No judges "Doggie Bags" at Red, White, and BBQ

SCSmoke

SCSmoke

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I like the idea. I would like to hear the opinions from both the cooks and judges on here.

From their facebook page:

"I know there has been a lot of discussion on various sites and pages about judges taking "doggie bags". Well, a decision has been made regarding the judges and coolers. The thought process behind this decision was based on several items.

First, we do not want to give the competitors the illusion that they are not being judged fairly.
Second, we do not want to slight the judges as they do a valuable service for the BBQ world
Thirdly, KCBS has no "direct" rule regarding this. Any decision is solely up to the competition.

So, with that being said, as chairman, I will state the following:
For the competition,
1. No coolers will be allowed in the judges tent. Judges are to leave their coolers in their car.
2. NO samples will be allowed to be kept from a judges plate for them to take home. This could be a serious health issue. Sorry, this is the way it will be. Table Captains shall be charged with ensuring this happens.

All judges for the RWBBQ 2013 were sent an email of this decision."
 
Not a judge but the doggie bags seemed like their reward for volunteering their time. I guess I would be more upset if my food went into the trash rather then taken home. If this doesn't slight the judges do they get something else in return?
 
Why does a judge need a reward for volunteering their time?!?!?.. Judges do it for the love of being a judge at a BBQ contest. I want any judge, judging my food, to take big, fair bites of my submissions. If they want leftovers to take home, I'm sure some teams can accomodate.
 
I am fully in favor of banning coolers from the judging tent.

There was a contest not too long ago where judges canceled at the last minute because coolers would not be allowed. That alone says to me that a cooler ban will flush out some who shouldn't be in the tent.
 
For the judges at Westmont who want BBQ to take home there are several teams who are planning on donating leftover food. That way they can do their job in the judging tent and still have something to take home (and we promise not to take bites out of everything first :becky:)
 
Cast Iron Chef said:
Not a judge but the doggie bags seemed like their reward for volunteering their time. I guess I would be more upset if my food went into the trash rather then taken home. If this doesn't slight the judges do they get something else in return?
Click to expand...


I suspect the judges could take home all they want if they start visiting with the teams after turn-ins are over. One team might say no, the next three might be handing it to the judge(s) faster than they can put it in the cooler.

Maybe not every event, but for most, I would say this would be the norm.
 
What happens now when a judge trys to eat as much as they can and by the time they get to brisket they are so full they can't judge it fairly?

Some of these judges drive for hours to judge, some stay in hotels, etc etc. There time and money volunteered should be appreciated more. I think they should be able to do whatever they want with the leftover samples. I have always thought of it as a small reward. I have cooked a couple contest where they have given the teams a foil pan for any extra food to donate to the rest of the volunteers working the event. I always thought that was a good idea.
 
Pigs on Fire said:
I suspect the judges could take home all they want if they start visiting with the teams after turn-ins are over. One team might say no, the next three might be handing it to the judge(s) faster than they can put it in the cooler.

Maybe not every event, but for most, I would say this would be the norm.
Click to expand...

My only concern with this is judges being able to identify a team's food after a while. We regularly see the same judges around here and it is possible that they would be able to identify the team that turned in a box by the taste. Of course, the chance of them getting my box is low, and then they would have to act on that knowledge, but it could happen.

I'd rather donate some leftovers in a foil pan and have them made available to the judges and volunteers blindly.

bodcat said:
What happens now when a judge trys to eat as much as they can and by the time they get to brisket they are so full they can't judge it fairly?

Some of these judges drive for hours to judge, some stay in hotels, etc etc. There time and money volunteered should be appreciated more. I think they should be able to do whatever they want with the leftover samples. I have always thought of it as a small reward. I have cooked a couple contest where they have given the teams a foil pan for any extra food to donate to the rest of the volunteers working the event. I always thought that was a good idea.
Click to expand...

The issue is that judges have been observed taking the smallest possible "bite" out of a sample in order to have more food to take home. It's hard to get an idea of the taste and tenderness when you are nibbling on the edge of a rib.
 
There is usually a lot of food leftover from turn in boxes that canbe divided up and taken home by judges after they are done. The food on the mats should be fairly eaten and not partially eaten to be saved to be taken home later.
 
Is it your food or theirs? Are you judging or them? Does it really matter what they do with whats leftover? I really can't see how this bothers any of you. The judge sits and tastes then saves whats left. Most judges take one or two bites. Of course any judge seen purposefully trying to eat as little as possible will be identified by the table captain and reported. I think you will just alienate them by telling them what they can do with their food.

With how picky people are about the food they eat I find it hard to believe they will be willing and or satisfied picking through the scraps table. As well thats for the table captains and volunteers.
 
I rather see the food leave then get tossed in the garbage and wasted. If they will not allow take homes, they should at least donate the left overs as long as it can be done sanitary. I bet a staving homeless man would love to eat all the food that they are going to waste.
 
SCSmoke said:
So, with that being said, as chairman, I will state the following:
For the competition,
1. No coolers will be allowed in the judges tent. Judges are to leave their coolers in their car.
2. NO samples will be allowed to be kept from a judges plate for them to take home. This could be a serious health issue. Sorry, this is the way it will be. Table Captains shall be charged with ensuring this happens.

All judges for the RWBBQ 2013 were sent an email of this decision."
Click to expand...

This is a little bit of a hot button issue. Up front I would say it would not affect my decision to judge. I question if this applies to building a box from the extra that is in the turn in box for the table captains and volunteers? It is difficult when from childhood on I have been conditioned to not waste food.


big brother smoke said:
I could care less what someone would take home, but I will say this, taking home food that has been bit through is just plain old weird! Let alone fighting for the right to do so :shock:
Click to expand...

I guess I disagree that it is weird for me to take a bite (or eat half of a slice of brisket), put the rest in a baggie and into a cold cooler, and eat it the next day. It is just a leftover. And usually I do the pull test on a brisket slice and pull it in half, then eat 1 of the halves.

sfisch said:
There is usually a lot of food leftover from turn in boxes that canbe divided up and taken home by judges after they are done. The food on the mats should be fairly eaten and not partially eaten to be saved to be taken home later.
Click to expand...

Most contests reserve that leftover food for the volunteers and table captains. That was my first question was do you stop doing that for food safety reasons? Those boxes the chicken sits in for at least 2 hours, and not in a cooler.

I know one judge that told me he judged a contest that had an extra category before chicken, and by the time he got to brisket he could only chew the brisket to get the taste and tenderness, then spit it into his napkin---he just couldn't eat any more. Would (could) this affect the score? I would hope not. Taking a tiny nibble is wrong, but I don't think many judges would be able to eat every bite of every category, I know I couldn't and I am a big guy, (bignburly :icon_smile_tongue: )
 
Ron_L said:
For the judges at Westmont who want BBQ to take home there are several teams who are planning on donating leftover food. That way they can do their job in the judging tent and still have something to take home (and we promise not to take bites out of everything first :becky:)
Click to expand...

That is great of the teams to do this. At the Kansas Winter Q here we judge in the Army reserve building and ask the teams if they don't keep their leftovers to bring the extra up and we put it in the soldiers fridge for them to enjoy.
 
Alexa RnQ said:
I am fully in favor of banning coolers from the judging tent.

There was a contest not too long ago where judges canceled at the last minute because coolers would not be allowed. That alone says to me that a cooler ban will flush out some who shouldn't be in the tent.
Click to expand...

Was the announcement that they can't bring coolers made at the last minute? If so, cancelling at the last minute seems less unreasonable.

I would also suggest that their cancelling may have had more to do with their feeling slighted or insulted by the insinuation that they aren't capable of acting like a responsible adult and put fair sampling above their wish to have more abundant left-overs.

Eric
 
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