She said the competitors always cook rib-eye steak , which the competition provides for them . They get about three hours from the time they pick-out their steaks to the time they turn them in to the judges and it ’ s a double-blind judging .
Croft uses a small , table-top charcoal grill but competitors can cook on any heat-source that they want . She said they also use grill grates to get the marks on the steak that are required .
“ We are judged on appearance , texture , doneness , taste and overall impression ,” she added .
Croft and her husband , Kenny , make up the Sunbelt Grillers team and have been competing for about five years .
She said the steaks have to be cooked to medium and they get a practice steak to cook that day before they cook their steak to be delivered to the judges . She said the steak that they turn in cannot be cut . They are not allowed to cut it to see the doneness .
“ We have to know ,” she said and added that they use a meter and just know what they want to cook the temperature too .
She said it also depends on the steak at what temperature will get it to the medium doneness that ’ s required and she prefers a “ tri-heart ” steak , which has three muscles .
“ A tri-heart , to me , is more forgiving . But the texture can kill you on them if you get them too soft and tender . They cut with a plastic utensil so when they cut in to it , if it just rips and tears and just kind of pulls , they ’ re gonna hit you hard . It ’ s too soft ,” Croft said and added that the judges just like a clean cut .
Croft said that when she cooked in the semi-final round of the competition , a storm came-up and there was lightning all around . She said their tent was set-up next to a huge transformer and her husband told her it would be a miracle if she didn ’ t get struck by lightning .
“ And I ’ m like , if I do , turn this steak in ,” she said laughing .
She added that she cooked the best steak that she could ’ ve cooked in those circumstances because some of the things they have to deal with in competition is the humidity and rain which determines how well the charcoal will perform and the temperature of the grill and how well the meat is going to do .
“ So we have to take into consideration all of that when we ’ re cooking . When it ’ s a beautiful , hot , sunny day , that steak may only take five minutes to cook . When it ’ s cold outside or rainy , it may take 20 minutes to cook ,” she said . Going into the competition , she said that her goal was just to be one of the 15 finalists that made it onto the stage . She said , when she won it , she was shocked .
She said the hardest thing for her to do was to get up on stage in front of the 3,000 people that were there and introduce herself and say a few words .
Since , Croft ’ s a World Champion , she has an invite for life to the World Steak Cook-Off in Fort Worth , Texas , she said .
16 MoultrieScene AUGUST 2024