Euge, I've been judging in one of those contests where you taste every entry. I had to judge ribs in a contest with 29 teams. By about the 10-12th entry I was wondering if I'd ever finish PLUS the tastes after awhile all run together unless you get one that really pops(i don't just mean good). By tasting a smaller sample you can judge more subjectively. You can taste the little nuances that are in the meat. On that one contest I couldn't wait to finish and I LOVE ribs. Smaller samples better judging.
Originally posted by euge.lee:
As a BBQ n00b, I had high hopes for this show, but it really showed me that "Competition BBQ" is a huge waste of time and good meat.
It pains me to see Harry Soo take a taste of his bbq sauce, cringe at how horrible it is, yet still submit it into the content because that's how he think the judges like it. Talk about "sell out". And it's not just him... a few others mentioned that they don't eat BBQ the way they prepare it for competition.
Most discouraging is the voting system. Not even the 488 judges in the last episode, but the fact that not every judge tastes every entry is absurd. Why even hold it on the same day? Just have a "national" bbq contest with judges in every major city... tally up completely subjective votes and hand out a "grand champion" prize. What a joke.
That said, I have a season pass for the show on my Tivo because I love bbq so much!