Another Entry: Rate Our Boxes

I have only judged 1 contest before but will give this a try

Chx
7 - color and size is not even
ribs
7-box could be presented better and the color is not even
Pork
7-looks dry and box presentation is a bit messy
brisket
7-looks dry and very thick slices, bark is uneven on the burnt ends

Well here goes, just my opinion.

Chicken: I like the layout other than the sliced breast overlapping the top left thigh. Nice full box, but the thighs don't have much color. They look a little like baked chicken with sauce on it. Score 7, possibly 8.

Ribs: First thing to catch my eye, and may just be the picture but on the left of the front 2 ribs it looks like a glob of fat. The face of the front rib looks like a smear of sauce on it. If you show the cut face I think you want to make sure it shows a clean cut. Score 7.

Pork: Again I like the layout, but the pork looks very dry, no shine. The chunks on the upper right look tasty, but they look like they could have been a little bigger to fill that corner better. Score 7, maybe 8 at table.

Brisket: Slices look moist but it looks like they lost some bark in the middle. The fifth slice back on the left end looks like a chunk of fat, may just be the picture. Some judges would probably dink you for that, I don't mind a little brisket fat on the slices myself. The burnt end look like they were just tossed in as an afterthought, I think put a few more in and place them tighter together would help. Score 7 or 8.

I like the looks of the chicken (even if it looks to me a bit overcrowded in the box). I like the sliced breast along with the thighs. = 8

Ribs - look good, I definitely want to see a rib face, but I'm not crazy about the sliced face with the bone/fat/gristle piece showing on the left. = 8

Pork looks very dry. The variety is good, but the pulled looks a bit stringy. = 7

Brisket - I like it accept all the burnt ends should look the same. = 8

7
7
7
7

chx = 6
ribs = 6
pork = 7
beef = 7

Holy crap your brisket slices are a twin to what I turned in last comp I did. Not saying yours aren't good looking mind you, but for mine that's all I could salvage out of an over done packer.

If they were mine I might try to glaze a little more to cover the rough texture of the bark. I would also try to still picture frame with the greens, even while stuffing the crap out of the box.

7 in appearance for all of it - it all appears above average to me, based on what I usually see.

The chicken ~almost~ looks underdone.

Let me tell you this - people are giving excellent suggestions here - but a judge normally doesn't have the time to stare and ponder each and every little thing. The overall effect of 'does that entry look appetizing' is what the judges are looking for. Of course if everything is neatly organized and even and shiny and plentiful . . . the better the score because the judge looked at your entry and said 'wow! that looks delicious!'. All the little things contribute to that - but that's what you're after.

Lake Dogs said:

chx = 6
ribs = 6
pork = 7
beef = 7

Click to expand...

Please explain your scores. You obviously didn't like the chicken and ribs and weren't exactly crazy about the pork and beef - but WHY???

bbq.tom said:

Please explain your scores. You obviously didn't like the chicken and ribs and weren't exactly crazy about the pork and beef - but WHY???

Click to expand...

Mind you, we're talking about the appearance score, and ultimately it comes down to one simple factor, and that's how appetizing the entry is. To me, simply, the chicken particularly isn't appetizing at all. I dont mind the different sizes, kinda like different sizes and it looks like chicken rather than small red balls of love (small red balls dont look like chicken and to me aren't appetizing, because I've never seen a christmas ball ornament that I really have to take a bite of). However, the sauce seems glopped on there very inconsistent, and the colors are aweful. It looks.... dead. The bright red sauce, with bad yellowing skin color, then the blacker grilled area; not appetizing.

Largely same for ribs. Not appetizing at all. To me they look grilled rather than barbecued, but that's neither here to there, they're just REALLY not saying "come eat me".

I dont nano-pick at this or that, because things can have flecks of this or that, or have a smudge here or there, and to me it doesnt change the overall enticing nature. However, like in the brisket particularly, I happen to hate fat. It looks to me like the burnt ends have a little fat topping on them... Otherwise the brisket is ok. It has a nice sheen on it that appears natural and is appetizing, generally. The particularly black areas arent (as appetizing) and take away from it a little.

I'll give this a go, scores on appearance (obviously);

Chicken - 7
skin looks rubbery to me, doesn't look like you put a rub on the skin, the color looks like standard chicken skin. I like the idea of the breast at the top, maybe remove the 2 thighs next to breast so it doesn't look so crowded

Ribs - 8
pretty uniform in size, maybe a light glaze of a finishing sauce would make them 'pop' or a spritz of apple juice to give them a nice gloss. ribs looks the best of these entries IMO

Pork - 7
not a fan of the pulled, stringy stuff but that's just me. slices look ok and chunks could have been a little larger, chunks should feature bark and meat, again, a nice glaze or spritz to lighten 'em up

Brisket - 7
some burnt ends look fatty, slices could be a little more uniform in size, if you're against using any sauce maybe a light baste of some au jus if you're using it, the brisket kinda looks dried out. Like Lake Dogs, trim the fat from the slices, it's not that noticeable from the photo's but the slice 5th up from the bottom you can see a fat layer on the bottom.

Chx - 6 - The color is just really really light and the sauce is uneven.

Ribs -7 / low 8 - Color again and not really lined up that straight.

Pork - 7 - Eh, nothing about it wants me to jump right in. The slices are triangles, chunks look small.

Brisket - 7 - Same as the pork. 6 judges want good slices and tapering the brisket as you have it can prevent that. The fat on the burnt ends is also unappealing.

In each box another thing to try is making them "pop" more by raising your parsley bed.

Chix - 6 (ragged and just doesn't look appetizing)
Ribz - 7 (glaze looks dry and uneven)
Pork - 7 (looks dry, sauce hit or miss)
Briskit -6 (uneven bark, ragged garnish, odd BE presentation)

7's across the board, none of the boxes having me licking my lips and drooling. The comments from everyone should be useful to you.

As a kcbs judge I'd go
Chicken-7, the color of the skin looks to spotty, almost like in butter to long, Could be 8 because I like arrangement
Ribs-7 and almost 8
pork-7
beef-8 it looks like beef!:thumb:

I wish I had you guys as judges here in NorCal.