Wednesday, September 5, 2012

It's That Time Of Year Again

October will kick off a new year in the Competition Chili Cook Offs and it should be a good one.

Last weekend our team judged at the Oklahoma State Chili Competition in Durant and had a great time. We got some good ideas on what we want our booth to look like this year and met some really nice folks with some even being past world champions themselves.

October 13th will be our first one of the year held in a little town just to our West then in November on to a town to the East.  I hope to get to cook for at least ten competitions this year to gain enough points to get invited to the big one. I know it's a long shot and I am really not planning on it, but it's worth a shot.

Our pots at the house have already been fired up to make sure our chili meets the standards. Every little change causes big differences in the taste and no pot is ever the exact same twice. Just changing the brand of chili powder can make a huge difference. It will take several more pots and the rest of this month to prefect the chili we intend to turn in. 

I personally do not like competition chili because it's only juice and meat. I like mine thick with some substance, but the judges don't so I make it their way.
The wife makes hers with a little more bite than mine and the other team mates go a little outside the box with theirs. I want mine to be simple, smooth and with a slight aftertaste.

The weekend before our first competition we will be having a chili tasting here at the house for all the friends and family to come by and give us some feedback. We will go through the whole set up with our booth and act like it's the real deal for the "at home advent", a trial run so to speak. That way we can see how our booth looks and make any adjustments if needed to the set up. We have four cooks in a 12x12 booth at the same time and things will need to be arranged so we do not step over one another and get in each others way. Plus the honesty of the tasters will help in deciding if we need to make any final adjustments to the recipe just in case it is too salty or anything else they come up with.  
This also gives us the chance to make sure our carts are stocked with everything we will need. It is easy to cook in the house with a well stocked kitchen, but there is nothing worse than finding out you forgot something when you are away from it. A fully equipped cart is the backbone to having a great time. 
        
It's going to be a good year and It's also going to be fun. I will post pictures when we have the booth all set up for you to judge how it looks. Plus I am sure I will share or trials and tribulations along the way.

Until next time,   

17 comments:

  1. Sounds like you make good chili by the description, I have had some that is just painful to eat. Simple but with something to remember is the key.

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  2. MDR,

    Good luck on your competitions!!! I agree, I love substance (stuff and thickness) to my chili :-) and maybe some green chiles too.

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    1. Thanks Sandy, putting green chilies in it is a different category but I like it too.

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  3. Thick with some heat and no beans for me please.

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    1. tffnguy, If I get enough points this year I will coming down to your neck of the woods next November.
      Yup, if beans are in it then it's not chili.

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    1. Well good BEB, Maybe you could come back and help out one or twice this year.

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  5. Good luck!

    My jerky never turns out the same way twice, either. Part of the expectation. ;o)

    Have a great evening!

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    1. Thanks LindaG, that's right, you never know what your gunna get.

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  6. Mmmmmm chili.I love this time of year. Oh, mine with beans please. lol. Can you send chili via mail? lol

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    1. SFG, if you add beans it ain't chili. I think it's called Goulash. If you do that, might as well add some Okra and call it Gumbo.
      Our home recipe, we add beans the second night and rice or macaroni the third to make it go further. For competition they say no fillers, just juice and meat.

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  7. with beans is chili con carne with corn and stuff is goulash IMO with maccaroni is chili mac
    also sounds like a lot of rules to learn

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    1. I guess to each their own Anony. I don't even know what a con carne is so I will stick to what I know. I don't ever plan to be on Hell's Kitchen so I don't need to know all those fancy words.
      There are a lot of rules but it is still cheaper and easier than cooking meat for competition.
      It will be fun.

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    2. chili con carne is chili with beans god luck and I hope you have lots and lots of fun

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