Do judges get tired of the same old sauce?

3/28/2013

QUESTION

In this day and age on the competition circuit certain sauces have become very popular. Do judges get tired of seeing the same old thing over and over again? Does something different and unique appeal to you as a judge?

Thanks!

Brad Greer
Smithfield, Utah

George Belzer

3/27/2013 09:34:34 pm

I try to get past the sauce and rate the entry on the taste of the meat itself. I don't think I get tired of the same old sauce but I do enjoy tasting the sauces from different areas of the country. I would like to taste more Carolina-style sauce on pulled pork, for example or a Texas sauce on brisket. This is one of the reason I enjoy judging BBQ contests ln other areas of the country. I would also prefer less sweet and more heat and vinegar but I try not to let that impact my judging.

Ike, CBJ/KCBS

3/27/2013 11:46:50 pm

I prefer to judge the flavor of the meat and at times the sauce can be over-powering. As long as sauce is used right I personally prefer a little sweeter sauce with a little kick to it, especially on everything except the brisket. I'm not a very big fan of the vinegar sauce because it tends to have too much of a bitter taste.

Scott A. KCBS/CBJ

3/28/2013 12:49:34 am

I try to stay totally open minded about sauce and that's easy for me since I like a variety anyway.
It gets said here a lot but DON'T OVERSAUCE!
Don't go to hot either. Even if judges personally like spicy sauce, they don't appreciate their tastebuds getting fried.
At the Sam's Club Pittsburgh event last season, our 2nd chicken sample was so hot that record amounts of crackers and water were used by everbody and I could still feel the effect even after the rib category.
This teams chicken taste score was not good

Bill cbj kcbs

3/28/2013 01:11:49 am

I think that if every cook had to start out with the same sauce, by the time it got to the judging tent they all would be different in some way because everyone tweeks it a little. So I disagree that we get presented the same thing over and over to begin with

Frank KCBS MCBJ CTC

3/28/2013 01:16:37 am

I generally do not focus on the sauce unless it is out of balance, too heavily applied or defective in some manner. The sauce should lightly complement the meat which is where the focus should be. The most succesful entries have a good flavor balance between meat and smoke whith sauce serving to enhance, not mask the good meaty flavors and the subtle smoke.

Cheri Smith

3/28/2013 01:19:25 am

If your at a comp to judge I would hope you not judging the sauce and your judging the meat, the taste of the meat, the tenderness of the meat not the taste of the sauce. I don't know that any of the sauce is the same, some are sweet, some are very spicy however if the sauce is overpowering it is difficult to judge the taste of the meat. A good team will be able to find just the right amount of sauce to present on the meats.

Tom - CBJ w/ KCBS, MBN, NCPC & comp cook

3/28/2013 01:21:36 am

Generally, most sauces that I've tasted on entries are slightly different and unique; therefore, I must state that I truly don't get tired of tasting sauce on entries - PROVIDING that it doesn't overpower the flavor of the meat!!! One particular sauce that a lot of teams use as either a base or additive or alone is "Blues Hog" which has a VERY DISTINCTIVE flavor that overpowers the flavor of ANYTHING that it is put on even in small percentage of the overall sauce mixture! Unfortunately, I truly do NOT believe that Blues Hog "enhances" the flavor of any meat - something that I believe competition barbecue is all about. IMHO we judges are to score for taste on how everything comes together in the flavor TO INCLUDE the flavor of the meat.

I second the statement by Scott A., DON'T OVERSAUCE!

Tony S

3/28/2013 01:40:12 am

I like unique sauces with a little kick. KC Masterpiece seems to be a base for a lot of sauces. Sometimes that stuff gets old especially in the fall when I might judge 3 Saturdays in a row.

Greg MCBJ/KCBS

3/28/2013 01:44:48 am

No two sauces are the same. If sauces and glazes are use in excess they ruin the meat offered for judging. This is a meat contest, if the cook ruins it with too much sauce they are shooting their own foot

Kevin - KCBS/CBJ

3/28/2013 01:53:53 am

It's a meat contest, not a sauce or a garnish contest... That being said I've seen sauces that really detract from the flavor of the meat (or mask it altogether), and that's going to negatively affect the score I give just as much as if they used a bunch of lighter fluid and left a real off taste on the meat. It's easy to say that sauce doesn't positively affect scores, but I think there's research that shows that sweet flavors trigger a positive response in the brain, and that probably subconsciously brings scores up some.

Bob

3/28/2013 02:30:42 am

I agree with this comment.

Ed KCBS MCBJ

3/28/2013 04:22:40 am

I think it's quite possible in my area to have 4 of 6 entrys in chicken and ribs coated with Blues Hog, some have an added ingredients some just out of the bottle. So do I get tired of it? It is what it is, you put it in the box I sample it. Something new comes along it's very possible that it would excite my taste buds, but only if it's good.
Different is not good just because it's different!

Herb (Master CBJ)

3/28/2013 04:31:11 am

Ed - I like your comment: "Different is not good just because it's different!." I agree. Different can either confuse a judge or shock them into a new realm of BBQ heaven. Bottom line: Do not be different just to be different.

buzz--cook--cbj

3/28/2013 06:05:30 am

"Do not be different just to be different."
if only some new(to contests) cooks would read and understand that--guess that is what makes it all exciting to flip open the 9x9!

Keith KCBS CBJ/CTC

3/28/2013 06:01:46 am

I don't get tired of any particular sauce if it is a sauce I like. But in a KCBS competition I'd rather there not be any sauce at all -- given that it is a meat contest.

The experts all agree: if the meat is good enough it doesn't need any sauce. I personally have found this to be absolutely true.

Richard Markowitz

3/28/2013 07:47:24 am

I never get tired of anything that tastes good. I don't mind sauce on chicken as long as long as it doesn't overpower the taste of the chicken.

Don

3/28/2013 03:15:41 pm

I do not mind sauce as long as it enhances the taste of the meat. If the sauce over powers the meat then my score for taste will it.

Neil B - KCBS, FBA

3/31/2013 04:02:32 pm

I agree with Don's comment.

Chaz D kcbs cbj

3/29/2013 12:09:42 am

I know a lot judges say they only judge the meat and ignore the sauce but i think that very difficult. I judge an entry as a package. The meat, the sauce, the rubs and type of smoke are all variable and need to work together. So even with a popular sauce the other elements have a tendency to change the flavor profile of the entry. So short answer. It usually doesnt matter as long as it works well with the rest of the entry.

Joanne

3/29/2013 12:41:26 pm

I really wish the entrys would not be sauced at all. That way you can really taste the meat. Everyone says, it is not a sauce contest, but sometimes the meat is so heavily sauced that is all you can taste. We don't get the same sauce all the time though, there are lots of variations out there. As far as something unique and different, you are going to get different reactions from different judges. I have seen a box of chicken, sliced breast meat with a white sauce with black pepper in it. It was a very different presentation. Some judges scored it down just for being "not what they expected". Some scored it higher. It tasted awesome, almost everyone loved it, but there were a few judges, that again thought it was not what they expected and scored it down. So be careful with how "out there" you get.

jaja01 KCBS MCBJ

3/30/2013 01:40:16 am

I do get tired of the same tasting sauces. It seems the base of many sauces is a bottled store bought sauces. This, to me, does not make for a unique BBQ sauce and makes most sauces the same. I once tasted chicken that was sauced with a Caribbean type of sauce, What a pleasant surprise.

Suggestion - develop and make your own sauce from scratch and forget the store bought bottled BBQ sauce. One would have to add a whole lot of spices to the bottled sauce to change it.

Greg

3/30/2013 04:20:15 am

I prefer no sauce. If I can't get there, I prefer a very lite sauce. I'm there to judge meat. Sauce gets in the way. When I have to deal with sauce, I hope it doesn't' detract from the product. Sadly a lot of the time it does. Generally speaking, if sauce "helps" a sample, it needed the help.

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Do judges get tired of the same old sauce?

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