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Picked a pellet grill over a drum smoker for my first cookoff in Waco and got dead last in brisket
Tbh I had about $400 to spend and it came down to a pellet grill or building a drum smoker from a kit. I went pellet since I could set the temp and walk away, which sounded smart for my first contest. Showed up to the Waco cookoff in March with 14 other teams and my brisket came out tasting like a roast, zero bark, no smoke ring worth talking about. An old guy parked next to me running a beat up offset said 'son, that thing is an oven with a fan' and honestly he was not wrong. I finished 14th out of 14 in brisket and 11th in ribs, and the judges notes just said 'lacks smoke flavor' on every sheet. I am not saying pellets can't win, but for a contest where you need that deep flavor it felt like bringing a scooter to a bike race. Now I am debating whether to build the drum anyway or just save up for a real stick burner, has anyone here actually placed with a pellet cooker in a KCBS event?
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jordanprice18d ago
How many cookoffs had you done before this one? Because showing up to Waco in March with a brand new pellet and no contest reps under your belt is a rough way to learn what judges actually want in that box. The old guy wasn't wrong about the oven with a fan thing, but plenty of teams do place with pellets when they add a smoke tube or run a heavier wood blend and cook hotter than you'd think. Did any of the teams that beat you run drums or offsets, or was it a mix? If most of the top finishers were on stick burners, that tells you something about what the judges in that area are trained to reward. Curious what your ribs scored on, since 11th out of 14 says the flavor gap probably wasn't just brisket.
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