Bbq usa

[ModelMaker]

I've been enjoying the newest, "keep BBQ interesting" show, but still can't get over the way cooks think of us BBQ judges!
Still talking, and fussing about garnish, (I hardly even check legality anymore since garnish is sooooo far off my radar!)
"We have to select the most evenly sized thighs", equal size is not an appearance scoring factor in any category.
Alabama white chicken? "Oh my God no! Judges want sweet tomato-based sauce"! Judges don't WANT anything, judges score what you put in front of us, period! If you think you've got a killer Alabama white sauce and the contest is in Midwest Iowa, GO FOR IT!! We will judge it regardless. That being said, a lot of judges talk about lack of new ideas and flavors (Blues Hog!).
I would not have a problem with Alabama white sauced wings, you might be surprised!!!!
Ed

 

[SirPorkaLot]

I've been enjoying the newest, "keep BBQ interesting" show, but still can't get over the way cooks think of us BBQ judges!
Still talking, and fussing about garnish, (I hardly even check legality anymore since garnish is sooooo far off my radar!)
"We have to select the most evenly sized thighs", equal size is not an appearance scoring factor in any category.
Alabama white chicken? "Oh my God no! Judges want sweet tomato-based sauce"! Judges don't WANT anything, judges score what you put in front of us, period! If you think you've got a killer Alabama white sauce and the contest is in Midwest Iowa, GO FOR IT!! We will judge it regardless. That being said, a lot of judges talk about lack of new ideas and flavors (Blues Hog!).
I would not have a problem with Alabama white sauced wings, you might be surprised!!!!
Ed

Sadly competition BBQ has become “monkey see, monkey do”.

A team wins and every other team is going to their classes and hanging on their every word. This is repeated until it becomes a BBQ mantra.

No room for creativity or experimentation.

It’s easy to see why though, with the costs of doing a BBQ competition today, it is very expensive to experiment.
Therefore every one turns in the same boring ass chicken, money muscle and candied ribs.

 

[Fooball]

GO FOR IT!! a lot of judges talk about lack of new ideas and flavors (Blues Hog!).
I would not have a problem with Alabama white sauced wings, you might be surprised!!!!
Ed

What would you think if I plopped down a box of my famous thighs marinated and sauced with Italian salad dressing? :icon_blush: :becky:

 

[sudsandswine]

I've been enjoying it too. I like it better than BBQ Pitmasters or whatever since it's organic competitions and not something concocted for TV.

As far cooks and what they think of judges - I'm sure there are plenty of judges that attempt to, or are, unbiased in their assessment of each submission on its own merits. However, my general rule when dealing with people is that humans are gonna human, and it's easy to let some preconceived notion influence you, subconsciously or not.

 

[LYU370]

Alabama white chicken? "Oh my God no! Judges want sweet tomato-based sauce"! Judges don't WANT anything, judges score what you put in front of us, period! If you think you've got a killer Alabama white sauce and the contest is in Midwest Iowa, GO FOR IT!! We will judge it regardless. That being said, a lot of judges talk about lack of new ideas and flavors (Blues Hog!).
I would not have a problem with Alabama white sauced wings, you might be surprised!!!!
Ed

I got certified as a judge about 10 years ago, but couldn't do it. The overly sweet flavor of everything was just too much for me.

I can't stand Blue's Hog Original, Blue's Hog Tennessee Red on the other hand... :thumb:

 

[Divemaster]

Sadly competition BBQ has become “monkey see, monkey do”.

A team wins and every other team is going to their classes and hanging on their every word. This is repeated until it becomes a BBQ mantra.

No room for creativity or experimentation.

It’s easy to see why though, with the costs of doing a BBQ competition today, it is very expensive to experiment.
Therefore every one turns in the same boring ass chicken, money muscle and candied ribs.

I remember a while back when I decided to change things up a bit by including wing drumettes with my chicken thighs.

I got back the ONLY comment card I'd ever received in 10 years of comps that said "The wings didn't help." The score, 9-9-8... My guess is that they didn't hurt either, we took 3rd in chicken that day...

Guess I'm saying that it's not just the competitors that have a tough time, the judges are stuck too.

 

[ModelMaker]

What would you think if I plopped down a box of my famous thighs marinated and sauced with Italian salad dressing? :icon_blush: :becky:

My eyes would open wide, and my thoughts would be, OK, let's see what this here is!!
Ed

 

[Bill-Chicago]

I got certified as a judge about 10 years ago, but couldn't do it. The overly sweet flavor of everything was just too much for me.

I can't stand Blue's Hog Original, Blue's Hog Tennessee Red on the other hand... :thumb:

Have you tried BHO with your favorite IPA?


:croc:

 

[SmokerKing]

I've been judging KCBS for a few years. My biggest complaint is 90% of the meat has little or no smoke flavor. Some just taste like they came out of the kitchen oven. Even at the American Royal. I found better Q at a local restaurant, Q39.

And worse, most judges have never smoked at home, they don't BBQ at all, and if they do, it's a pooper. Their flavor profile for BBQ is weak. I often talk to the judges about our samples after we've judged them. My scores are almost opposite of theirs.

I judged an event last year and stuck around for the awards, good to see the top 3 winners all were stick burners in a huge field of poopers.

 

[Fooball]

I've been judging KCBS for a few years. My biggest complaint is 90% of the meat has little or no smoke flavor. Some just taste like they came out of the kitchen oven. Even at the American Royal. I found better Q at a local restaurant, Q39.

And worse, most judges have never smoked at home, they don't BBQ at all, and if they do, it's a pooper. Their flavor profile for BBQ is weak. I often talk to the judges about our samples after we've judged them. My scores are almost opposite of theirs.

I judged an event last year and stuck around for the awards, good to see the top 3 winners all were stick burners in a huge field of poopers.

You mean they have BBQ judges that don't make BBQ themselves? That just don't seem right.

You mean some people use pellet poopers at these comps? That just don't seem right.

 

[SmokerKing]

You mean they have BBQ judges that don't make BBQ themselves? That just don't seem right.

You mean some people use pellet poopers at these comps? That just don't seem right.

I agree! :biggrin:

I personally think that at least half the judges do it so they can take home all the sample leftovers in their coolers.

 

[Bill-Chicago]

I personally think that at least half the judges do it so they can take home all the sample leftovers in their coolers.

Reminds me of a thread here that went well over into Hell and a hand basket territory.


Was it Dr BBQ, or maybe Jim Minion, who totally went off on this guy (won't name him) and called him out on his 50 free meals credential and justifying taking little nibbles to save as much as possible to take home.


Spotting him walking into (out of) the judges tent with his cooler only added fuel to the fire.


That thread has been scrubbed, but damn was it a good read.


Oh well.

 

[SmokerKing]

Reminds me of a thread here that went well over into Hell and a hand basket territory.


Was it Dr BBQ, or maybe Jim Minion, who totally went off on this guy (won't name him) and called him out on his 50 free meals credential and justifying taking little nibbles to save as much as possible to take home.


Spotting him walking into (out of) the judges tent with his cooler only added fuel to the fire.


That thread has been scrubbed, but damn was it a good read.


Oh well.

:becky:

Yes, the judges at these comp events are an eclectic bunch. Makes the Star Wars bar scene look normal at some events.

 

[TravelingJ]

I've been enjoying the newest, "keep BBQ interesting" show, but still can't get over the way cooks think of us BBQ judges!
Still talking, and fussing about garnish, (I hardly even check legality anymore since garnish is sooooo far off my radar!)
"We have to select the most evenly sized thighs", equal size is not an appearance scoring factor in any category.
Alabama white chicken? "Oh my God no! Judges want sweet tomato-based sauce"! Judges don't WANT anything, judges score what you put in front of us, period! If you think you've got a killer Alabama white sauce and the contest is in Midwest Iowa, GO FOR IT!! We will judge it regardless. That being said, a lot of judges talk about lack of new ideas and flavors (Blues Hog!).
I would not have a problem with Alabama white sauced wings, you might be surprised!!!!
Ed

Well, they also did have Getting Basted who was taking a new cut to the judging table and was willing to take a risk. I forget exactly what he said but it was basically "this is good, and I'll keep making it till they agree"

I've been judging KCBS for a few years. My biggest complaint is 90% of the meat has little or no smoke flavor. Some just taste like they came out of the kitchen oven. Even at the American Royal. I found better Q at a local restaurant, Q39.

Any chance that's because you have been around the smoke all day long, and can no longer taste it? I know there are multiple threads here about tasting the smoke profile better the next day, when you haven't been overloaded with it. It's been ages since I was even at a comp, but I seem to recall it being slightly smokey.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

I'm enjoying looking at the smokers being used. This week at Gadsden, there was a wide variety. I saw a couple of WSM's and the one guy had trailer mounted RF with a warming rack and a charcoal grill.

 

[Harbormaster]

I remember a while back when I decided to change things up a bit by including wing drumettes with my chicken thighs.

I got back the ONLY comment card I'd ever received in 10 years of comps that said "The wings didn't help." The score, 9-9-8... My guess is that they didn't hurt either, we took 3rd in chicken that day...

Guess I'm saying that it's not just the competitors that have a tough time, the judges are stuck too.

Going outside the box is a risk Dive. Learned that at Poor Que when I turned in perfectly cooked breasts and got a 2 in appearance from one judge. She wanted ti give me a 1.
And the only comment card I recall getting was for a thighs turn in. Judge complimented me for perfectly bite through skin.
There was no skin. It was so rubbery we pulled it off before saucing it.

 

[SmokerKing]

Any chance that's because you have been around the smoke all day long, and can no longer taste it? I know there are multiple threads here about tasting the smoke profile better the next day, when you haven't been overloaded with it. It's been ages since I was even at a comp, but I seem to recall it being slightly smokey.

nope

 

[smokeisgood]

Going outside the box is a risk Dive. Learned that at Poor Que when I turned in perfectly cooked breasts and got a 2 in appearance from one judge. She wanted ti give me a 1.
And the only comment card I recall getting was for a thighs turn in. Judge complimented me for perfectly bite through skin.
There was no skin. It was so rubbery we pulled it off before saucing it.

LMAO, this is what kills me. (This is not a shot at judges who actually know BBQ) I can't stand the judges that "took a class" and now think they are expert BBQ judges. Comments like "I can taste the lighter fluid" when there hasn't been a can of lighter fluid within 3 miles of someone's smoker just infuriate me.
And really, if all the cooks hit the timing, how can they really tell 5 racks of Johnny Trigg ribs apart. Very little creativity anymore.

 

[NoNotTheDuo]

LMAO, this is what kills me. (This is not a shot at judges who actually know BBQ) I can't stand the judges that "took a class" and now think they are expert BBQ judges.

(Un?)fortunately, that's the main requirement to be a KCBS BBQ judge. You have to be a KCBS member and then you have to take a judging class. However, the class is not about "what's good BBQ" and "what's not good BBQ"; the class is about the judging procedures used inside the tent for a KCBS competition.

 

[Smoking Piney]

I watched the episode where Michael asked about Alabama white sauce. It looked like someone from KCBS told him it was against the rules. Did I miss something?