2024 Smoke On The Midway - Fairbury, IL


 
Those drums really came out nice, congrats but your chicken got robbed 13th phhht. They look way better than the score
 
Five of the six Judges gave the Appearance the highest score available, a 9. One Judge gave the appearance an 8, but that Judge's score was dropped from the total. So James received the maximum allowable / attainable score on the "look", ie appearance.

What James got hit on was the Taste. For whatever reason, there must have been something the judges didn't like about the rub and/or sauce. A review of any Comment Cards for the chicken entry might give some ensight.
 
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This is a comment card that Bob is referring to, and actually the one that I received on this chicken entry at this competition.
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We review these cards and look for constructive criticism; however sometimes we disagree. Obviously everyone’s opinion is subjective. For example Judge number 5 gave us 999, but the overall consensus is that the taste was not there. At the same time we try to replicate and improve on what we have previously produced, and in this case our chicken placed 1st in our prior competition in MI. There was no honey in the mix and we measure all of our ingredients and even blend and strain our sauces. I am not trying to defend my cook, as I believe in the KCBS judging system; just merely trying to give you an idea of what Competition Barbecue is like!
 
Tony, with your comments, I hope you are not a certified bbq judge !

We do not judge Presentation. Nowhere in the official rules is Presentation even mentioned. We only judge on the Appearance of the Meat and the Legality of the meat and whatever else might be in the box.

One may ask why the scores only go to a 9 and not a 10. A score of 9 is considered Excellent. Anything more would signal a limit to the pitmasters. The last thing one wants to do is limit creativity!

Also, the appearance of meat score has the lowest multiplier and is the least important in the overall scoring.

You should note that James and Team did an Excellent job both in Appearance AND in Tenderness. They both created an Excellent appearing meat as well as Excellently Cooked meat !!! EXCELLENT JOB, James and Team Too Sauced Guys !!!
 
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