CONTEST RULES

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The following rules are to be adhered to by all cook-off cooks, judges and/or assistants:

 

1. True chili is defined as any kind of meat or combination of meats cooked with chili peppers, various other spices and other ingredients. (Exception made for Vegetarian)

 

2. Entry is free. Contestants may enter more than 1 batch of chili. There will be an award for first place $300 – a winner’s trophy and bragging rights. Second Place will receive $150 – a winner’s trophy and 3rd place will receive $50 – a winner’s trophy.

 

3. All ingredients must be pre-cooked and treated prior to the event – chili is to be brought ready to eat.

 

4. Contestants are responsible for supplying all of their own utensils and products related to their chili submission and maintenance of its proper temperature for serving. An electrical outlet will be available for each entry and a crock-pot is recommended. Spoons and cups for use in serving chili to the general public will be provided. Condiments will not be provided.

 

5. Each contestant must cook a minimum of four (4) quarts of competition chili. A portion of this chili will be submitted to the judges and the rest will be for public consumption.  Please feel free to bring more as the public will be sampling as well.

 

6. Each contestant will be assigned a “contestant’s number” by the scorekeeper and be

given a container in which their chili will be collected for official judging.

 

7. The decision of the judges is final. Judging will be based on score cards which are numbered. 80% of the final tally will be from judge’s score cards. 20% will be from scorecards from “people’s choice.”

 

8. Each contestant is responsible for policing and cleaning up the area at the end of the day and removing all items from the area. There will not be an area for cleaning of dishes. No items shall be allowed to remain after the close of the Cook-off.

 

Judging

 

In this competition the chili will be blind judged (no one knows the identity of the cook)

and scorecards will be based on the following six characteristics:

 

1. Texture: The texture of the meat shall not be tough or mushy

 

2. Flavor: The chili should have good flavoring and chili pepper taste (not too hot or too mild)

 

3. Consistency: Chili should be a smooth combination of meat and gravy not too thin or too thick

 

4. Spice and taste: Blending of the spices and how well they have permeated the meat

 

5. Aroma: This will be a personal preference of the judge

 

6. Color: The submitted chili should look appetizing

 

There will be a People’s Choice ballot box for people to score the chili. Scorecards will be collected at the end of the judging and tallied, and that score added to the final tally.

 

Friends on Ponce will provide the cups and spoons for sampling chili and a container for your competition chili submission.

  

Event staff will provide the following:

 

• Tables

• Chairs

• Electricity & heat sources

• Gloves

• Sampling cups, spoons, & napkins

• Hand sanitizer/wet wipes

• Paper towels

• Trash cans

• Trays for transporting samples to judges

 

Finalists will supply their own:

 

• Cooking vessel (either a stock pot or crockpot)

• Minimum 1 gallon of chili for each submission.

• Utensils to stir and serve your chili (2-ounce samples will be served)

 

Sanitation at event:

 

• Hands must be washed and sanitized

• Rubber gloves/latex gloves are encouraged to be worn while serving chili

• No smoking

• Participants are encouraged to wear hats

• Please keep area as clean as possible. Trash cans will be available.