fwdiii
is Blowin Smoke!
A bit of a rant.....
I have been judging for only three years. Just judged a comp at Seaside, NJ. What I was hearing from judges at my table and a few tables around me was disturbing to say the least.
As for my background.....I was in the food industry as a chef and a manager for over 15 years. I truly know what goes into preparing food to be eaten by strangers, they say that you are only as good as your last meal. I truly appreciate and have lived with cooking to timelines and deadlines and all the problems that pop up, but you still have to produce.
So with that in mind, you will understand that I will always give the cook teams the benefit of the doubt when scoring. Could be the weather was a problem, rain, wind, cold etc. Maybe there was an unplanned equipment problem and being up all hours of the night. In addition, the hours of practice and expense involved, truly amazing!
After each of the four meats that were sampled at this most recent comp, judges like to discuss what their findings were. A very large majority sat their and pronounced what they found at fault. Too this and too that, not tender enough, too tender, too spicy, not enough heat, etc. And I am quite sure the scores they gave reflected it. And yes, we are to score based on taste and tenderness along with appearance.
I was very tempted to ask those complainers if they have ever cooked at a comp. I figured with all their knowledge and knowing the all the secrets to the best BBQ, that they would win every comp! The judge sitting next to me was one of the superior critics and ...... lol......he is packing up all of the left over meats from all of his judging sheets. I asked him why would he take that half eaten meat home when he sat there stating how it was no good!!! He just looked at me like the deer in the headlights then stated he thought it was a waste to throw away food. Really?
Last bit of my rant....my personal belief is that there should be a ban on judges taking home food, period. Take that extra bite, give the cook teams all the attention they deserve and not worry about how much meat you can take home. Maybe they can let judges take from the left over table instead.
Nuf said!
I have been judging for only three years. Just judged a comp at Seaside, NJ. What I was hearing from judges at my table and a few tables around me was disturbing to say the least.
As for my background.....I was in the food industry as a chef and a manager for over 15 years. I truly know what goes into preparing food to be eaten by strangers, they say that you are only as good as your last meal. I truly appreciate and have lived with cooking to timelines and deadlines and all the problems that pop up, but you still have to produce.
So with that in mind, you will understand that I will always give the cook teams the benefit of the doubt when scoring. Could be the weather was a problem, rain, wind, cold etc. Maybe there was an unplanned equipment problem and being up all hours of the night. In addition, the hours of practice and expense involved, truly amazing!
After each of the four meats that were sampled at this most recent comp, judges like to discuss what their findings were. A very large majority sat their and pronounced what they found at fault. Too this and too that, not tender enough, too tender, too spicy, not enough heat, etc. And I am quite sure the scores they gave reflected it. And yes, we are to score based on taste and tenderness along with appearance.
I was very tempted to ask those complainers if they have ever cooked at a comp. I figured with all their knowledge and knowing the all the secrets to the best BBQ, that they would win every comp! The judge sitting next to me was one of the superior critics and ...... lol......he is packing up all of the left over meats from all of his judging sheets. I asked him why would he take that half eaten meat home when he sat there stating how it was no good!!! He just looked at me like the deer in the headlights then stated he thought it was a waste to throw away food. Really?
Last bit of my rant....my personal belief is that there should be a ban on judges taking home food, period. Take that extra bite, give the cook teams all the attention they deserve and not worry about how much meat you can take home. Maybe they can let judges take from the left over table instead.
Nuf said!