Published: March 14, 2009 11:46 pm         

Former Oklahomans get a new perspective on judging from class

It is the best barbecue in the world, or is it?

About 20 people learned Saturday just how to judge if it really is the best barbecue. Representatives from Kansas City Barbecue Society taught certified barbecue judging classes Saturday at Cherokee Strip Conference Center.

Ray Stowers and Michael Wieting came from Tennessee to their home state of Oklahoma for the judging class.

“I am from here in Enid. My family is from here and out by Garber. I was born and raised here and graduated from Enid High School,” said Stowers.

Wieting is from the Madill area.

Stowers and Wieting work together now as doctors in Tennessee and worked together while they lived in Oklahoma.

“I did rotations with him when I was still in medical school,” said Wieting.

The idea to become barbecue judges began when Wieting took a class about barbecuing.

“I heard about it when I went to a barbecue cooking class in Ponca City in December. It got me interested in joining the Kansas City Barbecue Society. We do a lot of cooking together. I got on the Web site and found this here in Enid, and I knew Ray had connections to Enid so I asked him about coming here for this,” said Wieting.

“He really had to twist my arm to come,” said Stowers.

Before the class Stowers and Wieting cooked together, now they plan to do competitions together.

The first part of the class was lecture and information on how to judge; the second part was hands-on experience judging barbecue.

The soon-to-be barbecue judges evaluated chicken, pork ribs, pork and brisket on taste, appearance and tenderness.

After trying some of the meats, both believed they have a new respect for barbecuing.

“To me it has been very informative. I’ve cooked for years, now I have a different perspective, especially on presentation,” said Stowers.

They also were getting to know how to keep the judging objective.

“It is surpassingly objective considering how subjective food choice is. The Kansas City Barbecue Society is trying to keep everything the same, even, fair. You have to separate what you like and don’t from judging,” said Wieting.

Class teachers Carol and Merl Whitebook led the class through tasting the meats and evaluating them.

“We judge four mandatory categories: chicken, pork ribs, pork and brisket. At a competition we begin by asking our judges to forget what they like and judge according to the standards for the Kansas City Barbecue Society. For example, we instruct judges a perfectly prepared pork rib is a rib when you bite into it the meat cleanly separates from the bone, leaving the remaining meat intact on the bone and where you bit the bone will quickly dry and turn white. In brisket, we ask the judges to pick up the slice and gently pull the ends. A perfectly prepared piece of brisket will cleanly separate between the membranes in several places before breaking apart,” said Merl Whitebook.

“In addition, many of our contests judges are asked to judge other categories such as side dishes, beans, vegetable and sauces. Occasionally, judges are even coerced into judging

The Whitebooks became involved in barbecue judging when Merl was asked to be a celebrity judge.

“I got invited as a celebrity judge in the Bixby contest. I made fun of the certified barbecue judges. Two weeks later we were taking a class. We now are on the board of directors, contest officials, instruct certified barbecue judging classes and compete as a team — Potentially Hazardous Barbecue,” said Merl Whitebook.

Smokin’ Red Dirt Cookoff State Champ-ionship and Music Festival is scheduled April 17-18 at Mark Price Arena.

“The grand champion from the four meat categories from the Smokin’ Red Dirt Cookoff will qualify to compete in the most prestigious invitational contests, The American Royal and Jack Daniel’s Invitational,” said Merl.

The judges that finished the class Saturday will be ready to judge barbecue contests right away.