Official Rules

OFFICIAL RULES AND REGULATIONS

1. Barbecue is defined as UNCURED FRESH OR FROZEN pork meat, cooked only on a wood and/or charcoal fire, which may or may not be basted. Prior to the official meat inspection, the meat for the contest may not be pre-cooked, sauced, spiced, injected, marinated or cured in any way, or otherwise pre-treated. Teams may NOT remove competition meat from the site after inspection.

Each team is responsible for maintaining the meat at a temperature below 40 degrees Fahrenheit prior to cooking, and at or above 155 degrees Fahrenheit after cooking. They must exercise good hygienic practices.

Flammables such as propane, compressed or liquid gas may be used ONLY to START the INITIAL fire. Once the meat has been placed within the cooker no type of flammables may be used. To make additional coals, flammables may be used outside and away from the cooker.

Electrical devices that do not generate heat such as rotisseries, fans and delivery systems for approved fuels (e.g. Traeger grills) may be used within the cooker. Electric smokers, holding ovens or other devices with heat producing electrical coils are not allowed.

Meat Categories

a. A pulled pork entry is defined as the portion of the hog containing the arm and shank bones, with a portion of the blade bone. The pork ham that contains the hind leg bone will be considered as a shoulder entry. Boston butts or picnic shoulders are valid entries.

b. A pork rib entry is defined as the portion of the hog containing the ribs and classified as a spare rib or loin rib portion. Country style ribs are not a valid entry.

Anything But! Division Categories

6. Any type meat is allowed with the exception of pork shoulders or pork ribs. Beef ribs are allowed. No inspection is required and garnish is allowed. Teams are allowed multiple entries in this portion of the contest. A fee is required for each entry.

Judging

8. ANYTHING BUT! JUDGING will be held on Friday, October 25^th. Blind judging only and garnish is allowed. Turn in time will be 8:00 pm. There will be no on site finals for this category.

9. PORK SHOULDER/PORK RIB/BEANS/SAUCE JUDGING will occur on Saturday, October 26th. Preliminary blind judging and finals on-site judging rules of the Memphis Barbecue Network will be used. Preliminary blind judging will begin at 10:00 a.m. for pulled pork; 11:00 a.m. for Ribs; 12:00 p.m. for Beans and 12:30p.m. for Sauce. Finals judging will be on-site and begin at approximately 1:30 p.m.

a. PULLED PORK ENTRIES - The preliminary round blind box must contain enough pulled pork to give bite size samples to 6 judges and all pieces must fit inside the closed container (9”x9”) provided. No garnish of any kind is allowed in the blind box.

b. PORK RIBS ENTRIES - The blind box must contain at least 6 sections of ribs and all pieces must fit inside the closed container (9”x9”) provided. No garnish of any kind is allowed in the blind box.

10. Each team must cook enough to provide bite size samples to 6 judges in the preliminary blind judging [all pieces must fit inside the closed container (9”x9”) provided] and have enough to provide for 4 finals on-site judges if the team qualifies for the final round. It is recommended that teams entering the pulled pork division cook a minimum of two (2) butts or shoulders. Teams entering the pork rib division should cook a minimum of five (5) slabs of ribs.

11. PRELIMINARY BLIND JUDGING is the “blind” judging of all teams and all entries in a secure location where judges do not know which team submitted the samples. The purpose of preliminary blind judging is to identify the top three (3) entries in each meat category and to rank the rest of the entries. The top three (3) entries in each meat category in the Championship Division will advance to the final round of on-site judging.

12 In the Preliminary Judging there are 6 judges per table. The lowest score in each judging criteria will be dropped. Teams should pay special attention to the way their meat is prepared for the blind judges. There are no sharp knives in the judging area, so it is recommended that teams cut or “pull” their entries into small enough sections to easily fit into the 9”x9” container provided by the contest.

15. With each entry container, there can be up to two sauce containers with lids turned in. (The sauce provided for these entries will not be judged in the Sauce category. To be judged in the Sauce Category you must enter your sauces separately during the Sauce turn in times.) Teams may send any combination of sauce, rub, marinade or basting sauce. Only the containers and lids that were issued by the contest may be used for sauce; no other container is allowed. Teams will turn in the sauce container with their blind box sample container. DO NOT put the sauce container inside the sample box.

16. Teams are not allowed to mark on the meat or sauce containers in any way. If a team is turning in a “HOT/SPICY” sauce for judging, the check in volunteer will mark that container as “hot”. If marks are on the container, the sample(s) will be put in replacement containers.

17. Meat turned in for blind judging may not be sculpted, shaped or presented in any way to make it identifiable. Any suspicion of this will result in the sample not be accepted.

18. The Preliminary Blind Judging Criteria - Appearance of Entry, Tenderness of Entry, Flavor of Entry and Overall Impression.

19. FINALS ON-SITE JUDGING The finals round is operated as a completely new contest among the top three pulled pork, and three rib teams. All judging in the final round is on-site. Final judges are escorted by a contest official that will monitor the time (minimum of 10 minutes and maximum of 15 minutes) they spend with each team. No scores from the preliminary round are carried over to the finals round of judging.

20. There will be four (4) finals judges traveling in a group, judging all entries. They are responsible for ranking the teams without regard to meat category. Each team will be judged independently even though the judges are traveling in a group. Even though teams will be presenting and feeding four (4) people, the presentation must still fit in the 15-minute window.

21. NO garnish is allowed on the grill surface or presenting platter in finals judging. Foil is permitted on the grill surface. Only disposable plates, napkins, bottled water/cups, etc. must be used during finals judging. It is the team’s discretion as to what they present the sample/entry on at the table. Cloth table cloths and decorations in the team area are acceptable.

22. The Finals On-Site Judging Criteria – Area and Personal Appearance, Presentation, Appearance of Entry, Tenderness of Entry, Flavor of Entry and Overall Impression. Judges are required to use decimals in all criteria.

General Information to all Teams

23. Contestants’ category(ies) must be stated on entry form.

24. All competition entries for all divisions must be prepared and cooked on site. Any team found to serve judge competition meat that was not prepared and cooked on-site, by them, WILL be disqualified.

25. Each team must comply with all applicable rules/regulations of the Chicot County Health Department. NO MEAT/ENTRY/PRODUCT MAY BE SOLD.

26. Each contestant competing shall supply all of his own meat, cooking ingredients, individual cooking devices, utensils, preparation tables, etc. A regulation cooking area (20’ by 20’) is provided. All contestants must adhere to all electrical, fire and other city, county, state or federal codes. A fire extinguisher must be in each cooking area.

27. Each contestant must check in with the Barbecue Chair before set up. Standard set up begins at 8:00 a.m., Friday, October 25th, when cooking area assignments will be issued. All teams must be set up by 5:00 p.m. and attend the mandatory cooks meeting, time to be announced at a later date. Cooking may begin any time after meat inspection.

28. All deliveries of equipment and supplies, etc. must arrive before 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 25th. All vehicles must be removed from the area by 5:00 p.m., Friday. No vehicles are allowed to remain in the cooking areas.

29. A team may have as many assistants as are necessary. All cooks and assistants that handle food in any way must comply with all applicable rules and regulations of the Chicot County Health Department.

30. Cooking in pits is not allowed.

31. All teams are required to send a representative to the Chief Cooks’ meeting on Friday, October 25th, time to be announced at a later date.

32. It is the responsibility of each contestant to see that the contest area is kept clean. All fires must be put out and all equipment, garbage, etc. removed from site. Any site not properly cleaned will result in disqualification from future participation.

33. The chief cook will be held responsible for the conduct of his team and guests. Any disturbances or altercations because of team members, guests or individuals in the team’s area are grounds for disqualification and expulsion from future contests. Excessive use of alcoholic beverages will be grounds for disqualification. No glass containers are allowed.

34. Absolutely no entertainment allowed during judging on Saturday beginning at 10:00 a.m. All entertainment and music must end at Midnight on Friday. Quiet Time will be enforced by the Lake Village Police Department from Midnight, Friday to 6:00 a.m. Saturday.

36. Standard cooking area is 20’ x 20’. Special requests must be stated on the application and must be approved in advance by the Barbecue Chair. If more space is needed it will have to be justified. Water and electricity (110 outlet, 20 amps) are included in application fees.

37. The Barbecue Committee reserves the right to reject any application. If your application is not accepted, your fees will be refunded by mail. No refunds will be made once you have been accepted into the contest whether you appear or not.

38. All checks should be made payable to the Lake Village Chamber of Commerce and mailed to Lake Village Chamber of Commerce, Attention: BBQ P. O. Box 752, Lake Village, AR 71653.

39. The Lake Village Chamber of Commerce reserves the right to make additional regulations as the situation warrants. Violations of rules and regulations will result in disqualification, expulsion from grounds, and/or disqualification from future participation. Decisions of Fire on the Water Barbecue Chair, Co-Chair and judges are final.

For other information or to make advance arrangements, contact William Bridewell, FOTW Barbecue Chair, at 870-265-1663 / wbridew@yahoo.com or John Conner, Chamber Director 870-265-5997.

Festival Links