It's hard to see, the pics are not close enough. But since you asked.....
The chicken has a funny color(not appetizing to me) may just be the light. Sauce seems heavy.
Ribs look dry, keep sauce off the sides of ribs. They also need some texture on the outside. I think they are too light of color also.
Pork looks very dry although I like the bark. A lot of bark sure helps if it tastes good. Anyone can put a blob of meat in a box. Kick it up and show a couple different cuts. Cubes, slices, pulled....a little of all
Brisket slices don't look smooth. They seem jagged. Slices are also too thick. Try and shoot for just under pencil thickness. Trim your brisket to fit the box. Don't bend your slices to make them fit. Fill the box with 50% slices and 50% burnt ends.

***Don't mean to offend. You asked for comments. I will give them. That doesn't say I can do better or that I am right about it. It's what I've learned from judging and cooking in contests.

I have to agree Sledneck. At least if you are going to score down for something. That way the cook knows what was wrong and can try to avoid that in the future. I also think that it would force the judge to think about WHY he/she is going to score down.

I can't stand it when someone tells me "I just didn't like it."

If you can't indentify a SPECIFIC REASON you didn't like it, you probably shouldn't be judging IMHO.

On topic: I pretty much agee with everyone else. Sauce was too heavy on chicken and looked too dark. Ribs have sauce on the side of one and not the others. Most likely the pic or my monitor, but the ribs look like they have an "orange" color to them like a buffalo wing sauce. Brisket box looked kinda like the meat was just "flopped" in there and needed to be more uniform and little pieces cleaned up was what stuck out for me. Pork box looked good, I liked the bark. Those are the pieces I would have grabbed when the table captain presented it to me for a sample.

These scores are based on the pics we see. They might have been different in person.

Chicken- 6
Ribs- 7
Pork- 9
Brisket- 6

Ditto

Bentley, interesting comment. I've wondered about the heavy sauce too. Does anyone think that the amount of sauce is a regional thing, or is it nationwide?

You guys can feel free to think saucy, but I sit with 5 other judges times 6 or 7 tables and it's a common remark that real thick and super sweet is not met with all the gusto you seem to think.
I will state that the majority of the judges that speak of this matter prefer a glaze vs a carpet of sauce.
Perhaps a poll of judges is in order?
ModelMaker

Im for the glaze

I like to glaze as well, we went a little heavy with the sauce on the chicken as there was a lot of spice in the rub, you needed some sweet to stand up to that. I'm going to be modifying some things and practicing my butt off for next season.

Thanks for all the tips guys, and stop apologizing for giving your opinion, I'm a big boy I can take it. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want your honesty.

MM, I agree... too much sauce is the other extreme, and it's bitten us when our sauces were too thick.

Agree with the pork and the spritz. Maybe a slight bit of apple juice??

I was told by someone who regularly competes in Michigan and Wisconsin to sauce heavy or the judges there don't think it's BBQ. We did some and didn't on brisket. Ended up 10th out of 56 teams so who knows? But it's what I hear about the Great Lakes area. Likewise, I'm guessing you use vinegar based sauces in the southeast comps but that's a total guess on my part. Maybe someone else can chime in from down that way.

I found all entries visually appealing. Excellent job.

Chicken: I would bet the left piece, second row was the best representation of what Jeremiah's chicken really looked like. I attribute the dark color mainly to shadow. (Next time - turn the chicken around to face the sun.) These greens enhance the chicken without appearing deliberately showy. I especially like the lettuce splitting the two columns down the center. Just a tad too saucy. 8

Ribs: I dig this presentation. 9

Pork: Take out one of those "dark bark" pieces on the lower right-hand side. My eyes are drawn to them, makes me wonder if it will be dry. Otherwise, good mix. 7

Brisket: Can't tell what's going on towards the back after slice #6, from this angle. Looks yummy though. 8


I prefer to sample barbecue dry. In my mind, sauce should be judged separately. Still, I evaluate barbecue based on the choices the cook made, not my personal preference. To me, these boxes all looked good...how I wish I could have tasted them.

The boxes as a whole represent what I feel is a common problem with building boxes when your just starting out, i.e. boxes too full. The chicken and the brisket boxes are the hardest to keep from getting too much in the box and that's what I see with your chic and brisket boxes - pork and ribs fit the box better and look PDG to me. As far as color on the meat and too much sauce I'd hate to speculate with the light on the pics but I agree that plenty of sauce is better than none or not enough as long as it has set up good and not running off. I think it's kinda silly to buy into the principal of "oh if your putting sauce on bbq you just can't cook good bbq is the problem" - good sauce taste GOOD and folks like it. I like both dry and sauced ribs, I prefer sauced chicken, don't much matter about brisket, and with pork I prefer sauced.

hey i liked the way it all tasted

I personally do not pay much attention to the green stuff in the boxes except to make sure it is not the forbidden items. Have judged some that had no greenery, just a plain box with meat in it. Works fine for me.
The appearance score is about the meat's appearance, not the foo foo. Does it look like something I would want to eat? Or toss to the dog?

Bit biased there eh ?