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A judge at the Memphis in May contest told me my ribs were 'mush' and it stung but he was right.
I was sure my 3-2-1 method was perfect, cooking at 225 for the full six hours. The judge, an old guy who looked like he'd seen it all, wrote on my score sheet 'texture like baby food, no bite.' That hit hard. I went home and started testing. I found out my wrap with brown sugar and butter was steaming them too much. Now I do a 2-1-1 method, skip the butter in the wrap, and only use a tiny bit of apple juice. The ribs have a clean pull now, not a fall-off-the-bone mush. It took me three cooks to get it right. Anyone else get a harsh score that actually fixed a big flaw in their process?
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the_michael6mo ago
Hold up, you were wrapping ribs for a full two hours? No wonder they turned to mush, that's basically braising them in a foil boat. Good on you for actually listening to the judge and fixing it. Most guys would have just gotten mad and called him an idiot.
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fisher.paige6mo ago
Yeah that "most guys would have just gotten mad" part is so true. You see it everywhere, like when someone gives driving directions and the driver just gets defensive instead of listening. Or a coworker points out a typo in your report and you argue instead of just fixing it. It's wild how hard it is for people to just take the note and move on. Ego blocks so much simple progress.
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johnh825mo ago
Man, that's the whole point of having judges! It's tough love for sure, but that one note made you way better. Most folks just hear the insult and miss the lesson. You actually listened and fixed the real problem, which is huge. That's how you go from good to great at anything, not just BBQ.
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