The Beers Bands & BBQ Fest 2022
Barbecue Cookoff Official Rules

1. Promoter: The promoter/organizer is 4R Radio Works (hereafter known as a 4R) who is hosting the Beers Bands & BBQ fest barbecue cookoff. The promoters/organizers have the responsibility to select judges for their contest. The promoters/organizers may not cook in the contest.
    

2. Contestant/Participant: A participant/contestant is any group or individual (hereafter known as a team) cooking in the 4R contest with the intent of preparing and cooking barbecue and other items for judging in said contest. Each team will be comprised of a head cook and as many assistants as required. 4R recognizes one head cook from each team. All participants and judges must be 18 years of age if cash prizes are awarded.
    

3. Contest Officials: 4R contest official(s) (hereafter known as an official) is/are the person/persons who are assigned to manage the judging area during the contest. These officials enforce 4R rules and follow 4R procedures.
    

4. Entry Fees: The entry fee is $150.00. This qualifies you for one (1) entry in each of the meat categories (beef, ribs, and chicken). The entry fee for the three (3) optional jackpots (dessert, poppers, and beans) is $25.00 each.
    

5. Equipment: Each team will supply all the equipment necessary for the preparation and cooking of their entry including a cooker, wood, or wood products. For contest barbecue meats, only wood and wood products are allowed as heat sources; however, a barbecue pit may include gas or electricity for starting the combustion of wood or wood products but NOT to complete cooking. Cookers that use electricity to run rotisseries, or similar non-heating devices are allowed. Cookers that use pellets and an electric heating coil (i.e. Traeger Grills) are not permitted. Beans and dessert may be cooked with any means necessary but must be prepared on site. No team may share a cooker or grill with any other team. NO open fires allowed.
    

6. Camp sites: Each team will be responsible for the cleanup of their campsites. Each team will be responsible for their team members & guests. Excessive use of alcoholic beverages or use of illegal substances will be grounds for disqualification, without refund. Only one (1) vehicle per team will be permitted in the cook-off area. All other vehicles can be parked outside of the cook-off area in the designated parking areas. Each team will receive one (1) free parking pass with entry. This must always be displayed on the vehicle. Teams may begin setting up their campsites any time after 12:00 pm Friday. Teams must be in place and set-up by the Friday at 6:00 pm. Spots will be assigned. There are spots with full hook-ups for $60 a night. Each campsite must have a fire extinguisher on hand. ABSOULTELY NO GENERATORS ALLOWED. Alcohol must not be brought into festival grounds.
    

7. Meat Prep/Inspection: Each team is responsible for bringing their own meat. All meat will be cooked on site with no pre-marinating, injecting, or pre-seasoning allowed. 4R Officials reserves the right to inspect any Team’s meat if they feel a violation of the rules has occurred. Cooks are to prepare barbecue in a manner that is as sanitary as possible.
    

8. Cook’s Meeting: There will be a pre-cook meeting Friday at 6:00 pm and a mandatory Cooks Meeting at 8:00 am Saturday. It will be held at the Turn-in Tent.
    

9. Categories: The main competition will consist of the following three (3) meats, Beef Brisket, Pork Spareribs, and Chicken. In addition, there will be three (3) jackpots for beans, dessert, and poppers.
    

10. Double Blind Tickets: Beers Bands & BBQ fest barbecue cookoff will use a double-blind ticket system. This system assures a fair and unbiased competition. The system requires that two tickets bearing the same number be utilized, one firmly attached to the bottom of the judging container or side of a cup in a manner that hides the number, and the other ticket easily removed by the head cook for retention. Winning numbers will not be revealed until time to announce each place in each meat category. At that time, the secret numbers attached to the container will be announced. Teams must present their portion of the ticket to claim their winnings.
     

11. Product Containers: Entries will be submitted in Styrofoam containers with foil liner provided by 4R. No garnishes are permitted in the container. All judging containers shall be clean and free of any markings.
     

12. Product Quantities: The 4R contest official or designated representative will inspect all trays at the time of turn in to assure compliance with the turn in criteria. Meats may be cooked with sauces and/or other liquids, but once the cooking is complete, sauces and/or liquids may not be added once put into tray. No garnish of any kind allowed in tray other than provided foil liner.

 

• Chicken One half (1/2) fully jointed chicken including the skin, breast, wing, thigh, and drumstick. A wingtip does NOT have to be present for an acceptable entry. In addition to the half chicken there should be 6-10 bites size pieces in the box. The backbone can be cut out if necessary. No Cornish game hens are allowed.

• Pork Spareribs Seven (7) ribs, bone in, meat side up. St. Louis cut spareribs are an acceptable entry. However, baby back ribs, loin ribs, or country style ribs are not acceptable entries.

•  Beef Brisket Seven (7) slices that fills the width of the container, about 3/8 inches thick or the approximate width of a #2 wooden school pencil. The fat cap of the brisket may be cut off after cooking. If the slices are too long, curl the meat ends around the sides of the box (in a "U" shape).

• Beans The bean jackpot is open to any type of bean. There may be other items in the cup with the beans. However, non-bean items must not be larger than the size of a bean. Also, the contents of the cup should be at least 70% beans. The cup should be filled to NO LESS THAN 2 inches from the top.

•  Desserts must be cooked onsite. The use of ovens or microwaves is prohibited. They may have sauces or toppings, but they too must be prepared onsite. Place enough dessert in the box for each judge (7) to have one bite.

• Poppers (7) poppers, poppers must be cooked and assembled on site.

 

13. Turn in Times: Turn-in times for each category will be set by the contest official. The 4R contest official is authorized to make changes to these times in the event of an emergency and with full notification of all teams in the contest. A window of five (5) minutes before and after the set turn-in times will be recognized, for a total of ten (10) minutes. Product containers received at any time before or after each turn-in window will not be accepted for judging and will be considered disqualified.

Turn in times:

Desserts-9:00 am

Beans- 10:00 am

Poppers-11:00 am

Chicken 12:00 pm

Ribs- 1:30 pm

Brisket- 3:00 pm

 

14. Judging: Judging will take place at the location designated in the Cooks Meeting. Judges will score each entry based on appearance, color, aroma, tenderness, and taste. Each category will be awarded points on a scale of two to ten (2- 10), in integer increments. Taste, being the most important, will be on a scale of two to twenty (2- 20). A score of two (2) is the lowest score any judge can give a product. Any entry that is disqualified will receive a score of one (1) in each category. Judges will score each entry immediately after it is tasted. Judges will not compare entries to assign scores. Judges will use an approved 4R score sheet to record their assigned scores for each entry. The total points awarded in each of the 5 judging categories will be added together to produce a total score for the entry.

 

15. Grand Champion and Reserve: Grand Champion and Reserve will be calculated by a point system. Each team will be awarded points according to how they place in each event. The team with the highest points will be awarded Grand Champion and followed by Reserve. Points are assigned based on the following for each category.

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Grand and Reserve Champion Continued:

1st-10pts

2nd-9pts

3rd-8pts

4th-7pts

5th-6pts

6th-5 pts.

7th-4 pts.

8th-3 pts.

9th -2 pts.

10th-1 pts.

 

16. Winners and Prizes: Winners and prizes will be announced at 6:00 pm Saturday. Grand Champion and Reserve Champion will receive a cash prize and trophy. First place in the meat categories (beef, ribs, and chicken) will receive a cash prize, second and third place will receive trophies. First Place in each jackpot will receive a cash prize.

 

17. Tie Breakers: In the event of a tie the team with the highest score in taste, will be awarded the win. If a tie persists it will be determined by the higher score in the following order, appearance, tenderness, aroma, then color. If a tie should happen for the Grand Champion, the tie breaker will be the higher score in brisket. If a tie persists it will be determined by the higher score in ribs followed by chicken.

 

 

18. Disqualifications: If a container is found to be in violation of these rules, then it will be disqualified at the sole discretion of the 4R contest official(s). Marked containers are not permitted and will be disqualified by the 4R contest official. Chicken entries that are deemed to be raw by the 4R contest official will be disqualified. Entries that are disqualified will be awarded a score of one (1) by the contest official for each participating judge. The decision of the 4R contest official concerning entry disqualification is final. Judges can only give a one (1) to an entry if directed to do so by the 4R contest official(s).
 

19. Miscellaneous: The event will continue rain or shine. No refunds will be given. Contest Officials reserve the right to amend these rules as they see fit, with full notification of all teams in the contest Double entry into the competition is permitted. The team will have to pay an entry fee for each entry. Each entry will be treated as a separate team for judging purposes.

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For any questions or concerns please contact 4R Broadcasting at 325.947.0899 or dwilde@4RBroadcasting.com or Josh Plesant at 325.716.8881