GEORGIA  BARBECUE  ASSOCIATION

P. O. Box 4526

Macon, Georgia 31208

CONTEST RULES AND REGULATIONS (Teams)

Georgia Barbecue Association Rules for Barbecue Contest Participants. These rules are in effect for all GBA sanctioned contest on or after January 1, 2010.

1. CONTESTANT: A contestant is any individual, group, restaurant, etc. hereinafter referred to as a team that will prepare and cook an entry or entries for the purpose of being judged according to GBA rules at a GBA sanctioned contest. Each team will consist of a head cook and as many assistants as required. The contest organizer of a GBA sanctioned contest may not cook in any category in that contest. Neither a family member of a competing cook team nor any cook team member of that team may enter the judging area at any time during the contest.

2. INTERPRETATION OF RULES: The interpretation of the GBA rules and regulations are those of the GBA Representative at the contest and his or her decisions are final. The GBA Representative may not deviate from nor change any GBA rule for any contest for any reason.

3. EQUIPMENT: Each team will supply all of the equipment necessary for the preparation and cooking of their entry including a cooker, wood, charcoal, or wood pellets. No team may share a cooker or grill with any other team.

4. MEAT INSPECTION: All meats must be USDA or state DA inspected and passed. No pre-seasoning, injecting, marinating or cooking of any entry is permitted until after inspection by the Official Meat Inspector as appointed by the GBA Representative or the contest organizer. Meat inspection begins at noon on the day prior to the contest. All meat must be maintained at a maximum temperature of 40 degrees F prior to inspection. Prior to cooking all meat that is resting in preparation for cooking must be covered at all times. All meats must be cooked to a minimum internal temperature od 145 degrees F. After cooking all meat must be maintained at a minimum temperature of 140 degrees F in a covered container until turned in for judging. All contest meat – once inspected – may not leave the cook team’s site until turn in.

5. COOKING FUELS: The only approved cooking media are wood, charcoal or wood pellets. Gas (any type) or any electrical heating element may be used only to start the initial fire or to start burn barrels, charcoal chimneys, etc. A gas starter or flame or electrical heating element may not enter the cooker after the initial fire is started. Gas bottles must be disconnected from the cooker once the fire has started and must be removed from the immediate cooking area. A gas flame or electrical heating element may not be used as any part of the cooking process.

6. APPROVED COOKERS: Any cooker, homemade or commercially manufactured, will be allowed to compete in GBA contest. Only wood, charcoal, or wood pellet fired cookers are permitted. Electric or hand-operated rotisseries or rotating shelves are allowed.

7. CONTESTANT’S SITE: Each team will be assigned a cook site. All equipment including cooker, canopy, trailer, etc. must be contained within this space. If additional space is required, the team should contact the contest organizer and make satisfactory arrangements.

8. BEHAVIOR: Every team, including members and guests, are expected and required to exhibit proper and courteous behavior at all times. Failure to do so may result in disqualification or expulsion from the contest. Repeat offenders will be barred from competing in GBA sanctioned contest. No alcoholic beverages will be distributed to the General Public. Teams will be informed of all local laws and will adhere to same.

9. CLEANLINESS AND SANITATION: All teams are expected to maintain their cook sites in an orderly and clean manner and to use good sanitary practices during the preparation, cooking and judging process. The use of sanitary gloves is required at all times while handling food. Failure to use sanitary gloves may result I disqualification. Teams are responsible for cleanup of their site once the competition has ended. All federal, state and local food safety rules and regulations must be adhered to at all times.

10. MEAT CATEGORIES: The following categories are sanctioned by the GBA.

a. Pork Ribs: Loin back (baby back) or spare ribs only. No country style ribs.

b. Pork Loin: May be bone in or bone out, Must weigh 5 pounds or more.

c. Pork: Whole shoulder, Boston butt, Picnic or Whole ham. Must be cooked as a single piece of meat.

11. JUDGING: GBA sanctioning allows for blind judging only. Entries will be submitted in an approved container, with no garnish, or decorating of any kind. Only the entry to be judged is allowed in the container. Marking of any kind will disqualify the entry. Each entry will be judged on APPEARANCE, TENDERNESS, TASTE and OVERALL IMPRESSION. Meat may be sauced or unsauced.

12. SCORING: Each entry will be scored by five ( 5 ) GBA certified judges in the areas of APPEARANCE,TENDERNESS, TASTE and OVERALL IMPRESSION. Scoring ranges from a low of seven ( 7 ) to a high of ten ( 10 ) . Using a weighted average, the maximum score for a category is 600 points.

13. DISQUALIFICATION: An entry can be disqualified be the GBA representative only. An entry can be disqualified for any of the following reasons.

A. There is evidence of marking or sculpting. Marking is defined as; any handwritten or mechanically made mark inside or outside the turn-in box that identifies the submitting team to any judge. Sculpting is defined as; the carving, decorating, forming or shaping of a meat entry contained in a turn-in box that identifies the submitting team to any judge.  

B. There is anything in the box besides the meat.

C. There are not a minimum of six ( 6 ) separate and identifiable pieces.

D. There is evidence of blood such that the meat is undercooked.

E. The entry is turned in after the officially designated time.

F. Gloves are not used while handling food products.

G. Not cooking pork as a single piece of meat.

H. Not cooking the meat that was inspected.

14. JUDGING PROCEDURE: This is a comparative judging. All the boxes are brought to the table, placed in numerical order, opened and all judges score the boxes for appearance. When all judges have scored all boxes for appearance, judging for tenderness and taste can begin. The overall impression will be determined  after all boxes have been judged. A GBA representative will collect the score cards.

15. WINNERS: The top three scores in each category will be judged again by the final judges. Each of these teams will be notified of their selection as a finalist as soon as possible. The final judges will select the FIRST, SECOND and THIRD PLACE  in all categories and from this select the GRAND CHAMPION.

16.  TURN IN TIMES: Each meat category turn in time will allow for a 10 minute window, that is 5minutes before and 5 minutes after the time as suggested by contest organizer. The contest organizer may revise the times but a one hour time frame between categories must be maintained. Meat turn in times as posted by the contest organizer, either in the application form or the confirmation notice, are final and cannot be changed.

JUDGES’ TRAINING

The GBA will present a Judge’s Seminar to train and certify judges at any sanctioned GBA event if requested by the Contest Organizer(s) along the following guidelines:

Responsibilities of the Contest Organizers:

1. Provide a facility, preferably an indoor conference room or similar, with enough tables and chairs for the judge trainees and all judging supplies. (Refer to Section VI for details)

2. Cover all travel and lodging expenses as specified in Section V, paragraph 5.

3. Provide a cook team to prepare pork entries for judging. The cook team will cook enough meat to fill at least 1 turn in box of each category per judging table of 6 judges.

Responsibilities of the GBA:

1. Provide for the trainer.
2. Provide the Judge’s Manuals and Score Cards.
3. Reimburse the contest organizer for the cost of the pork.
4. Handle all registrations for the class.

GBA COOK TEAM CODE OF CONDUCT:

Cook Teams, click here to review the cook team code of conduct.

Cook Teams, click here to download a copy of the GBA Rules.

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