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Interview: WFC Competitor and Judge Kelly Lucas Shippey

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Each year, BULL Grills runs its Burger Battle competitions around the country. The events are a series of qualifiers for the World Food Championships in November. Kelly Lucas Shippey not only won last year’s BULL Grills San Diego Burger Battle, she judged this year’s event. That makes her a double threat for anyone looking for tips on what to expect. Here’s what she had to say when we picked her noggin.

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San Diego Burger Battle Part 3: Execution

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Time is the one currency you can never make back. Once it’s spent, it’s gone forever. Going into the last few days before the San Diego Burger Battle, I’d invested a good deal of chrono currency preparing for the big day, August 9th. Game time loomed and it was time to face the competition on the field of battle.

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San Diego Burger Battle Part 2: Training Up

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Scouting was over. I knew the conditions of the San Diego Burger Battle. Time to roll up the sleeves, plan, and execute. We would have two hours to create our burgers and turn in two presentation boxes–one for appearance judging, one with enough burgers to feed the four judges. You could provide each taster with their own full hamburger or chop one into fourths; sliders were an option too and you’d need one per judge to munch on.

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San Diego Burger Battle Part 1: Recon

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Last month saw my first food competition: the San Diego Burger Battle. I’d judged KCBS barbecue, assisted Doug Keiles in Oakland, and covered the World Food Championships, but this was my first time at the helm of my own competition effort. I learned a lot from the experience and over the next couple of days I’ll be sharing those lessons here for anyone who’s thought about competing.