Most comps. have a blind score and an on site score. Usually the blind score is weighted. So if you can't pull off the "box" you'll never make the money. I inject and rub a hog and put it on the grill skin side up. Keep sugar out of your meat rub. It will turn black. I rub the skin with mayonaise. This gives it a deep brown color. 2/3 of the way through the cook we flip. Whether you flip or not is your first decision. Some cooks cook skin side down for the entire cook. Some cook skin side up for the entire cook. At the flip or at some point you have to decide on whether to foil the beast or not. You do not want to present a black hog. Foil will keep our hog from turning black. I always foil the hams at the flip. It helps them cook a little faster and keeps the moisture a little better. I also always foil the chine bones.
I like to shoot for the hog to be done to my standard about 2 1/2 hours before turn in. Turn the pit down to as close to 180 as you can. During the last 2 hours start to glaze. I start with a thin mixture of my finishing sauce(hot) about a 1/2 gal. Glaze gets applied in layers. After the first layer is applied I add some sauce(hot). I keep adding sauce after each layer until the last two layers are straight sauce. This should produce a very eye appealing, deep redish brown, shiny animal. Decide which half of the hog looks best. Keep it fully in tact. Use the other side to prepare your blind box.
Blind box should have all parts of the hog in it and identifiable. Classically, hams are chopped, loins are chopped or sliced, and shoulders are pulled. Organize your box accordingly. Keep your sauce from pooling and make it as eye appealing as you can using the textures you have created. Bark and smoke ring presentation are a must. Keep your pulled chunks about the size of your thumb and your chopped meat should be chopped, not pulverized. Your trying to convey to a judge that your stuff is moist, tender and flavorful. Your scoring criteria are probably appearance, tenderness, texture, flavor and overall impression. All will be weighted. You need to know the weights.
30 minutes before on site judging turn off the heat and decorate the hell out of the pit. We use a piece of material tucked under the hog and draped out the front to cover the front of the pit. Collard greens cover the grill all around the animal. They are sturdy and can stand the residual heat. Then add all the color you can afford. Kale and mustard greens are also good for depth and texture. I like to buy peppers of all colors, oranges, grapes, bannanas, melons, eggplants, pineapples, apples...anything with good colors. The judges say they won't be judging garnish. Bull. Everybody eats with their eyes first. If the pit looks great, you're ahead of the game. 1/2 of your hog has been tampered with. We process each area classically and return it to it's part of the carcass as our version of BBQ. It's very explainable at the pit presentation and IMHO looks better than missing parts. It also gives a judge the opportunity to taste your BBQ at the pit. When you open the pit you have to be confident that you have nothing to hide and that this animal is the best on the lot. Let the judges do what ever they want and offer gloves so they can feel or taste any part they wish.
Sit your judges at a table and let them judge BBQ that you have prepared. Make certain that you convey the fact that this is the sample that you wish to have judged. Be extra nice, allow for questions and have all the answers. You have about 10 minutes. You need to be selling your sample and conducting a judging class the entire time the judges are in your area. 10 minutes dosen't seem like much until you have to do it. Practice your speech ahead of time and answer all of the questions that someone my have in your speech. If there is a judging school before the contest, attend it. That will give you the basis for your speech.
Many times a sample will be turned in and sit on a table for a while before it gets to a judge. Make sure your BBQ tastes good cold. Stay away from heat in your Q. Pleasingly sweet and a little tang always does well.
I'll be happy to clarify any thing that seems hazy. Let me know. I'm gland I could offer my opinion. Morgan's way that Jim Minion taught is very popular and does very well. There are many ways to do this. Mine is just one.
Look for a thread on Carolina Children's home and you can see a few pics of the box we turned in. I'm not sure whether we posted the Q cup pictures or not. Look at that thread as well. Both are located under the travel catagory.
Good Luck
Jack