S
slat
Guest
What is involved in KCBS judging classes? Have one coming up in my home town and might like to go.
chad
somebody shut me the fark up.
Usually, sign up and send a check. Show up and go to class. Some classes are attached to events so you get a "first" cookoff right away.
If you get a chance go for it , then go judge some events as soon as possible. IMHO
chad
somebody shut me the fark up.
I compete as much as I can but I usually judge about as many, per year, as I compete in. I'm currently FBA certified and am planning on going to KCBS CBJ class in October - that way I have an excuse to go to the KCBS events I'm not going to compete in!!
For me judging is a way to give back to the organizations and sponsors that create and support the events I participate in. It's a great way to get to know cook teams and other judges - you will be amazed at how many judges know "squat" about how the que is prepared!
But, judging gives you an easy entre to the cook teams. The cache of the judges badge lets you walk up to ANY team and say howdy, how ya'll doing! After you get to meet a few teams and see them at a couple of different cookoffs you get invited to after event cocktails
, samples, etc.
It really is a community. Judging is a great way to see if from the inside without the initial "what the hell are we doing here?" moments. Though even if you judge, when you finally compete you'll be saying " what the hell were we thinking?"
It's fun! The organizations need judges and it really is worth your time. You will, contrary to what the trainers say, taste some monumentally BAD BBQ! :twisted: But, you'll also taste some that is as good as it's ever gonna get - at least on that day!
For me judging is a way to give back to the organizations and sponsors that create and support the events I participate in. It's a great way to get to know cook teams and other judges - you will be amazed at how many judges know "squat" about how the que is prepared!
But, judging gives you an easy entre to the cook teams. The cache of the judges badge lets you walk up to ANY team and say howdy, how ya'll doing! After you get to meet a few teams and see them at a couple of different cookoffs you get invited to after event cocktails
, samples, etc.It really is a community. Judging is a great way to see if from the inside without the initial "what the hell are we doing here?" moments. Though even if you judge, when you finally compete you'll be saying " what the hell were we thinking?"
It's fun! The organizations need judges and it really is worth your time. You will, contrary to what the trainers say, taste some monumentally BAD BBQ! :twisted: But, you'll also taste some that is as good as it's ever gonna get - at least on that day!
I judged at Mandalay Bay and we had 30 judges from 15 states most were not newbies like me ,but they where a great bunch of people.I'm looking forward to judgeing again.I got to meet Jim Minon and several others i had heard about.
I judged at Mandalay Bay and we had 30 judges from 15 states most were not newbies like me ,but they where a great bunch of people.I'm looking forward to judgeing again.I got to meet Jim Minon and several others i had heard about.
slat said:
If its KCBS, you go to the class.
A certified instructor goes through the rules and the basics.
You pay (it was like $45 for KCBS Members, $75 for non members, but the extra $30 enrolled you for the year in KCBS) and then you eat.
But with each sample round, you are taught how to judge tenderness and presentation, or rather how to detect subtle differences. The third category, taste, is pretty much up to you.
You are taught the scoring system, how we start at a number and move up or down based on the criteria (versus the old way of start at 9 and deduct for shortfalls) and what different presentations do for you.
Its pretty cool.
What you will learn (since you give feedback on each round) is that presentation and tenderness can be pretty close (across judges) but when it comes to the completely subjective "taste", you are at the will of 6 possibly very different people.
We had guys in our class that thought Chili's had good ribs. Thats what your up against.
By the way, I highly recommend it.
But don't go with Greg, cuz you'll pull down this street which is a sheet of ice and start sliding toward his truck and just miss hitting it and he'll say "I coulda warned you about that"
R
rbinms33
Guest
RE: Re: Judging classes
Hey Slat.....I went to one back in June and I thought it was well worth it. I can't remember what I paid for it but what Bill said was close. Everything else Bill said about it is dead on too. You have a wide spectrum of people there from husband/wife teams to dedicated competitors to novices that think that a good rib is found in the freezer section in a Corky's box. They mainly teach you what to look for. My only mistake is that I was being way too anal about the presentation. I won't be that nit picky if I actually judge a competition. Being said, if somebody's turn in looks like arse, I'll score them lower than the others. My only complaint......I wish you could see all the rib entries and THEN write your score down. You can probably get away with it, but it seemed to be frowned upon. Carolyn Wells taught our class and if I had the chance to do it again, I would. Well worth it!!! And you get a copy of the "Bull Sheet" to boot while you're there since you're now a KCBS member. That little publication is a wealth of information.
Hey Slat.....I went to one back in June and I thought it was well worth it. I can't remember what I paid for it but what Bill said was close. Everything else Bill said about it is dead on too. You have a wide spectrum of people there from husband/wife teams to dedicated competitors to novices that think that a good rib is found in the freezer section in a Corky's box. They mainly teach you what to look for. My only mistake is that I was being way too anal about the presentation. I won't be that nit picky if I actually judge a competition. Being said, if somebody's turn in looks like arse, I'll score them lower than the others. My only complaint......I wish you could see all the rib entries and THEN write your score down. You can probably get away with it, but it seemed to be frowned upon. Carolyn Wells taught our class and if I had the chance to do it again, I would. Well worth it!!! And you get a copy of the "Bull Sheet" to boot while you're there since you're now a KCBS member. That little publication is a wealth of information.
S
slat
Guest
RE: Re: Judging classes
Next question is, once you are a judge how do you go about getting into a event as a judge. Do you get a call or do you volunteer? I'm sure I'll learn that and probably jumping the gun, but sometimes you just gotta know.
Next question is, once you are a judge how do you go about getting into a event as a judge. Do you get a call or do you volunteer? I'm sure I'll learn that and probably jumping the gun, but sometimes you just gotta know.
Re: RE: Re: Judging classes
call/email the organizer
slat said:
call/email the organizer
S
slat
Guest
RE: Re: RE: Re: Judging classes
Well I just finished KCBS judging class. It was well worth doing. Learned a few things and had fun doing it.
Hopefully will be judging an event the end of August. It is hard not to want to compare the meats to each other, but judge them individually. It's a learn as you go process.
Well I just finished KCBS judging class. It was well worth doing. Learned a few things and had fun doing it.
Hopefully will be judging an event the end of August. It is hard not to want to compare the meats to each other, but judge them individually. It's a learn as you go process.
Good Deal Slat.
You will see the "championship", the "very good", and the "who snuck this in here" entries.
Mostly "very good" with some "championship" entries. Once in a while though..... :lol:
Lots of fun and a great learning experience.
Hope you enjoy Judging as much as I do.
TIM
You will see the "championship", the "very good", and the "who snuck this in here" entries.
Mostly "very good" with some "championship" entries. Once in a while though..... :lol:
Lots of fun and a great learning experience.
Hope you enjoy Judging as much as I do.
TIM
chad
somebody shut me the fark up.
Congrats! I judge often - especially when too broke to compete!! It's worth the time and effort and you'll meet some really neat people. It's amazing how much the door to the cook sites opens with your judge's badge around your neck, too.
Solidkick
somebody shut me the fark up.
Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: Judging classes
I bet it would be hard to not compare against your own BBQ either....
or what you judged the week before.....I don't envy the position of a certified judge.......being fair and consistent in you're scoring is a big responsiblity, considering the time and costs involved by the competitors, where your decision could mean the difference in cashing that day or not.....
Good to see you, and thanks for the post!
slat said:
I bet it would be hard to not compare against your own BBQ either....
or what you judged the week before.....I don't envy the position of a certified judge.......being fair and consistent in you're scoring is a big responsiblity, considering the time and costs involved by the competitors, where your decision could mean the difference in cashing that day or not.....
Good to see you, and thanks for the post!
FBA states the same thing. I had trouble understanding this concept initially. I thought (and still do) that they were talking about lining up the entries in "quality order", then awarding scores accordingly. Visually--like an actual line-up.
But we really do, in fact compare them.
But the comparison is to our concept of the "standard", what ever that may be in our little minds.
So, we are comparing them, not to each other, but to a conceptual standard.
If this is done correctly, you could line the meats up after scoring and they would be in the same order as if it had been done while scoring.
The only time I wished for a "line up" approach was on Brisket at Barnesville. I awarded a 10 to an entry. As good as I had ever seen and thought that was as good as it gets. Two or three boxes later got a brand new definition of Championship Brisket. Gave it a 10 naturally. So, 2 entries got a 10, which is OK for sure. However, if my experience had included the standard set by the second peice, the first would have got a 9 or 9.5 which would have been more accurate. No big deal, but the "standard" does move in your mind as you see different levels of entries.
Make any sense??
Just a mental exercise.
Really don't mattter how we get there, just so the results are fair and as accurate and objective as we can make them.
TIM
