Boddie-Noell Enterprises, the largest Hardee’s franchise operator in the country, announced that biscuit maker Shirley Jones of the Duke Street Hardee’s in Durham, North Carolina, was named the 2009 Best Biscuit Maker in the company. Jones beat nearly 850 other biscuit makers to win the award.

Contestants in Boddie-Noell’s annual Biscuit Maker Challenge represented more than 340 Hardee’s restaurants across North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky.

Jones says she was proud but shocked when she won the award. “[I was] just doing what I do every day,” says Jones, who has been at the Duke Street Hardee’s for 12 years. “I love to cook—it runs in the family.”

The competition started in January, and each biscuit maker was evaluated based on grooming and appearance, knowledge of proper biscuit equipment, cleanliness and care of biscuit equipment, knowledge and execution of company procedures, and the quality of his or her biscuits. The competition’s judges included general and district managers, regional directors of operations, and other executives in the restaurant division of Boddie-Noell.

Boddie-Noell honored Jones and three other regional winners during a banquet at the company’s Rose Hill Conference Center near Nashville. Jones and the regional winners will be featured later this year on the in-store tray liners at all Hardee’s restaurants operated by Boddie-Noell.