C
Cabrito
Guest
Teams have absolutely no control over when the meat gets to the judges. It could be from immediately to 15 minutes before the judges get the meat to judge. If a judge can't judge cold meat fairly they should do everyone a favor and stay home. Cookers invest alot of time and money competing and someone who can not judge cold meat fairly would be doing everyone a favor by staying home and not judging.
I agree with you that all meat, whether cold or hot, should be judged fairly. However, since the topic of this thread is keeping meat hot or reheating, I was making the point that it is to a competitors advantage to try as much as possible to keep the food warm. I know you have no control over how long it takes from turn in til the meat is brought to the judge. But a previous poster said that temp did not matter. I am just stating the reality that cold meat does effect the taste and texture of some entries. When you are judging texture and the pork or brisket is a bit tougher because it is cold, you must rate it on the way it is brought to you, not the way you imagined it to be when it was warm. To be honest, it is rare that I have ever had to judge cold food. It is usually warm or room temp.