The competition steaks are judged on appearance , texture , doneness , taste and overall impression .
“ It ’ s something we get to do together . We both enjoy doing it . And it ’ s competitive but it ’ s relaxing at the same time . And we compete against each other , as well ,” Croft said .
She said on an average they compete in about 20 competitions a year and it can be either a single or a double competition where you can enter two steaks for judging , which doubles the chances of placing or winning .
“ But it ’ s a lot of work . You do it all on the same day . And that ’ s what we like about it ,” she said and added they had thought about barbecue competitions but those were always all-weekend competitions and they are responsible for purchasing their own meat , which gets expensive .
“ SCA , it ’ s normally $ 160 for single and $ 320 for a double . You set-up on the same day , you go home on the same day . So , it ’ s busy work the whole day while you ’ re there ,” she said .
She said there weren ’ t a lot of steak cooking competitions in this are so they have to travel a lot to cook but they ’ re usually only one-day events . Her favorite events are ones that the proceeds goes to local charities .
“ SCA gives back so much too charities and that ’ s the one thing that I love about it ,” Croft said .
As far as tips on cooking a good steak , Croft said that it all starts with picking a good steak and that once that ’ s done , a great result can be achieved with any type of steak .
She said that her recipe that she used at the World Championship and won with was something that she had only come up with a few weeks before and had only cooked it at home . She said that she liked the way it tasted and she ended-up with a great taste score so she will stick with the recipe . So , stick with a recipe that just tastes good , she said .
Her future goal , in a couple of years , is to bottle her championship recipe and get it into local grocery stores and businesses .
AUGUST 2024 MoultrieScene 17