Job Interview: Minnesota State Fair baking judge shares what she looks for in the perfect pie
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It’s a job that only takes up about five days out of Mary Bindewald’s year. She travels from Little Falls, Minn., to the state fairgrounds to judge baking and canning competitions at the Creative Activities Building.
The other 360 days of the year? She’s retired from her job as a home economist for Minnesota Power and said she spends her time being a grandma.
“My granddaughter, who is 6, told her teacher, ‘My grandma has a job. She gets to eat cake and cookies and pie all day long.’ And her teacher replied, ‘I want that job.’”
Bindewald has a degree in home economics from the University of Minnesota. She said if a judge doesn’t have a degree in home ec, they often have a degree in food science.
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This conversation is a part of our Job Interview series, where we talk to everyday Minnesotans about the rewards and challenges of their work. This interview has been lightly edited for style and clarity. Click on the audio player for the original version.
Official title: Baking judge and sweepstakes coordinator at the Minnesota State Fair
How it works: “We each are assigned different classes. This year, in baking, I judged the strawberry rhubarb pies, I did some ball-type cookies, and I did some international cracker and bread type of entries. In canning, I did some judging of crabapple jelly and combination jellies, where people had to identify which fruits or flavors they combined within their jelly. All of them get evaluated and we do only score 25, and those get returned to them with some comments and some encouragement for how they can improve.”
How she got her start: “I got a degree in home ec from the University of Minnesota and that — along with some additional training on canning and food preservation — gave me the background that I needed to be recommended by some others that I judged with at county fairs. So I got a phone call one year saying, ‘Are you interested?’ and I said, ‘Absolutely!’ I never dreamed that this would be a possibility, but I am so honored and privileged to be a part of it and I look forward to it every year.”
Favorite category: “I love judging the pies. I judged the strawberry rhubarb pies this year, and it’s just so much fun to see what people do. Pies are difficult, between fillings and crusts and getting the flavors and the textures all correct.”
What she looks for in a pie: “The perfect pie has a flaky crust, properly browned on the top and the bottom. The crust on the bottom is baked all the way through. The filling is the right consistency so that it stays in place and yet it is flavorful and colorful with the fruit that’s in it. And the flavors all blend between proportions of the crust and the filling to just melt in your mouth. When you see a perfect pie, it just makes your day.”
On talented Minnesotans: “There are some tough decisions. There are so many good exhibits, and there are just so many beautiful things that sometimes we call each other over to even look at them because we’re just amazed at the beautiful products people come up with.”