Hit 500 comps judged last Saturday, that number snuck up on me

I've been judging KCBS events off and on for about 6 years now, and last weekend in Tulsa I realized it was my 500th table. That just blew my mind because I never kept a tally, it was just one weekend at a time. The thing that got me is how much my palate changed without me noticing, I used to be all about heavy smoke and now I find myself docking for acrid burn on the back end. I also started catching myself noticing how a single overtrimmed brisket point throws off the whole turn-in box, something I never saw in my first 100. 500 is a weird milestone because it means I've eaten a ton of pork and chicken, but honestly it made me question if I'm too picky now for casual backyard cooks. Has anyone else hit a certain number of judges or comps and suddenly realized their baseline moved on them? Maybe I need a reset, or maybe that's just the natural path.

0 comments

0 Comments

No comments yet

Be the first to share your thoughts on this discussion.