How To Cook Competition BBQ Ribs

As a Certified BBQ judge,
I see too many cook teams
FAIL in the Ribs Category.
This presentation teaches
you what you MUST know
in order to move UP in the
rankings and GET MORE
WALKS in the Competition
BBQ Ribs Category.
How To Cook:

How to cook Competition BBQ ribs
is a skill, and as such it is
something that can be learned. As
a certified KCBS and FBA BBQ
Judge, I’m delighted when top
quality competition ribs hit my
table, and feel my heart (and
stomach) sink when I see grey,
charred, and greasy ribs make the
scene.
You CAN have a BBQ Ribs box that looks like this!

I want to clear up a few things where competition the art of
how to cook competition BBQ ribs is concerned. Number one,
‘falling off the bone’ means that the ribs are overcooked.
A properly cooked BBQ Rib should be moist and tender yet
yield just enough so that when you bite into it you see a
rounded bite mark with the bone turning white almost
immediately. There should be no sooty, charred, or creosote
flavor.
View the original post and comment here: goo.gl/5RZGhF

Good Rib Turn In Box Bad Rib Turn In Box
This is what judges think when they see each of the boxes above. Read on for more
info…

When focusing on your effort to cook competition BBQ ribs, the appearance of the ribs in
the turn in box should be uniform – meaning the ribs should appear as though they came
off the same rack – even though they very likely did not. Straight line cuts, even bone
appearance at the ends (if any) are a must, and the color should be uniform as well.
Take a look at the boxes on the previous slide.
The rib box titled the “Less Than Good” one shows a lack of uniformity, limited to no
purposeful alignment in the box, and appears to be coated in a bit of creosote or burnt
(over-sugared) rub or sauce. If presented with this 2nd example, I’d score it at about a 8
maximum on appearance, and that’s being generous. I might go to a 7 with a comment
on what the cook might do to improve upon things.

Taste wise, the profile for your ribs can of course vary. I’d say you don’t want to be too salty
or too sweet, but honestly judges are going to score your taste based on their
preferences. Both KCBS and FBA judges seem to prefer ribs that aren’t too spicy or
salty, and they like sweet. However, watch out for “over candied ribs!”
I’m seeing more and more judges score “over candied” or “candy bar” ribs lower
these days.
I’d recommend using fruit jams or jellies and spices like clove or cinnamon sparingly. Oh, and
turning in a “sauceless” or “dry” rib isn’t advised, as “naked” ribs don’t tend to fare very well.
In any case, please clean your smoker before cooking. I know time gets away from you if
you cook competitions weeks in a row. But the cleaner your smoker is, the better your food is
going to taste. Power wash it, empty out the ash bin, etc. This helps keep any acrid or bitter
taste out of your final product.

Cadillac Cut Rib Example. Note that there is a
good amount of meat on both sides of the
bone.
Baby back ribs are fine, as are St. Louis
style (Spare Ribs). If you do St. Louis style
ribs, consider the Cadillac cut – which is
when you leave a good amount of rib meat
on each side of the bone.
You’ll sacrifice some ribs by going with this
cut, but it gives the judges more to bite
into. The example photo to the right shows
what this cut looks like. Though, there’s a
bit too much sauce on that rib if you ask
me.

There are a few decent “How Tos” out there on prepping and
cooking competition quality Ribs. Those I’ve linked to here
are ones that seem to touch on most of what I’ve seen the
Pros who win do with their rib preps. If you try any of these
preparations, please leave comments on the blogs or
websites to let those who have shared recipes know you
appreciate them!
Check the following pages for some GREAT
“Professional Rib Tutorials”. . .

Jason Day of BBQAddicts.com uses
the famous EAT Barbecue products
on some ribs with photos and step
by step action that should have you
well on your way to producing
competition BBQ Ribs that no judge
would turn their nose up at. It’s
spare ribs here, so if you’ve never
cooked this cut before – you’ll love
the way Jason lays it out for
you. Click here to read the post.
Pro Recipe #1

Pro Recipe #2
Video on next page.
The next recipe for competition style
BBQ ribs comes from the How to BBQ
Right site maintained by Malcom Reed
of Killer Hogs BBQ. Malcom puts
together an awesome step by step BBQ
rib How To for you here, and he has a
nice selection of step by step photos and
extra tips (like his Secret to BBQ Ribs)
that will for sure put you on the right
track.

As you can see, Malcom holds very little back when he talks about
how to prepare competition ribs. I really like what he says here
about prepping the ribs initially and then applying smoke to the
ribs…
No matter what someone tells you… always remove the
membrane. It will affect your tenderness if you don’t and
if you are competing, it is what the judges expect.
When you are ready to smoke the ribs, you want to get your
smoker up to 225 degrees and add a few chunks of cherry
wood. I normally use 4 to 5 chunks to start. You should have a
light blue smoke coming from the smoker. Any more will be
too harsh for the meat and produce a bitter end product. When
the smoker is up to temperature, place the ribs on the racks.
Malcom also gives some great
advice about how to keep the
sugar content from your sauce
from getting bitter on you from
too much heat application.
Click here to read his full rib prep
post.

I hope you found value in this post on how to cook
competition style BBQ ribs. If so, please leave a
comment or share this post on whatever social
networks you frequent!
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