The SCA Steak Cookoff Association is an internationally sanctioned competition BBQ organization that’s taken the world by storm. Champion pitmaster Christie Vanover shares how the contests work, from steak selection to judging.
For the past several weeks, we have been talking a lot about KCBS, the Kansas City Barbecue Society, and that whole series of barbecue competitions. But today, what I want to touch on is the SCA, which is the Steak Cookoff Association.
I’m going to share a little bit how it’s different from KCBS, what the whole process is like, what you get judged on. Just some of those tips in case you want to try your hand at a Steak Cookoff.
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RFX Wireless Thermometer is Available
But before I do that, I want to touch on two other things. First, the Thermoworks RFX, their new wireless thermometer, is now available for preorders.
Make sure you go to their website and get your preorder. They’re going to ship them in the order in which they receive orders. So if you’re first or second, you’re going to get your order shipped out sooner.
The starting price point is $159, and that includes one probe and the wireless gateway. I haven’t cooked on one yet, but I’m super stoked to get one. I loved everything I saw about it at the Thermoworks headquarters.
SCA Log Book Just Released
The other exciting announcement I have is that a couple weeks ago, I launched a new book on Amazon called The Competition Barbecue Score Sheets Log Book. This is for KCBS cooks who want to track their scores so that they can overall improve their results.
Well, just in time for this podcast, I have also launched a Steak Cookoff Score Sheets Log Book.
So if you are in the SCA world and you want to log your SCA scores and how well you do at those steak competitions, you can now get my book on Amazon for $9.99.
You’re able to log your results so you can track those and improve your score so that you can get that golden ticket so you can get to the World Championships.
What is the SCA?
So if you’re not familiar with the Steak Cookoffs, it is different from KCBS significantly. However, what makes it similar is that it’s a sanctioned barbecue contest.
It’s sanctioned in that there are certified judges. There’s a set standard of rules that the teams and the judges have to follow. The scoring system is blind, so the judges have no idea whose steak that’s getting turned in.
And then, like I said, they have the certain scoring standards that they’re going to judge you to so that it’s just a nice even playing field.
That’s the purpose of having sanctioned contests. What makes it different from KCBS, though, is you’re not cooking chicken, ribs, pork and brisket. Instead, you’re just cooking steak.
What I like about SCA are a couple things from the foundation that it was set out to change.
One is that everybody’s on an even playing field. You don’t bring your own meat to these competitions. With KCBS, people who have the money can go out and buy Wagyu briskets or A9 briskets, whereas people just starting out maybe can’t.
So that automatically gives them kind of an unfair advantage. Well, with SCA everybody gets steak provided to them, and I’ll talk about that process in a little bit. But you cannot bring your own. So pretty even playing field there.
The other thing that’s cool about an SCA is that it’s quick. It’s usually a one-day competition. You can load up your truck with a grill and charcoal and maybe a pop-up tent, and that’s all you need.
You don’t usually spend the night unless it’s what’s called a double or a triple where they’ll have multiple steak competitions back-to-back. So you can just kind of go cook for the afternoon, hopefully get an award, pack things up and head out.
So it’s a lot easier and less commitment than doing a KCBS competition. And the entry fee is usually less than a regular KCBS competition as well.
I will say, while those were the initial intentions, like keeping things easy, things have changed. I’ve not only cooked an SCA competition, I have also judged several competitions, and I’ve even organized several SCA competitions.
Over the years I have seen a transition from the people with just a small Weber kettle and a pop-up tent all the way to big trailers, like 45-foot trailers.
So what happens is that people who are cooking on the KCBS circuit also sometimes cook on the SCA circuit. They have these big trailers, and it just makes it so convenient because you have your, you know, your hand-wash station and your restroom inside, maybe your big counters inside. You don’t have to worry about the elements. So you are seeing more and more big trailers at SCA competitions.
But that doesn’t mean if you’re just starting out, that you can’t just load up your truck and head to the camp with just your little grill, because you can still do that and totally pull off a victory.
Selecting Steaks
When it comes to the meat that you’re going to be cooking at the steak competition, it’s up to the organizers to actually provide the ribeyes.
The steaks always have to be at least 1 1/8 inch thick. They can be a little bit thicker, but usually they’re around that range.
They have to be at least choice grade. But I’ve gone to competitions where they do prime. They’ll do Wagyu. It all depends on the sponsor and the budget that the organizer has, but everybody’s going to get the same grade and the same thickness.
Obviously they won’t all be cut from the same cow, but it’s it’s pretty close as you can get.
So when it’s time to pass out the meat, here’s how it works. There’s usually a table with a red tablecloth and a table with a blue tablecloth.
All of the teams are going to draw a poker chip and they’re going to be numbered. Let’s say there’s 50 teams. They’ll be numbered one through 50. Then the person who drew number one will line up as the first spot on the table on the left.
And then the person who drew poker chip number 25 will stand on the table on the right. Those teams will get to go forward and they’ll look at the selection of steaks. They only have like 30 seconds or so and they get to say, okay, I want that steak.
They’re not allowed to touch it. There are people that are looking at the steaks for them. The people can pick up the steak and flip it over and show it to the contestant or the team that’s going to be competing, but the team is not allowed to touch it.
Then the team just says, I want that one, and then that one gets handed to them. Then that person who had number one now goes to the back of the line for table two. The person who had number 25 goes to the back of the line for table one.
Then the person who had number 24 who picked last on the first table will get to pick first on the second table. So it’s pretty balanced.
Obviously if you’re first or number 25 or you know, the halfway point, you do get your first choice of all the steaks on that table. So that is nice. But eventually everybody’s going to kind of get an even shake.
I actually like to be a little bit middle of the numbers, so that way I’m turning around right away and picking my second steak, even though I may miss the first one right away, it doesn’t matter.
Again, most of the stakes are pretty even.
Some teams, however, are looking specifically for a spinalis ribeye or a tri heart ribeye. And that’s where the ribeye itself, that full slab of muscle from the cow has a variation.
There will be a thicker line of the spinalis, which is the fat cap on one end of that ribeye roast, and then it kind of thins out, and then the tri heart, same thing.
It’s another little muscle in there. The size of that varies throughout the whole ribeye roast. And some people like cooking one type and some people like cooking the other type.
So they want their number up there early so they can pick out the specific try heart or spinalis, but otherwise the ribeyes are pretty similar.
Steak Preparation
Once you pick out your steak, you usually have 3 to 4 hours before turn in which for the most part is plenty of time to cook a steak.
When it comes to SCA competitions, of course teams are going to do lots of different magical things to it to get it to be just perfect. Because again, the judges take one bite just like they do in a KCBS comp.
So that bite really has to wow the judges. Teams will do everything from injecting it to brining it to sous viding it. You are allowed to cook on any type of cooking device in an SCA competition, even a microwave or a crockpot, if that’s what you chose to do.
Teams are really playing around with different methods and different techniques to figure out how to get the most tender and flavorful steak that they can.
During this initial phase, you are allowed to trim your steak. And I say that because it’s important, because in the final stage, after it’s cooked, you can’t do any trimming. So you want to make sure at this initial point that you are making the prettiest steak that you can.
Most of the teams nowadays will trim around the steak or remove any kind of excess fat, especially along the cap line, and then they will tie it with butcher’s twine.
And sometimes they’ll even put really thin pins into the steak to hold it together, so that that fat cap in between the spinalis and the other muscle doesn’t separate during cooking, so it holds its perfect circular shape.
That’s a really common thing for people to do you. If you do that though, you just need to be mindful that you have to remove those pins and you have to remove that twine, because if they don’t make it off the meat and you turn those into the box, you will be DQ’d for having a foreign object in your box.
So you just got to kind of count how many pins you put in and remember, so you can take all those out.
As I mentioned, you usually have about 3 to 4 hours to cook your steak, and your turn in window is a 30-minute turn in window. So it gives you plenty of time.
People do a couple of different things during this time. In addition to seasoning and prepping their steak. There’s a little bit of downtime. So that makes these competitions fun because you can spend that time hanging out with your friends and really enjoying yourself at the competition.
Cook a practice steak
Another thing that a lot of the teams will do, especially the die hards, is they will cook one steak.
As I mentioned, you are provided two steaks and you only turn in one, which leaves you with a practice steak. A lot of the times the teams will practice that because maybe they’re at a different elevation. Maybe things will change with the weather.
It might be more humid there, seasonings might taste different. They might just want to try different things. So they will do a practice steak, taste that and then make any adjustments that they think they need to make before they turn in their actual turn in steak.
And the benefits of that are that once your steak is done and you’re tasting it, you get to enjoy it. You got a free steak.
SCA Turn Ins
Once you do cook your steak, you are provided with a clamshell box just like the box that you’re given in a KCBS competition. But there’s no garnish allowed in SCA.
Instead, there’s a little foil circle that is inserted in the bottom of the box, and you insert your steak into the box. Again, you cannot cut it, you cannot trim it.
All you can do is remove that twine and those pins, if you use those. It’s really important that you place the spinalis toward the front of the box because the judges will taste that section.
You’re going to put your meat in the box, close the lid and walk to the turn-in area. Once you turn it in, you will be given a ticket, and the ticket will have a number on it.
The other end of the ticket is going to be taped to the box and turned in. That way, the judges absolutely have zero idea whose steak that is.
You just have your ticket that has your number, and you’ve got to save that, because that’s the only way that you’re going to get your prize, because nobody knows who has that number except for you.
SCA Judging Process
Once that box goes into the judges area, there are designated cutters. They are going to cut that steak. Then they close the box and it goes to the judges’ table.
There are going to be five judges on each table, and they’re going to judge you on appearance, doneness, texture, taste and overall impression.
Appearance
So when it comes to appearance, they’re looking at how beautiful does that steak look? Does it look appetizing. And they’re supposed to judge from that back half of where it was cut to make that determination.
A lot of teams out there are using Grill Grates, and that’s a brand of grill grates that sits on top of like your regular grill’s grill grates, and they burn really hot. So they make those perfect even grill marks on your steak.
That’s not a requirement for SCA, but it definitely performs really well. I know some teams who have done cast iron steaks, and to me, I love a cast iron steak because you get a nice even char and sear across the whole top of the steak.
But from an appearance standpoint, they just don’t seem to score as well as those who are turning in those nice grill marks.
Doneness
Next, they’re going to judge you on doneness. And they are instructed that a medium doneness is the perfect score.
They even have these pictures inside the judges tent that show them rare, medium rare, medium, medium well and well. And your steak on the inside better match that picture of medium. If you want to get the perfect ten.
Taste
Now the judges are going to taste your steak, and this is where they’re actually going to cut it themselves.
The box is going to go back around the table. And each judge is going to take a fork and knife, and they’re going to cut off a piece of that spinalis section and put it on their plate. Then they’re going to go ahead and take a bite and judge it for taste and texture.
Obviously taste. They’re looking to see if it’s pleasing, if it has a good balance of maybe sweet or salty or savory or whatever their flavor profile preferences are. Just, again, something that’s not too off-putting to them that’s balanced, but they definitely are looking for that pop. I’ve learned that with my own personal experience.
Texture
In addition to that, they are judging it for texture, so they don’t want it to be chewy.
They don’t want it to be like mushy or if it was brined too long, how that can really affect the texture.
They want it to have nice integrity, a good chew and just be a really nice, enjoyable piece of steak. If you have that, then you’re going to get your ten.
When it comes to taste, not only do they score you from 7 to 10, but there’s also bonus points for taste of .1 to .9.
Overall Impression
After the judge judges for appearance doneness, taste and texture, the next thing that they’re looking for is the overall impression. And this is where they say, hey, did this steak really stand out?
Did I love this steak overall? How did they do? Did it look nice? Was it cooked perfectly? Medium? Was the taste on? Was the texture on?
I know a lot of teams, including myself, sometimes struggle with the overall impression category. I think this is really kind of more meant to be the tie breaker for somebody who has equally good appearance and doneness and taste and texture, but maybe that overall impression just really wowed the judges a little bit more.
But I struggle because sometimes I get like, really good taste scores, but then my overall impression is a lower score than taste, and I never really understand that.
But, as a judge, that’s just a decision that they make. And again, maybe there was something about it that just didn’t stand out.
But overall impression is just more subjective, which makes it harder for me as a cook to figure out what I maybe need to improve on when I’m cooking my steak.
Point Totals
So when you rack up all the points, appearance, doneness, texture and overall impression are each worth ten points. So with five judges, those are 50 points each.
Then when it comes to taste, you can get those 50 points plus that taste bonus of 0.1 to 0.9 per judge, which adds up to 54.5.
So a perfect steak would be 254.5. That’s really hard to do. It has happened, but it’s definitely a goal to set for yourself.
Awards
Then once all the steaks are turned in, teams start packing up their trailers because as I said, this is usually a one day competition. So it’s a pretty easy afternoon out in some parking lot somewhere cooking meat.
When it comes to awards, they usually call the top ten and they’re going to call your ticket number. So you’ve got to keep a hold of your ticket number.
Everybody usually just takes a picture with their cell phone just in case. And you never really know who they’re calling because they’re just calling the last four numbers on the ticket.
You just kind of wait to see which one of your friends or team members are getting their name called and maybe it’s you.
Then usually in SCA it’s a little bit different at awards also because teams will go up and they’ll announce who their sponsors are or what products they use, or they’ll give shout outs.
That’s totally different than KCBS. KCBS you just go up and you get your stuff and leave. But SCA, they allow everybody to kind of give some credit where credit is due and to thank people.
Usually the prizes include trophies or medals and money.
Golden Ticket to the World Championships
And then if you win first place, you get a golden ticket. And that golden ticket is your invitation to compete at the World Championships.
The Steak World Championships are held in Fort Worth, Texas, every March, and it’s a huge fun event. I’ve been several times, but all of the people who get golden tickets get an invitation to compete.
There are a couple different competitions that go on. There’s the ancillary. There’s also an open contest for anybody who didn’t get a golden ticket, can also compete on Sunday.
Now, if you’ve already earned your golden ticket, the cool thing about SCA is that that means that you can pass your golden ticket down to the person who gets second place.
So if you’re at a comp and they call your number and your number one and they get ready to hand you your golden ticket, you can say, I’ve already got mine.
And then whoever got second place, you pass it off to them. And usually that second place person is super excited because that’s their chance to go to the World Championships.
Points Chase
Like the KCBS, SCA also has a points chase. So the more SCA competitions you do, the more that you’re going to be on that leaderboard, especially if you score high. And then those people who have the top scores and are top on the leaderboard, they get recognized at the banquet, which is at the World Championships in March.
When it comes to SCA, I mostly compete in the ancillary categories. Those are the ones that I love.
They can range from pizza to ribs to desserts to Bloody Mary. They’re all over the place, ribs and seem to be becoming more and more popular. But there’s really a cool, fun variety.
Sometimes it’s anything with lime, sometimes it’s tacos. It can be really, really be a cool mix. And I did a whole podcast about ancillary categories. If you want to learn more about those.
So far I’ve gotten two golden tickets and I’ve competed at the World Championships twice, and I’ve also been named the Nevada Ancillary Team of the year twice with the whole points chase.
Find a competition near you
So that’s it guys. If you’re interested in getting into competition barbecue, but you want to try something that’s a little less expensive, a little less of a commitment, you definitely should check out the Steak Cookoff Association. Go to their website steakcookoffs.com.
That way you can check out and see if there’s any competitions near you. Maybe start out by becoming a judge. There’s different judges classes you can go to. You can kind of learn that process, or maybe just shadow a team.
Or start up a team with your buddy and try things out. It’s really cool. There’s competitions almost every weekend, and sometimes there’s multiple contests on a weekend in different parts of the country.
Entry fees vary from like $150 to $200, and then also depending on if you want to do ancillaries. So it’s not too expensive, especially because the meat is provided for you. And if you win, you also get to take home some prize money.
I hope that you guys found this interesting and that you give SCA a try. You don’t even have to be in the United States. There’s actually SCA competitions throughout the world.
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