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The world of competition barbecue is a world where pitmasters and backyard grillers come together for a couple of days to cook six succulent servings of chicken, ribs, pork and brisket slow and low for a panel of certified judges in an effort to make the best BBQ.
The judges taste pounds of glorious meat and ultimately decide who is walking home as a grand champion.
But what are they looking for? What does it take to make the best BBQ?
Christie Vanover from Girls Can Grill became a Kansas City Barbeque Society certified judge to find out. She shares her tips below.
Bottom line – it’s all about the meat - its appearance, its taste and its tenderness.
Every KCBS judge’s table includes six certified judges. Individual Styrofoam boxes with each competitor’s entry are passed around the table. Judges have a few seconds to rank the appearance of the meat on a scale from 2 for inedible to 9 for excellent. If you break a rule, they will give you a penalty score of 1.
KCBS rules can change annually, so it's wise to see if there have been any updates before you compete.
Appearance
Some competitors will display their meat on leafy greens. While this is not mandatory, the contrast of the green leaves against the often-amber BBQ makes the meat pop. It also helps the meat stay steady in the box, so it’s not all jumbled around when the table captain first opens the lid.
The greens are not a requirement, so judges can’t score lower, if you leave those out, but they can score lower or even give a penalty appearance score, if you use red-leaf lettuce or other random objects.
And don’t even think about shaping your pulled pork into the shape of a pig. Sculpting meat is an automatic DQ.
Make the best BBQ turn-in you can by building a box that looks like something you would enjoy eating while following the rules, and you should score pretty well.
Appearance Requirements
Violating any of these rules will result in a penalty score of 1.
Appearance Tips
Although these aren’t requirements, here are some pointers that could help increase your appearance score.
Taste
Next, the meat is judged on taste and tenderness. While tenderness (or lack there of) can impact taste, judges are instructed not to dock you twice for the same flaw. If your meat is tough, but has great seasoning, you can still score high in taste, but low in tenderness. Taste is also judged from 2-9, but this is the score that matters most because it’s weighted the most.
Taste Requirements
There are not specific requirements in this category, other than you need to make one hell of a tasty bite of meat to get a high score. That comes down to understanding BBQ flavor and techniques and lots of practice.
Taste Tips
Here are some pointers that may help increase your taste score.
Tenderness
The final score is for tenderness. Tenderness really equals texture. If you’re smoking chicken thighs, it’s best not to serve the judges a slimy, fatty piece of skin. Some competitors go to great lengths to avoid this. They remove the skin, scrape off the excess inner fat and then replace the skin over the meat. Their goal is to create a nice snap of texture when judges take their first bite.
For brisket, judges often conduct the pull test. They grab a slice of brisket by each end and pull it apart. If it falls apart before even pulling, it’s too tender. If it takes too much effort to pull it apart, it’s too tough. You can also drape the brisket slice over your finger. If it bends nicely without breaking (AKA #LimpBrisket), you’re probably close to a top score.
Ribs – believe it or not – should not fall off the bone. If all of the meat slides off with the first bite, they’re too tender. Judges are looking for a bit of bite to the meat.
Tenderness Requirements
Tenderness Tips
Here are some pointers that could help increase your tenderness score.
If you really want a leg up on the competition, become a judge yourself. Then, you'll have the opportunity to see what other turn-in boxes look and taste like and why they score the way they do. It's a great way to elevate your scores from a 6 or 7 to a 9. Best of luck. Here's hoping a GC is in your future.