Greetings to all who made the Rock Springs Comp such a fun event.
As someone new to the whole upper level of bbqing, I was truly impressed! My wife and I made it out Saturday and really enjoyed the people we met. We didn't make it in time for the chicken, but we both stuffed ourselves on the samples of pulled pork, ribs and my wife's favorite, brisket. I had hoped to get more time to talk with you all, but it seemed that everyone was busy preparing their turn in boxes and we didn't want to intrude on the most important part of the event for you guys.
We were amazed at the differences in flavor from the various booths we sampled. We both wondered what was the criteria for which flavor scored higher than others. We ate some great bbq and some of the results surprised both of us. Some samples we really enjoyed didnt score quite as well as some we liked less (but it was ALL good) . I imagine much of it is up to the judges preferences, but what goes into trying to anticipate what the judges look for in flavor? I came away a little more confused than I thought I would after reading the results and eating the samples.
What an eye opener! I thought I could cook up some good Q, but you all showed me how Much farther I can go.