1. The decision and interpretations of the KCBS Rules and Regulations are at the discretion of the KCBS Contest Representatives at the contest. Their decisions and interpretations are final to the extent consistent with the rules.
2. Each team shall consist of a chief cook and as many assistants as the chief cook deems necessary. A team shall not compete in more than one KCBS sanctioned contest under the same team name, on the same date. Chief cooks and/or assistant cooks may
   only cook for their designated team at the contest they are attending.
3. Each team will be assigned a cooking space. Pits, cookers, props, trailers, motor homes, vehicles, tents or any other equipment (including generators) shall not exceed the boundaries of the team’s assigned cooking space. All seasoning and cooking of product shall be done within the assigned cooking space. Teams shall not share an assigned cooking space or cooking device.
4. Contestants shall provide all needed equipment, supplies and electricity, except as arranged for in advance. Contestants must adhere to all electrical, fire and other codes. A fire extinguisher shall be near all cooking devices.
5. It is the responsibility of the contestant to see that the team’s assigned cooking space is clean and orderly following the contest. All fires must be put out, pits filled (if allowed by contest organizer), and all equipment removed from site. It is imperative that clean-up be thorough. Any team’s assigned cooking space left in disarray or with loose trash, other than at trash containers, may disqualify the team from future participation at KCBS sanctioned events.
6. Fires shall be of wood, wood pellets or charcoal. Gas and electric heat sources shall not be permitted for cooking or holding. Propane or electric is permitted as fire starters, provided that the competition meat is not in/on the cooking device. Electrical accessories such as spits, augers, or forced draft are permitted. No open pits or holes are permitted, except at the election of the contest organizer. Fires shall not be built on the ground.
7. All competition meats shall be inspected by the Official Meat Inspector during the times established by the contest organizer but not prior to the day before judging. Once the competition meat has been inspected, it shall not leave the contest site. Cooking shall not begin until the competition meat has been inspected by the Official Meat Inspector. All competition meat shall start out raw. No pre-seasoned meat is allowed other than manufacturer enhanced or injected products, as shown on label EXCLUDING but not limited to: teriyaki, lemon pepper or butter injected. Competition meat not meeting these qualifications shall be disqualified, not allowed to be turned in, and not judged, and receives no score. When the contest organizer supplies the meat, the contestant is not required to enter only that meat, the single exception is when an organizer provides all four (4) meats. If an organizer provides all four meats it must be in a fair and equitable manner with regards to quantity, quality and distribution. Additionally, the organizer must specifically address on the team application how the meats will be distributed, the quantities of the meat to be provided, and when the meats will be distributed. If after receipt of their meat a team believes their meat is spoiled they should bring it to the attention of the reps. If the reps agree, the organizer must have additional meat on hand, of the same brand and quality, to replace. Contests providing all four meats must be approved by the BOD and not approved by the office. Competition meat not meeting these qualifications shall be disqualified, not allowed to be turned in, and not judged, and receives no score.
8. Barbeque for the purposes of the KCBS Rules is cooking the four KCBS Meat Categories 10) below on a device defined in 6) above. Parboiling, Sous-vide, and/or deep-frying competition meat is not allowed. If any of the banned processes are discovered before the team turns in, the team will receive zeros. If discovered after turn-in, the team will receive a one (1) in all criteria for that entry.
9. Meat shall not be sculptured, branded or presented in a way to make it identifiable. Rosettes of meat slices are not allowed. Violations of this rule will be scored a one (1) on all criteria by all six judges.
10. The Four KCBS Meat Categories:
    • CHICKEN: Chicken includes Cornish Game Hen and Kosher Chicken.
    • PORK RIBS: Ribs shall include the bone. Country style ribs are prohibited.
    • PORK: Pork is defined as Boston Butt, Boston Roast, Picnic and/or Whole Shoulder, weighing a minimum of four (4) pounds at the time of inspection. After trimming, pork shall be cooked whole (bone in or bone out), however, once cooked, it may be separated and returned to the cooker at the cook’s discretion. It may be turned in chopped, pulled, chunked, sliced or a combination of any of those.
    • BEEF BRISKET: May be whole brisket, flat, or point. Corned beef is not allowed.
11. Judging typically starts at Noon on Saturday.
    • The four (4) KCBS categories will be judged in the following order:
    • CHICKEN NOON
    • PORK RIBS 12:30 pm
    • PORK 1:00 pm
    • BEEF BRISKET 1:30 pm

    Any modification of turn in times or the order the categories will be judged must be approved by the KCBS office. The modified times or change in category order must be published in the cooks packet well in advance of the contest and be confirmed at the cooks meeting. An entry will be judged only at the time established by the contest organizer. The allowable turn-in time will be five (5) minutes before to five (5) minutes after the posted time with no tolerance. A late turn-in will not be accepted by a Rep and will receive a 0 (zero) in all criteria.

12. Garnish is optional. If used it is limited to chopped, sliced, shredded or whole leaves of fresh green lettuce, curly parsley, flat leaf parsley, curly green kale and/or cilantro. PROHIBITED GARNISHES ARE lettuce cores, kale stems and other vegetation, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO endive, red tipped lettuce. “PROHIBITED” garnish shall receive a penalty score of one (1) on Appearance.
13. Sauce is optional. If used, it shall be applied directly to the meat and not be pooled or puddled in the container. No side sauce containers will be permitted in the turn-in container. Chunky sauce will be allowed. Chunks are to be no larger than a fine dice, approximately 1/8 inch cubed. Sauce violations shall receive a penalty score of one (1) on Appearance.
14. Entries will be submitted in an approved KCBS numbered container, provided by the contest organizer. The number must be on top of the container at turn-in.
15. The container shall not be marked in any way so as to make the container unique or identifiable. Aluminum foil, toothpicks, skewers, foreign material, and/or stuffing are prohibited in the container. Marked entries or containers with the above listed material will receive a one (1) in all criteria from all Judges and disqualified.
16. Each contestant must submit at least six (6) portions of meat in an approved container. Chicken, pork and brisket may be submitted chopped, pulled, sliced, or diced as the cook sees fit, as long as there is enough for six (6) judges. Ribs shall be turned in bone-in. Judges may not cut, slice, or shake apart to separate pieces. If there is not enough meat for each judge to sample, the shorted judge(s) will score a one (1) on all criteria, and the judges having samples will change the Appearance score to one (1) as a penalty.
17. The following cleanliness and safety rules will apply:
    1. No use of any tobacco products while handling meat.
    2. Cleanliness of the cook, assistant cooks, cooking device(s) and the team’s assigned cooking space is required.
    3. Shirt and shoes are required to be worn.
    4. Sanitizing of work area should be implemented with the use of a bleach/water rinse (one cap/gallon of water). Each contestant will provide a separate container for washing, rinsing and sanitizing of utensils.
    5. First aid is not required to be provided by the contest, except at the election of the contest organizer.
    6. Prior to cooking, meat must be maintained at 40° F or less.
    7. After cooking, all meat: Must be held at 140° F or above OR Cooked meat shall be cooled as follows: Within 2 hours from 140° F to 70° F and within 4 hours from 70° F to 41° F or less.
    8. Meat that is cooked, properly cooled, and later reheated for hot holding and serving shall be reheated so that all parts of the food reach a temperature of at least 165° F for a minimum of 15 seconds.
18. There will be no refund of entry fees for any reason, except at the election of the contest organizer.

JUDGING PROCEDURES

KCBS sanctioning allows for blind judging only. Entries will be submitted in an approved KCBS numbered container provided by the contest organizer. The container may be re- numbered by the KCBS Contest Rep or authorized personnel before being presented to the judges.

1. Judges may not fraternize with teams on turn-in day until conclusion of judging.
2. Judging will be done by a team of 6 persons at each judging table, who are at least 16 years of age. KCBS Reps will determine the optimum number of tables of judges needed to properly judge the contest. To prevent a team’s food from landing on the same judging table twice in any type of KCBS sanctioned contest, the use of only three tables of judges should only occur when all other options have been exhausted. Only Judges, Contest Reps and necessary support staff are allowed in the judging during the judging process. No other activities are permitted in the judging area during the judging process.
3. Each judge will first score all the samples for appearance of the meat. The turn-in containers will then be passed around the table and each judge will place a sample from each of the containers in the appropriate box on the judging plate. Judges shall not lick their fingers while taking these samples; paper towels, non-scented wipes or damp wash cloths are preferred .The judge will then score each entry for taste and tenderness, before moving on to the next entry.
4. The scoring system is from 9 to 2, all whole numbers between two and nine may be used to score an entry. 9 excellent, 8 very good, 7 above average, 6 average, 5 below average, 4 poor, 3 bad, and 2 inedible.
5. A score of one (1) is a penalty or disqualification and requires approval by a Contest Rep. Grounds for penalty/disqualification: All judges will give a one (1) in Appearance for prohibited garnish, pooled sauce or less than 6 samples of meat. All judges will give a one (1) in all criteria for sculptured meat, a marked turn-in container, foreign object in the container, incorrect meat. All judges not receiving a sample will give a one (1) in all criteria.
6. The weighting factors for the point system are: Appearance -.5600, Taste – 2.2972, Tenderness – 1.1428.
7. The low score will be thrown out. Results will be tallied. If there is a tie in one of the categories, it will be broken by the computer, as follows: The scores will be compared (counting all five judges) for the highest cumulative scores in taste, then tenderness, then appearance. If still tied, then the low score, which was thrown out, will be compared and the higher of the low scores will break the tie. If still tied, then a computer generated coin toss will be used. 7a. In the event of lost, destroyed or missing score cards the remaining score cards will be averaged in each category and those averages shall be used as the missing scores on replacement score cards. After there are six total score cards the normal procedure will be followed for dropping the low score. These correct scores will be the official scores for any and all KCBS purposes.
8. Total points per entry will determine the champion within each meat category.
9. Cumulative points for only the four (4) KCBS categories will determine Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion. No additional cooking responsibility may be required for consideration for Grand Champion or prize monies. No prize monies can be withheld for non-participation in ancillary categories.