Went to a competition in Kansas City and saw a judge dock points for 'too much smoke'

The pitmaster had a perfect bark and the judge just said 'overpowering' on the sheet. Has anyone else seen a call that subjective at an event?

4 comments

4 Comments

michaeltorres3mo ago

Honestly, that sounds like a judge's personal taste to me.

susanb343mo ago

My uncle's chili got third place at our county fair last year because one judge wrote "too many beans" on the card. It's a chili cook-off. That's the whole point. You see it everywhere now, from food contests to online reviews. Someone always has to nitpick a thing for being exactly what it's supposed to be.

dakotab933mo ago

But the judge's job is to pick the best one. If the beans threw off the balance, that's a real note. Maybe it was just bean soup with some chili flavor.

emerym361mo ago

Two pounds of beans in a five-gallon batch? That's what my buddy uses. He won third place too. So the judge said it was bean soup. But isn't texture part of the whole thing? What makes chili chili then if beans automatically disqualify it? Honest question.