How to become a Certified BBQ Judge
BBQ is one of America's favorite backyard activities. However, several years ago BBQ crawled out of the family backyard and into the arena of competition. Thousands of BBQ teams compete each year at a myriad of contests blanketing the United States. You most likely found this page via word-of-mouth at a BBQ contest or discovered us through a fellow BBQ judge friend. Perhaps you watched episodes of BBQ Pitmasters and decided to Google "how to become a Certified BBQ Judge." What ever brought your here, you obviously want to judge BBQ and bite into the most tasty food created by the most talented cooks in the country. Well, you just landed on the perfect website to learn how to do just that - right here at BBQ Critic.
YOUR FIRST STEP is to find a BBQ group in your area that sanctions BBQ competitions and provides a Certified BBQ Judge (CBJ) training class. The Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) is the largest sanctioning group of them all. KCBS (15,000 members worldwide) sanctions around 300 competitions a year that are in need of fully trained KCBS Certified BBQ Judges. I highly recommend you begin with them. However, there are many other fine sanctioning groups throughout the US who have their own CBJ training programs. Seek them out, too.
When you are fully trained CBJ, you will then be qualified to judge competition boxes online at BBQ Critic. Here you can learn the art of the appearance score with other CBJs when you sign up to be a BBQ Critic Online BBQ Judge (OBJ). You will also be qualified to take our Certified Online BBQ Judge (COBJ) training, a fun extracurricular activity to help increase your awareness and focus as a BBQ judge. It is especially great for new CBJ's so who can PRACTICE judging appearance scores (before going to a live event), INTERACT with other judges on the site and read their box score comments. Over time, you will GROW to become a well-rounded CBJ (when combined with your experience judging at live competitions).
BBQ Critic is a great place to Practice, Interact & Grow (PIG).
Below is a full list of resources to help you get stated in your competition BBQ journey. Do not overlook any BBQ association on the list. If it is near you, contact them immediately and support your local group. These groups often help facilitate CBJ training classes. For example, as a member of the Iowa BBQ Society (IBS), I trained to be a KCBS Certified BBQ Judge through a class sponsored by them Lots of options ahead of you!
So get trained to be a CBJ and step into the world of competition BBQ. Then come back to BBQ Critic - sign up and get your PIG on!
Sincerely,
Herb Kane
Publisher
BBQRITIC.COM
YOUR FIRST STEP is to find a BBQ group in your area that sanctions BBQ competitions and provides a Certified BBQ Judge (CBJ) training class. The Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) is the largest sanctioning group of them all. KCBS (15,000 members worldwide) sanctions around 300 competitions a year that are in need of fully trained KCBS Certified BBQ Judges. I highly recommend you begin with them. However, there are many other fine sanctioning groups throughout the US who have their own CBJ training programs. Seek them out, too.
When you are fully trained CBJ, you will then be qualified to judge competition boxes online at BBQ Critic. Here you can learn the art of the appearance score with other CBJs when you sign up to be a BBQ Critic Online BBQ Judge (OBJ). You will also be qualified to take our Certified Online BBQ Judge (COBJ) training, a fun extracurricular activity to help increase your awareness and focus as a BBQ judge. It is especially great for new CBJ's so who can PRACTICE judging appearance scores (before going to a live event), INTERACT with other judges on the site and read their box score comments. Over time, you will GROW to become a well-rounded CBJ (when combined with your experience judging at live competitions).
BBQ Critic is a great place to Practice, Interact & Grow (PIG).
Below is a full list of resources to help you get stated in your competition BBQ journey. Do not overlook any BBQ association on the list. If it is near you, contact them immediately and support your local group. These groups often help facilitate CBJ training classes. For example, as a member of the Iowa BBQ Society (IBS), I trained to be a KCBS Certified BBQ Judge through a class sponsored by them Lots of options ahead of you!
So get trained to be a CBJ and step into the world of competition BBQ. Then come back to BBQ Critic - sign up and get your PIG on!
Sincerely,
Herb Kane
Publisher
BBQRITIC.COM
Certified BBQ Judge Training Class Resources
Canadian Southern BBQ Association
http://www.csbbqa.com/judge-courses.html
Caribbean BBQ Association
http://www.bbqpr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=117&Itemid=57
Florida BBQ Association
http://www.flbbq.org/judgeapp.htm
Georgia BBQ Association
http://www.bbqga.org/about/join-the-gba/
Kansas City Barbeque Society
http://www.kcbs.us/classes.php
Memphis Barbecue Network
http://www.mbnbbq.com/list_classes.php?typeId=3
North Carolina Barbecue Society
http://www.ncbbqsociety.com/recipes_class1.html
Pacific Northwest BBQ Association
http://pnwba.com/
Southern BBQ Network
http://sbbqn.com/judging/
South Carolina Barbecue Association
http://scbarbeque.com/certified-judges/
St Louis BBQ Society
http://www.stlouisbbqsociety.com/#!calendar/vstc4=judging-overview
http://www.csbbqa.com/judge-courses.html
Caribbean BBQ Association
http://www.bbqpr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=117&Itemid=57
Florida BBQ Association
http://www.flbbq.org/judgeapp.htm
Georgia BBQ Association
http://www.bbqga.org/about/join-the-gba/
Kansas City Barbeque Society
http://www.kcbs.us/classes.php
Memphis Barbecue Network
http://www.mbnbbq.com/list_classes.php?typeId=3
North Carolina Barbecue Society
http://www.ncbbqsociety.com/recipes_class1.html
Pacific Northwest BBQ Association
http://pnwba.com/
Southern BBQ Network
http://sbbqn.com/judging/
South Carolina Barbecue Association
http://scbarbeque.com/certified-judges/
St Louis BBQ Society
http://www.stlouisbbqsociety.com/#!calendar/vstc4=judging-overview
BBQ Associations by State
Alabama
Alabama BBQ Association
http://www.bamabbqtrail.com
Alaska
Alaska BBQ Association
http://www.alaskabbq.org
Arizona
AZBarbeque
http://www.azbarbeque.com
California
California BBQ Association
http://www.cbbqa.com,
Colorado
Rocky Mountain BBQ Association
http://www.rmbbqa.com/index.php
Florida
Florida BBQ Association
http://www.flbbq.org/main.htm
Florida Panhandle BBQ Society
http://www.flapanhandlebbq.com
Georgia
Georgia Barbecue Association
http://www.bbqga.com
Iowa
Iowa BBQ Society
http://www.iabbq.org
Kansas
Kansas City Barbeque Society
http://www.kcbs.us
Louisiana
Louisiana BBQ Cookers Association
http://www.labbq.org
Minnesota
Minnesota BBQ Society
http://www.mnbbqsociety.com/mnbbqsociety/
Missouri
St. Louis Barbecue Society
http://www.stlouisbbqsociety.com
Nebraska
Greater Omaha BBQ Society (GOBS)
http://www.gobs.org
North Carolina
North Carolina Barbecue Society
http://www.ncbbqsociety.com
South Carolina
South Carolina Barbeque association
http://www.scbarbeque.com
Texas
Lonestar Barbecue Society
http://www.lonestarbarbecue.com
Texas Gulf Coast BBQ Cookers Association
http://www.tgcbca.org
Utah
Utah BBQ Organization
http://www.utahbbq.org
Alabama BBQ Association
http://www.bamabbqtrail.com
Alaska
Alaska BBQ Association
http://www.alaskabbq.org
Arizona
AZBarbeque
http://www.azbarbeque.com
California
California BBQ Association
http://www.cbbqa.com,
Colorado
Rocky Mountain BBQ Association
http://www.rmbbqa.com/index.php
Florida
Florida BBQ Association
http://www.flbbq.org/main.htm
Florida Panhandle BBQ Society
http://www.flapanhandlebbq.com
Georgia
Georgia Barbecue Association
http://www.bbqga.com
Iowa
Iowa BBQ Society
http://www.iabbq.org
Kansas
Kansas City Barbeque Society
http://www.kcbs.us
Louisiana
Louisiana BBQ Cookers Association
http://www.labbq.org
Minnesota
Minnesota BBQ Society
http://www.mnbbqsociety.com/mnbbqsociety/
Missouri
St. Louis Barbecue Society
http://www.stlouisbbqsociety.com
Nebraska
Greater Omaha BBQ Society (GOBS)
http://www.gobs.org
North Carolina
North Carolina Barbecue Society
http://www.ncbbqsociety.com
South Carolina
South Carolina Barbeque association
http://www.scbarbeque.com
Texas
Lonestar Barbecue Society
http://www.lonestarbarbecue.com
Texas Gulf Coast BBQ Cookers Association
http://www.tgcbca.org
Utah
Utah BBQ Organization
http://www.utahbbq.org