The 2nd Competition: Kinston: Saturday

Saturday morning was filled with the usual nervous jitters of how our pig turned out.  The day was not filled with last minute running around like the last competition, but we were all way more nervous time around.  Our pig was just sooo big!  At the first competition, DJ and Ashley both cut their fingers.  I cut my finger on the way to Kinston.  So Hunter was warned, your turn is next so just be prepared for something to happen to your finger and be extra careful!!  Sure enough, when the pig was flipped, Hunter burned his finger and wound up with a huge blister.  Hopefully, now that we have all had injuries we are in the clear for a while.

As the judges were making their way around the tents, we knew our pig was not the best one we had ever cooked.  We had little hope that we placed, but you never know...there is always that chance.  The judges were pleasant, and our favorite judge was there this time too.  We had the cake waiting since he loved it so much in Newport.  I am sure he remembered us once we saw our cake!  One of the things that was different about this competition, was you could not wear or display anything with your logo.  So Hunter and DJ changed shirts before the judges arrived.  Once the judging was over, we were able to try our pig.  Hunter then cut his finger (what did I say about the curse!) on the skin of the pig.  This was not a good sign at all, that the skin was that hard.  The meat was delicious and moist but the skin was far from perfect.  We were all so frustrated with the way that it turned out and the fact that even the judges noticed our pig was huge and fat.  

We knew from the beginning, those two factors would come into play when the pig was finished.  Beyond that frustration, we knew that it was something that couldn't be controlled or changed.  So in the end, we just looked at this competition as a learning experience and sucked up our pride.  DJ and Hunter chopped barbecue like crazy until the there was nothing left to chop.  My family arrived in time for the competition and it was great to have people supporting us there.  We enjoyed the company while we waited for the awards ceremony.  The awards ceremony came and went with no awards being given to our team.  It was more of a blow to the ego than anything, after doing so well in Newport.  But we did have a feeling that we would not recieve a trophy...so at least we weren't completely devastated.  There were only four places given out per category of pig cooker. There were two categories, back yard and professional.  Two Guys & A Pig were ranked professional since we have placed at another competition.  We ended up placing 20th out of 62 teams.

So we all agreed that Kinston was definitely a learning experience for all of us.  We had a great time which is most important.  We also learn something new after every pig we cook, so we learned a few more things that we are going to try for the next competition.  We now have a packing checklist for the competitions so we don't forget all the things necessary for the weekend.  We sure have accumlated alot of things in the past two competitions, but I think we are set for the next one!