Competition Question

[dbleyepatches]

How exactly does a cooking competition work? How are the judges selected? I guess what I'm asking is how can a judge (or judges) say that one barbeque is better than someone else's? I guess it would just come down to that person's opinion on that one day. It sounds kind of like hitting a moving target to me. Do you tailor your cooking recipes to what certain judges will like?

I am not bagging on competitions, I've never even been to one. I'm just curious how they work.

 

[Meat Man]

Entries are judged on a scale of 2-9 on appearance, taste and tenderness. Each is weighted differently, with more value place on tenderness, taste then apperance. Judge selection varies from sanctioning body. In IBCA anyone can judge, but for a KCBS event, judges are Certified Barbecue Judges in most cases. These are people who have taken the KCBS judge training class. At a contest there is a judge for each team, a judging table consist of six judges and a table captain that over sees the judging process. Each box that is turned in must have at least six separate samples, one for each judge. Each teams entry is judged on its own merits, not really judged in comparison to the other entrees. The table captain will show each box to the judges, identifying the box number and is then judged for apperance. Then each judge will select a sample and judge for taste and tenderness. The lowest score of the six is tossed out and the remaining scores are tallied up for your final score. Judging is and can be very subjective. I wouldn't compare it to a moving target, more of a bell shaped curve. You try to prepare entries that will appeal to the largest percentage of people. Often many competitors don't care much for their competition BBQ, it's is very rich and full flavored. Most judges will only take one bite from each sample, so you try to pack as much flavor as you can into each entry. Here's a pic of our last chicken box that we turned in. My wife Amy does the chicken on our team. This one did pretty well getting all nines and one eight in apperance.

 

[Chili Head]

Now that's a pretty box!
Great question and answer.

 

[scooter]

How exactly does a cooking competition work? How are the judges selected?

Judges apply to judge at a competition. It's pretty simple. If there are 20 teams signed up to compete then the contest will need 20 judges. If I get my name in to judge and I'm within the 20th judge to apply then I'm usually assured a spot at a table to judge. KCBS certified judges are preferred at KCBS sanctioned contests although sometimes there are more teams than judges so judges are sometimes picked from the contest volunteers and given a crash course on KCBS rules and scoring.

I guess what I'm asking is how can a judge (or judges) say that one barbeque is better than someone else's? I guess it would just come down to that person's opinion on that one day.

We don't compare one entry to another (Judges aren't supposed to compare one entry to another but some probably do). Each entry is judged on its own merits.