Judges Quick Tips
Smithville’s Backyard BBQ Bash
Amateur BBQ Contest

• Our Chamber representatives will be guiding you through the day. Don’t hesitate to ask them for assistance.

• Please use an ink pen. We do not want any scratched-out marks on the score sheet, so if you make a mistake or want to change a score, start a new sheet. You do not need to tally the sheets. Calculators are provided in the instance you feel totaling will help you with scoring.

• Keep in mind this is amateur! The intent is for everyone to have fun and walk away feeling good about their day. We would recommend that the “poor” category only be used for something that is raw and/or inedible. “Fair” would be for something that is extremely dry, burned, or just flat out not good.

• Start the scoring at “Good” and score better or worse from there as you see fit. The lowest total score will be thrown out.

• Take small bites. You have 20+ containers to judge. There is water available in the coolers to cleanse your palate as needed.

• Don’t be afraid to ask the more experienced judges for help and enjoy the day!

 

Scoring is based on the following:
 

Flavor – Flavor is the highest valued score for competition BBQ and can also be the most challenging. The entry should not be too spicy, not too sweet, and not too salty. Being non-offensive is more valuable than having something you think tastes the best. Another key to flavor is to remember you should only be taking one or two bites. Pay close attention to the first bite. The entry should have multiple layers of flavor and actually change flavors as you chew, starting sweet and finishing with a little heat.
 

Tenderness -Tenderness is the second highest score for competition BBQ. Tenderness means many different things to each meat. Chicken will have to have bite through skin and moist meat that isn’t rubbery. Bites into ribs will have to pull away cleanly from the bone without falling apart, leaving a perfect bite mark.
 

Appearance – Score appearance by how badly you want to eat it. Entries need to be clean. By clean I mean they need to be symmetrical with nothing that will distract the judge’s eyes. They also need to be shiny - if a judge can see their reflection in the meat, the griller has done their job. Eat with your eyes first. It WILL affect your taste and tenderness scores.