Dutch Oven Cook-Off Rules
Teams may begin cooking at any time Saturday as long as they are checked in.
A Pre-Cooks meeting will be held at ~2:00 to determine order of dish presentation, answer questions and draw judges.
The first team drawn to present to the judges must have ALL dishes ready by 5:30 PM.
A Pre-Cooks meeting will be held at ~2:00 to determine order of dish presentation, answer questions and draw judges.
The first team drawn to present to the judges must have ALL dishes ready by 5:30 PM.
- Teams must cook with wood coals
- The use of gas or propane may not be used for cooking. Gas or propane may be used to warm water for dishes or other needs.
- Ingredients may not be prepared or pre-cooked prior to the event. Ingredients must be prepared from scratch on site, including cutting of meat and vegetables. Take this with a grain of salt! For example you may bring canned items or your Chile does not need to be roasted on site. Marinating is allowed. All other preparation must take place during the competition and all food must be cooked in Dutch Ovens.
- Teams are expected to furnish all ingredients, cooking utensils, ovens, etc. Water will be available nearby. The use of electric or battery operated devices are not permitted.
- Teams are required to keep their site clean and presentable during and after the contest. Please leave the site clean. Trash barrels will be available.
- Interaction with the public is encouraged. Please be courteous in sharing cooking information.
- Teams should practice safe food handling procedures at all times.
- Entries will be judged on Team Participation, Taste and Complexity.
- Judges decisions are final and their score sheets will be available to review after judging.
- After the last entry is submitted to the judges, teams must have their dishes available for the rest of the public as well as be present to serve them.
- Teams are welcome to cook as many dishes as they like. However, they must designate which 5 will be presented to the judges within each category.
- Recipes for each dish are not required to be presented, however would be a nice addition to the presentation and for those observing.
- Only registered members of the team are allowed to cook or prepare food.
- Must cook enough food to feed approx. 20-25 people (not including your team.)
- Dutch oven Inserts ARE aloud.
- If in the event of a category tie, the winner will be determined by the one with the higher “Taste” score.
- During the cookers meeting, teams will draw the order of go in which they will present their dishes to the judges.
- There will be at least one judge per category. Teams will be asked to provide one representative from their team to help judge the dishes. Creative camp will be voted on by both the judges and teams.
- The Creative Camp award will be part of the overall team score. It will be judged on camp cleanliness, overall creative presentation and anything else that seems fit.
- After dishes have been judged, teams must be prepared to serve to the public. Individuals wanting to eat will be purchasing punch cards. These cards must be handed to the team in order for the public to receive a meal. They will receive one punch per dish. Teams will be provided punches.
Dish Categories
Main Dish-Hamburger (sponsored by the NM Beef Council and Circle Diamond Land and Cattle, LLC)
Side Dish
Bread
Vegetable or Combination Vegetable Dish
Dessert
Side Dish
Bread
Vegetable or Combination Vegetable Dish
Dessert
Main Dish- should include the main entrée of your meal. This year the Main Dish will be Hamburger sponsored by the New Mexico Beef Council (Beef Checkoff) & Chamiza Cowbells. Each team will be provided Beef to cook their main dish.
Side Dish- should be a side dish also appropriate to the Main Dish being cooked.
Bread- any bread type dish (Examples: Corn Bread, Biscuits, Tortillas, etc.)
Vegetable-must include a vegetable or combination of vegetables
Dessert-should be a dessert appropriate as possible to the rest of meal.
Side Dish- should be a side dish also appropriate to the Main Dish being cooked.
Bread- any bread type dish (Examples: Corn Bread, Biscuits, Tortillas, etc.)
Vegetable-must include a vegetable or combination of vegetables
Dessert-should be a dessert appropriate as possible to the rest of meal.