Reason for lowball scores - chicken

[TooSaucedToPork]

That horse has been beaten to death. Kcbs does not have the ability to enforce this. They can only suggest to the organizers that they ban coolers. Same with celebrity judges.

KCBS does have the ability to outlaw judges from taking home leftovers, thus putting an end to need for coolers.:tape:

 

[Ford]

KCBS does have the ability to outlaw judges from taking home leftovers, thus putting an end to need for coolers.:tape:

This has been discussed for years. The bod years ago said it was up to the organizers as to who judged and if coolers could be allowed.

 

[ModelMaker]

Hey Billy? with Holy Smoke BBQ team? I was the nuisance in Salisbury for you and Gordon, both Friday evening and Saturday after judging!

Anyway, I totally agree that this would be a great idea for not only keeping the judges from worrying about the meat on their plate going in a cooler, but would also get judges and teams together to hopefully talk and build a better relationship.

Don't know if I need a better relationship with someone who thinks the only reason I'm there is to get some free food!
Those that know me, know better.
Ed

 

[CBQ]

How does "overly sauced" as a description effect taste and tenderness? I read that as appearance.

I'm not trying to get on anybody, but that is not a descriptive reason...
Now if, as a judge, you said..."the sauce in places was thicker than others, detracting from the overall taste of the meat"

Too much sauce, or sauce not properly set, can affect the mouth feel of the chicken. To me, that would affect the tenderness score. (it's texture)

 

[TooSaucedToPork]

Too much sauce, or sauce not properly set, can affect the mouth feel of the chicken. To me, that would affect the tenderness score. (it's texture)

Correct, the comment I was responding to only said "overly sauced" which could have been interpreted as a lot of things. I was trying to hint at being more descriptive

 

[Atlasman]

Who cares what the list of things that "could" happen once in a blue moon to a single piece of food in your box?? Is this info cooks are somehow in the dark about??

More important is that if a judge does find that needle in a haystack a simple explanation shouldn't be difficult to provide. When the same judge finds the needle in the haystack ALL DAY there is a problem.

One bad piece of meat is a cook problem...........bad meat ALL DAY coincidentally landing on only one judges tray??? No way........that is a judge problem.


Accountability...........where is it on the judging side??

 

[boogiesnap]

i can agree with that, but again, that's a different subject.

the focus in these threads is helping the cook understand the game better. nuances and all.

 

[Yellow Card BBQ]

I got called over by an organizer (who incidentally trained me) for being much lower than the other judges in chicken once, and I can tell you (and told him) it was because I got a real fatty piece. Just luck of the draw, I guess.

 

[landarc]

Uneven cooking on one piece of chicken

I had this happen where I had to use two different sources for chicken, and one source cooked just a tad faster than the other, and some of the chicken was just a tad denser.

 

[columbia1]

I was up in Canada earlier this year and tasted a team's chicken that was done cup-cake style including cutting the knuckles, I got a mouthful of bone chards, I was thinking to myself, hope the ones the judges get are OK. BTW they were and they did very well in chicken that day. If a judge did get the same piece I was given I imagine it would have been a HUGE low-ball score in texture.

 

[Uomograsso]

I hate to hijack this thread onto coolers, but you are right, there is just something about watching a judge be more interested in putting the leftovers from their judging plate into a cooler than concentrating on giving a good score. I'm not saying that every judge that packs a cooler isn't in it for the right reason, but everyone knows that it only takes a couple to ruin it for the rest of us. I used to be a "take home the leftovers" judge, but once I knew that cooks looked at cooler judges as "only in it to get fed and take food home", I changed and haven't taken anything home in a couple years. Banning coolers would go a long way to closing the chasm between cooks and judges. IMHO

No it wouldn't. My scores would be the same either way. If I give something a bad score, i.e. below a 6 it doesn't go home. 99% of the judges I have sat with are also their to judge first. The only person I have ever seen that was there to "eat" was a non CBJ who I had to remind to only take 1 piece when I was a table captain. Taking home left overs is just a bonus. I also am against the huge waste of throwing all the food away.

I would gladly give comments on all my scores as I was taught in my CBJ class that I need to be able to justify every score I gave. I would also like to think that my fellow judges wouldn't have a problem with it either. After the score cards have been turned in the first question asked is "which was your favorite" "which one was the worst" We judges discuss what we like and dislike about each entry and the majority of the time we all are saying the same thing. In the times when we are not that judge usually has a valid reason to dislike and entry the other judges did not.

In reply to this topic I have seen 5 pieces of cooked chicken and one raw piece. I have also seen 5 pieces of cooked chicken and one dry over done piece. I have also seen one piece that had a huge glob of rub and sauce on it. Chicken is one the categories where there can be a wide variance in consistency.

As to sauce it can and does affect the taste score. This is a meat competition and if the judges cannot taste or if the sauce does not compliment the meat then that should affect taste score. Meat, rub, sauce should be balanced and compliment each other.

 

[Bama Q]

Contest Judging, There is a lot of pressure to score high, Some judges say . I only give 8 or 9 on appearance. no body gets a Score less than 7. you will kill the teams chances of winning. they spend a lot of money to get here,yes they do!! So have I as a Cook Judge and Restaurant owner. Judging is not judging when only 7,8.9 are given. At a resent contest On the chicken, you couldn't tell if you were eating, rabbit, squirrel,etc. No smoke, flavoring on the out side of exotic junk, no chicken taste or No smoke. just mush with a flavor.. I would like to see a print out of judges score on my table ,just the way cooks get one. It would help me fine tune my judging. WHEN I JUDGE , I TRY TO BE FAIR , BUT I MUST HAVE THE ABILITY TO DIFFERENTIATE GREAT BBQ FROM BAD BBQ and score accordingly. That,s my Job. I agree with carlyle

 

[dhuffjr]

You have to understand that there are current and past members of the board who have fought the use of comment cards forever. They don't want them because it makes the rep work a little harder correllating and distributing them. If we, as cooks, want comment cards on all entries, we will have to pay more because of the need of a third rep. :icon_smile_tongue:

I guess I give computer people too much credit. I don't see any reason why a system of predetermined items, to sweet, too hot, to salty, to smokey, fatty, etc couldn't be put in the categories and have them entered with the scores. It would printout with the new scoring program and there would be nothing to correlate. It would take a bit longer to enter the results. I think everyone would win.

It could however make the path to the top easier and bunch everyone up and make the scores even closer.