[Chick'n Pig BBQ]

My true feelings after being a BBQ Judge!!

After Judging a contest this past weekend I came to the conclusion that the table you get does matter, but not as much as I had originally thought. It is still up to us to turn in warm good Q.
It is possible to get 1 bad Judge at a table but 2 or 3 not as likely but still possible. The low score gets deleted, so hopefully the bad Judge is not an issue.

I was surprised and a little disappointed with the turn ins that my table received. Presentations were really pretty good it was easy to see the ones that took the time to make it look good, mostly 8s and 9s but a few took no care at all 5s and 6s.

Taste was another matter for me I love all kinds of BBQ and can appreciate different taste and styles but lets face it bad is bad.
Some of the Q I tasted was bitter and over spiced (not hot) but to much other junk.
Over spraying with old or rotten bad tasting apple juice made some of the Q taste bitter and bad. Spraying makes the turn in look good but I thought it changed the outside taste on some.
I could also taste in some, the bitterness of smoke on the outside of the sauced meat (smoking the meat after it had been sauced the meat was real good but the outside tasted bad).
It was easy to pick out the best BBQ it just tasted good.

Tenderness was pretty good overall.8s and 9s with a couple of 6s and one 3 on a rib,that was still raw inside, no one at the table could eat it!! the out side looked great????.

I have made most of these mistakes in contest (except for turning in raw meat) and I still have a lot to learn. After Judging it has helped me to somewhat understand what is going through the judges mind. Turning in warm,(not cold) good Q at a contest is hard to do, there are many things that can and do go wrong. But blaming the judges or table for the low score you get??? I am not so sure of anymore??????????????