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Cleaning out my garage and found my first competition score sheet from 2007
It was from a small town event in Lockhart, Texas, and I got a 6.5 on my brisket from a judge who wrote 'too much pepper' in the notes. That number stuck with me because back then, I thought I was ready for the big time. Now I realize how much the whole scene has changed, with pellet grills and fancy rubs everywhere. Anyone else keep their old score sheets and feel that way?
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tessap735mo ago
Man, "too much pepper" is such a classic note. I found an old sheet where a judge just wrote "wet" on the chicken line, and for years I was trying to figure out if he meant juicy or soggy. It drove me nuts. Those early comments really get in your head, way more than just a number. The whole vibe was different then, like you said, less about gear and more about just figuring it out on whatever smoker you could afford.
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kevinking5mo ago
Those vague notes were pretty useless though, @tessap73.
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olivermason4mo ago
Man I used to roll my eyes when people talked about old score sheets haunting them. I was like it's just a number, move on. But finding my 2007 sheet last month totally changed my mind. There was a "dry" written next to my ribs and that single word ate at me for weeks because I had no clue if it was the cook or the wrap or what. You're right that those vague comments become unsolvable puzzles, way worse than a bad score. Makes you realize how much more we leaned on instinct back then when every cook felt like a shot in the dark.
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drew_rivera5mo ago
What do you think makes those old vague notes stick with us so hard, more than the score? Like @kevinking said, they were useless for fixing things, but "too much pepper" or just "wet" becomes this puzzle you can't solve. I bet part of it is because we had less to go on back then, no YouTube deep dives, just you and a judge's two-word gut feeling defining your food for years.
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