Swindon_Ed wrote:eater of food wrote:If there are any questions you'd like to address to me, as a representative of the judging community, then feel free to post them here. I will do my best to answer.
Could you give a run down of what you're looking for in each entry for the four main categories?
How much detail are you looking for? I have often thought about a judges class for teams but to be honest there wouldnt be enough interest. Here is a quick Summary
Chicken,
Appearance, remember it the appearance of the meat within the box, judges are looking for uniform pieces with a nice glace. Try to avoid brush marks. Bite though skin, juicy chicken with a good flavor, try not to completely mask the chicken flavor.
Ribs,
Again, a uniform box with a nice consistent glaze, if they pull off the bone they are over cooked, a nice bite mark is what the judges are looking for, juicy not dry.
Pork
sure you get the idea about the box and appearance. a nice bit of bark, try to avoid using too much sauce. It is important to make sure the pork is cooked well, no one likes dry meat.
Brisket
A nice pull for the slices which must be cut across the grain, no more than pencil thick, for some reason the slices seem to be getting thicker and thicker! It is alot easier to get juicy burnt ends, some judges will frown on a box that only contains them.
There is no point talking about a flavor profile for any of the entries, everyone has different tastes and judges will experience different things from the same piece of meat. I always recommend cooking for the masses rather than a few. As mentioned in the chicken section, it is the same for all categories, do not mask the meat, compliment it. The parsley / lettuce is not judged, but if it looks tatty it takes away from the overall appearance. At the same time, a box will be scored lower without dressing than one that has it. i am afraid its human nature.
The first thing i tell new teams is to learn how to cook the meat properly before playing around with flavors. 90% of RGC's will have messed up a single category. Once you have mastered the cooking, play with the flavor. Judges are people, albeit people with very large appetites! The judges we have can all boast more judging experience than any others in the UK, but with experience comes expectation.
We will have full judges comments for teams that compete in May, but this will probably be the only time this year.
i have already added to this twice and will probably do so again!