SHENANDOAH, Iowa (KMTV) — On Saturday, reporter Katrina Markel took a class in Shenandoah to become a certified barbecue judge. The Shenandoah ShenDig BBQ Championship takes place in July and organizers want to provide opportunities for locals who want to be barbecue judges.
- Barbeque, barbecue, BBQ: no matter how you spell it, folks take competitions seriously.
- "And then you become certified and then we can actually feel comfortable about moving you into our judging room," said organizer, Mace Hensen.
- Thirteen-year-old Rhys Chambers will compete on a team with culinary students from Essex Jr-Sr High: "It's taught me a lot. It's taught me that different things will be judged differently, by different judges."
- The ShenDig is July 19-20. More information can be found on Facebook.
- Learn more about the Kansas City Barbeque Society here.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
It's Saturday morning and I'm getting ready to go pick up my significant other, so we can go to Shenandoah, where we're going to be trained to be Kansas City BBQ judges.
I'm your Southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel and I've been looking forward to this event for weeks.
"It has always been a goal of mine to have some local judges involved with our contest," said Mace Hensen, an organizer of the event.
Barbecue is a serious business. More serious than I realized.
Katrina Markel: "It's fascinating but it's also a little bit intimidating because there's a lot that goes into it.”
We had to join the Kansas City Barbeque Society, then take a half day course, followed by the judge's oath.
"And then you become certified and then we can actually feel comfortable about moving you into our judging room," said Hensen.
Mace Hensen says The Forum to Revitalize Shenandoah is hosting the Shen-Dig BBQ Championship for the third time this July. It's an automatic qualifier for the American Royal in Kansas City, the World Invitational, and gives winners a shot at the Jack Daniels World Championship.
Thirteen-year-old Rhys Chambers will compete on a team with culinary students from Essex Jr-Sr High.
"It's taught me a lot. It's taught me that different things will be judged differently, by different judges," Chambers said.
Rhys is right. When it was time for the tasting portion of the class — the best part, OBVOUSLY — we didn't all have the same opinions. And instructors encouraged us to be thoughtful about the scores we gave.
"I thought it looked good, I gave it an eight..."
Serious business, but also fun.
"I think the most favorite thing I love are the people because it's a family thing ... you become this great big family all over the United States and abroad," said Bunny Tuttle, an instructor with the Kansas City Barbeque Society.
The Shen-Dig is July 19 and 20 in Shenandoah. It's open to the public and there will be opportunities to sample the food.
