Page 8 - NOV2020 BNM Digital Issue

BarbecueNews.com - 8
NOVEMBER 2020
Judging is a Craft
By Don Collier
I enjoy judging. I like the camaraderie with my fellow judges, volunteers, reps, and organizers, as well as get- ting to know all the cook teams. Tasting and judging the great food is a bonus. This past summer was cer- tainly a weird year for judging contests. I wasn’t able to fulfill my goal to become a KCBS Master Judge. I have a handful of signatures to earn by judging or volunteer- ing at contests, I need to cook with a team and pass the KCBS test.... so next year. However, I did achieve my goal of becoming an SCA Prime Judge. This past sum- mer left me a lot of time to reflect on what it means to be a good judge.
Judging is a craft and every year I strive to be better. Taking a certified judging class was just the beginning of my judging career. Cook teams, reps, organizers, and the organizations we belong to have a right to expect quality judges. The same goes for my fellow judges be- cause the quality of our judging reflects on each other.
Judging is not just sitting down at a table and going through the process of giving an entry a score. A good judge should invest the time to learn what it takes to put food before the judges. Get to know how the food is being prepared, especially if you aren’t a competition cook. You can learn much from observing how the food is cooked. I believe taking competition cooking classes makes you a better judge. Talk to cooks and ask ques- tions about their processes and experiences. Talk to judges and reps about their experiences. Cooks, judges and reps are a wealth of information and I have never met one who was not willing to share information. As a
side note, I am a big proponent of using comment cards. These help me analyze why I scored what I did and I hope they help the cooks when they see my scores. I don’t tell the cooks how to cook their proteins, rather my comments are limited to why I couldn’t give a higher score (ie. too salty, too spicy, dry, etc).
There is more to being a judge than judging food at a KCBS PRO contest. Volunteering at backyard contests, ancillary contests and kid’s contests gives me addi- tional experience in judging appearance and taste. There are amazing cooks at all levels of competition.
Everyone should volunteer at contests by helping per- form the necessary tasks needed to put on a contest. One such opportunity is being a table captain. By doing these various volunteer duties, I gained insights into how contests work and that makes me a better judge.
I like to attend training sessions such as the Minnesota Barbeque Society’s Spring Training. I read the National Barbecue News Magazine and The KCBS Bull Sheet to keep up on news in the barbeque world. I even go so far as to experiment with various rubs and sauces I hear about at contests to help widen my judge’s palette.
I need to continuously work at being a good judge. The more experience I have in all aspects of a contest, the better judge I will be. Experienced judges hone their skills by always looking for new information from cooks, judges, reps, and other sources to improve their craft. I hope you will too.
Mentoring Matters
By Mark Noordsy
The Minnesota BBQ Society began their first mentoring program at Minnesota in May in 2019. With COVID, Minnesota in May became Minnesota in MayAugust,
but the enthusiasm wasn’t dampened. Last year, the mentoring program partnered KCBS PRO teams with backyard teams to offer tips, tricks and insights into the