I hate parsley--part 2

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comfrank

Knows what a fatty is.
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I've judged two comps this year--Roc City last month and Boston Hills this past weekend. Easily 90% of the turn in boxes were parsley beds. Man, what a pain. They look great, but when removing the entry the meat usually came out with parsley stuck all over it, particularly the "sticky" entries like chicken and ribs. My judging mat generally looked like a Chia-pet farm!

I didn't consciously mark down for this--it hadn't happened yet when judging appearance, and is irrelevant in terms of taste and tenderness--but, man, I got tired of picking parsley out of my food.

Who knows what I did unconsciously? :confused:

Pack those beds tightly, folks!


--frank in Wilson, NY
 
I bet if the parsley wasn't in there most judges will mark down. There is nothing us competitors can do about it being sticky. Pick away judges!!!!!!:)
 
comfrank said:
Pack those beds tightly, folks!


--frank in Wilson, NY
Click to expand...

Oh, come on now. :shock:

You're getting the privilege of sampling some great BBQ every time you judge. I think you are sorta kidding around (at least hope so), because I think if you really felt that way you wouldn't waste your time going to judge. But it's still a bit bothersome that a judge would bring this up with all the effort most all of the teams are already putting into this.
 
I watched our neighbors at Lenexa literally sprinkle cut parsley into the bottom of the box to make the bed. Place the meat on top and close the lid. I laughed to myself, but dang if they didn’t beat us over all with 32nd place. That’s out of 180 teams so they must not have been downgraded too much.
 
KC_Bobby said:
Oh, come on now. :shock:

You're getting the privilege of sampling some great BBQ every time you judge. I think you are sorta kidding around (at least hope so), because I think if you really felt that way you wouldn't waste your time going to judge. But it's still a bit bothersome that a judge would bring this up with all the effort most all of the teams are already putting into this.
Click to expand...

I agree.
 
KC_Bobby said:
Oh, come on now. :shock:

You're getting the privilege of sampling some great BBQ every time you judge. I think you are sorta kidding around (at least hope so), because I think if you really felt that way you wouldn't waste your time going to judge. But it's still a bit bothersome that a judge would bring this up with all the effort most all of the teams are already putting into this.
Click to expand...

I disagree.. The way I read his post was that he was being honest and at the same time pointing out a reminder and clear;y noted he was not marking down conciously because of the parsley..

And your only getting the "privledge" of sampling some great BBQ each time judging.. no guarantees anything will be good.
 
Boy, I would hate to think that I might get scored down because of some parsley coming off with the meat. Sounds likes its time we get rid of greens all together.
 
This is kind of funny. I've been judging since 2001, when everyone used lettuce with maybe a sprig or two of parsley for a little "pop." One judge would always snag the sprig on purpose, so he could cleanse his palate with it between meats!

The past couple comps here, there have been entries with all parsley, all lettuce, mixes, and a few with no garnish. I've been skeptical about whether a no-garnish entry could look as appetizing, but the ones I saw looked fine. I was table captain last weekend, and didn't see lower appearance scores based on type of garnish or lack thereof.

I for one am glad to see some variety, and I was glad to see that I wasn't prejudiced against meat on a white background. Now I know I can honestly say I look at the presentation & appearance of the meat, not what it's sitting on.
 
Why not take Frank's advice and make your putting green tight enough that the chicken doesn't look like a chia pet when lifted? To me, a tight parsley bed is just another one of those dozens of little things that probably doesn't matter a whole lot but it might just result in a critical point or two on occassion.
 
Guys, the garnish is why KCBS is in a league of it's own. That is the reason they do the garnish thing. If you don't like it, compete in another sanction. Deal with it!
 
I spent an hour this past weekend building my first ever all parsley bed. Got it almost done when QN stopped by to say hi. I asked his opinion of it and he pointed out what I hadn't noticed - it was too tall. Anything I put on top of it would have smudged on the lid. I got pissed off and dumped it, and went back to all lettuce :mad:

Guess I'll try again at Dillard.
 
I heard a lot of comments from judges (at least 4) from the Boston Hills BBQ fest complaining that the parsley was sticking to everything and that they could not figure out why people would make such boxes with such short pieces of parsley.

Well the boxes we received were 6.5" x 7" at the base. They had an angled side that went up to 9" and the lid was 1/2"less in height than any other box I have ever done in KCBS.

I think part of the problem this past weekend was the lid height. IF you had anything with any height you had to make the parsley bed really low.
So I would assume that a lot more parsley was sticking this past weekend.

I know for a few of the entries I wish I had purchased more lettuce.
 
Rub said:
I spent an hour this past weekend building my first ever all parsley bed. Got it almost done when QN stopped by to say hi. I asked his opinion of it and he pointed out what I hadn't noticed - it was too tall. Anything I put on top of it would have smudged on the lid. I got pissed off and dumped it, and went back to all lettuce :mad:

Guess I'll try again at Dillard.
Click to expand...

But the judges are explicitly instructed to not judge down for sauce on the top of the box...
 
True, but what is on top of the box is no longer on the meat, probably leaving a smudged appearance. Probably kiss that beautiful glaze goodbye.
 
Diva said:
When/where are they instructed to not judge down? The judges meeting? Judging class??
Click to expand...

I have not had the opportunity to judge yet, so I do not know what they say at the meeting, but Mike Lake did say that during the CBJ class I took earlier this year. Maybe some experienced judges can chime in about what they say during the judges meeting.
 
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