Wing cook-off judging sheet to print, with a 100-point scale
Wings can go soft within minutes of leaving the fryer, sauce can hide the meat, and a hot sauce at wing three can flatten every wing after it. A wing cook-off needs a score sheet and serving rules that fit that. Print the sheet below, or run the vote on phones. After it: what each score means, heat classes, holding rules, tasting order and tie-breaks.
Start a phone scorecard See a sample
Judging sheet
One row per numbered tray of wings. Write points in each column up to its maximum and add the row into Total. The best possible total is 100. These criteria and weights are my own suggestion, so adjust them to your rules.
| Wing | Sauce flavor (30) | Meat (20) | Skin, crisp (20) | Heat (15) | Overall (15) | Total (100) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 4 | ||||||
| 5 | ||||||
| 6 | ||||||
| 7 | ||||||
| 8 |
Judge name:
Tie: the higher Sauce flavor score wins. If that is level too, fresh judges re-taste the tied wings. That tie-break is my own rule.
What each score means
Read this to your judges before the first tray. A wing is a piece of cooked chicken and a vehicle for sauce at the same time, so the sheet gives the meat and the skin 40 points between them and the sauce 30. Heat gets its own row because heat is what wing contests tend to argue about. These weights are my suggestion; change them to match your rules.
| Criterion | Max | Low scores | High scores |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sauce and flavor | 30 | Sauce tastes of one thing only (heat or vinegar), tastes of raw spice, or slides off the wing. | The sauce or rub clings, has layers beyond heat, and you can still taste the chicken. |
| Meat | 20 | Dry, stringy, or pink at the bone. Rubbery meat that was cooked straight from cold. | Juicy all the way through, pulls cleanly off the bone, seasoned beneath the sauce. |
| Skin and crispness | 20 | Soft and flabby, or burnt. Breading that falls off in the sauce. A greasy film on the fingers. | Skin rendered and crisp (or a crust that stays on), even after being tossed in sauce. |
| Heat balance | 15 | Heat that numbs everything after the first wing, or no heat at all on a wing billed as hot. | Heat that matches what the cook promised and leaves room for the next bite. |
| Overall | 15 | You would not go back for a second. | You would take two more off the tray. |
Judge heat against what the cook promised, and leave your own tolerance out of it. A wing labeled mild that makes eyes water should lose points, and a wing labeled atomic that tastes like ketchup should too. Being hot earns no bonus.
Classes: heat level and cooking method
A honey garlic wing cannot beat a ghost pepper wing on a shared list, because the hot one wins the first bite and the sweet one wins nothing. With six or more entries, I would split by heat into mild to medium and hot to extreme, with one scorecard per class. Dry rub and sauced wings are a second split worth making, since a rub keeps its crisp and a tossed wing loses it.
Decide on the cooking method before you send invitations. Deep fried, baked, air fried and smoked wings behave differently on a tray. A simple rule is that any method is welcome and the cook names it on the ingredient card. With fewer than six entries, one list is fine.
Cooking, holding and portions
- Cook to 165°F. The USDA advice reprinted by UW-Madison Extension checks turkey at 165°F in the thigh, wing and breast, and I use the same 165°F for chicken wings. Ask each cook to check one wing with a thermometer before plating.
- Finish close to serving time. Wings tossed in sauce lose their crisp under foil. Ask cooks to sauce on arrival, or bring the sauce in a jar and toss at the table.
- Hold hot. A USDA fact sheet says to keep hot food at 140°F or above, in a preheated oven, chafing dish, warming tray or slow cooker, and not to leave it out longer than 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F).
- Plan the volume. One drumette or flat per taster per entry is enough. For 30 tasters, each cook brings about 30 pieces, roughly 3 to 4 pounds of whole wings.
- Put a card by each number with the heat level the cook is aiming for, and any dairy, honey, soy or nuts. It lists ingredients only, so it does not give the cook away.
Tasting order and blind trays
- One helper numbers the trays and keeps the key. Use the same plain plates for every entry and remove any name tags.
- Number the wings from mild to hot, so the list on the phone matches the order guests taste in. Heat builds, and a hot wing in position two can make everything after it taste flat.
- Put out celery, plain bread, water and something creamy like ranch or blue cheese dip. Heat does not fade in a minute, so give people time to reset between wings.
- Stock plenty of napkins and a wet towel. A hand-wipe station near the voting table keeps sauce off phone screens.
Run the vote with the scorecard
Type the wing entries in tasting order, share the link or put the QR card on the table, and ask each guest to rate every entry from 1 to 5. Nobody needs an account and the scorecard stores no names, so it suits a bar night, a watch party or an office lunch. The ranking is the average of all ratings. One scorecard holds up to 20 entries.
Cooks should skip voting on their own wings. The scorecard cannot tell who cooked, so say it when you hand out the link. Keep voting open until the last tray is served, then close it from the host page to show the ranking. Heat is scored a little differently for a dip; the salsa contest judging sheet shows how.
If two entries tie
When two entries have the same average, the one more people rated ranks higher. If the average and the number of ratings both match, they share the place. For a single prize, plate two fresh wings of each tied entry and have three guests who did not cook taste them side by side. Announce that rule before the tasting starts. Splitting the prize works too.
How the phone vote works
Type the entries in the order of their numbers. Guests open one link, see Entry 1, Entry 2 and so on, and rate each from 1 to 5. Or, if you pick award voting when you create it, they choose one entry per award, such as Funniest. The results appear with the names when you close voting. A paper sheet suits a judging panel, and the link suits a people's choice vote.
You print a table card with the QR code. Free, no account for you or your guests, deleted after 30 days.
Start a wing cook-off scorecard. The title is filled in; add your entries in tasting order and share the link.
Create a scorecard See a sample contest