The Kansas City Barbeque Society sanctions and judges BBQ competitions across the 
U.S. and promotes barbeque as America's cuisine. It is the largest society of barbeque enthusiasts in the world. By providing the most respected form of judging and scoring in the world of BBQ, KCBS provides a representative for each contest and an appropriate number of certified BBQ judges who have been trained in how to judge world-class barbeque, all while using a blind judging process that is fair and void of personal knowledge of teams being judged. An individual membership to KCBS costs $35, and includes a subscription to The Bullsheet, the society’s monthly magazine, as well as inclusion in numerous discounts and special offers. A family membership costs $50. KCBS was formed in 1986 by Gary and Carolyn Wells and Rick Welch. Their home office is located at 11514 Hickman Mills Drive, Kansas City, MO 64134.
"I do solemnly swear to objectively and subjectively evaluate each Barbeque meat that is presented to my eyes, my nose, my hands and my palate. I accept my duty to be an Official KCBS Certified Judge, so that truth, justice, excellence in Barbeque and the American Way of Life may be strengthened and preserved forever."
For a complete list of KCBS rules, please click here.
KCBS Certified BBQ Judging (CBJ) Class
To sign up to participate in the Certified Barbecue Judge Training Class to be held Thursday, July 8th, please email llarsen@reporter-herald.com or call 970-635-3647. Class is limited to 40 participants. Please call soon to hold your spot!
Our instructors will be Merl and Carol Whitebook. Merl and Carol are widely known in the world of competition BBQ, especially in the West. They are some of the most experienced instructors and KCBS contest representatives available. Merl and Carol know BBQ, and their instruction and advice will help your cooking and scoring in many ways.
As part of the class you will receive instruction in KCBS scoring, procedures, allowed and disallowed display techniques, new rules for 2010, and actually score (and eat!) competition entries in all four KCBS categories. After scoring each meat, scores will be discussed and you’ll receive feed back that will help you to more systematically score entries. If you are a new competitor, you’ll get some real insights into what constitutes a winning entry in the judges’ eyes.
Judges will learn to examine several criteria during the blind judging process: appearance, tenderness and taste (the most critical of all of the criteria. Judges will discover how the spices and sauces (if used) used should compliment rather than overpower the taste of the meat, doneness – the meat should not lose textural integrity when pinched between two fingers, and should not fall off of the bone, as well as a variety of presentation styles.
If you want to judge KCBS Contests or just learn how to improve your own cooking or competition entries, this class is for YOU!
KCBS Judges Certification Class cost is:
Current KCBS Members -$50.00 Judges Class Fee
Non KCBS Members – $85.00 Judges Class Fee
Non-KCBS members completing the class will receive one year membership in the KCBS and a one year subscription to the “Bullsheet” the monthly KCBS newspaper (included in the class fee).
If you are interested in learing more about becoming a BBQ judge, please visit www.judgebbq.com.
