Judging Panel

Meet Our Judges & MC

The Golden Spurtle Crown and Speciality Award relies on the skills and experience of our Judging Panel. The  Judging Team is a range of famous and prestigious chefs and a high profile celebrity judge. Without our judges there would be no competition.

Welcome to our 2025 Guest Judge, International best-selling author Coinneach MacLeod, the Hebridean Baker

Coinneach was born and raised on the beautiful island of Lewis, the most northerly of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Inspired by family recipes, Scottish flavours and the myths & legends of the Hebrides, his four cookbooks have made him Scotland’s best-selling cookbook author and his first book has recently been released in German, The Hebridean Baker: Meine liebsten Rezepte und Geschichten von den Schottischen Inseln.

Coinneach appears regularly on TV and will soon begin filming his own BBC series. His distinctive approach to combining food with travel adventures has earned him Scotland’s Food & Drink Influencer of the Year title, and has his seventh North American book tour in 2025. His social media presence on Instagram @hebrideanbaker with his unique take on foodie travel adventures have been viewed over 31 million times and his new podcast Scottish Island Adventures sees him sharing the best of the Hebrides one island at a time!

Coinneach said “As a past competitor at the World Porridge Making Championships, I’m incredibly proud to now be joining the judging panel. Every morning for me begins with porridge oats, so this truly is a dream come true – I can’t wait to taste my way through all these incredible bowls! I’ll be the Goldilocks of the Hebrides, searching for the one that’s just right!” For more about Coinneach visit the Hebridean Baker website.

Neil Mugg – Head Judge, chairperson of Judging Panel

Neil Mugg, a judge at the Championships on many previous years is delighted to return to Carrbridge for 2025.

Neil has enjoyed a fantastic career working as a Chef in Scotland. Starting on the West coast in a country house hotel, he moved to Glasgow in 1990 to further his career. Neil developed skills as a Pastry Chef whilst also studying cookery and pastries/ desserts at both Glasgow and James Watt colleges.

Late in 2003, Neil relocated to Perthshire and worked at The Gleneagles Hotel. Whilst there, after mentoring students. In 2008, he took up a part-time position at UHI Perth and worked in both places until 2016.

After leaving Gleneagles, Neil worked in three colleges across Scotland.  He is now in a role at UHI Perth, where he can share his culinary knowledge and hospitality industry standards to the up-and-coming chefs of the future. He said: “To be able to work with and teach these youngsters vocational skills has been a highlight!”

He has always been very passionate about cooking and baking along with Scottish produce. Neil feels very lucky that throughout his career he has been able to fulfil his ambitions. “Being asked back to judge the championships again is a real honour”, said Neil. “I really look forward to meeting new competitors, past winners, new competitors, and familiar faces from previous years. I am also looking forward to meeting and working with Coinneach and KJ again, and of course to receive that warm Carrbridge welcome too!”

Kirsten Gilmour (Kj)

Kj is a passionate, straight-talking, award-winning chef, artisan baker & author.
Originally from New Zealand, she travelled & cooked around the world, falling in love with Scotland (& a Scottish bloke.) She now calls Scotland home.

Kj is the owner/ head chef/ baker at Kj’s Bothy Bakery an award-winning bakery just on the outskirts on Grantown and her ethos has always been to create fresh, locally sourced, cooked from scratch fare with a kiwi twist.

She is now famed for her daily sourdoughs, artisan baking, freshly baked cakes, sexy puds, epic sarnies & delicious sausage rolls, she is a true coffee snob & prides herself serving top notch coffee.

Kj is the previous owner & head chef of The Mountain Cafe Aviemore, serving high end brunches & bistro style café dishes. The café became an Aviemore institution winning many awards & accolades over the 16 years it was open.

Some of Kj’s proudest accolades to date have been:  Best café in Scotland, Best independent café in the UK, Best casual dining chef Scotland, Woman of Inspiration for the Highlands & Islands, Bakery of the year Scotland.

Shop online or Visit Kj Wednesday – Saturday 8am – 3pm

Sarah Rankin (Master of Ceremonies)

Sarah Rankin is a former MasterChef Finalist, food writer, culinary event host and lover of Scottish flavours and produce.

“I am thrilled to be back hosting the Golden Spurtle. As a former judge, I’ve seen both sides of the event and getting to spend time with competitors from all over the world as they share their love of our national dish is such a joy. There is always such a fascinating range of competitors and food cultures represented and getting to share their stories with the audience at the event and via livestream is a real privilege.”

Sarah celebrates Scotland’s larder as a private chef and Supper Club host, and as a regular on the food festival circuit around the UK. You’ll find her food stories in several print publications and hear her regular contributions on BBC Radio Scotland.

She loves to celebrate local suppliers, sustainable food practices and Scottish produce and her first cookbook, ‘Kith’ which celebrates Scottish flavours, seasonality, local producers and the joy of cooking for those you love, is out now. More about Sarah in her website Here

Judging

The tables below demonstrate how our Judges will score entries in the traditional and speciality section.
You can find out more about the competition rules on our Competition > Rules page.