.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Juli Hale tosses a bowl of bow-tie pasta and sauce at her cooking station, one of several in a long room of stations, each with a stove, oven, sink and desk with computer, where the eight home economists of Meredith Corp.’s Better Homes and Gardens test kitchen spend most of their time.

She transfers the food into a clean white bowl and carries it next door to a simply decorated dining room with a long wooden table set with place mats, white plates and fine silverware. She places the bowl in the center of the table between two book editors and scoops some of the pasta into a smaller white bowl to display its photograph potential. She then explains that she replaced the bacon with ham and cut some of the butter and cheese since the first test, while she and the editors place some of the food on their plates and take small bites. The tasting panel throws out comments, such as the lack of a salty taste, the better look of ham and the blah taste caused by sun-dried tomatoes and ways to fix it. The bowl is then removed and the recipe put on hold until another test at a later date.

It is this process that ensures the quality of recipes in Meredith’s core print products. But the company is not the only one around Central Iowa relying on the taste buds of a few employees to ensure the quality of its food and beverage products. Here’s a look at how a few local people got into the tasting business.

Juli Hale, home economist, Meredith Corp.

At age 30, Hale made a career change and attended the New England Culinary Institute. From there she became an assistant editor at Des Moines-based August Home Publishing Co.’s Cuisine magazine and then a home economist in Meredith’s test kitchen for the past six years. One of her current projects is to supervise a new book, “Quick, Quicker and Quickest,” featuring recipes for dishes that can be made in 30 minutes or less. She has already developed 71 new recipes for the book.

Hale cooks four or five recipes a day and serves on two panels, with additional time built in for recipe development, nutritional analysis and proofreading recipes.

As many as eight panel sessions convene in the Better Homes and Gardens’ test kitchen each day, lasting anywhere from a few minutes to more than an hour. On average, recipes are tested three times before being published.

Being a taster on the panel is a matter of experience. “We learn just from continuing to taste what’s working and what’s not,” Hale said. With each panel, Hale says she looks for “practicality (of the recipe), flavor and the needs of the individual project,” such as the time it takes to make the recipe. Adjustments are made and tested until the majority agrees on the recipe.

Being a taster involves overcoming some food prejudices and a few mishaps. “Every now and then there’s combinations that’s just, ‘What were they thinking?’ and it doesn’t work,” Hale said. “In that case, we’ll do a return, send it back to who developed it or send it to the editor to either look for something else or go another direction. For the most part, though, things need a little adjustment.”

David Coy, brewmaster, Raccoon River Brewing Co.

David Coy started brewing beer in his college dorm room while attending Iowa State University. He has been the brewmaster at Raccoon River since its founding 10 years ago, making its staple beer products and crafting seasonal specialty brews.

As a brewmaster and longtime certified beer judge, he claims tasting beer involves some natural talent, but being a good judge also comes with consistently throwing back brews. Traditional beers are often judged against basic criteria, such as the characteristics of a German pilsner or an English stout. But when flavors get wilder, such as a chocolate beer Coy made from cocoa shells, it comes down to “trying to see how closely you match the experimental flavors you hoped to bring out.”

Overall, Coy said, “you want a beer that’s clean, not contaminated with wild yeast and bacteria, and is full of flavor.”

The beer most likely in his hand is what he considers Raccoon River’s flagship, the Bandit IPA. “It’s a little more aggressive than you might expect someplace in the Midwest, but still really approachable.”

Paul Gospodarczyk, wine judge

Wine tasting has little to do with actually tasting, says Paul Gospodarczyk, who worked at several wineries before moving to Iowa to help start Des Moines Area Community College’s enology program.

This seasoned judge, who participated in last year’s Illinois wine competition, described the process as smelling the glass, spinning the wine around the glass to intensify the aroma, smelling again, and then finally tasting. “Ultimately you won’t get a lot more from the taste than you would with the smell,” he said.

And if a defect is detected, it may be best not to taste. He compares some defective smells to a Band-Aid, a sweaty horse or a moldy pile of damp cardboard.

Though some people have a natural ability to taste wine, Gospodarczyk said, “I think with a little bit of training people can become very proficient at smelling and analyzing wines.” One of the tests in his Introduction to Wine course involves setting out five types of wine and having students name each type of wine just by tasting.

Gospodarczyk said there are two types of wine judges: those who make wine and understand the science behind it, which allows them to detect little things that might have gone wrong in the process, and those who simply consume wine and judge based on flavor. Either way, becoming a judge is based on past experience, proficiency in analyzing wines and reputation.

Getting to the judging level, “takes a huge amount of focus, especially to do red wines,” says Gospodarczyk, adding that it’s not uncommon to go through 150 wines in a day. Red wines especially have less variation in taste, making them more exhausting to judge, he said. Plus, his preference is for a sauvignon blanc.

Arnzie Seymour, owner, Big Daddy’s BBQ

Since Ike Seymour Sr. (or Big Daddy) passed away, his wife, Arnzie, and son, Ike, have continued the barbecue sauce tradition at their restaurant at 1000 E. 14th St. Though they continue to sell Big Daddy’s super hot sauces from the stash he made before he passed away, Ike has toned down the new production of sauces, focusing on mild and mild hot flavors. However, he has released Lava Q, a new sauce that “is not as hot, but has a real good flavor to it and just a little zip,” said Arnzie. The sauce is available only in the restaurant so far, but will likely be sold in stores soon.

Arnzie said she tastes for the smoky and sweet flavors. “How we know it’s just right is really the taste of the spices that’s in it,” she said.

If the sauce is extremely hot, they sample it with a toothpick; otherwise, they test by the spoonful as they cook it.

As for Big Daddy’s hot sauces, customers still are ordering them through the Web site, www.bigdaddysbbq.net. “It’s old and potent,” Arnzie said. “We have cases of it.” However, she admits, It’s “too hot” for her.