Inside the Judge's Tent

[Hub]

As a KCBS Reb and after the 22nd a CBJ trainer I only have some comments.

1. The judge that would not eat chicken skin, during his training he was old what KCBS expect him to do. He was instructed to bite off a piece with the meat and chew to judge texture and taste at this point he can remove to his napkin, he does not have to swallow it. By coming to judge he is stating that he is willing to judge what the cook wanted to present.
I would have talk to the judge about what we expect, from there decide if the judge would continue to judge.

2. Not only are the judges told smokering is not to be considered but so are the cooks. When the judges do consider smokering it puts cooks in a tough situation.

As a cook I want to be judged within the rules, just a fair shot. I also understand judges will give smokering points, so I best have it there but it makes the competing harder.

Robert, it was your first time judging and what you found does not surprise me, but it is about giving the cooks the best shot within the rules. As you judge more I hope you will find it different.

Glad to see these corrections here. I'll add one more piece of advice: When judging, you are not juding to your personal tastes, but to how well the meats meet the standards (they are often broad and sometimes vague) -- go to the kcbs site for a copy of the judges CD and read it. Most skilled judges are looking for great BALANCE in the entry. This means no one thing (sauce, smoke, rub, injection, mop, etcl) dominates the flavor but that all combine to produce an exciting blend of great flavor. Combine this will proper texture and good appearance and high scores result.

Welcome to the judging world! It's fun but a very important job. The cooks invest lots of money and time to compete and they deserve only the very best in judging.

 

[rksylves]

Just a couple of comments.

I wouldn't get too close or too 'chummy' with a team before judging. Strolling by and saying 'good morning' or 'good luck' is fine in my book. Asking about recipes, cook times/temps, etc. is over the line. My rule is to stay out of a team's camp before judging. I can visit and BS afterwards.

Smoke ring is way overblown. I don't judge up or down based on it. I've had product that had no ring at all and it was wonderful, and I've had product that had a huge dark ring that was awful.

Judge the product as presented. Don't take skin off or change the presentation. Take at least one bite the way the team wanted it done. They made the decision and worked their butts off to get it that way, I at least can take one bite the way it was meant.

Why would an entry get DQ'd if it LOOKED LIKE the ribs weren't completely seperated? Appearance phase would NOT be the time to DQ for that reason. When a sample is pulled from the box and it doesn't seperate from the others causing a shortage of samples, THAT would be the time to DQ.

Russ

 

[bbq.tom]

Just a couple of comments.

I wouldn't get too close or too 'chummy' with a team before judging. Strolling by and saying 'good morning' or 'good luck' is fine in my book. Asking about recipes, cook times/temps, etc. is over the line. My rule is to stay out of a team's camp before judging. I can visit and BS afterwards.

Smoke ring is way overblown. I don't judge up or down based on it. I've had product that had no ring at all and it was wonderful, and I've had product that had a huge dark ring that was awful.

Judge the product as presented. Don't take skin off or change the presentation. Take at least one bite the way the team wanted it done. They made the decision and worked their butts off to get it that way, I at least can take one bite the way it was meant.

Why would an entry get DQ'd if it LOOKED LIKE the ribs weren't completely seperated? Appearance phase would NOT be the time to DQ for that reason. When a sample is pulled from the box and it doesn't seperate from the others causing a shortage of samples, THAT would be the time to DQ.

Russ

GREAT comments!!!!!!!

 

[QN]

Why would an entry get DQ'd if it LOOKED LIKE the ribs weren't completely seperated? Appearance phase would NOT be the time to DQ for that reason. When a sample is pulled from the box and it doesn't seperate from the others causing a shortage of samples, THAT would be the time to DQ.
Russ

The rule used to be that there had to be six "separate and identifiable" pieces of meat in the box. If the six ribs were submitted together as one slab then they may not have been able to see six separate ribs. That rule has since been changed to work as you have described. The lack of the required number of samples is not determined until that last judge ends up without anything to judge. Then all six judges are instructed to score it a 1 on appearance. This decision is made by the rep only.

 

[Boshizzle]

And, there is nothing wrong with holding the meat over the box a couple of seconds in an attempt to let a piece drop back in the box. IMO, the last resort should be a DQ. If the pieces don't drop back in the box, OK a DQ is warranted. But, give them a chance, at least.

 

[Bikini BBQ]

Nice read, I found it very informative. Thanks again !