Barbecue Judging

Mrs. Watson wonders:

How, exactly, does one become a "certified barbeque judge"? And where do I send my application?

Obviously, since barbecue is the most important thing in the world, it only stands to reason that there are all sorts of standards and stuff with which one must comply in order to be considered a real conoissooee. This site has a nice succinct run-down of what it takes to do a good job as a judge, and what all goes on at a pig-smoking contest, and this one goes into a bit more detail, including some sample quiz questions.

Now then, the whole problem as I see it is that while being a judge allows you to eat all kinds of barbecue, it also requires you to be a responsible citizen, and it means having to deal with the inevitable sore losers and jerks, which would seem to take some of the fun out of it.

It being such a big deal also makes you wonder if there is someone in Competitive Barbecueing who is the equivalent of Dick Button. I wouldn't think so, given the amount of knives about, but you never know.
posted by Terry at 12:15:00 PM