Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • >> Ben Mills, Student: \"Well, do you like just eat steaks

  • all the time?\" No, not really. >> Allison Hirth, Reporting: THERE ARE MANY

  • MISCONCEPTIONS. >> Ben Mills: I have people ask us if we go

  • butcher it ourselves. If we start using the knives and cutting

  • it up. >> Allison Hirth: BUT THERE'S MUCH MORE TO MEAT JUDGING THAN

  • YOU MIGHT THINK. >> Loni Lucherk, Instructor: It's almost like a

  • sporting event. >> Allison Hirth: SO WHAT EXACTLY DOES TEXAS

  • TECH'S MEAT JUDGING TEAM DO? LONI LUCHERK IS A

  • GRADUATE STUDENT AND COACH WHO USED TO COMPETE. >> Loni Lucherk: Students get

  • together and we evaluate beef, pork and lamb carcasses, as well as

  • cuts, for different traits, such as quality and cutability.

  • >> Allison Hirth: TO ASSESS QUALITY, THE JUDGES LOOK AT MARBLING AND THE

  • TRAITS THAT IMPACT TASTE. >> Loni Lucherk: They kind of shade the

  • ribeye to make sure that they're not getting too much

  • reflection from the light. This one's got quite a bit of marbling. It's

  • probably about an average choice, so then they would bubble

  • in their Scantron \"average choice.\" >> Allison Hirth: DURING A CONTEST, THEY'LL

  • ALSO DO WHAT'S CALLED YIELD GRADING, AMONG OTHER THINGS.

  • >> Loni Lucherk: And so, they have to estimate the ribeye area in square

  • inches of how big this ribeye is. They also have to estimate how thick this

  • fat is so if it's about three-quarters of an inch then that relates to what's

  • called a preliminary yield grade. >> Allison Hirth: THE TEAM TAKES NOTES, WRITES ESSAYS, THEN

  • MUST DEFEND ITS DECISIONS. >> Loni Lucherk: They only have about ten

  • minutes to do five heads so you have to do it pretty quickly.

  • >> Allison Hirth: THEY COMPETE IN CONTESTS ALL OVER THE

  • COUNTRY. >> Ben Mills: Of the 17 kids who judge, only four

  • scores will actually count towards the team's score but those four people don't

  • know who they are. So, we walk in all expecting to actually compete and

  • our score to count but only four will actually count. >> Allison Hirth: BEN MILLS IS

  • A MEMBER. HE'S A JUNIOR (WHO'S) MAJORING IN ANIMAL SCIENCE, AND SAYS GETTING READY

  • FOR CONTESTS REQUIRES QUITE THE TIME COMMITMENT.

  • >> Ben Mills: On Fridays, we're practicing anywhere from seven to

  • nine hours and then on Saturdays, about 12 (hours) typically.

  • >> Allison Hirth: THERE'S NO TEAM TRYOUT AND ANYONE FROM ANY MAJOR CAN JOIN.

  • >> Loni Lucherk: In order to meat judge at Texas Tech, you take a

  • class and kind of learn everything you need to know about

  • meat judging and then from that class you decide if you

  • want to be on the meat judging team or not. >> Allison Hirth: THE ONLY REAL REQUIREMENT IS

  • A WILLINGNESS TO WORK HARD. BUT, LIKE LONI EXPLAINS, IT'S A ONE-AND-DONE DEAL.

  • >> Loni Lucherk: You have to work really hard that one year if you want to be a

  • national champion because you only get one shot. >> Allison Hirth: WITH COACH MARK MILLER AT THE

  • HELM, THE TEAM'S SEEN MUCH SUCCESS. TWELVE NATIONAL

  • CHAMPIONSHIPS-- 11 OF THOSE IN THE PAST 15 YEARS. BUT THAT

  • WASN'T ALWAYS THE CASE. >> Mark Miller, Coach: From 1938 to 1982, we had never

  • won a thing. Our success today is due to many years of alumni and people

  • who have come through here that have set a standard that says hey, we want

  • to try to do this. >> Allison Hirth: THE REPUTATION BUILT BY TEXAS TECH'S SUCCESS IS GOOD FOR

  • RECRUITING TOO. FOR MILLER AND HIS STUDENTS THOUGH, IT'S ABOUT MUCH

  • MORE THAN WINNING. >> Mark Miller: Meat judging's really irrelevant. It's just

  • a vehicle that we have to teach really important life skills that

  • apply to anybody in any occupation wherever you go.

  • >> Loni Lucherk: Intercollegiate meat judging is all about building that team of friends that

  • you're going to have forever and traveling all across the United States in a

  • 15-passenger van, going to different processing plants anywhere from

  • Nebraska to Houston to Iowa, and so it's just a great experience for

  • students to learn about the meat industry. >> Ben Mills: It's taught me

  • that team work is key. You're going to be around a lot of people for

  • a lot of time. You learn how to handle people. You learn how to evaluate

  • things. You learn how to make decisions. >> Allison Hirth: FOR TEXAS TECH

  • TODAY, I'M ALLISON HIRTH.

>> Ben Mills, Student: \"Well, do you like just eat steaks

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it