Judges Comment Cards

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SmokeInDaEye

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I received comment cards from judges for the first time at a contest this past weekend and while I still love the idea, it really left me scratching my head. Here's the story and feel free to give me your thoughts.

Card 1: Team 179. Pork. excellent flavor and tenderness (Ok. No arguments there but read on)

Card 2: Team 179, Brisket. Very, very tough, good taste (maybe? I tasted it as did several other teams and nobody mentioned toughness. Whatever.)

Card 3: Team 179, Chicken. Nice overall blend. Skin consistency perfect.

Here's my WTF moment. As anyone who was cooking on or around me this weekend knows, in a moment of sleep deprived stupidity I decided to throw my chicken back on a screaming hot grill and instantly burnt all of the skin. I salvaged it by taking the skin off and turning it in naked. So "Skin consistency perfect"???
 
sounds like your 'skin' was so tender it was like it wasnt even there. (no not joking)

judge needed glasses maybe? Some reason, they were unaware it was skinless.
 
BBQchef33 said:
sounds like your 'skin' was so tender it was like it wasnt even there. (no not joking)

judge needed glasses maybe? Some reason, they were unaware it was skinless.
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Ok. Perhaps. But it was pretty hard to miss the fact that there was no skin. I tore it off, gave the meat a light glaze and focused on presentation points to save me.
 
Having sampled your brisket it definetely was not tough ,infact it was alot better than mine came out, im not sure i liked your sauce but the execution was perfect
 
backyardchef said:
It wasn't the best sauce you ever tasted?
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Maybe not, but the judges loved the skin on my "very, very tough" brisket.:twisted:

Seriously, I don't get it. Cook a skinless chicken thigh and one with skin and see if you can tell them apart. I'm betting you can.
 
Just seems like another reason that comments cards are a bad idea. The more and more of these cards that come out, there will be more and more of these types of issues that will do nothing but cast doubts on the judges..better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
 
My chicken skin never turns out perfect. Guess I use the weed burner just before turn-in!:eek:
 
DawgPhan said:
Just seems like another reason that comments cards are a bad idea. The more and more of these cards that come out, there will be more and more of these types of issues that will do nothing but cast doubts on the judges..better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
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I'd rather be aware of the problem and take the necessary steps to correct then than be ignorant to it.

Comment cards are still pretty new, so there is a learning curve with these as well. Comment cards increase the communication between the judges and the cooks, which IMO is a great thing.

I think mandatory comments for any scores below the starting 6 is a good idea.
 
Jeremiah said:
I'd rather be aware of the problem and take the necessary steps to correct then than be ignorant to it.

Comment cards are still pretty new, so there is a learning curve with these as well. Comment cards increase the communication between the judges and the cooks, which IMO is a great thing.

I think mandatory comments for any scores below the starting 6 is a good idea.
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I doubt that I would learn anything from a judges card that I didnt already know. If you are turning in what you think is winning meat and you arent winning you arent being honest about your food. Every time I have turned in a box I knew what the issues were with it. Sometimes the scores are a little lower than I was expecting, sometimes a little higher, but no judge is going to be able to tell me anythig I didnt already know...Low scores just have to be justified to a table captain and judges scores should be tracked, but I dont care to see any comment cards.

Bad judges should be asked not to judge. I dont know if they should already do it, but they should try. I know that FBA does something like this where judges who score on the edges are just not asked to judge anymore.

I wouldnt change anything about my cooking based on anything that was on a comment card. You can learn more about comp cooking by just listening and practicing that anything you are going to get from a judge.
 
DawgPhan said:
I wouldnt change anything about my cooking based on anything that was on a comment card. You can learn more about comp cooking by just listening and practicing that anything you are going to get from a judge.
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I agree 100%. Prior to last weekend's contest I was very interested to get comment cards. Now I think they created more confusion than assistance, at least in their current state.

I knew before I turned in my chicken that it was going to bomb, and it did (24th out of 30). I knew the pork was good and it did well (1st). The ribs and brisket were the best I've cooked to date and the results showed (7th and 9th).

My lessons were learned by the mistakes I made cooking/presenting, not from a judge who loved the skin on a skinless thigh. And I know those scores will continue to get better each time I try.
 
I would let Jerry and Linda know about this. KCBS is looking for feedback to improve the judging process and I am sure something like this speaks for itself.

My brisket was burnt (dummy here put the therm in the point!) - got only 6 slices from 2 flats. Dry and flaking apart. Box looked decent but I did not like the taste at all. I got 13th!
 
I really like getting the comment cards. Regardless of the comments these are the people judging your food, more communication is better then none. For those that don't like the cards you can just throw them away.

I hope KCBS continues to use them with a few tweaks.
 
I agree with Lost Nation. We like the comment cards, especially when they have some meaningful information. I just sent back a feedback form to KCBS saying just this:

Create standardized comment cards with room for individual comments. Make them mandatory for any score under the set standard, 6. Circle the category and score for appearance, tenderness, and taste. Offer a couple lines for an explanation of any low (or high) marks.

Seems pretty simple and straightforward to me.

The only way these comment cards will be valuable is if they offer complete information.
 
I see this from both sides, as a newer cook I'd love them and I do think it would help. Yet I agree the experienced competition cook my not get anything out of the card other than a frustrated laugh.

I'd also like to see the comment cards list if the comment came from a CBJ or non-CBJ.
 
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