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Barbecue is defined by Memphis
Barbecue Network as pork meat, fresh or frozen and uncured,
prepared only on a wood and/or charcoal fire, basted or not, as the
cook sees fit, with any consumable substances and sauces.
Meat for the contest may not be pre-cooked, sauced, spiced, injected,
marinated or cured in any way, or otherwise pre-treated prior to official
meat inspection.
Each team is responsible for maintaining meat at the required temperature
below 40 degrees Fahrenheit prior to cooking, and at or above 140
degrees Fahrenheit after cooking.
Each team should practice good hygiene. |
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Official meat categories:
- Whole hog entry as defined by Memphis Barbecue
Network is an entire hog which must be cooked as one complete
unit on one grill surface whose dressed weight is 85 pounds or
more prior to the optional removal of the head, feet and skin.
No portion or portions of the whole hog may be separated or removed,
and then returned to the grill, prior to or during the cooking
process.
- No team will be penalized if the slaughterhouse does separate
the whole hog into two separate halves while cutting down
the backbone (spine) to accommodate opening (spreading) the
hog on the grill surface, however, both halves must be cooked
adjoining each other on the same grill surface at the same
time.
- The dilemma facing a whole hog cooker is the ability to
cook uniform cooking of the sections of the entire whole hog
in a uniform manner. The cook must master the ability to cook
a whole hog as a single unit on one grill surface so that
every portion of the prepared hog will be as succulent as
the next.
- Pork shoulder entry as defined
by Memphis Barbecue Network is the portion of the hog containing
the arm and shank bones, with a portion of the blade bone. The
pork ham that contains the hind leg bone will be considered as
a shoulder entry. Boston butts or picnic shoulders are not valid
entries.
- Only the whole shoulder, consisting of picnic and Boston
Butt in one unit with no separation of the components, cooked
as a single unit, is considered a valid entry in a Memphis
Barbecue Network contest. The Arm Picnic may be referred to
as the Arm Roast, or Shank Roast, and the Boston Butt may
be referred to as the Blade Roast, or these portions may have
other local names. None of these is a valid entry.
- The shoulder cook faces the problem of uniformly cooking
all of the sections of the entire shoulder without overcooking
portions near the shank bone, and rendering out a significant
amount of fat without drying out more lean portions of the
shoulder.
- Pork rib entry as defined by Memphis
Barbecue Network is the portion of the hog containing the ribs
and classified as a spare rib or loin rib portion. Country style
ribs are not valid entries.
- The difficulty each rib cooker faces is cooking then holding
the ribs at a critical level of tenderness. Although ribs
require less cooking time than any other category, they are
more difficult to maintain at the extraordinary levels of
tenderness essential in competition barbecue.
- Any team may cook any number of whole hogs, shoulders,
or ribs in a Memphis Barbecue Network contest as they see fit
and may use any number of the prepared entries to fill a blind
judging container. Whole Hog cooks may cook as many whole hogs
as they desire, but the general consensus is that there is little
need to prepare more than one whole hog.
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PICNIC |
BUTT |
WHOLE SHOULDER |
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Team Meeting and Other Team Information
- There will be an official team/cooks’ meeting on the night
prior to the competition 5 p.m.
- The Memphis Barbecue Network Rep will conduct the
team meeting and will discuss the aspects of the contest pertaining
to judging procedures, judging times, and logistics. The basic
rules of the contest will be addressed again. An overview of the
judging criteria and judging process will be given at this meeting.
If one or more teams require more specific information about competing
in a barbecue contest or preparing for or understanding the process,
a limited discussion can be held at that time, but for a more
comprehensive discussion, the Memphis Barbecue Network Rep will
be available to assist these teams on a one to one basis after
the general meeting.
- The teams will be reminded of the judging times
and order for each category and the approximate time of final
judging. The time table for acceptance of blind samples and the
location of the blind sample check-in will be given, and the teams
will be reminded that it is their responsibility to get the blind
sample to check-in on time. The Rep will announce the OFFICIAL
time during this meeting.
- The teams will be advised of the rule regarding
the serving of meat: Any team found to serve a judge competition
meat that was not prepared and cooked on-site, by them, will be
disqualified.
- Teams can be reminded of the safety and fire requirements
and/or restrictions and any special circumstances pertaining to
the contest.
- If items other than those included in the team
packets are to be given out, this is the best time for that.
On-Site Judging
- Teams will be advised about whether there will be a judge assistant/escort
for on-site judges during contest time; if they will eat with
the judge or remain outside the team area to just keep time. Some
contests allow the teams to make the decision about whether the
escorts eat by voting at the cook's meeting.
- Other topics covered in this meeting with regard
to on-site judging will include: checking the contestant stub
of the score cards to be sure the judge is at the right team at
the right time and to evaluate the judges, 15 minute judging time
limit per judge, gifts, beverages, and scoring criteria (to be
discussed in more detail later in this document).
- Teams will be reminded of the rule that: Persons
can participate with only one cooking team during the judging
process. Once judging starts, team members may not switch cooking
teams. Disqualification of both teams may result.
Blind Judging
- The teams will be advised that Memphis Barbecue Network rules
do not allow garnish in the blind boxes and that the blind boxes
should be filled with meat and sauce only. They will be reminded
that anything THAT IS NOT meat and/or sauce will be removed from
the blind container. This will include any items cooked ON the
meat. The blind sample may not be arranged in a distinguishable
design, ie. outline of a pig, or shape of a flower.
- The teams will be told to send the samples in eating
portions, i.e. not full slabs of ribs, etc.
- The teams will also be reminded of the rule that
sauce containers should be sent with no markings, and that if
the containers arrive with any type of marking on them, the sauce
will be poured into another container. The teams have the option
of asking for a “dot” to mark hot sauce. The contest
will provide these and the blind check-in volunteers will place
these markers on the proper container at check-in.
Finals
- During this portion of the team meeting, teams will be advised
of the approximate time that final judging will begin, and that
final judging will consist of on-site judging only. They will
also be informed that the four final judges will visit the team
site in a group and all be fed together.
Scoring Criteria
- Teams will be told that all scoring criteria are multiplied
by weight factors based on the importance of each criterion to
barbecuing in general. Area and Personal Appearance have the lowest
factor while Flavor has the highest.
- Area and Personal Appearance
This criterion assesses the cleanliness and general appearance
of the team area, cooker, and members of the presentation
team. Judges will be looking for the effort made, not the
money spent. They are also instructed to dismiss anything
beyond the team’s control, such as mud, etc.
- Presentation
This criterion refers to the verbal introduction of and information
about the team, area, grill and the entry. It should include
how the cook has taken the entry from the raw state to the
finished product using his/her special cooking methods. They
usually will include information about the development of
their sauce(s), rub(s), and marinade(s). There is no obligation
for the presenter to be completely truthful in this area,
and some great stories are heard. In short, this is the chance
for the team to use salesmanship.
- Appearance of Entry
This criterion refers to esthetics - does the entry itself
look appetizing on the grill and at the table (or in the container
in blind). This is the visual appeal of the entry, not what
garnishes may or may not be provided, i.e. not the “culinary
presentation.”
The judges will be informed of the possibility of a smoke
ring or red layer on the top surface of the meat entry, or
throughout the entry.
- Tenderness of Entry
In this criterion, the judge will be looking for some firmness
but easy separation of the meat. There is a range in barbecue
from tough (not cooked to tenderness) to mushy (cooked to
past tender). There should be some texture, but the entry
should be moist and easy to chew.
- Flavor of Entry
The flavor of the entry refers to the flavor of the meat sample
with the sauce. The sauce can be added before, during, or
after the cooking process. Dry rubs and marinades may cook
with the meat juices to make a sauce. If a team offers no
table sauce, the judges are instructed to score the flavor
of the entry based on the sauce made by the rubs/spices added
before or during cooking. If a team serves more than one table
sauce, the judges are instructed to choose the sauce that,
in their opinion, best compliments the entry and base the
score on that combination.
- Overall Impression
Overall impression is a subjective score based on the judge's
opinion of the overall experience of judging the team, and
is not an average of the other scores. Judges will be reflecting
on their general overall feeling of their judging experience
as they leave the area or when they have finished judging
all samples at the blind table.
This is the only criterion where the preliminary judges can
use a decimal in their score. This is the area where factors
can be taken into consideration that have an effect on the
judge's decision, but the judge does not feel the team rates
a whole number score lower than another team in the same criterion.
The judge can deduct tenths of a point here without costing
the team a whole point or more in the overall experience.
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