Canadian Contest Judging

[Bubba-Q]

I have read enough and asked enough to have a decent/limited understanding of KCBS judges instructions and classes as to how to score good vs bad BBQ.

Who instructs and what instructions do judges recieve at our Canadian contests ?

Harvey

[Hippieforever99]

Good Morning Harvey

I was fortunate enough to be able to be an onsite judge at last years championship in Barrie. The judges were given a talk by DR BBQ before hand on what to look for in the way of presentation which had a value of 15 points and was broken down to appearance of the total dish, was the side dish complimentary, and overall presentation. Then we went on to the taste of the main dish which was valued at 70 points and they broke that down to appearance, aroma, taste, tenderness, and texture. Then we were on to the taste of the side dish for a value of 15 points and it was broken down to appearance, aroma, and taste. We were told that we could ask the teams as many questions as we wanted to about how they prepare, cook, ingredients, etc.( some were helpful but some kept thir secrets quiet ) We were also instructed that when judging a team we were not to talk to the other onsite judge we were judging with, about the meal. Which I totally agree with as what is said might effect the other judges vote on that team. Hence yum and ooooooos and ahhhhhhhhhs were kept to a minimum. We were also told that under no circumstances were we to judge one entry against another but solely on its own merits. I have eaten alot of bbq in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri ( I made it to over 20 joints this past winter) and I totally agree with it being judged on its own merits. I would not think that it would seem fair to say so and so had good this but didn't look as good as so and so's or taste the same. There are alot of different styles and tastes out there and I personally feel that they should be judged on their own merits. Now that is hard for some people to do and I must say that you really have to work on that one to be a fair judge I feel, as it is so easy to judge one against another. Now that all being said I also think that once the judging is all over and done with for the competition, that it is okay to judge one teams entries in your mind against the other. Each person has different thoughts on what tastes they like or dislike or it may be texture etc. But I like to judge each on its own merit. So if I personally like the texture of my pulled pork a certain way and I find that the team that I am judging has their texture a different way I would still judge it fairly on its merits and what is suppose to be the norm for that type of dish. I guess that I have talked long enough here but I could go on for awhile. I hope that this has helped you some and I would really love to talk with you more later about certifiying judges for our Canadian competitions with Canadian rules. After all that is why we have Caiadian rules isn't it ??? For teams and judges to follow at Canadian Competitions. That's my toonie. Dave

[Shark]

For the satellite events and unlike KCBS we are going to try something different by only giving the judges one piece of meat at a time. That way they will not be looking at all 4, 5 or 6 pieces which leads to a tendency to compare.

Ultimately, we will tell the judges the following:

When judging it all comes down to your individual palette. The question you must ask yourself is this: If you were in a restaurant, would you pay good money for what you are tasting, would you want to return - then judge what you have tasted accordingly.

This is very similar to what they tell you when you are KCBS certified, the only difference being they will only have the one piece to judge at a time.

Kirk

[Bubba-Q]

Thanks for the replies guys, very interesting!

Kirk, just for my own clarification, when you say "give them one piece of meat at a time", you do mean 1 styrofoam tray at a time as opposed to 6 trays at a time?
Also are we are not telling our judges that a high scoring rib should be "a single bite coming off the bone with a slight tug" and "your brisket should have a smoke ring that is hb#2 pencil thin and have a tendency to pull just before tearing apart" : ) ?


Harvey

[Shark]

Harvey,

At the satellite comp teams will only submit one box per entry with a minimum of 6 pieces per box. The judges will then select one piece from each box (6 judges per box - 6 distinct pieces - if one rib for example is not cut cleanly through then the judge will not be able to judge flavour). Barrie is different because of the side dishes. There will be no mention of smoke ring on brisket because the smoke ring can be created artificially - KCBS has stopped using the smoke ring as a criteria (at least thats what they said when I was certified last Oct.) Since most teams try to get their ribs to that slight tug then that is what the judges will experience and it will be pointed out to them that that is what the teams will be trying to achieve. In essence though they will be instructed to use their palette as the judging criteria.

All of this will be covered at the team captains meeting.

[Bubba-Q]

Since most teams try to get their ribs to that slight tug then that is what the judges will experience and it will be pointed out to them that that is what the teams will be trying to achieve.

That`s the answer I was looking for.That’s the part that determines the what, how and how long of my double top-secret competition strategy.