The Texas BBQ Forum

When competing at sanctioned events (large or small) I have noticed a lot of the people judging the meat are volunteers. Usually everyday Joes. Are theses "judges" given any type of tutorial on things to look for. When and if your meat your meat goes on to the next round are those "judges" volunteers? I know the final table is made up of very qualified judges. What I am getting at would be is there a standardized system/sheet/point system that the judges go off of to determine the grade of your meat. I have spoke briefly with some of the first and second round judges and I could not get them to elaborate much about anything that they just tasted. A lot of you are very experienced at cook offs, I am not but I feel if I knew what is being asked of me as a pitmaster I could do better. Or maybe its a secret and they don't want you to know. Thanks for any feedback.

All BBQ judges inTexas are all Joe q Public .... Doesn't matter which round it is ... There is a 5 minute tutorial read from the scoresheet about judging criteria and scoring ... Just try to keep your food in the middle of the road on spice ... It usually works out well

3 star redneck wrote:All BBQ judges inTexas are all Joe q Public .... Doesn't matter which round it is ... There is a 5 minute tutorial read from the scoresheet about judging criteria and scoring ... Just try to keep your food in the middle of the road on spice ... It usually works out well

Spot on advise Jeff!

Have you ever judged ? Go out give it a shot - you will be suprised at what some of the boxes contain

All BBQ judges inTexas are all Joe q Public .... Doesn't matter which round it is ... There is a 5 minute tutorial read from the scoresheet about judging criteria and scoring ... Just try to keep your food in the middle of the road on spice ... It usually works out well

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"the scoresheet"..... where can I get one of these. This would be a great help. As someone else suggested, becoming a judge for an event is a great idea.

MLS wrote:All BBQ judges inTexas are all Joe q Public .... Doesn't matter which round it is ... There is a 5 minute tutorial read from the scoresheet about judging criteria and scoring ... Just try to keep your food in the middle of the road on spice ... It usually works out well

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"the scoresheet"..... where can I get one of these. This would be a great help. As someone else suggested, becoming a judge for an event is a great idea.

Here ya go.

GREAT!! thanks guys. this piece of info is one of the things I was looking for. All advise and info is very appreciated.

Just keep in mind that it's hard to get people to commit a couple or more hours right in the middle of a Saturday afternoon to judge BBQ. So, they're usually having to work to fill the slots to the best of their ability. There is no certification class or criteria, so anyone off the street can judge. And I have been to events where they've had to get on the phone and call friends, relatives, neighbors, coworkers, etc., on Saturday morning, to get the appropriate number of judges. Even when people commit and sign up, inevitably it's tough to pull them away from their Saturday activities to come down and devote an hour or two or more to judge BBQ.

sorry to say but all we did was make final table brisket at this weeks last event. I really thought the judging form would help. Next step is to put the pit away and go sign up as a judge and see whats out there.