Brisket is the hardest thingto cook. Once you get that down you are in like flynn.
I tell you what, next year I'm going to try and compete in three contests in Colorado, Frisco in June, Durango in July (the pics above are from Durango this past july) and then Dillon later in July. Frisco is supposed to be a good time. I love colorado and plan to move there once I can get my house in shape and get it on the market, but the way things are going it's going to be a year or two. So I just travel to CO and enjoy it that way. You're more than welcome to come to frisco or dillion and cook with me. It's usually just my family cooking when I go there. I have to Iron man the comps, and it's pretty tough. A second set of hands and a drinking partner goes along way.
I tried cutting down on my sauce, but when you cook for the judges you quickly realize that they want sauce on everything and everything sweet. I personally am not a huge fan of sauced ribs. The ribs I make are juicy and don't need the help. I turned them in at our first contest and got slammed. so now I slather on the sauce. The ribs pictured are the only entry that didn't get a mention. I did em sorta haphazzard. the chicken came in 7th. Judges said it looked good but was dry.
When you cook at a comp all you need is enough cook space to do a butt and a brisket overnight. those have the longest cook times. Ribs and chicken go on in the morning. Turn in begins at 12pm and starts with chicken and then goes every 30 minutes after that ending with brisket.
We have 5 on our team, at smaller comps we cook on a oklahoma joe offset. it can hold a brisket and a couple of butts at the same time. When we do the American Royal or are cooking for a large party or somethiong we have a custome smoker that can hold upwards of 200 lbs of meat.
This pic is from last years Royal. It's a huge contest, about 500 teams cooking. It's also a huge party. a 100,000 people are walking the grounds and eating on Friday night.
http://fuckyeah.org/ccm/American-Royal/9_26_101?full=1
If you want to get started it's pretty much a leap of faith. Get a couple of friends with smokers together and line em up. You eeven see plenty of webbers being used, especially for the chciken and ribs. It's more about the fun and if you win money it's a bonus. You need a couple of tables, a pop up tent, chairs and basic cooking gear. Go to a comp and check out what teams bring. You don't need a mamoth cooker by any means. Those guys are usually caterers or really take it serious and travel all season long from one comp to another.
Anyways, here's a link to last years Royal, it was my first time cooking with these guys. I'm the tattooed guy in the black t-shirt who can't make a straight face.
http://fuckyeah.org/ccm/American-Royal?page=1
If you're intrested in coming to a colorado comp, even if you just wanna sit in the tent and drink and watch me freak out you're welcome to.