Chili Cook-Off Terms & Agreement:
1. Eligibility: Open to individuals, teams, or organizations. Each team may have up to 4 members.
2. Chili Type: No store-bought chili or pre-made chili mixes allowed.
3. Cooking Method: Chili must be cooked from scratch on-site. Raw pre-prepared ingredients are allowed. Pre-cooked is not allowed. Can beans and dried beans are allowed. Canned items such as kidney beans, black beans, pinto, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and corn are allowed. Canned chili is not allowed. Electricity will not be available.
4. Quantity: The team must provide 32 ounces of chili to the judges at 1pm. Also, a minimum of 1 gallon of chili must be made for public tasting during the festival.
5. Serving: All chili must be kept at safe serving temperatures (140°F or above). Cups and spoons will be provided for serving to the public.
6. Judging will be based on:
Flavor (30 points)
Texture (25 points)
Aroma (25 points)
Appearance (20 points)
7. Cash Prizes:
• 1st Prize - $1,000 • 2nd Prize - $750 • 3rd Prize - $500
8. A 32 oz. container will be provided by the Chili Festival Master Judge. The container must be completely filled, submitted and delivered by 1:00 PM in the designated area. Teams that do not submit a full container by the 1PM deadline in the designated area will not be judged and disqualified from the cash prizes.
9. Teams may consist of up to four members. All team members must remain in their designated cooking area between 10am-1pm.
10. No items may be delivered to a team’s cooking area between the hours of 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM. If any new item is discovered in the area after 10:00 AM that was not originally present, the team will be disqualified.
11. Teams may not leave their cooking space to retrieve ingredients, tools, or supplies from vehicles or any other location once cooking begins.
12. All cooking equipment and equipment used in the cooking area must be secured.
13. Festival Chili Judges may disqualify any team from participation for any reason.
14. No outside beer or alcohol may be brought onto the grounds by teams. Violations of this rule will result in immediate disqualification.
15. Loud music, offensive language, or disrespectful behavior will not be tolerated. Event organizers reserve the right to disqualify teams for misconduct.
16. Teams may be disqualified for any behavior or actions that jeopardize the safety of the event or its participants.
17. Optional Pre-Event Meeting: A meeting will take place on Friday, September 25 at 6:45 PM at the JK Northway Expo Center.
18. Sanitation: Please maintain a clean work area and follow safe food handling practices.
19. Each Team needs to supply their own cooking equipment & fuel; cooking ingredients including meat, spices, etc.; any condiments you think should be served with your chili; trash bags and containers for catching scraps, grease, etc.; table and chairs for cooking and sitting; your own tent/canopy; you generally will have an approximate 10' x 10' cooking space; your own sign(s) to identify your team and team sponsor.
20. A dedicated area will be designated for Chili Cook-Off Teams.
21. Cooking inside the Expo Center is prohibited. All cooking must be outside of the Expo Center.
22. Generators must be a minimumn of 10 ft. away from any cooking areas, structures, or equipment (including tents, tables, chairs, etc.).
$150 registration fee is non-refundable.