I took the KCBS (Kansas City Barbecue Society) Certified BBQ Judge class today, and it was pretty interesting! I had no ideas how regimented and official this organization was about competition BBQ.

Class was around 150 people and ran about 5 hours with instruction and then we ran through a judging scenario where a local BBQ company cooked chicken, ribs, pulled pork and brisket and we got two samples each to evaluate. They threw things at us like illegal garnishes, sauces and foreign objects in judging boxes.

Overall a very neat experience!

Not a judge, but I've cooked in KCBS competitions, get ready to get your taste buds blown out by very salty meat.

I've never understood the competition circuit. It sometimes costs more to compete than what you can win. Entry fees, traveling, meat costs etc it gets expensive than somebody who took a 5 hour class to be a judge tells you your food was sub par.

All of the people who enter these contests know how to BBQ. Nobody is going to turn anything in that is horrible or unedible.

Everyone's taste preferences are as unique as their DNA so who's to judge really?
I've always felt most winners are the ones who can build the prettiest turn in box. You always eat with your eyes first even the judges.

A competitor on one of the BBQ forums I visited once said he was set up next to Myron Mixon. He overheard Mixon tell one of his team members "We don't eat this crap at home this here stuff is for the judges"

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
I've never understood the competition circuit. It sometimes costs more to compete than what you can win. Entry fees, traveling, meat costs etc it gets expensive than somebody who took a 5 hour class to be a judge tells you your food was sub par.

All of the people who enter these contests know how to BBQ. Nobody is going to turn anything in that is horrible or unedible.

Everyone's taste preferences are as unique as their DNA so who's to judge really?
I've always felt most winners are the ones who can build the prettiest turn in box. You always eat with your eyes first even the judges.

A competitor on one of the BBQ forums I visited once said he was set up next to Myron Mixon. He overheard Mixon tell one of his team members "We don't eat this crap at home this here stuff is for the judges"

A lot of it is bragging rights. Some tournaments do pay very well. But, I think the main thing is the exposure they get where they can then sell their BBQ sauce, rubs etc. commercially and make good money.

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
"We don't eat this crap at home this here stuff is for the judges"

My uncle is a pretty successful amateur/semi-pro BBQ competitor (has won a handful of championships and has a few sponsors).

He's the same way. The way he BBQs at competitions is different from the way he BBQs for friends/family.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
A lot of it is bragging rights. Some tournaments do pay very well. But, I think the main thing is the exposure they get where they can then sell their BBQ sauce, rubs etc. commercially and make good money.

I imagine the biggest reasons why are to expand their network and gain business exposure.

But at the same time, if you don't win, can that hurt your business?

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
A lot of it is bragging rights. Some tournaments do pay very well. But, I think the main thing is the exposure they get where they can then sell their BBQ sauce, rubs etc. commercially and make good money.

I imagine the biggest reasons why are to expand their network and gain business exposure.

But at the same time, if you don't win, can that hurt your business?

Most all of the "circuit" is charity related. At least it is around here. Most of the bush league events raise money for charities. The top guys get notoriety. Everyone gets to sell their wares and get a free bump in popularity.

The local FOP chapter has a team, and they roll out to most all of the events to compete. They fare pretty well from what I have seen in the news, and 100 percent of the money they raise/make goes to charity. Yeah, there are some guys that are SERIOUS about this to say the least, but I think most everyone else is in it for the fun.

I'm sure that reality TV could come in and screw up the perception with a bunch of contrived drama coverage, but every competition I have been to has resulted in some great times and great eats.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
The local FOP chapter has a team

As does ours, complete with BBQ trailer with blue lights.

I've helped out a few times, but I'm not one of the main guys on the FOP team. They seem to do pretty well at various local competitions, routinely placing in the top 10. They do a lot of cooking burgers/hot dogs for various community events too.

quote:

Originally posted by Ox190:
Not a judge, but I've cooked in KCBS competitions, get ready to get your taste buds blown out by very salty meat.

Alrighty then! I love salt.

The biggest issue I had with 90% of the meats given to us yesterday was a lack of enough salt and other seasoning.

I’ve competed in a backyard type rib competition for 10-11 years now and it keeps growing and becoming more official. The reason for taking this judging class was so that I could be a judge this year and not a cook, the competition organizer/founder requires all judges now to be KCBS certified. Quite different from the first 5-6 years when he founded it 14 years ago, back then it was “hey you, want to be a judge?”

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
The local FOP chapter has a team

As does ours, complete with BBQ trailer with blue lights.

I've helped out a few times, but I'm not one of the main guys on the FOP team. They seem to do pretty well at various local competitions, routinely placing in the top 10. They do a lot of cooking burgers/hot dogs for various community events too.

Lemme guess.......pig is somewhere in the team name? That seems to be the running joke here.....

" The way he BBQs at competitions is different from the way he BBQs for friends/family."

could you elaborate a bit here please?

quote:

Originally posted by signewt:
" The way he BBQs at competitions is different from the way he BBQs for friends/family."

could you elaborate a bit here please?

I will take a guess but maybe RogeJSK will chime in as well.

At competitions they will usually perform all the tricks of the trade on a piece of meat. Trying to achieve that one bite delight for the judges.
They might brine, inject, season with rub, sauce put in braising liquid, mop, spritz, glaze then season and sauce again before turning it into the judges.

At home a good brisket lets say gets just salt and pepper and put on the smoker until done. In other words the way it should be!

Is there a rule on the heat added by spices? For instance, are Nilokia peppers disallowed?

My son-in-law is a KCBS Certified BBQ Judge...

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:

quote:

Originally posted by signewt:
" The way he BBQs at competitions is different from the way he BBQs for friends/family."

could you elaborate a bit here please?

I will take a guess but maybe RogeJSK will chime in as well.

At competitions they will usually perform all the tricks of the trade on a piece of meat. Trying to achieve that one bite delight for the judges.
They might brine, inject, season with rub, sauce put in braising liquid, mop, spritz, glaze then season and sauce again before turning it into the judges.

At home a good brisket lets say gets just salt and pepper and put on the smoker until done. In other words the way it should be!

Pretty much. Not only does the competition BBQ require more time/effort, especially in the prep, but most serious competition BBQ is pretty over-the-top: too much sauce, too much salt, too much butter, too much sugar, too much rub, too much injection, etc...

What works for the judges' one bite would be overwhelming for a whole dinner's worth. Plus, they're all going for some bold gimmick or trick that makes their BBQ stand out in that one bite. There's no time for simple/subtle/complex flavors. If you just make "good BBQ", it gets lost in the sea of all the rest of the "good BBQ".

Home BBQing is much simpler, easier, and usually better.

(On the shadier side, I've also heard that some competitors apparently use various chemical additives for extra flavoring/tenderizing/moisturizing, which they probably wouldn't eat themselves or feed to their families.)

I was surprised to learn that propane and electric smokers are a no-go in KCBS sanctioned BBQ events and are not allowed. Wood, lump charcoal or briquettes are it, nothing else.

The part about what is allowed and not allowed in the BBQ judging turn-in boxes was kind of amusing; green kale, any kind of green leaf lettuce, flat or curly parsley and cilantro are it. No other type of garnish allowed. It turns out that some BBQ teams would go to events where they knew the judges and would mark their boxes with red leaf lettuce or carved vegetables to alert the judge when their box was being looked at.

I have to agree with some of the posters who stated that a lot of these competitions are teams making stuff that looks perfect to a judge but is not actually real everyday BBQ. At the backyard competition I was involved in, a team started coming a few years ago that had actually competed in official real KCBS competitions and their chicken and ribs LOOKED super-uniform and magazine-cover perfect but tasted pretty “meh” to me.