Competition Judging

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Nick2

Senior Cook
Joined
Jun 3, 2010
Messages
135
Location
Mississippi
I have been listenig to a lot of archive files for BBQ central and had a thought about kcbs judging since there are so many complaints about inconsistency:

I have seen competitions in other genres use a judge apprenticeship program where-

finishing the class doesn't qualify you to judge, but makes you a rules guru of sorts

new judge rank: you have judged 1-3 events with experienced judge supervision

normal judge: you have judged 3-10 events

high ranked judging: you have judged 10+ events, at least 1 major event, and passed the course

depending on the level of the event itself- you may not be eligible to judge it until you have reached a certain rank. In cases of rules infractions, higher level judges have final say.


I am not saying this is perfect, but at least it forces organizers to retain experienced judges for bigger events. Judges would still be unpaid. Also, there is normally a written complaint form against judging that is reviewed for possible response by the sanctioning body itself- ao acting a fool could hamper your chances at becoming a higher level judge.

Thought from competitors- just a few ideas. Btw- the MS mbn state champs is this weekend and I am thinking about observing. Can they serve food to the public?
 
Texas style judging would cure the problemo. Gather up some warm bodies and let em pick whut they like. Simple huh? Only rational idear I ever heard which come from KCBS is the compooterized tally sheet where it tells where you placed and why. Gives a person a little track to run on when trying to improve. IBCA/LSBS is mostly guess work. Hitting finals table is a clue a person might be on the right track but that is about it. Now if you had a sheet which say your food stunk..did not look purty or taste good that would be a real good sign for a person to tweak in those areas or maybe get a different hobby etc.

bigwheel
 
I looked on the KCBS website for a ruberic...they dont have one. How can you train judges without a ruberic for how to score??? Every standardized test in existence has a ruberic.

I think if you allow lay people to judge, all consistency goes out the window because the lay person doesnt know the difference between BBQ& grilling. Randomness could happen, I could even pay people to walk around and score other people down (or do it myself at competitions I am not competing in to try and skew a points race for the year). True, this would be unethical, but it could happen. Also, my whole family could come vote me up and it becomes a popularity contest.

That said, all judging systems have problems, but more training and experience for judges cant possibly be a bad thing. And seeing how a very experienced judge does it could be a big help. The competitors are trying to make their recipes consistently good every week. I believe this might add to judging consistency as well.
 
Well if you look at the folks who win often you will find their groceries has a universal appeal regardless who is table judging. A bad set of judges might mess them up at a contest or two but over a season the cream will have risen to the top. Cream does that ya know.

bigwheel
 
Nick said:
I looked on the KCBS website for a ruberic...they dont have one. How can you train judges without a ruberic for how to score??? Every standardized test in existence has a ruberic.

I think if you allow lay people to judge, all consistency goes out the window because the lay person doesnt know the difference between BBQ& grilling. Randomness could happen, I could even pay people to walk around and score other people down (or do it myself at competitions I am not competing in to try and skew a points race for the year). True, this would be unethical, but it could happen. Also, my whole family could come vote me up and it becomes a popularity contest.
That said, all judging systems have problems, but more training and experience for judges cant possibly be a bad thing. And seeing how a very experienced judge does it could be a big help. The competitors are trying to make their recipes consistently good every week. I believe this might add to judging consistency as well.


Blind taste test. Nobody knows who cooked what.
 
Very true, but back to original point- why not trained, experienced judges over random people in a blind test? My suggestion is just an attempt at doing that.
 
Dude, there will always be inconsistency. Ya can't talk when judging. But you can discuss a box after your done. Every one has what they like, and every one likes a different taste. It's human nature. I have scored a few boxes the same. Each and every box I try to start over and Take a look at how the box is done, taste and texture, but if I get three boxes of nines, that's how I will score them. It's very hard not to be suggestive. but it's human nature as I said.

PIGS
 
Yeah, I make no claim to know how it should be done, but I have been listening to a lot of archive and Rempe gets after judging (drama) in a big way in 2008. Just had a thought. To be honest, I have been pissed for major rules mishaps by judges in the events using the judging method I suggest... absolutely nothing is perfect.
 
A few years back I had to disqualify a turn in box of chicken because of a tooth pick in the box. Everyone at the table thought it was the best box in so far. But a stupid tooth pick killed the deal. The table captain did not see it nor did the first two judges. I saw it , and called DQ on it. Sure, I could have pulled it out and passed it on, but that's not the rules. Did I feel bad? Yea, I did.

PIGS
 
Back
Top Bottom