I am a KCBS Certified BBQ Judge and can offer this advice: One Bite.
You have to understand that I have six pieces of meat in each of four categories to judge. I nibble a cracker and take a swig of water between each piece of meat to cleanse my palate to give the next contestant the same judgment as the previous one. Therefore, I have to pace myself between BBQ, crackers, and water -- so, to do this, I judge your long trip, cold/hot/wet sleepless night, hard work and sweat in One Bite. Some judges may take more than one bite but I recommend when you taste test your smoked meat you base your strategy on One Bite.
Incidentally, I do not prefer a particular sauce if any, wet, dry, sweet, salty, spicey, etc. I cannot expect to see this or taste that. I don't base one entry on another and I don't base it on my own cooking. I simply take One Bite testing for taste and tenderness and if it's good, I determine how good on a scale of 2 to 9. I imagine most entries are 7 and 8(s) though I am not issued a quota on any number -- I can give all 9(s) if they are all excellent in my opinion.
9-Excellent
8-Very Good
7-Above Average
6-Average
5-Below Average
4-Poor
3-Bad
2-Inedible
I recommend going to the website BBQ Critic to look at some boxes, read some judge's comments, maybe even post your box and see what they say. Use those comments to improve your box appearance. Oh by-the-way, I get just a few seconds to look at your box and rate it.
...and speaking of Famous Dave... I went to the same KCBS CBJ course at the Jack that he did. He's a great guy.
I hope this helps you. Good Luck with your comps!
