Cool Day for BBQ - Competition Q, that is!

As promised, I'm trying to get back to posting regularly here beginning today. It's been an odd couple of months in my life (to say the least) but I think we're now back to a semblance of "normal." Part of "normal" in our lives is judging BBQ competitions and we ate some fantastic smoked meats at the Sam's Club National Barbecue Tour's regional competition held at Sam's in Laurel, Maryland today. This contest was a second tier event in this inaugural tournament series. All of today's 30 cook teams had already cooked in local contests and won, qualifying them for this round. In two weeks, today's winners will compete for $100,000 in prizes at the final step of the tournament in Bentonville, Arkansas (Sam's home base.)

Sam's initiated this tournament to raise their customer's awareness, knowledge and understanding of barbecue and to promote their many BBQ related products. Competitive cooks have long purchased many of their supplies and meats from their local Sam's Clubs, so the partnership seemed to be a good one. They turned to the Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) for assistance in this project.



The entire tour- nament which began with 40 local contests beginning back in March, has been coordinated by Troy Black, a former KCBS Board of Directors member and a long-time competitive cook himself. In addition to coordinating each individual contest, Troy is also doing cooking demonstrations for the public while the competition is going on. The folks attending the demo are getting to sample some excellent food. (I'll personally attest to the excellence of the smoked lamb this morning!!)

The competition itself is run strictly by KCBS rules and includes only the 4 meat categories required by KCBS to be a sanctioned event - chicken, ribs, pork and beef brisket, in that order. All judging is done by 100% Certified Barbecue Judges. Sam's has taken great care to be sure all fields have been equal throughout the country for all local competitions and then, for all of the regionals - even down to the basic physical layout of the event. Judging rules have been very tight and additional rules and restrictions have been in place. All to insure that all competitors have a fair shot at walking away with the big prize and bragging rights.

The only thing Sam's can't control is the weather and today created it's own challenge for the pit crews (cooking teams). We've been very wet around these parts lately (Maryland has had almost 4 times the normal rainfall for the month of September.) and high humidity poses challenges to the cooks. They must be careful to avoid over-smoking the meats. Over smoking (when using wood, as required by KCBS) creates a creosote effect and really tastes a lot like starter fluid. (Want to insult a competition cook? Accuse him of having a starter fluid taste. Them's fightin' words, my friend!)

Most of today's cooks came from areas between New York and Georgia so all should have gotten used to cooking with high humidity, however, last night the mercury also chose to suddenly change the playing field. Temps through the night dropped into the high 40s and low 50s. They stayed below 55 throughout the day. Cool temps make it more difficult to maintain steady temperatures in the smokers. Temperature variations cause tenderness variations. Tenderness is a large part of the scoring.

I'm thrilled to say, these cooks, on the whole, successfully overcame the challenges and the competition plates presented to my judging table were top-notch. There wasn't a bad entry among them. Some, of course, were better than others. That's how competitions are won.
I do not yet know who the winner was as we left before the Awards Ceremony. (I will be checking the website in the morning to find out.) We were completely chilled through from sitting out there in the cold breeze for so many hours. This is why the BBQ season is now wrapping up here in the Mid-Atlantic region. This will probably be our last contest for the 2011 season (no guarantee about that, though).

I'm already looking forward to our first event of 2012 in mid-April.

Mmmmm! Hickory smoke in the air...

We got up early this morning, The Big Guy and I. Donned in our “uniforms” and wearing official name tags, we packed a cooler with ice packs and a box of zip-loc bags, nothing else, and headed off for our adventure of the day.
We are Certified Barbecue Judges for the Kansas City Barbecue Society and we’d been called into service. There was a barbecue competition in Southern Maryland and they needed us.

It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it. The competitive barbecue season begins in this part of the country in mid-April and wraps up around mid-October. Personally, we only judge 8 to 10 contests per season but there are judges, willing and able to travel longer distances, who sample and score as many as 30 contests a year.BBQ judges are not paid nor are our expenses covered by someone else. There are tight timetables to be followed. There are rules. We are kept corralled in a secluded, enclosed area (often a hot and stuffy tent) for several hours straight. We’re told where to sit and long periods of silence are strictly enforced. We are separated from our spouses and/or significant others. The only beverage allowed is plain water. (At least it is usually chilled.)

Hey, I said it was a TOUGH job.In return, we get to taste some of the best smoked meats ever served to mankind. True barbecue is cooked low and slow, creating moist, succulent, flavorful morsels. At least that’s how we hope it tastes. That’s what we’re looking for.

As KCBS (Kansas City Barbecue Society) judges, we have been certified by that organization to judge within specific guidelines for each category of meat presented. KCBS sanctioned categories are chicken, ribs, pork and beef brisket. All sanctioned events MUST include all four of these categories and cook teams MUST participate in all four categories. Likewise, judges MUST judge all four categories.
Many competitions also feature additional events, called “ancillary categories”. Most often these include chef’s choice, anything butt, sausage and whole hog. We have also been presented with seafood, dessert and sauce categories along the way. Participation in these categories is optional for the cooking teams.

Today’s event included only the four basic categories which is more than enough judging to keep us busy and make us uncomfortably full by the time we were done. Judging is serious and extremely filling business.

I will explain how one becomes a Certified Judge, how the actual double-blind judging is done at a competition and what we look for in entries for each category in other posts to come. Suffice it to say, we give three scores for each sample - Appearance, Taste and Tenderness. Each scoring area is weighted differently with appearance carrying the least importance. Scores are based on a point system and winners are determined by a complicated system. National ranking of cooking teams is similar to the NASCAR point system.

Today, my table had what I consider pretty much slightly above average chicken samples, a poor showing of ribs, some good - some poor pork and some of the prettiest but poorest quality brisket samples I’ve had in a long time. This particular competition had a lot of first-time and amateur cook teams and, as experienced judges, we recognize that by the samples themselves.

However, that assessment is based on our quest for perfect and beyond perfect examples of each. All in all, the food was good and, yes, I enjoyed it all. (Well, there was that one piece of brisket that was not really chewable but it was flavorful while we tried.)

Generally, the food we taste at these events represent the “Best of the Best.” One generally does not enter a contest unless they truly believe their product is special. We have judged at some of the largest and most prestigious contests in the country and, yes, I believe we have each, at one time or another, had The Best. That’s why we keep going back and sacrificing our time and energy to help the world discover excellence in barbecue.

Here’s hoping your next piece of chicken is moist, tasty, succulent and the smoke is sweet.

Accidental Rib Judging

Yesterday turned out to be a fantastic Fall day, though a bit on the windy side. The temps were in the low 60s and the sun was extremely bright. We found ourselves drawn to a festival on the banks of the Susquehanna River and it was absolutely beautiful! We stopped in at Smokin' On The River in Port Deposit, Maryland just to hear a little music and maybe grab a bite to eat on our way to our evening destination.

This was not an official KCBS BBQ competition so we weren't involved in the judging of this Tail Gate Cook-Off. As it turned out, we were recognized and drafted into judging anyway. (The cooks had been promised KCBS judges and KCBS judging standards.) There were 17 talented cook teams that had fought the cool wind all day to produce some high quality ribs and there was an extreme shortage of judges. Turns out we only had 5 certified KCBS judges and one "celebrity judge", the St. Pauli Beer Girl ! (The guys voted her in. Big Surprise!)

It wasn't in our plans but took only about an hour to sample and score these eats and we were glad to do it. Oh, and The Big Guy was thrilled to pose with the St. Pauli Girl, too!

Last BBQ Competition for the season - for us, anyway.

Saturday's judging was the last of the year for us. We'll just have to savor the memories, smells and tastes for a few months. The new season will begin in April which sounds like a really long time away. So much can happen in between.
This last event for awhile was, thankfully, a great one. The Mt. Airy Smoke'n BBQ (in Mt. Airy, MD) was a fantastic KCBS competition combined with a terrific community Fall festival that included music, entertainment, a car show, spaghetti and wing eating contests and even a yo-yo demonstration and lessons by a representative of the Duncan Yo-Yo Company! This was the first spaghetti eating competition I ever witnessed. they could use their hands but no utensils. I only thought spaghetti could be messy before this!

The weather was ideal (I even got a little sunburn! Last of the year I guess.) and a good time was had by all.

Follow the smoke !!

**This is a rare post that has also run on my other blog this past week. I don't usually do that, but it was appropriate to both. (Sorry!)

After 3 weeks away from home we relaxed for a day and a half and then were up early Saturday morning to travel to the heart of Amish country for one of the most prestigious BBQ competitions in the East - the New Holland Summerfest in New Holland, PA.


It was an absolutely beautiful day for such an event. (Last year, we had a monsoon!) You could see and smell the smoke a block away and as we approached the park, every tent appeared to be busy getting ready for the first turn in of the day.

A KCBS (Kansas City Barbecue Society - the largest BBQ sanctioning group) sanctioned event, this contest features the four required categories of chicken, ribs, pork shoulder/butt and brisket as well as two ancillary categories - chef's choice and, new this year, chili. Quite a few teams also participate in the whole hog competition. Those last three categories are optional.

This shot, to the left, shows a team (Pork & Dean's from Phoenix, MD) preparing their whole hog entry.

**It should be noted that BBQ is the only truly American food legacy. People come here from other countries hoping to try real American BBQ!!


Due to space limitations, this event is limited to 72 competition teams. There is a long waiting list to get in and teams know time is of the essence when their application for this one arrives. The field is pretty much full within a week or so of the applications going out. This year, teams came from as far away as Ontario and North Carolina, with the majority hailing from Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware. These tend to be 72 of the very best in the region.

Likewise, it is quite popular with the judges. A contest this size needs 72 Certified Barbecue Judges (CBJs) as well as 12 Table Captains (usually also Certified Judges). This year, there was a judges waiting list of about 125 names. We also get our forms returned within a day or two of receipt. For years this competition has been able to boast that ALL judges are "certified."

Certified Judges actually attend a class to learn how to rate truly good BBQ. There is more involved than simply saying it "tastes good." (Although, taste IS important to the scoring!) Judges are taught to recognize the correct texture for properly cooked meats, appropriate uses of seasonings and marinades so that they lend flavor but still allow a meat's personality to shine through, and how a serving should look to appeal to our visual senses. Tenderness is also scored separately.

Cook teams have a lot invested in this venture. They provide their own meats and supplies, have thousands of dollars invested in smokers and other cooking equipment, travel long distances and spend at least 36 hours on site preparing their entries (ALL cooking MUST be done on site.) While you see star competitors on TV who have won thousands of dollars in competition, most cooks are extremely happy to receive even the smallest monetary reward for their efforts. They MUST enjoy the activity as they sure aren't in it to make a profit!!

Judges are also in it for the love of BBQ. We are not paid. Most of us travel long distances at our own expense - some stay in hotels. We spend 4-6 hours on site in the process of judging. We have judged contests in 100 degree heat on more than one occasion and also have practically frozen to death at cold windy sites. Most judging is done in tents not buildings so weather does factor into our comfort. (If you watched BBQ Pitmasters last season and saw the Dover competition, you saw the coldest and rainiest event we've ever personally judges!)

In return, we get to taste some of the best smoked food in the country!! We've made great friends with other judges and cooks and their teams. (Just for the record - All judging for KCBS is blind judging so friendship with the cooks is not a hand up to any of them.) We've attended some events with fantastic entertainment where we stayed all evening just to enjoy the music. We've gotten to know some fantastic folks working hard to put on quality events in their communities. The Big Guy and I have been happy to sit and talk with new organizers and give some advice as to what they need to do to pull off a great event. We've taken new judges under our wings and guided them a bit through their first experiences. Since we are quickly identified by our judging shirts and name tags as we stroll through an event we are always approached by spectators who ask questions about the judging process and BBQ in general. In effect, we are ambassadors for BBQ. ALL of the judges we know have done these same things. We want folks to enjoy and promote BBQ. It's as American as apple pie and Chevrolet!

A very full and happy judge!!

Each judge tastes and scores only six samples in any category but even at that rate, we are served approximately 2 lbs of meat at any one competition (This does not include whole hog categories. It takes a special appetite to judge Whole Hog. I have never done so.) Obviously, we cannot eat all of that in one sitting. Most of us take 2 or 3 bites of a sample and move on to the next. That is usually enough to reach a score. This means we each have lots of leftovers to take home. (I've become a whiz at creativity with left-overs!)
We are not scheduled to judge again for a few weeks but, who knows, something unexpected often comes up!

** For more info about KCBS contests, both competing and judging, check out the KCBS website at www.KCBS.us.

BBQ Pitmasters - 2nd Season

Just what we need, another cooking competition TV series!!

The powers that be at TLC have begun to tweak BBQ Pitmasters, their hit series from last season. They averaged almost a million viewers per episode of the short series and had double-digit increases in the difficult demographic of male viewers. So, what do you do with success? You make changes. A typical cookers row at a KCBS contest, just before turn-in.

Apparently we don’t have enough game-show style cooking competition series yet. They’re revamping this one into a competition much like the old Outdoor Living Network did. Enough of that format, already!!

For whatever reason, a change in hosts was apparently necessary. These things happen in the TV world. They’ve hired Kevin Roberts, “The Food Dude“. You may remember Kevin from his attempt to become the Next Food Network Star. You may even have seen him on The Today Show this morning. (He was the one squirting French’s mustard down his throat like Reddi Whip!) Kevin is good for a laugh. He’s fresh, enthusiastic and entertaining. I can’t fault them on this change.

They say they plan to put an emphasis on the “all-star judging” process this season. Perhaps they should have stuck to the reality/documentary style format and followed certified judges who regularly judge the events on the competitive BBQ cooking circuits, doing both KCBS (Kansas City Barbecue Society) and MIM (Memphis In May) competitions.

While “all star judges” may sound fancy, there is many a highly trained restaurant chef that knows absolutely nothing about barbecue. This was proven in last season’s accounts of Paul’s attempts at competitive cooking. Paul is a classically trained chef who runs his own very acclaimed restaurants but found he had no training applicable to the competitions, consistently coming in last until he studied at the hands of Johnny Trigg. Johnny Trigg has been an all-star cook in the competitive BBQ world and is extremely well respected in that arena. Amazingly, Paul was at least called after Johnny’s tutoring.

A gaggle of Certified Judges awaiting judging time.

“Certified” judges are trained as to what constitutes excellent smoked meats. Many judge on an almost weekly basis throughout the competition season and have trained their taste buds to identify what is award winning smoked meat. I am a Certified Judge for KCBS. I know these people well and many have been judging for years. It’s not just a hobby for them, it is their passion.

The other aspect the show’s producers feel can be shown in the new format is the preparation of a variety of foods, not just the standard competitive categories. Had they chosen their contests carefully, they could have shown the many ancillary (or “extra”) cooking categories included in many KCBS contests. We have judged many contests that feature seafood categories (both general and specific seafoods), steaks, poultry (goose, duck, turkey), side dishes, other meats (goat, lamb, other beef cuts), creative burgers, shish kabobs, and more.

They could have covered some of the back-yard competitions featured in many of the events where the average Joe or Deb can compete in a particular category using their own back yard style grill. Many also feature Kids Que competitions for kids under 12. I believe folks would watch something they felt they had an actual chance of participating in not just superstars in a specific field.
Memphis In May competitions include on-site judging which was lightly touched on this past season. At these events, competitors go all out decorating their sites. This was not shown but could make an interesting segment. Or they might touch on what it costs to actually compete, Not just costs associated with those driving the huge rigs but talk to the majority who are making do with less formal setups. We know cooks who compete with a few Webers and a folding table under an E-Z Up and we know another who designed and built their own spectacular rig from scratch at a cost of about $40,000.
They say some of last years cooks will be featured “in some form” in the new format. Myron and Lee Ann were specifically mentioned. If they aren’t cooking, I consider this an extreme waste of talent. I have judged many contests where Lee Ann and Tuffy have been cooking and a few Myron has participated in, too. (Yes, we judged at that miserable rainy and cold contest in Dover featured last season.) Although all judging at a KCBS event is blind judging, the odds are, I have tasted some things cooked by each of them along the way.

Please folks, just give us back the Pitmaster series we came to enjoy this past season. Follow a few different cooks. Cover other competitions. Feature other aspects of the contests.

Stop messing with success!!

“Nothing like smoked pig in the morning!”

We stood there, at the edge of the field, Saturday morning and inhaled deeply. Ummm, ummm, ummm! The air was filled with wood smoke - a whiff of hickory there, a tinge of mesquite from the left, a hint of apple wood and, yes, the subtle nuance of cherry floating by from another direction. Oh, what a beautiful morning!!

This was the 7th Annual Pork in the Park BBQ Competition in Salisbury, Maryland this past weekend. A Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) sanctioned event, this competition featured 134 cook teams and is the second largest KCBS State competition in the country. For many teams, this was the first event of 2010 and they were ready and raring to cook their best. A contest this size needs at least 160 judges and, in an amazing organizational feat, judges of the four official KCBS categories were 100% Certified.

At 7:30 a.m., Whole Hog judging was just two hours away and we were there as Pig Police, Pork Cops or Pig Patrol. Pick a title. The name varies from contest to contest but the job’s the same. We observe the preparation of each team’s Whole Hog contest entry from the smoker to the turn-in table.

When competing in whole hog, a cook team must cook the hog in one piece and then submit samples of five specific cuts. (Specific lists of cuts vary slightly from contest to contest.) All samples must come from that one pig. It takes skill to be able to cook all areas to perfection. If the loin is perfect, the shoulder may not be quite done and the ribs could be dry.

You must also be able to cut with precision to obtain six comparable samples of each of those five cuts. (All judging is done using six samples.) Whole Hog competitions are not the place to start your competitive career. (This is not to say newbies haven’t tried. A few have even been quite successful.)

The team I observed this time is a young team in terms of competing. They have only tried a few contests and this was their first whole hog. It was an all round learning experience but they stuck with it and turned in a very reputable entry.

As Pig Police, we did not judge the Whole Hog category. A separate batch of judges had that pleasure. In an exit poll, we found most were very pleased with the quality of all of the entries.

At noon, judging of the official KCBS categories of chicken, ribs, pork and brisket began. ALL KCBS contests must include these four categories and they are judged in that order. All other categories such as Whole Hog, and the Friday events for Anything Butt (Chef’s choice) and Seafood, are optional for the cook teams. Specific guidelines for those competitions are determined by the event organizers and not by KCBS. The four official categories are strictly regulated by KCBS and are judged exactly alike, whether here on the East Coast, in the Mid-West or even in California. (The same rules are applied to contests held in Germany, Ireland and other overseas KCBS events.) Only these four scores are used to determine Grand Champion and for national rankings. I did, personally, judge the KCBS categories as well as Friday’s events.

We spent the next two hours, viewing and tasting the entries in the chicken, ribs, pork and brisket competitions. ALL KCBS judging is blind judging, meaning we have no way of knowing whose entries we are tasting. Teams are given number codes before submission which are changed again at the turn-in table. Even after judging, we cannot find out whose food we tasted no matter why we might want to know. All samples in a category are first graded on appearance. Then samples are distributed and graded on taste and texture. Each table of six judges judge the entries of six teams.

Each sample is graded separately on a scale from 2 to 9 with 6 being “average”. A 2 denotes “inedible” and a 9 is “outstanding“. Scores are then tallied and ranked using a computer program. There is a tie-breaker system in place. Cash awards and trophies are awarded in each separate category and for the overall winning teams (Grand Champion) with the highest total scores. Total numerical scores are kept by KCBS to determine the top team of the year, announced at the American Royal in Kansas City in October.

I can say I think this may have been the best overall selection I’ve had in a long time. All of the chicken samples I judged were above average or excellent, however, none were outstanding in my opinion. Only one rib was not of excellent or outstanding quality among the samples at my table. I would have been happy with a rack of any one of those entries. Only one pork sample was disappointing and only one slice of brisket was tough.

Just for the record, we do not eat the entire sampling at that seating. Two maybe three bites of each sample is enough to score with. We bag up our half-eaten leftovers and carry them home for some excellent leftovers. I’ve only met one judge that has eaten everything presented to him at a judging session - easily over 2 pounds of meat!! This is why we, personally, do not judge Whole Hog on the same day as regular judging. I believe I would explode even using a 1 bite system!

Over the years, I have become a whiz at “recreating” with the left-overs. Pork enchiladas are on tomorrow’s menu.