Page 38 - July 2020 Barbecue News Magazine

What did you like best about doing this virtual competition?
“It was a new bbq experience after 18 years of BBQ Judging”! “All the en- tries come right into my home at one time. Pretty easy to judge in those conditions.” And I’m sure all the judges would agree that the best part was, “The chance to be part of BBQ during the stay at home shut down.”
What did you find most challeng-
ing about doing a virtual competi-
tion vs. regular competition?
“I realized from the first moment I
opened my judge portal what I like
about judging in a regular contest. You
get to use all your senses to make a decision. In the virtual contest, one can only imagine the tastes, smells and tex- tures of the entries.” Most of the judges echoed similar sentiments. The hardest part was not being able to taste the food.
What things did you look for in each entry?
(Psst! Pay attention here cooks!) “The color, how juicy it looked, the smoke, the sauce and or rub”, “Good trimming and prep.”, “The appearance of the meat, so it was impor- tant to not have too much sauce.”, and, of course, “How perfect the box looked”.
How did you decide which entry would taste the best?
All the judges needed to draw from their past experiences to judge the entries based upon appearance only. And it re- ally came down to “ you know what good bbq looks like”.
How did you approach this contest differently than a regular competition?
“We didn't say the oath before judging”. Uh oh! Good thing it wasn’t a sanctioned contest! But in all seriousness, all the judges said they approached their job with the same se- riousness of a regular KCBS competition. They also appre- ciated the extra time to evaluate each entry without being on the clock to make quick decisions.
Is there anything you learned dur- ing this competition that will change how you judge a regular competition?
Nope. Just bring on the regular con- tests, we are ready to eat!
Parting Thoughts:
I think all the cooks, judges, organiz- ers, and fans would agree that we hope to return to our regularly scheduled competitions some time this summer. But the BBQ Border Battle really hit the mark on helping us through a tough time. Perhaps vir- tual contests are here to stay. They
provide a good learning space for teams, a chance to connect with other BBQ teams, and a
chance to practice our craft without the task of trailering smokers. Virtual contests would also provide a great diver- sion during the long months of winter. (Hint, Hint, Board members) . At a minimum everyone learned how to take better photos for their social media pages.
Joe Osbrink of Never Easy BBQ summed it up perfectly for us: “I have participated in about every virtual competition known to man over the last few months...and I can say without a doubt, the BBQ Border Battle was the best virtual competition I competed in. I loved the team aspect of this contest, Iowa vs Minnesota. I also really loved that each cook was required to cook different proteins chosen at ran- dom. This ensured that teams couldn't assign proteins to team members who were maybe better at one protein than another. Kevin and Trent (Iowa BBQ Society) and Stan and David (Minnesota BBQ Society) were able to get all of this put together very quickly and were able to manage every- thing effortlessly. This was a fantastic event and something I hope can continue”
Thank you again to all of our generous sponsors! Without you we would have handed out virtual stickers and high fives to the winners. Congrats and Thanks to all the teams for providing your insights and giving this crazy virtual contest thing a whirl!
Joe Osbrink- Never Easy BBQ
Minnesota Upcoming Events
Aug. 1, 2020: B-Dale BBQ Contest, Roseville, MN. FMI: http://www.b-dale.com.
Aug. 15, 2020: Knights of Columbus BBQ Rib & Chicken ack Yard Competition, FMI: http://kc8571.mnknights.org/event/11thcar-rib/. Yard Competition, FMI: http://kc8571.mnknights.org/event/11thcar-rib/.
Aug 21-22, 2020: 13th Annual Big Island BBQ, Albert Lea, MN. FMI: http://www.bigislandfestivalandbbq.org/BIB/bib.htm. CANCELED 2020
JOIN US • #MNBBQCREW • Facebook.com/mnbbqsociety
BarbecueNews.com - 38 JULY 2020