Rules

2024 Rules Regulations and Judging Procedures

Download a PDF of the rules here: SGABC_Rules_V1_1-4-24

The Event
Registration
The Schedule

1) The decision and interpretations of the Rules and Regulations are at the discretion of the 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 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 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 the 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 South Grenville Events.

6) Fires shall be of wood, wood pellets or charcoal. Gas and electric heat sources shall not be permitted for cooking or holding (proteins). 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 drafts 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 will be provided by the by the contest organizer (sponsored by TBD) on the day of the contest.

Each team will be provided with 2 racks of side ribs as well as 10 bone-in Chicken Thighs. The competition meat shall not leave the contest site. Cooking shall not begin until 8AM. 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 receive no score. When the contest organizer supplies the meat, the contestant is required to enter only that meat. If after receipt of their meat the 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 the spoiled meat. Competition meat not meeting these qualifications shall be disqualified, not allowed to be turned in, and not judged.

8) Barbeque for the purposes of the Rules is cooking the 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 turn-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 two Meat Categories:
• CHICKEN: Bone in, skin on chicken thigh.
• PORK RIBS: Ribs shall include the bone. Country style ribs are prohibited.
The two (2) meat categories will be judged in the following order:
• CHICKEN – 2:00PM
• PORK RIBS – 4:00PM

11) Any modification of turn-in times or the order the categories will be judged must be approved by the contest organizer. The modified times or change in categories order must be published in the cook’s 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 receive a 1 (one) 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 score of one (1) on Appearance.

14) Entries will be submitted in an approved 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 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 be disqualified.

16) Each contestant must submit at least six (6) portions of meat in an approved container.
Chicken 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:
a. No use of any tobacco products while handling meat.
b. Cleanliness of the cook, assistant cooks, cooking device(s) and the team’s assigned cooking space is required.
c. Shirt and shoes are required to be worn.
d. 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.
e. First aid is not required to be provided by the contest, except at the election of the contest organizer.
f. Prior to cooking, meat must be maintained at 40° F or less.
g. 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.
h. 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) All contestants will allow for spectator viewing as this event is open to the public. Blind space is allowed for privacy for proprietary techniques or ingredients. Contestants are encouraged to interact with the viewing public when time allows to help promote the craft and increase the visibility of our passion. The public will be kept a minimum of five (5) feet away unless invited in by the Chef of the team.

19) There will be no refund of entry fees for any reason, except at the election of the contest organizer.

CAUSES FOR DISQUALIFICATION & EVICTION of a team, its members and/or guests:
A cook team is responsible jointly and severally for its head cook, its team members and its guests.
a. Excessive use of alcoholic beverages or public intoxication with a disturbance
b. Serving alcoholic beverages to the general public
c. Use of illegal controlled substances
d. Foul, abusive, or unacceptable language or any language causing a disturbance
e. Excessive noise, including but not limited to that generated from speakers, such as radios,
CD players, TVs, public address systems or amplifying equipment, will not be allowed
during quiet time, designated to start at 11:00 p.m. on contest nights and will last until
7:00 a.m. unless otherwise determined by the event
f. Fighting and/or disorderly conduct
g. Theft, dishonesty, cheating, use of prohibited meats, or any act involving moral turpitude
h. Use of gas or other auxiliary heat sources inside the cooking device
i. Violation of any of the Rules above, save and except #9 – 13.
Excessive or continued complaints from teams on any of the above rule infractions shall be considered grounds for immediate disqualification from the contest by Representatives, Organizers and/or Security.

CLARIFICATION: If the team does not turn in a product or is disqualified and not allowed to
turn in or is late for turn in, that team’s category is not accepted and not judged and receives no score. If a product is turned in and then penalized or disqualified for any reason, such as no bone in ribs, etc., it will be judged and will receive a one (1) or ones (1s) in all criteria depending on the rule violation.

JUDGING PROCEDURES:
South Grenville Events allows for blind judging only. Entries will be submitted in an approved numbered container provided by the contest organizer. The container may be re-numbered by the 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. Contest 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 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 judging area during the judging process. No other activities are permitted in the judging area, during 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 disqualification and requires approval by a Contest Rep. Grounds for 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 – 0.5600, 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 contest purposes.

8) Total points per entry will determine the champion within each meat category.

9) Cumulative points for only the two (2) categories will determine the Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion.

CREED
Rules are designed to be fair and equal to all cookers. Integrity of the Contestants, Judges,
Contest Representatives, and Organizers is essential.

Version SGABC_Rules_V1_1-4-24