Judging: Among The Brethren.

I'm not sure I'm happy with the fact that a Board director and his assistant win or place in every cook-off I've ever been in for the last 5 years. They are also head judges. On the Board of Directors, competing and judging. Pick one and be the best you can at it but doing all three? That's just sending the wrong message. There are a LOT of people in our organization that are unhappy with the fairness of the competitions. So much in fact, that I joined KCBS and another society this week. There is something very blatant and very consistent that the same 3 or four people are walking every time. Nobody is that good that they win at every cookoff they get in. Especially when there is 75 to 100 teams. The "perception" is that it's at both tables. I also don't like the fact that team members can act as judges. There is waaaay too much room for impropriety there and at a minimum, it breeds distrust among the competitors.

I'm not trying to be negative but if someone or several someones want to be unethical, they will find a way, blind juding or not.

By the way,
Who sets the standard for what the judges want? Who makes the decision on tenderness, flavor, smoke ring width, sauce/no sauce? The reason I ask? I was at a cook-off a while back and I had the BBQ association Director, who was competing against me that day, walk up and compliment my ribs while I was boxing them for turn in. He said, "Wow! Those look great son! You know what I would do? I would move the top 4 ribs back from the other 5 about a half inch. That way, the judges can count them easier when they hit the table." I got disqualified for a marked box. Nice!

Respectfully,

IDK about KCBS but as a judge with the PNWBA it is standard practice the the head judge will give an hour refresher course at EVERY event. This way there is no question that the judges have been informed as to what is kosher, what is not, what to look for ect.
That being said. the scoring system for PNWBA vs KCBS is very different. I believe the system the PNWBA has is much more fair, that's just my two cents but. There it is,,, :icon_blush:

arrowhead said:

at a comp this past weekend, the table captain was voicing his opinion on how a cbj should judge a box with 2 different items. i told him it wasn't his job to hold a cbj class at a competition. created a little tension.

the table had 2 judges with over 30 comps, myself (22), 2 others in the teens and one with 5 comps.

he said judge both samples and only score the best entry.

i have been instructed to judge both and average the scores.

nothing in the cbj handbook on how to handle it.

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Being new to the competitive cooking scene I have had not much luck in the events I have cooked in. I have also realized I am not sure what everyone else is turning in. Because of this fact I will be judging my first IBCA competition at the end of this month. I feel this will help me realize some of my short falls.

Big Gravy BBQ said:

Being new to the competitive cooking scene I have had not much luck in the events I have cooked in. I have also realized I am not sure what everyone else is turning in. Because of this fact I will be judging my first IBCA competition at the end of this month. I feel this will help me realize some of my short falls.

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Glad to see you feel this way, as I definitely think that the way to know what the judges are looking for is to become one!!!

Good luck!

Agreed, in the 24 or so contests I have done we have always been told judge it as it's presented..meaning if they turned in Burnt ends and slices..judge em both.

Mogator said:

Agreed, in the 24 or so contests I have done we have always been told judge it as it's presented..meaning if they turned in Burnt ends and slices..judge em both.

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It does depend on your jurisdiction. The PNWBA does have slightly different rules than the KCBS. and there are differences between brisket and pork,,, I would have to get clarification on that one, we would normally give each a score and average the two for a final.

bbq.tom said:

Glad to see you feel this way, as I definitely think that the way to know what the judges are looking for is to become one!!!

Good luck!

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I recently became a KCBS CBJ - and would like to begin to judge comps. any suggestions on whats the best way to begin getting on the circuit? Ready to go. Live in PA.

armrest2 said:

I recently became a KCBS CBJ - and would like to begin to judge comps. any suggestions on whats the best way to begin getting on the circuit? Ready to go. Live in PA.

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Best way to get to judge is to watch the KCBS website "Events" page, "Recently Added Events" and send in an application as soon as they become available. I also contact the organizer if the judging application isn't available immediately.

Good luck!

Good advice to start judging - thanks Tom - sounds simple enough. Saw some in NC - Any suggestions for NC events to apply for ? We'll be staying with my daughter for a while in Chapel Hill (UNC Student) this summer.

Chuck (armrest2)
Herm's Hogs

HERM'S HOGS said:

Good advice to start judging - thanks Tom - sounds simple enough. Saw some in NC - Any suggestions for NC events to apply for ? We'll be staying with my daughter for a while in Chapel Hill (UNC Student) this summer.

Chuck (armrest2)
Herm's Hogs

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Unfortunately, you might be a bit late to judge many competitions around NC, as they fill up pretty fast. Easiest way to find the KCBS comps in NC is to go to the KCBS site: http://www.kcbs.us/events.php?str=NC&fromDate=mm/dd/yy&toDate=mm/dd/yy&search=Search

as you can see, there are a whole bunch, but they may or may not be still taking applications. Best bet is to contact each organizer and ask.

GOOD LUCK!!!

arrowhead said:

at a comp this past weekend, the table captain was voicing his opinion on how a cbj should judge a box with 2 different items. i told him it wasn't his job to hold a cbj class at a competition. created a little tension.

the table had 2 judges with over 30 comps, myself (22), 2 others in the teens and one with 5 comps.

he said judge both samples and only score the best entry.

i have been instructed to judge both and average the scores.

nothing in the cbj handbook on how to handle it.

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SuperQue said:

I have raised that question before and the response from the reps were to judge the meat as it's presented, meaning judging the entry as a whole.

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SuperQue, that's exactly the right answer!

I've heard about some other instances of TCs or other judges trying to "instruct" their table. I wish that the Contest Reps would be told about this immediately - none of the Reps that I know would take kindly to this behavior.

The only time that anyone can tell a judge how to score is when the Rep issues a DQ. Period.

I agree and always judge the whole box as presented. There have been times when it would have been better for a cook had they left something out as it pulled the whole box down.

Mike
cBJ 61436

was working on my 2013 schedule and was wondering what others were up too.

i'm going to try and judge 26 or 27 contests this year, been accepted to 16, waiting on word for the others. starting in lake havasu in a couple weeks. then it's off to:

columbia mo
kearney ne
thornton co (sams)
pleasant hill mo
osage city ks
bixby ok
lamar co
valley ne
pueblo co
frisco co
fairplay co
whiting ia or liberty mo
cameron mo
laramie wy
dodge city ks
craig co
conifer co
albert lea mn
omaha ne
scott city ks
spearfish sd
kansas city mo (sams)
royal
bentonville ar

see you on the trail.

Looks BUSY Arrowhead! I've already lined up 20, but am still awaiting confirmation on some of these. Almost all of these are repeats from previous years.
Looks like the only overlap will be the Royal. Hope to meet you there!
Here's mine:

Pensacola, FL

double post

bbq.tom said:

Looks BUSY Arrowhead! I've already lined up 20, but am still awaiting confirmation on some of these. Almost all of these are repeats from previous years.
Looks like the only overlap will be the Royal. Hope to meet you there!
Here's mine:

Pensacola, FL

Kings Mt., NC​

Cornelia, GA​

Lexington, NC​

Kannapolis, NC​

Gainesville, GA​

Lincolnton, NC​

Tryon, NC​

Apex, NC​

Covington, VA​

Greenwood SC​

Maggie Valley, NC​

Franklin, NC​

Greer, SC​

Winder, GA​

Salisbury, NC​

Kansas City, MO - (Invite & Open)​

Shelby, NC​

Cumming, GA​

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excellent! looks like we have most of the country covered. lol

shake hands at the royal for sure.

at the end of 2013, i will have been to 14 states. my bucket list is to hit all that have a contest.

i need to do an eastern/southern states tour. not sure how the wife would react to me being gone for a month or two. then again......

forgot one. i'm going to try to somehow get selected to judge king of the smoker II. that's at the top of my bucket list.

arrowhead said:

excellent! looks like we have most of the country covered. lol

i need to do an eastern/southern states tour. not sure how the wife would react to me being gone for a month or two. then again......

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I've trimmed it down a bit from last year when I got out to Lake Havasu, AZ and up to Kettering, Ohio. Also, I will be attending a cooking class in July so that is hurting my schedule a wee bit - BUT it should be worth it!

Hopefully, I'll be cooking in the contest in Graham, NC again this year as well as in Apex. Not sure if I'll get to judge any MBN or NCPC contests coming up this year, but I'm still hoping!

My bucket list also includes all 50 states, but seeing that realized will be several years out yet. Something about work getting in the way!!!

i'm co-organizer of a first year contest here in gothenburg, coming up in april. glad it's early in the year.

not sure what possessed me to volunteer to do that. :crazy:

GOOD LUCK!!! Sounds too much like work to me! I may end up doing something similar sometime in the future, but right now I'll leave all the headaches and all to others!