Okie Sawbones
Banned
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2013
- Location
- Edgewood...
One little comment pertaining to judges. I believe that most KCBS judges are very passionate about what they do. I think a lot of them are there to do the best job they know how. Unfortunately, when you are passionate about something you start to seek information about it and I think a lot of information they have found does not follow the KCBS guidelines. All of the BBQ pit masters tv show, internet judge my box, information passed at the judging table is clouding their judgement about completing the task at hand. The judge is there to judge what is in front of him, not compare it to other entries or what he/she expects to be there. A judge should judge appearance according to the golden rule, "does it look like food I want to eat". BBQ was never intended to be perfect and uniform and lined up like chicken nuggets in a take out box. The judge is there to judge excellent BBQ, not perfection. For that reason I prefer judges off the street or noobs, for that reason to master judges. They don't have all the wrong information to cloud their judgement. They look at the food with an open mind and think, "damn that looks good!" 9. "Damn that pork tasted good, I like that hint of apple in there," 9. "Nothing wrong with the texture, just good meat." 9. That being said, it's already a game of inches. We are all turning in meat that is so good. I do wish more master judges would enter the judging table as a new set of eyes and taste buds and forget everything they think they know. It really doesn't make you any better of a judge to have judged more contests, because you are more likely to expect and compare. Stepping off the soapbox.
That being said, if you don't want to worry about the judges scores.... cook better so they have no choice but to give you 9's. That is really the name of the game. Cooks need to spend more time cooking better and giving even a crabby master judge comparing your food to some piece of chicken they had in 1985 no chance of giving you anything but a 9. If you want to prove you are the best, cook better and stop blaming judges. Take responsibility for the crap you turn in. We are not in an everybody gets a ribbon sport.
Eggspert
Great post. No, BBQ does not give out participation trophies. And the old adage ' the cream will rise to the top' is true. Every contest I see a lot of crap that I would not serve to my friends. I also see entries that leave me wondering how the cook did that, and wish I could find out who sent in that entry (which KCBS does not allow) so that I could go talk to them. This is the one part of judging that I hate -- I can never talk to cooks about entries that I found great, and perhaps trade some secrets.
Your other comment really rings a bell with me -- BBQ Pitmasters. They are not what real competition should be, but I fear some judges only BBQ experience is what they've seen on the show.
I am passionate about cooking, and I am passionate about judging. I give the cook every break, but I judge fairly. If the entry is crap, they are going to get a crap score. If an entry is borderline between an 8 and a 9, the cook gets a 9. I wish I could change the criteria for being a judge, but no one died and made me God, so I play the cards I was dealt.