philw wrote:and all we heard was that someone had told the reps to seek shelter.

For those not familiar with these kinds of events, judging most often occurs under a tent. That was the case yesterday. I was one of the judges and at around 2PM we were told by local emergency folks that a severe storm with 70+ miles per hour winds was on it's way.

I asked the head KCBS Rep. if the competition was going to be cancelled. He told me that it all depended on what the local emergency told him. No matter what he wanted to do, for the safety of all, he was bound to follow their warnings. (No matter how accurate they might be)

Luckily, (?) all we got was heavy rain. I'll admit, IMHO, that the event organizer could have maybe done more communicating with the teams on what the heck was going on. All in all, under the circumstances, I think he and all the participants did an outstanding job.

While the head KCBS Rep. suggested we consider giving the cookers a bit of a break in scoring, overall I and the other judges thought they presented some very fine Q. With on and off rain for hours prior to the turn in times, it must have been very difficult for most cookers to maintain desired low & slow heat levels. While I have only been a judge for 5 or so years, I thought the chicken I judged was as good, if not better, than most contests I have participated in. As expected with all the additional time, I found some of the pork submissions a bit "overly tender". On the other hand, I found more than 1/2 the rib and brisket samples I had not tender enough.

Just my 2 cents....

Ron
KCBS & past MBA

thanks bill, awards started at 730 pm

RonJS wrote:

philw wrote:and all we heard was that someone had told the reps to seek shelter.

For those not familiar with these kinds of events, judging most often occurs under a tent. That was the case yesterday. I was one of the judges and at around 2PM we were told by local emergency folks that a severe storm with 70+ miles per hour winds was on it's way.

I asked the head KCBS Rep. if the competition was going to be cancelled. He told me that it all depended on what the local emergency told him. No matter what he wanted to do, for the safety of all, he was bound to follow their warnings. (No matter how accurate they might be)

Luckily, (?) all we got was heavy rain. I'll admit, IMHO, that the event organizer could have maybe done more communicating with the teams on what the heck was going on. All in all, under the circumstances, I think he and all the participants did an outstanding job.

While the head KCBS Rep. suggested we consider giving the cookers a bit of a break in scoring, overall I and the other judges thought they presented some very fine Q. With on and off rain for hours prior to the turn in times, it must have been very difficult for most cookers to maintain desired low & slow heat levels. While I have only been a judge for 5 or so years, I thought the chicken I judged was as good, if not better, than most contests I have participated in. As expected with all the additional time, I found some of the pork submissions a bit "overly tender". On the other hand, I found more than 1/2 the rib and brisket samples I had not tender enough.

Just my 2 cents....

Ron
KCBS & past MBA

just seems like the gun was jumped a little..and its funny that nothing was communicated to the teams who are also under tents and canopies..

that does shed some light on it .
thanks ron.
2 days of rain. but it was still fun to cook

"just seems like the gun was jumped a little..and its funny that nothing was communicated to the teams who are also under tents and canopies.."

I can't comment on your team's communications, but my experience was that some teams got the word. "nothing was communicated" Seems a bit strong. Just before I took my own storm preparedness (relocating my helmet off my motorsickel saddle) I saw the event organizer tasking his crew to warn the cookers. He also took off to do so himself. Then, on my stroll over to my motorsickel, I saw all the teams breaking down tents and otherwise preparing for the weather. I may have been breaking KCBS rules, but if I saw someone standing still on my short journey, I did mention the expected storm. All the responses I got was that they knew.

Maybe it's true the "gun was jumped a little". It's tough to wear the shoes of the powers that be, but if the local emergency folks told me to "seek shelter", I don't think I would delay much in making that annoucement. As it turned out, I think at least the chicken judging could have been done without a problem. It was a tough day for the weather guessers. It seemed just about anywhere I was there were at least 1-2 people who had their I-whatever internet connection devices on and were watching live weather radar. I'm not much of a weather guesser myself, but looking over shoulders it seemed to me that the speed and changing directions of the storms made it anyone's guess on what would occur.

Ron

philw wrote:that does shed some light on it .
thanks ron.
2 days of rain. but it was still fun to cook

Thank You Sir! I am honored to toss my 2 cents in.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping judging in next weekend's Sam's Club comp. enjoys a bit nicer weather.

http://www.kcbs.us/sams-club-series.php?id=17

Ron

Yeah the weather was not good Saturday but I made it out. Got soaked but had a good time, made my way around a bit and talked with some people and took a few photos before my camera got wet and stopped working. Congrats Phil on the pork and the other categories. I flet like a kid in a candy store seeing all the pits around and chatting with people.
http://www.kcbs.us/events.php?year=&month=&id=2531

Head's Red BBQ wrote:just seems like the gun was jumped a little..and its funny that nothing was communicated to the teams who are also under tents and canopies..

Some teams got told others didn't---was putting together philw's chicken when I saw the judges leaving and walked over to check on what was going on--no one ever came by our site and gave us the word when to stop---or start!! Still is a nice contest with good support from local teams