Inside the vintage setting of Buck Owen’s Crystal Palace on March 20, barbecue connoisseurs gathered among the stage floor, listening intently to the judging instructor of the Kansas City Barbeque Society.
Held in preparation by Memorial Hospital for the upcoming second annual Bakersfield’s Biggest Baddest BBQ on May 21-22 at Stramler Park, the prospering judges and competitors listened intently to the rules, regulations, and judging instructions of KCBS judge trainer Gene Goycochea.
“We have very strict rules, a very fair system and blind judging,” said Goycochea.
Informed on everything from accepted garnishes for the dish, fresh green lettuce, curly parsley, flat leaf parsley and cilantro, as well as the restricted Kale, endive, red tipped lettuce, lettuce cores and other vegetation – the aspiring KCBS judges listened intently on the rules of the trade.
“If you’re going to garnish with iceberg you can’t show the white core, the white core is not allowed,” said Goycochea.
“You will see teams that turn in a bed of parsley, where the curly part of the parsley is up to the top and the stems are down below. It has a great presentation, works well for parsley, the only problem is sometimes you pick up some of that parsley when you’re a judge, and it just doesn’t taste well with pulled pork.”
Proper meats were discussed in detail. Participants in the event are allowed to cook with kosher chicken, Cornish Game Hen, pork ribs with bone, Boston Butt, whole shoulder pork, and whole, flat or point beef brisket.
As far as cooking methods and gadgets go, for the accepted meats, contestants spend incredible amounts of dollars on grills and stoves.
Gas and electric heated BBQs are prohibited and contestants are only allowed to cook with wood and charcoal.
“Smoke turns the bone red,” said Goyochea, as he informs on natural occurrences that might thwart accurate ratings on contestant submissions.
At noon the aspiring KCBS judges were served a round of pork, ribs and chicken in test of the knowledge they acquired so far in lecture.
Sipping from the bottles of water on the tables, and nibbling on crackers to dissolve the taste from the prior entry, judges chewed their food carefully while taking into consideration tenderness, skin consistency, flavor, as well as looking for any of the disqualifying attributes.
The trainees placed their verdicts on actual KCBS scorecards, and Goycochea discussed the entrées’ pros and cons after each round.
Contestants are judged blindly at KCBS sanctioned contest, and it is the duty of the judges to be well versed in the art of BBQ.
A serious subculture, BBQ competitions are seen worldwide as well as on television programs like The Learning Channel’s BBQ Pitmasters.
Last year’s Bakersfield’s Biggest Baddest BBQ drew in 35 teams, and organizers are now being told by KCBS to expect around 50 teams for the upcoming event.
“We are just hoping that we found a signature event, not only for the hospital, but for the community,” said Janelle Capra, the director for the Children’s Miracle Network at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital.
Organized by Bakersfield’s Memorial Hospital, all proceeds for the BBQ competition will go to the Children’s Miracle Network in hopes of building a children’s intensive care hospital in Bakersfield.
“We are growing to develop expanded pediatrics and pediatric intensive care. We will be the only one in southern San Joaquin Valley that will have one between Fresno and Los Angeles,” said Capra.
Bakersfield’s Biggest Baddest BBQ runs from May 21 to 22. Gates will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The entry fee is $10 and children under the age of 12 get in free.