KCBS Judging Procedures

I received an email from a reader of this blog who asked me to explain the judging procedures, so I went right to the source. Here are the judging procedures as posted by the Kansas City Barbeque Society.

Judging Procedures

KCBS sanctioning allows for blind judging only. Entries will be submitted in an approved KCBS numbered container provided by the contest organizer. The container may be re-numbered by the KCBS Contest Rep or authorized personnel before being presented to the judges.

1. Judges may not fraternize with teams on turn-in day until conclusion of judging.
2. Judging will be done by a team of 6 persons, who are at least 16 years of age. (Only Judges, Contest Reps and necessary support staff are allowed in judging area during the judging process. No other activities are permitted in the judging area, during judging process. )
3. Each judge will first score all the samples for appearance of the meat. The turn-in containers will then be passed around the table and each judge will place a sample from each of the containers in the appropriate box on the judging mat. The judge will then score each entry for taste and tenderness/texture, before moving on to the next entry.
4. The scoring system is from 9 to 2, all whole numbers between two and nine may be used to score an entry. 9 excellent, 8 very good, 7 above average, 6 average, 5 below average, 4 poor, 3 bad, and 2 inedible
5. A score of one (1) is a disqualification and requires approval by a Contest Rep. Grounds for disqualification: Appearance: Unapproved garnish, sculptured meat,marked turn-in container, foreign object in container, less than 6 samples of meat or pooled sauce. Taste & Tenderness: Sculptured meat, marked turn-in container, foreign object in container, or judges not receiving a sample.
6. The weighting factors for the point system are as follows: Appearance - 0.5714, Taste - 2.2858, Tenderness / Texture - 1.1428
7. The low score will be thrown out. Results will be tallied. If there is a tie in one of the categories, it will be broken by the computer, as follows: The scores will be compared (counting all five judges) for the highest cumulative scores in taste, then tenderness, then appearance. If still tied, then the low score, which was thrown out, will be compared and the higher of the low scores will break the tie. If still tied, then a computer generated coin toss will be used.
8. Total points per entry will determine the champion within each classification of meat.
9. Cumulative points for only the four (4) KCBS classifications will determine the Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion (except the Dodge City, KS; BarbeQlossal; Tryon, NC, contests, or at the election of these organizers.)