2023 BBQ, BLUES, & BOOS COOKOFF!
DOES YOUR BBQ HAVE WHAT IT TAKES? REGISTER FOR THIS SCBA SANCTIONED COOKOFF TO COMPETE FOR CASH & PRIZES!
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11 prizes with $7,000 in cash and custom trophies to the Winners!
Friday, October 27th
8:00am – Cooks begin arriving and setting up
3:30pm – Cooks Meeting with SCBA, Butts given to contestants
4:30pm – Judges Meeting for Anything Butt
5:00pm – Anything Butt Submissions
5:30pm – Anything Butt opens for Public sampling
9:00pm – Anything Butt ends Public Sampling
11:00pm – Quiet Time Begins for Cookers
Saturday, October 28th
9:00am – Judges Meeting
10:00am – Official Butts Turn-in
11:00am – Official Ribs Turn-in
11:00am – Public Sampling Begins for BBQ Cookoff Competition
3:30pm – Award Ceremony & Public Sampling ends
4:00pm – Cook-Off over and public disperses
BBQ, Blues, & Boos is a fundraising event to support the Southern Palmetto Regional Chamber, so note that all food prepared by cook teams will be sold by festival organizers.
Anything but Butts – Friday October 27th, As teams begin to prepare their competition Butt or Ribs, cook teams will compete by producing and serving samples of any type of food that is not Barbeque. Anything but Butts samples can be produced ahead of time, completely onsite, or a mixture of both, and teams should prepare for 400 small 2oz sample servings.
Main Barbeque Competition – Barbeque for the contest may be prepared using any heat source, and the teams may prepare and cook the pork in any fashion they prefer, so long as it is suitable to be served to the public. The teams must prepare the barbeque on-site at the venue, starting no earlier than 1pm on Friday October 27th, to be ready to serve to judges by 10am Saturday October 27th. Teams are to chop or pull their meat and put in pans after judging, to be provided for sale by festival organizers. Team members must wear gloves when handling any food, chop the pork under a covering, and have a hand-washing station.
The Festival will furnish up to 12 butts to each team, which teams will receive by 1pm on Friday, October 27th, at the cook’s meeting. Ribs competition is not required, but if you choose to compete, your team must provide their own ribs.
Each team will have a total cooking area no larger than 20′ x 40′. No two-story structures are allowed. All belongings must be entirely contained within the 20′ x 40′ area. Please respect the space and be careful not to damage any landscaping or other property. No pets are allowed.
Each team must supply their own ingredients, grill, tools, and any materials needed by the team. Electrical power will be provided for cooking equipment, though teams should be prepared with a generator for any additional personal power needs (i.e., camper).
Teams may not sell or distribute any form of beverages to the public, including alcoholic beverages. Team members should be discreet with use of alcoholic beverages on the premises, and are to respect the rights of others with special regard to music volume, profane language, and infringement on adjoining sites particularly during 11pm Friday to 8am Saturday. Team members must conduct themselves in a professional manner or may be asked to leave.
Each team must register upon arrival at the Festival information booth located at Gail Reyes Center/Generations Unlimited, 11403 Ellenton St, Barnwell, SC 29812, and can arrive starting at 8am but no later than 3pm on Friday, October 27th, 2023. The team’s number and cooking area assignment will be issued then. All head cooks must attend a cook’s meeting Friday evening at 3:30pm at the venue. The location of this meeting will be confirmed at time of check-in.
Judging for Butts & Ribs will take place on Saturday, October 28th at 10am and will be conducted by the SC Barbeque Association (SCBA). Judging rules will be reiterated at the cook’s meeting Friday evening. The head cook shall be the team member permitted to present the barbeque during the judging process.
The SCBA requires that the Main Meat for an event, which is the meat category eligible for Master Barbeque Award (MBA) points, must come from the same source thereby ensuring a level playing field for all cookers. The festival will provide all butts for the Main Meat. The SCBA will not judge or award points to any Main Meat entry that is shown to be from an unapproved or outside source. Ribs used for the Master Barbeque Rib Award are provided by the contestants and can come from any source they choose.
All meat to be turned in for judging by the SCBA must be prepared and cooked at each team’s cook site. Competition meat to be judged by the SCBA shall not be removed from the event site once a Cook Team arrives at the contest.
Each Cook Team must be on a stand-alone basis and must be separate from all other cook team areas. All teams are required to have their own designated pit master, team name, cooker(s) and cook site. All competitive cooking actions such as meat preparation, cooking and sample box preparation must be proprietary to their team.
The SCBA conducts only blind judging. Entries are judged on the following categories: Appearance (0-3), Aroma (0-2), Texture/Tenderness (0-5), Taste (0-5) and Overall Impression (0-2). The maximum score is 17.
Cookers may use any heat source they wish. The SCBA allows the choice of the heat source to the cooker. It may be wood, gas, electric or any other heat source in working order. Any cooking devices that are found to be faulty or dangerous could be disallowed for use in the event.
9 inch boxes are used for sample turn-in. The SCBA uses a standard 9 inch, non-partitioned, white, Styrofoam box to hold the meat that is sent to the judging tables. For Butts entries, the SCBA asks that you provide enough meat in the box to accommodate 8 judges. Rib entries should contain a minimum of 8 ribs, which should include the bone.
Sample Box inspection is not mandatory/ Cook teams are not required to have their sample box inspected at the Receiving Table prior to judging, but are given that opportunity. If you have your box inspected, you will be asked to briefly open your box for “visual” inspection. Once inspected, the entrant will be given an opportunity during the allotted turn in time to correct anything “visually” seen that could result in a disqualification.
No Markings of any kind are allowed on the turn-in box. There should be no markings of any kind on the sample box. If there are any markings, the Receiving Table will ask that the entry be transferred into a box that has no markings and be resubmitted. If that is the case, your box must be resubmitted within the normal time allotment.
No foreign material is allowed in the turn-in box. Your sample box should contain only meat. No garnish of any kind is allowed in the sample box. No aluminum foil or other type of material is allowed in the sample box.
You may turn in your sample either sauced or unsauced. Your sample box should contain only meat, which can be sauced or unsauced. No cups of extra sauce are allowed in the sample box. Sauces should not contain any pieces or chunks of “immediately distinguishable” ingredients such as slices or chunks of fruits or vegetables.
You may wrap your sample box prior to turn-in. You may wrap the outside of your entry box in heat preserving wraps such as tinfoil, hot blankets or any other device in an effort to keep the contents warm. All such devices must be removed prior to acceptance at the Receiving Table. If a box is submitted with foil inside of the box and it is discovered during the voluntary “visual” inspection, the entrant will be asked to remove it and resubmit the box.
Official Turn-In time is 10am, Saturday October 28th for Butts and 11am, Saturday October 28th for Ribs with a ten minute window before and a five minute window after.
Head Cooks should be present during the event. It is expected that the Head Cook/Team Captain be in attendance at all SCBA events where a team is entered. Repeated violations of this expectation could result in MBA points being lost in the event that the Head Cook/Team Captain is not present. Exceptions are made for illness.
Local Health Regulations must be followed. Cook teams are required to adhere to all safety and health requirements and regulations, which are the purview of DHEC. Any entry disqualified before or after judging by the Festival or DHEC will not be awarded points in the MBA contest.
Cook teams are required to adhere to the code of conduct set forth by the festival, which will be reviewed at the Cook’s Meeting on Friday October 27th at 5pm. Any team disqualified by the festival personnel or the Health Department, for whatever reason, will not be judged by the SCBA.
Friday evening, October 27, 2023: Anything but Butts. Judging by festival judges will begin at 5:00 p.m. with samples to the public beginning immediately after.
Anything but Butts Prize: $500 & Plaque
Second Place: $300
Third Place: $200
People’s Choice: Free entry to 2024 event
Teams are required to provide and cook items for Anything but Butts competition. Teams should be prepared to provide 400 small 2oz samples (sample cups will be provided for both days by the festival). Anything but Butts samples can be produced ahead of time, completely onsite, or a mixture of both. Samples will be judged by local judges and winners awarded around 9 p.m. Friday evening.
Saturday morning, October 28, 2023: BBQ, Blues, & Boos Cook-Off. Blind judging will begin when determined by the Barbeque Marshall on Saturday, October 28, 2023, no later than 11 a.m.
Best BBQ (Butts Provided by Festival):
First Place: $2,000 & Trophy
Second Place: $1,500 & Trophy
Third Place: $1000 & Trophy
First Place Locals & Amateur: $1000 & Trophy
(Amateur defined as a team where this event is the only bbq competition they participate in or they take part in one other bbq competition throughout the year)
Best Ribs (Provide your own ribs):
First Place: $300 & Plaque
Second Place: $200
Third Place: $100
Teams are required to clean up their assigned cooking areas and return the site to pre-competition conditions. The area must be cleaned before 4 p.m. on Saturday October 28, 2023, and the head cook will be responsible for fulfilling this requirement.
For the safety of our event attendees, teams cannot vacate the premises until after 4pm on Saturday October 28, 2023
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Register and pay $275 fee online at: www.bbqbluesboos.org/bbq on or before Friday October 13th, 2023 ($200 early registration deadline is September 15). Entries must be received online by that date to be considered; the competition is limited to a total of 20 teams. You do not have to be a member of the South Carolina Barbeque Association to participate.
BBQ, Blues, & Boos reserves the right to reject any application. If your application is not accepted, your money will be refunded. However, no refunds will be made after you have been accepted into the contest. All photos taken of your team become the property of the BBQ, Blues, & Boos Festival and may be used for promotional purposes without your prior consent.
Contestants agree to indemnify and hold BBQ, Blues, & Boos Festival, The Southern Palmetto Regional Chamber, and the Palmetto Innovation Center, their employees, agents, sponsors, and volunteers harmless from any and all claims made against BBQ, Blues, & Boos Festival, The Southern Palmetto Regional Chamber, and the Palmetto Innovation Center, their employees, agents, sponsors, and volunteers, including, without limitation, all costs, liabilities, judgments, expenses, damages, or reasonable attorney’s fees arising out of or in connection with (1) any structure erected by the contestants, (2) any apparatus, equipment, or personal property used by contestants (3) any act of omission on the part of the contestants, its agents, invitees, participants, representatives, employees, and servants, and (4) any claims made on account of or resulting from contestants’ participation in the contest.
Cook-off dates: October 27 & 28, 2023
Anything but Butts sales: October 27, 2023, tickets will be sold by the festival, and then will be exchanged for Anything but Butts food samples distributed at each competitor’s cooking area by Festival volunteers from 6-9pm, or until sold out.
Barbeque sales: October 28, 2023, Tickets will be sold by the festival, and then will be exchanged for samples of bbq distributed at each competitor’s cooking area by Festival volunteers until 1pm, and then will be distributed in designated containers sold by the festival until sold out.
Location: Gail Reyes Center/Generations Unlimted, 11403 Ellenton St, Barnwell, SC 29812
For additional information, please e-mail us at bob@southernpalmetto.org or contact Bob Snead at 843-714-4088
Waiver of Liability: Contestants agree to indemnify and hold BBQ, Blues, & Boos Festival, The Southern Palmetto Regional Chamber, and the Southern Palmetto Foundation, their employees, agents, sponsors, and volunteers harmless from any and all claims made against BBQ, Blues, & Boos Festival, The Southern Palmetto Regional Chamber, and the Southern Palmetto Foundation, their employees, agents, sponsors, and volunteers, including, without limitation, all costs, liabilities, judgments, expenses, damages, or reasonable attorney’s fees arising out of or in connection with (1) any structure erected by the contestants, (2) any apparatus, equipment, or personal property used by contestants (3) any act of omission on the part of the contestants, its agents, invitees, participants, representatives, employees, and servants, and (4) any claims made on account of or resulting from contestants’ participation in the contest.