Dry meat and scores...

Good question to pose. Thank you. I voted down on both, but not sure exactly where it would go. Needs to be counted down somewhere.

I voted to score down tenderness.. IMO, taste is a reflection of flavor, tenderness (in part) reflects if an entry is dry or not.

Bentley
As meat dries out the muscles start to tighten back up, so grading down in tenderness would not be out of line.

It could effect the appearence score also, could look dry.

Jim

Bentley said:

I am posting this on several different fourms.

I was hoping all CBJ’s and anyone who has judged might take my poll and comment. I got two 4’s in tenderness scoring yesterday, one in ribs and one in brisket, and instead of blowing up I am trying to rationally analyze the possible reason why? Since I had gotten nothing lower than a 6 from the other 5 judges, I was wondering…As a judge, if a piece of meat is dry, would you rate it down under tenderness or taste? Just wondering if maybe the meat is tender but dry and the judge is equating the dryness with a factor of tenderness? You know all input is appreciated!

If any of the KCBS BOD read this, is there a specific one of the 3 scoring catagories that dryness of meat should effect?

Click to expand...

Bentley,

This is something that is very common. Some judges bang you for both. If the meat is a little dry there is a good possibility you will get points taken off for flavor and tenderness. The judges are only human so don't get bent out of shape.

I voted to score both down.

For taste, there may be good flavor but it "tasting dry" would bring down a score.

For tenderness, if the meat is dry (say chicken breast for example) it would crumble. I would score down a crumbly piece of meat because I associate tender with juicy.

I would pry score down on tenderness. It may or may not reflect on taste. That would be a seperate decision altogether for me.
ModelMaker

I'd score down on all three potentially.

Appearance - Down if it LOOKED dry

Taste - Down if it lacked flavor, which is the most possible outcome.

Tenderness - Down if it was falling apart or started to turn to cardboard. Again, this could be possible if the right amount of moisture wasn't there or it got way overcooked.

I said tenderness but I'm not a judge so take it with a grain of salt.

I just picked one and said Taste thinking that since it was dry it would lay on the palate with little effect except for teh desire for water. I hadn't even thought about Jim's comment that as the meat dries out the muscle fibers contract. I would have voted more of an "It Depends" option. I guess that the meat can have a good flavor and be tough and be tough with good flavor. It just depends.

I am probably going to throw a "monkey wrench" into this discussion.
Would not be the first time for me

I am not going to automatically "score down" because an entry appears "dry".

I am going to look at the entry and evaluate it based on my perception of "average" in both KCBS and FBA.
"Dryness" or "Moistness" would be but one factor of many in all three scores.
I may "score down" (less than average) or I may score it "above average" (but not at the top of the scoring scales) based on how dry it appears-- and then proves to be.

The phrase "Scoring down" as commonly used is an outdated concept from the old rules of "start at MAX and deduct". Now, it only applies if you score an entry "below average" IMHO.
You start at average and then "add" or "deduct" from there.

Bottom line is that dryness would not be rewarded in appearance if it is unappealing to me. It would not be rewarded for tenderness if it adversely affected the touch and "mouth feel" of the entry. And, finally, it would not be rewarded if it was dry "tasting" like cardboard or similar when I try to eat it.
If the dryness fell to "below average" in my judgment, then I would be "scoring down" or "deducting".

May sound like "nit-picking", but I think it is a central issue in our scoring systems in both the KCBS and FBA.

FWIW.

TIM

I said down for both tenderness and taste. If the piece of meat takes all the saliva in my mouth to try and get it down(and I've had some entries just like that), to me being dry has effected both the tenderness and the taste.

I think appearance could suffer... But dryness relates to tenderness to me. Also, if I'm going to count down, taste may be good still, and the hit on tenderness will not be as much overall as it would be for taste.

dry meat

I thinks it could be dry and still taste good.
Eric

It's hard to swallow dry meat regardless of the flavor.

Lots of good, honest and experienced opinions here; cannot add more to the post that hasn't been said already in one way or t'other.
Nice thread.
(I went with both btw.but only if it actually tasted dry)
PS. Saw one judge's comment on my chili last weekend that said something like 'nice bite but a bit dry'.
?

i would score down wherever the dryness has affected it. Most likely texture/tenderness, but taste can suffer too if ya can't pull your cheeks apart to taste it.