Comp Day Timeline
Four meats, four turn-ins, thirty minutes apart, and one very long night. Set your chicken turn-in and this maps the entire KCBS day backward — trim, inject, fire the pit, meat on, wrap, rest, box, walk — into one master schedule you can print and pin to the canopy. Standard turn-ins are noon, 12:30, 1:00 and 1:30; tweak the start to match your contest.
First turn-in (Chicken)
Which meats are you cooking?
Working the box
A schedule is only half of it. These are the truths that keep a comp on the rails — treat the times as a guide and adjust to your process and your pit.
The window is real
KCBS turn-ins have a ±5 minute window — hand it in at 11:54 or 12:06 and you're disqualified for that category. Build in the walk to the table and never trust one clock; sync to the contest's official time.
Rest is your insurance
Brisket and pork should finish hours early and hold in a cooler. That long hold is what saves you when the stall runs late — a cook that's still probing tough at noon has already lost.
Chicken is a clock race
It turns in first and there's no holding thighs — bite-through skin fades fast. Everything from the last sauce to the box happens in a tight final hour, so protect that time from distractions.
Prep the night before
Trim, inject and rub before you sleep. Brisket and pork go on overnight; you want the small hours spent tending fire, not breaking down meat. Set alarms for every "on" and "wrap."
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