Serious Eats - judging at the Jack

[gtsum]

nice looking boxes. I was a bit surprised at the article as well.....I have only found one restaurant whose que I honestly thought was better then mine (in Savannah, GA), and the owner was a multiple GC all over the east coast...

Although, at my first comp I attended, I thought a lot of the food I tasted was way, way too sweet...I suppose the point is to have that WOW factor in just a bite or two though?

 

[Buster Dog BBQ]

Interesting bucket of worms...does anyone know the percentage of certified judges to celebrity judges for the Jack? While we're on the subject of "qualified judges"...please take a look at our chicken turn in...one judge scored it a 6...for appearance. Do you think it looks like a 6? I don't think so...

Great looking box. I would say strong 8 if not 9. Loittle noon of sauce on right piece of chick above breast.

 

[Big Ugly's BBQ]

Great boxes, thank you for sharing this pics. I just went to his blog and left a comment, if anyone wants a laugh this morning.

 

[Buster Dog BBQ]

Great boxes, thank you for sharing this pics. I just went to his blog and left a comment, if anyone wants a laugh this morning.

I emailed serious eats and told them they lose credibility with articles like that. Not so much his opinion, but lack of experience to write an article like that. Now had he the experience of a Dr. BBQ per se, then it's another story.

 

[Boshizzle]

Interesting bucket of worms...does anyone know the percentage of certified judges to celebrity judges for the Jack?

Oops...correction...our appearance score was an 8...6's for taste and texture...my bad...(blurry eye mode)...:icon_blush:

That's a gorgeous box of chicken. If that one got an 8, I'de love to see a 9.

 

[Tack]

Just wondering why all the judges weren't CBJs???

 

[Bentley]

Its the mystic of the Jack...

 

[Bourbon Barrel BBQ]

The guy had the same basic thoughs on Memphis in May. Basically saying the winner shouldnt be able to call themselves world champion.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/05/memphis-in-may-barbecue-bbq-competition-world-championships.html

 

[Gowan]

Beautiful! That rib box is a nine all day long.

The chicken ain't bad either.

 

[carlyle]

It appears that this "judge" came to the contest with a preset agenda- write an article
for a blog. Can't read his mind but seems his attitude to the pre contest comments ...
best bbq you will ever eat... was, Oh yeah - we'll see about that.

Rookie 48 was on the money - comparing is not fair and in KCBS not allowed for good reason.

Maybe the article was just meant to draw attention to the blog and create controversy. Media would never do that, would they?

This is the best example I have seen for having CBJ's and not celebs as judges.
Even with CBJ's there is ample opportunity for difficulty and controversy. Throwing
a monkey wrench like this example into the works makes unfair treatment of entries
almost certain. My 2 cents worth.

 

[Prairie Smoke]

Just wondering why all the judges weren't CBJs???

I'm quite sure ALL the Jack judges are CBJ's... some just get certified that weekend. We sat next to a new judge at the Friday night dinner, who had just been certified that day.
You (Not directed at Tack, just in general...) think a 2 week BBQ tour is insufficient experience? Our new friend from BBQ Hill was the National Sex Columnist for Fox News, Jenny Block. Sweet girl, very entertaining, and she was excited as hell to be judging the next day. Frankly, I'd rather be cooking for her than the Mike Mills and Paul Kirk's of the world, I have a better idea of the target I'm cooking for.

Experience is good - obviously - but something about this mix of judges just seems like an interesting challenge to me.

 

[Balls Casten]

Is it appropriate for them to be showing photos of turn-ins?

Both boxes look great by the way.

 

[ique]

Experience is good - obviously - but something about this mix of judges just seems like an interesting challenge to me.

Agree, this is what makes the Jack judging so challenging is the extreme mix of newbie and old time judge.

 

[Lake Dogs]

The guy had the same basic thoughs on Memphis in May. Basically saying the winner shouldnt be able to call themselves world champion.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/05/memphis-in-may-barbecue-bbq-competition-world-championships.html

Aaaaallllllllmost the exact same article. He is at least consistent in that he doesn't care for sweet in BBQ, and prefers the
pepper/vinegar sauces, although he doesn't seem to understand why everyone else prefers sweet... Also, we're allowed
only one sauce (and resulting flavor profile) to come across the table, whereas a restaurant can present 3 or more sauces
to appease most anyone's flavor preference. I dont think he was bashing competition BBQ so much as saying it's "different"
and tends to follow one primary flavor profile; sweet.

 

[Alexa RnQ]

This is an old story. Every blogger who sets out to "experience" competition BBQ seems to go in with the mindset that in order to compensate for their complete lack of knowledge, they'll just predetermine that it couldn't be all that great. After all, the brisket isn't like their mom's potroast, and the ribs aren't steamed like Crapplebee's!

We had a guy here like that, who attended one contest, sampled some PC and trashed teams BY NAME in his blog, and had the temerity to publicly state that he could do better. He came to the next contest, predictably had his ass handed to him, and had thirty or so excuses as to why the system was flawed and his food was still better than anything at the contest.

Bloggers exist to rack up views on their site stats. Saying nice things doesn't get you as many repeat hits as saying nasty things. Just like other forms of media that have tried to latch onto competition BBQ, there has to be manufactured conflict and drama because any interest, even negative, is better than no interest.

So predictable. *yawn*

 

[Scottie]

Agree, this is what makes the Jack judging so challenging is the extreme mix of newbie and old time judge.

The only folks that beotch about Jack judging are the one's that get their butts handed to them. I personally think they are the most distinguished, respected, knowledgable judges that are on the circuit... :becky:


But seriously, EVERY contest has new judges for their events. Ask cooks what their score sheets look after a contest has a CBJ class the day before. So if you blame bloggers, sex critics or whatever at the Jack. What are the excuses at those other contests? The way I look at the judging at the Jack.... A great majority of those judges have been judging at the Jack since it's inception and if not that long, more than 10 years. How many Master Judges or CBJ's have that much experience judging a World Championship? What makes one better than the others?

I was told early on in my career. If you didn't score well, cook better. To become a champion, you must learn to lose first. More cooks need to practice this.

 

[Jacked UP BBQ]

Let me look at this from a different angle. Maybe the food did suck??? Why do all BBQ cooks feel that everyone should be appreciated by the judges? If you have an off day, it happens. It is possible to undercook a brisket or ribs or make a pork butt taste like shart. Why everytime do people throw a comparisson to a restaurant that uses a different cooking method, a lot of people like applebbees or chilis ribs, there is a reason they are out there and pretty busy. I have tasted a lot of comp food out there and a lot of it does suck, including mine. If you take a judge off the street with a good palate and he tastes and over seasooned rib with too much sweetness he will probably judge it down. But an experienced judge will give it a good score because that is the trend of flavors and what they are coached to judge on.

 

[Alexa RnQ]

Maybe the food did suck???

It's quite possible that some of it did. 80% of the field were having their first year at the Jack, and anyone can have an off day.

Why do all BBQ cooks feel that everyone should be appreciated by the judges?

I don't think anyone here speaks for all cooks.

Why everytime do people throw a comparisson to a restaurant that uses a different cooking method, a lot of people like applebbees or chilis ribs, there is a reason they are out there and pretty busy.

A lot of people like McRibs, too. Most of them don't know any better. Let's go over to Q-Talk and count how many "Have you become a BBQ snob and can't eat at restaurants anymore?" threads there are.

If you take a judge off the street with a good palate and he tastes and over seasooned rib with too much sweetness he will probably judge it down. But an experienced judge will give it a good score because that is the trend of flavors and what they are coached to judge on.

Can you please give an example from a judging class where judges are "coached" on trends in flavor profiles, or what sweetness level to score well? When we had a Master Judge cook with us recently, in our discussions he emphasized that judges are to evaluate each sample on its own merits, without comparison. I'd be interested to know which areas have judging classes that instruct to favor sweetness.

 

[Smokin' Joe]

I think Diva makes a good point he is trying to "sell" page views...and I agree with Scottie that this happens all the time throughout the year.

The frustrating part for me is this particular writers style and his clear lack of bbq experience, it feels like a slap in the face of competition BBQ from someone who clearly doesn't konw what its all about (however, I can also see the point above about him just pointing out differences from comp bbq to restaurant).


For the record my pork and brisket rocked (my opinion) and received good scores (9th and 10th, but no one would know that because the Jack people tried to save 5 minutes:crazy, chicken was chicken, and my ribs sucked and were judged accordingly:icon_blush:

 

[Lake Dogs]

> Why everytime do people throw a comparison to a restaurant that uses a
> different cooking method, a lot of people like applebbees or chilis ribs, there
> is a reason they are out there and pretty busy.


> A lot of people like McRibs, too. Most of them don't know any better. Let's go
> over to Q-Talk and count how many "Have you become a BBQ snob and can't
> eat at restaurants anymore?" threads there are.

I recently had a funny personal experience of this very thing, where just after the
competition where we top 10'd in pork we opened up the leftovers for friends and
family. Everyone was snarfing up the pork and most going without sauce and some
with. Everyone was loving it and talking it up (free pork; cant be too bad ),
except for one lady. The look of the redness (smoke ring) turned her off and it had
this *funny* flavor (smoke, as it turns out). As it turns out, the only pulled pork
she'd ever had was cooked in a crock pot and sauce added at the end...

Hey, can't please everyone every time!