition (or a round if the competition consists of a single round).

Walk – The top teams (numbers vary) in each round and /or competition that are invited to the stage or presentation area when results are being announced. 

Turn in Window – The allotted time that a team can submit their round entry to be judged. Often enforced with no flexibility.

Turn in Table – The location where entries are submitted, often it will have the official contest time clock on it also.

Contest Time – The official time the contest is run to, often a single clock is regarded as the only official contest time and it will be a team’s job to make sure they know it for their turn in windows.

Box / Box Number –This can be an actual box containing the entry and a number it is assigned when it goes to be judged, or a box can be used to refer to an entry regardless if it is in a box or not.

Double Blind Judging – A process where entries are anonymised at the turn in area to ensure that teams do not know the box number of their entry, and judges do not know which box number related to which team.