[D&D BBQ]

I would say you definitely can get more consistency in terms of appearance scoring as ALL of the judges are looking at the same box but yet you’ll get scores ranging from 6-9. That shouldn’t happen. Yes, that lone 6 is thrown out, but the remaining 7 kills you when the others gave it 8-9. It’s the same dang box, the scores should be done within 1 point! Now for taste and tenderness, you’re going to get some natural variability as palates differ and what is the right amount of heat for a spicehead is too much for someone with acid reflux. You’re also going to get different tenderness scores because the meat may differ even if cooked to the same temperature. That’s going to happen no matter what and is part luck and skill of the cook.

As far as people’s palates go, the only way you can even come close is for KCBS to finally determine what “average barbecue” is. Is it your neighbor’s backyard bbq chicken that’s a little too charred and covered in SBR or is it the local bbq joint’s consistently decent stuff? Everyone has different life experiences but I would think the natural tendency is for more experienced judges to go with what they’ve tasted in previous comps for comparison’s sake (unless instructed otherwise). As others also referenced, ALL judges either need to start at 9 and go down or start at 6 (average) and go up or down... Of course, then you gotta come up with a universally understood definition of what “average barbecue” is for that 6 starting point to work. Good luck with that...

Reminds me of an old PJ O’Rourke joke about the social sciences which he says boils down to 3 rules:
1. People do lots of things.
2. We don’t know why.
3. Test on Friday.