How to judge a chili cook-off

A chili cook-off feels fair when nobody knows whose pot they are tasting, everyone judges the same things, and the scoring rule is clear before the first spoon goes in. This page covers all three, for a backyard or office cook-off with a handful of pots.

What judges look for

Many cook-off judging sheets you find online use some version of these five:

Aroma: The first impression when the lid comes off. Does it smell like chili, with the spices and meat in balance?
Color: Does it look appetizing? A red chili should look rich and even. A white or green chili is judged on its own terms.
Consistency: Meat tender without turning to mush, sauce neither watery nor paste-thick, and a sensible ratio of sauce to meat.
Taste: The biggest one. Seasoning, depth, and heat that is noticeable without drowning everything else.
Aftertaste: What stays a few seconds after swallowing. A warm finish is good; bitterness or a burn that wipes out the next taste is not.

The International Chili Society gives its judges similar guidance in its official rules (PDF): tender meat, sauce of the right thickness with real chili flavor, heat that is neither bland nor overpowering, and in the end, the bowl the judge personally likes best.

Rate every pot, or rank the top three

There are two common ways to turn tastings into a winner.

Rate each entry on a scale (1 to 5 or 1 to 10), then rank by the average. Every pot gets a score, so you also see how close second and third were. Some sheets score each criterion separately and add them up, which takes longer and rarely changes the winner at a party.
Rank the top three. ICS-sanctioned cook-offs work this way: each judge names a first, second and third place, the scorekeeper gives 3, 2 and 1 points, and the highest total wins. It is quick for experienced judges with many cups on the table.

For a casual cook-off where every guest votes, rating is easier. Guests do not have to keep ten pots in their head, and someone who only tried four can still vote on those four.

Keeping it blind

Ask one person who is not cooking to collect the pots or cups and number them in random order. Write the key (number to cook) on a piece of paper and keep it out of sight.
Use identical cups, bowls or slow cookers if you can. A distinctive pot gives the cook away.
Leave garnishes off. Cheese, sour cream or a cilantro sprig on one entry makes it recognizable, and ICS rules ban garnishes for the same reason. Put toppings out after voting.
Keep cooks away from the tasting table while judging is on, and ask judges not to talk, pull faces or gesture while tasting (ICS rules ask the same of their judges). One "wow" changes how the next person tastes.

At the tasting table

A clean spoon for every taste. Small sample cups and a box of plastic spoons work well.
Palate cleansers between tastes. ICS suggests bite-size pieces of flour tortilla, sour cream and bottled water. Plain crackers or bread work too.
Keep samples small, about two tablespoons. With eight pots that is already a full bowl.
If one entry is much hotter than the rest, let people taste it last so it does not numb them for the others.
Re-tasting is fine. ICS judges may go back to a cup as often as they like before deciding.

How many judges

ICS asks for at least one judge for every two bowls, or at least five judges per judging table, so 12 pots means about 6 judges. At a party you can let every guest vote instead. More voters make one person's odd taste matter less.

Breaking a tie

ICS breaks a tie with fresh judges who did not taste that round: three of them for a two-way tie, five for a three-way tie, always an odd number. They taste only the tied entries and their votes decide the place. At home, the same idea works with whoever has the cleanest palate left: two or three people taste the tied pots side by side and pick one.

Decide the rule before you start, and say it out loud. A tie-break invented after the scores are in always looks like it favors someone.

Running it with the scorecard

The scorecard on this site uses the rating method. You type the entries (up to 20), guests open one link on their phones and see only Entry 1, Entry 2 and so on, and each rates the pots from 1 to 5. Ask them to keep aroma, color, consistency, taste and aftertaste in mind and give one overall score. When you close voting, everyone sees the ranking by average score with the names revealed. If two entries end up with the same average, the one more people rated ranks higher; if that is also equal, they share the place and you can use the tie-break above.

Number the cups in the same order you typed the entries, so Entry 3 on the phone is cup 3 on the table. The host page has a printable table card with a QR code for the vote link.

Start a chili cook-off scorecard. The title is filled in; add your entries and share the link.

Create a scorecard