Judging a Chocolate Competition | #PodSaveChocolate
Episode 25 of #PodSaveChocolate features a discussion of judging chocolate awards competitions with a focus on the 2024 Craft Chocolat Challenge.
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Episode 25 Overview
On Wednesday, March 6th, I received a box containing over 65 bars of chocolate. There are times when I really do love my chosen profession.
These bars are the entries that I will be judging in the 2024 edition – the third season – of the Craft Chocolat Challenge.
In this episode of #PodSaveChocolate I will be discussing how I will be approaching the judging process this year, based on my experience judging last year when there were only 47 or 48 entries.
My exploration will include sharing the judging form that is used, the judging rubric, as well as how I plan to approach judging over 65 entries in a way I feel is fair to every entrant. This is, of course, my process as a virtual judge. There is going to be in-person judging (in Rushville, IN), and there are other virtual judges, each of whom will be approaching this task in their own way. This will be about how I do it, with some commentary about how this process is different from other competitions I have judged – in-person, including the International Chocolate Awards and the Good Food Awards; as well as virtually – the Prêmio Bean-to-Bar Brasil.
When I judge virtually, the first thing I do is make sure I have everything I’m supposed to have – no more, and no less, matching each bar with its judging form. It is also important, in this step, to assess the condition of the entries.
Generalizing, the first step is to get any identification and condition issues resolved as soon as possible before beginning the next step.
After completing the inventory. I did have some questions for the organizer, Dustin Cornett. One was that it looked like I received an extra entry. It turned out that I received the same entry in two different formats, which was not obvious to me from the labeling on the entries or from the judging form titles.
Judging Form and Guidelines
Accounts to Follow and Episode Hashtags
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#CraftChocolatChallenge
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#LaVidaCocoa #TheChocolateLife
Next Episode
The Tuesday, March 12th episode of PodSaveChocolate has not yet been scheduled.
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Clay Gordon
Clay Gordon