Entries are judged using the rules and procedures of the Barbecue Competitors Alliance (BCA). BCA uses a double ticket system; an entry box consists of a foam container with two identical tickets attached to its lid. One ticket is taped down to the box so its number cannot be seen. The head cook writes or stamps his name on the back of the other ticket in the presence of the BCA contest official. Sometime before the entry is turned in, the cook tears the signed ticket from the taped one attached to the box. The taped ticket stays with the turn-in box, while the cooker keeps the signed copy in a safe place. The signed copy of the ticket is the only proof a given cook has won a given prize. A prize will not be awarded unless the number on the signed ticket matches the one under the tape.
Judges rate each entry box on a score of 1 to 10 with 1 being the lowest score and 10 being the highest score. Judges may award an entry any score from 1 to 10, as long as whole numbers are used (no fractions allowed). The judges are instructed to score each box from 1 to 10 on color, aroma, taste, tenderness and overall impression. A score of 1 usually means the entry is so bad it cannot be kept in the mouth; a score of 10 means excellence in BBQ has been achieved. Judges are also asked to not compare entries or to change scores once the score has been assigned.
For the sake of discussion, assume a given BCA contest has 30 registered teams, with each team submitting an entry in every meat category. For a contest of this size, two rounds of judging will be required for each of the meat categories. For the first or preliminary round, 5-7 people will each judge half of the entries on two separate tables. Each table of judges will score half the total number of entries from 1 to 10 as described above. At the conclusion of the preliminary round, individual scores from each judge will be added together by table to give a composite score for each entry. In the preliminary round, approximately half of the entries will go on to the final round based on their composite scores. The exact number of entries taken to the final round is predetermined by the contest officials and often depends on the number of composite scores that are tied. A total of 7-9 people are needed to judge the second or final round of each meat category with 30 registered entries. For a contest with 30 registered cooks, about 15 entries will make it to the final round. A second group of final round judges will score each entry from 1 to 10 as described above. At the conclusion of the final round, individual scores from each judge will be added together to give a composite score for each entry. The winning entry will have the highest composite score. Entry placing is decided by the ranking of the composite scores.
No individual can judge in both the preliminary and final rounds for a given meat category. Also, no head cook can judge in a contest in which they are participating. Assistant cooks or family members can judge in only the preliminary round(s) of a contest. The actual number of judging rounds required in a contest depends on the number of registered entries.
At any BCA contest, at least the top ten finishers in each category will be announced at the awards ceremony; at the discretion of the promoter, fifteen or more places may be announced for contests with large number of teams (70+). At awards, the ticket that is taped to the top of the entry box is torn off and its number is announced to the crowd. The cook holding the announced number comes to the stage where the taped ticket and the signed ticket held by the cook are compared. If the numbers on both tickets match, then the head cook’s name and team name will be announced and recorded as having won that prize. No prize will be awarded if a ticket cannot be verified or the signed one has been lost.
Once the top ten finishers have been called, the ticket numbers of the boxes that were judged in the final round (often called the "final table") will then be announced. These numbers will be in the order of finish, above the last called place. If a given ticket number was not called for places 1-10 or for the final table, this indicates the product finished below the final table in this contest(about 15th place in our example). If a product was disqualified, the contest official will be able to give out the ticket number when asked, but it will only be announced to the crowd that there WERE disqualifications.
The overall contest winner (Grand Champion) and second place finisher(Reserve Grand Champion) will be calculated and announced at every sanctioned BCA event. These champions are determined by the placing for a given head cook’s entries in each of the contested meat categories. The first place winner in each meat category is awarded 10 points. Conversely, the 10th place finisher in that same category earns 1 point. In each category, all finishers between 1 to 10 are awarded 10 to 1 points respectively. If 15 places are announced, then a 15 to 1 scale will be used instead. The head cook with the greatest number of points in all the contest meat categories is declared to be Grand Champion; the head cook that has the second most number of points in the contest categories is the Reserve Grand Champion. Ties in points are broken by how each head cook does in the three (or four) meat categories. For example, assume two cooks finish tied for the highest number of points in the contest. The Grand Champion will be awarded to the cook that has the best finish (between the tied teams) in the brisket category. The Reserve Grand Champion will be given to the other cook that was tied in points. Ties for any other overall position are broken by this method, with brisket being the first tie-breaker, ribs being the second tie-breaker, and chicken being the next tie-breaker.
If there is a tie for first place in a particular meat category, the tie is broken by a re-judging of the product by at least 3 volunteers.