I judged my 5th KCBS contest today. It was a 47-team Backyard event in Florence, AL. And it had some teams with great reputations. Some teams came from as far as Louisiana.
This was the best contest I've judged yet. It was held on the banks of a nice river. There was a classic car show, numerous vendors, several live bands, and a bunch of nice people and good food to judge. I always like walking around looking at the various smokers, and the smell of apple and hickory wood was great.
Participating in the KCBS judging process has been fun.
Some notable takaways from today:
1. I got a really nice tee-shirt for judging.
2. A team got disqualified in ribs because they missed the turn-in time by several minutes. And I must wonder, how can a team miss a turn-in time by several minutes? It's hard to believe.
3. There was a rib entry that got bad scores all around in tenderness because the cook left the membrane on the ribs. The texture was hideous.
4. Bite-thru chicken skin is a lot more important than I thought before I became a judge. Trying to bite into rubbery chicken skin gives me only sauce. And when I remove the skin and bite into the meat, I get no sauce or rub. Bite-thru chicken skin is very important.
5. Pork shoulder/butt is my least favorite meat. But the pork entries today were good. A couple were over-cooked and mushy, but several were excellent. My taste preference in pork shoulder/butt is nice bark, sweetness, and finish heat. Money muscle is good too. But to me, pulled pork with no bark is kinda boring.
6. I stopped at Publix on the way home and bought a rack of St Louis spare ribs to smoke tomorrow.
This was the best contest I've judged yet. It was held on the banks of a nice river. There was a classic car show, numerous vendors, several live bands, and a bunch of nice people and good food to judge. I always like walking around looking at the various smokers, and the smell of apple and hickory wood was great.
Participating in the KCBS judging process has been fun.
Some notable takaways from today:
1. I got a really nice tee-shirt for judging.
2. A team got disqualified in ribs because they missed the turn-in time by several minutes. And I must wonder, how can a team miss a turn-in time by several minutes? It's hard to believe.
3. There was a rib entry that got bad scores all around in tenderness because the cook left the membrane on the ribs. The texture was hideous.
4. Bite-thru chicken skin is a lot more important than I thought before I became a judge. Trying to bite into rubbery chicken skin gives me only sauce. And when I remove the skin and bite into the meat, I get no sauce or rub. Bite-thru chicken skin is very important.
5. Pork shoulder/butt is my least favorite meat. But the pork entries today were good. A couple were over-cooked and mushy, but several were excellent. My taste preference in pork shoulder/butt is nice bark, sweetness, and finish heat. Money muscle is good too. But to me, pulled pork with no bark is kinda boring.
6. I stopped at Publix on the way home and bought a rack of St Louis spare ribs to smoke tomorrow.
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