Any MIM experts out there?

[SmokeInDaEye]

Finally got my scores from my first Memphis in May sanctioned contest and am trying to figure out where I can make up some points next time out. After all of the drama trying to make it to the contest and doing it basically solo, I am pretty darn happy with the scores, but 7 other teams had better ones.

Must be something in the way the scores are weighted. Not sure how else I could be 45 points away from the first place team with decent scores (1019.4 total). These are out of 10 points max. Also, I thought the lowest blind judging score was dropped but the score sheet doesn't indicate that. Anyway, I am happy with what we did. Just want to learn from it.

Area & personal appearance: 10 (dropped), 10, 10
Presentation: 9 (dropped), 10, 9
Appearance of entry: 9 (dropped), 10, 9
Tenderness: 9 (dropped), 10, 9
Flavor: 8 (dropped), 10, 9
Overall impression: 8.7 (dropped), 10, 9.7

Blind judges:
Appearance of entry: 9, 9, 10, 9
Tenderness: 9, 9, 9, 9
Flavor: 9, 10, 10, 9
Overall impression: 9.5, 9.7, 10, 9.3

TOTAL: 964.6

 

[Westexbbq]

Not knowing the criteria like I do as a KCBS judge, it looks like the bar was pretty high and the nines musta killed ya.
Like you said the weighting factor must have been in play.
Chit, scores look good and certainly to be very proud of.
Hopefully the Mims who know will chime in.
Way to go S.I.D.E.

 

[Big Tom]

Not a bad showing for your first MIM/MBA contest. The scores are weighted from the bottom of the list up in order of importance with taste being more important than tenderness, etc. The least significance is "area and personal" and "presentation". That is how MIM/MBA balances the on-site and blind judging.

You had what looked like straight tens from one of your on-site judges (always a good thing). The 8.7 in the on-site overall that got dropped is sort of a slap in the face the way your other judges on-site judges scored the overall, but that judge kind of hit you hard in all the criteria compared to the others. The low score for each criteria would be dropped.

Looks as though you had to keep alot of 9's in taste and tenderness and that is what held you back compared to the others.

Did you get any feed back from your on-site judges? Some will provide feedback to help teams understand how they scored compared to the other teams for that judge.

Did your flavor profile have any thing that might be considered extreme (spicy, salty, etc.)? The one extreme flavor that seems to be acceptable is sweet. Especially with wet ribs.

 

[Cue's Your Daddy]

kind of a tough question, but would you rather compete in a MIM event or KCBS event? I also cant understand how a 9 is considered a bad score in MIMS. If i got a 9, i am doing a chad johnson end zone dance.

 

[SmokeInDaEye]

kind of a tough question, but would you rather compete in a MIM event or KCBS event? I also cant understand how a 9 is considered a bad score in MIMS. If i got a 9, i am doing a chad johnson end zone dance.

I don't think I'd solely compete in MIM and really enjoy not having to shave and shower for the judges at KCBS contests, but I definitely want to do it again next year. I was pretty blown away by all of the 9s and 10s, too. Seemed darn good to me. But we were also the least experience of the bunch and our scores were weighted against the two other teams our judges visited. Small contest but excellent competition.

I was stressed about our verbal presentation since I've never done it before but we seem to have done just fine!

 

[SmokeInDaEye]

Not a bad showing for your first MIM/MBA contest. The scores are weighted from the bottom of the list up in order of importance with taste being more important than tenderness, etc. The least significance is "area and personal" and "presentation". That is how MIM/MBA balances the on-site and blind judging.

You had what looked like straight tens from one of your on-site judges (always a good thing). The 8.7 in the on-site overall that got dropped is sort of a slap in the face the way your other judges on-site judges scored the overall, but that judge kind of hit you hard in all the criteria compared to the others. The low score for each criteria would be dropped.

Looks as though you had to keep alot of 9's in taste and tenderness and that is what held you back compared to the others.

Did you get any feed back from your on-site judges? Some will provide feedback to help teams understand how they scored compared to the other teams for that judge.

Did your flavor profile have any thing that might be considered extreme (spicy, salty, etc.)? The one extreme flavor that seems to be acceptable is sweet. Especially with wet ribs.

Judging was the only real issue I had with the contest. Our three consisted of one completely inexperienced judge who was more interested in learning how to use her own WSM than trying the ribs. The second was a KCBS judge who definitely knew his stuff but the judging criteria is completely different between the two bodies.

The third was a trained MIM judge who came up from Memphis and has competed before. I'm sure that was the perfect score since he raved about everything...the rub, the meat, the sauce. He came back with another judge who said he was still raving after he left us.

We used bershire ribs for the first time and the marbling (they basically looked like a slice of kobe beef when we trimmed them) seemed to have cooked them faster than the less expensive ribs I normally cook. We definitely could have started them a bit later. Some of them were too tender by the time we got ready for the judging.

Flavor balance was nice and sweet, very little heat. Also keep in mind that Bershire pork tends to be a little more "porky" in flavor which was good when you could explain it to the judges, but maybe not so for blind judges. I probably won't use them again in contests but "the six spotted pig" was definitely a great talking point.

 

[QN]

The 9's you had on the blind box killed you. The blind box is 60% of your total score in the preliminary round. The on site judges did not really hurt you much at all. You need to work on the blind box and make it look better and taste better to get those 10's you need in the blind score.

 

[SmokeInDaEye]

The 9's you had on the blind box killed you. The blind box is 60% of your total score in the preliminary round. The on site judges did not really hurt you much at all. You need to work on the blind box and make it look better and taste better to get those 10's you need in the blind score.

Ahhhh! That's what I was wondering Mark and why I asked the question. I do think that I unconsciously hed better racks of ribs for the onsite judges since I know I can make a turn-in box look appealing. I've been to Memphis the last five or six years as a spectator (and actually leant a hand in whole hog this year), but never really undersood the scoring break down. And the lowest blind box score isn't dropped?

Anyway, all those 9s and 10s look good on paper so I'm pleased with the results! A couple tweaks here and there and perhaps some of the 9s become 10s...

 

[QN]

Who did you help with whole hog? I have judged there for at least the last 5 or 6 years. This year I judged on site pro shoulder and finals for the Patio Porkers.

Mark D.
QN

 

[SmokeInDaEye]

Who did you help with whole hog? I have judged there for at least the last 5 or 6 years. This year I judged on site pro shoulder and finals for the Patio Porkers.

Mark D.
QN

There were actually quite a few of us NE competitors down there this year but I was doing grunt work for Jack's Down Home (Jack McDavid).

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27040&page=2&highlight=memphis

 

[QN]

Did we meet? I was by there and visited with Jack and Steve.

 

[SmokeInDaEye]

Did we meet? I was by there and visited with Jack and Steve.

I'm sure we did. I'll try to post a team photo tomorrow when I have my own computer. It was me, Jack, Steve, and Gary Busey.:biggrin:

 

[Big Tom]

And the lowest blind box score isn't dropped?

Anyway, all those 9s and 10s look good on paper so I'm pleased with the results! A couple tweaks here and there and perhaps some of the 9s become 10s...

Two comments. The lowest score for each of the criteria gets dropped; depending upon how the judges score you will determine which drops.

The fact that you had so many 9's could also be relative to the judges and training/experience. Some judges will score 10's for thier favorite, 9's for the next, 8's next and possibly 7's for the least favorite of four samples at a blind table. Many organizers and contest reps will put less experienced judges in blind, not considering that is 60% of a team's score. Those less experienced judges may or may not be "trained & certified"; which is a problem that many contests are having not just the MIM/MBA circuit.

QN also made a good point that is key to sucess in the MIM/MBA events, you have to serve the best you have to the preliminary round judges before you can make finals. Furthermore the best of what you have should go in the blind box because that product must represent it's self to the judges without any presentation to help with the sell.