British BBQ Society Forums

Also allowing half entries might mean that for people who can't get enough people for a team could compete on their own.

Dude! Don't hung up by what you haven't done. You need to appreciate that Competition BBQ and what you and your friends like is completely different. You "May" find some people love your back yard BBQ and a lot of people Q that way. When it comes to comp Q there is an odd fascination with sweet sticky, spicy, none spicey, bland, too much after kick, delayed after kick, too salty, not salty enough, too petrolly not enough petrol, too sober, not sober enough kind of judging.

My view is you can turn in the same stuff each event and get different results, your luck is in the draw, your excitement is in the results, your exhilaration is in the after beer, you will get a buzz regardless of the outcome, and my view is simple, camping, parking, electric and fun for £150 per weekend its outstanding!

Another newbie here, and one who hasn't competed and has no immediate plans to (although I have been known to make rash decisions!).

I like it that the meat is included. As has already been said here, I think this makes the competition more accessible to people who haven't competed before. It also gives the competition a level playing field, at least to start with.

If I competed, I would value a trophy more than a cash prize.

Yet another newbie here, but am planning on joining in the 2011 events.

I like that the meat is included in the entry fee because, and this is one of the nicer differences from the US circuit for me, it means that everyone is starting from the same basic ingredients.

For example, If you've got people who can afford to spend big bucks on wagyu brisket then that makes it harder for newbies to get involved.

Derek

Its great to see this thread resurrected, and I appreciate the comments.

Looking at the practical side of splitting entries ie for ribs and chicken, you would realistically have to be on site over night (vehicle restrictions on site) anyway to achieve a good product for hand in which would make me ask the question, if you are going to be there why not give it a go? The events are very friendly, and hints tips and advice are given out freely, and it doesn’t take long to get hooked on the bigger cuts.

Reference the entry fee, it will remain the same for 2011, although we may have to look at a charge for electrical hook-up for each pitch if required.

2011 will be a great year for the Society, Ready Steady Q will raise awareness on the high street and I am certain that we will be crowning the British team to represent at the Jack Daniels on 2011.

I agree with Toby, it's great to see this thread going again, now's the time to provide thoughts for the 2011 season so that they can be considered for 2011.

This season has been great, with plenty of new teams coming on board and three successful events behind us there's a lot to be happy about.

For the Society to exist long term, it needs to cover its costs. No one, including Toby, wants to see massive entry costs, so the best thing for everyone is to reduce the cost to the Society of putting on an event. The way to do this is by getting sponsors involved.

Toby works very hard to get recognition for the Society, the innovative approach of introducing Ready Steady Q should be a great way to get more recognition next year too. But every one of us can do a little bit to help. Word of mouth advertising of the Society helps too. I bet most people on here cook for parties, some probably do a bit of catering either for business or for community/charity events. I find there's always a lot of interest in the smokers, people ask questions, when they do I point them at the Society website and these forums. I plug the Society on Facebook regularly and I have links on my team's website. If all the teams do similar things we can help raise awareness of the Society and the competition circuits.

If people want them, I can post some graphics on here that can be used for link images on their websites. I can provide the BBBQS, Pit MAsters & Ready Steady Q logos in various sizes.

Looking forward to the 2011 season already

Completely agree about covering costs.

Just a idea...what about fundraising, non-competitive event(s) that were open to the paying public?

I'd be happy to use these logos as links whenever you get chance to send them to me, Toby. Can't make my mind up though whether to compete or judge in 2011 Whichever I do I'm already looking forward to it.

Late to the party but my opinion:

I've no interest whatsoever in cash prizes. To be honest, the trophies are nice but they're optional too.

I don't particularly want to sell BBQ at a competition. I suspect insurance or H&S would come into it then too.

We joined this year having only found out about it via random googling. We were a bit apprehensive about signing up and sending 150 quid to a random person on the internet (funnily enough) but went for it because we felt we should support a movement for bbq in the uk. I don't think we would have felt that way about it at 300 quid.

As for the meat, basically I can't get hold of brisket, pork shoulder,2 massive slabs of ribs and 10 chicken thighs reliably of a saturday morning (frankly, I can't get hold of curley parsley when I need it!), not to mention it would cost an absolute fortune from your average surrey butcher - this is definitely a great use of economies of scale for Toby to be able to buy the lot in bulk, and absolutely its great to have a level playing field on the meat front.

Toby if this is costing you a fortune that needs to be addressed, but don't blow the format on cash prizes when people care more about the competing! I'd happily pay more now I know what's what but it needs more people in 2011 to get into it rather than more money for the winners who have no doubt already done a season.

Only thing I'd change is more economies of scale; charcoal, kegs of hogsback ale and f'ing parsley. Buy it in bulk and charge me for it!

Does someone have parsley issues?