Official Smoker Rules and Regulations
The decision and interpretation of the Smoketoberfest (STF) Rules and Regulations are at the discretion of STF. Their decisions and interpretations are final to the extent consistent with the rules.
Each team shall consist of a chief cook and as many assistants as the chief cook deems necessary.
Each team will be assigned a cooking space. Pits, cookers, props, tents or any other equipment shall not exceed the boundaries of the team’s assigned cooking space within reason. All cooking of product shall be done within the assigned cooking space on site.
Contestants shall provide all the necessary equipment. Contestants must adhere to all electrical, fire and other codes. A fire extinguisher shall be near all cooking devices and shall be provided by each team.
It is the responsibility of the contestant to see that the team’s assigned cooking space is clean and orderly following the contest. All fires must be put out and all equipment removed from the site. It is imperative that the clean-up be thorough.
Electrical accessories such as spits, augers, or forced draft are permitted. No open pits or holes are permitted. Fires shall not be built on the ground.
All competition meat shall start out raw. Though pre-seasoned meat is allowed, all cooking shall take place on site unless otherwise approved by STF.
Parboiling, Sous-vide, and/or deep-frying competition meat is not allowed. If any of the banned processes are discovered before the team turns in, the team will receive zeros. If discovered after turn-in, the team will receive (1) ones in all criteria for that entry.
Briskets shall not be sculptured, branded or presented in a way to make it identifiable. Violations of this rule will be scored a one (1) on all criteria by all judges.
Brisket turn in will be 3pm-4pm with each competing team being provided a specific turn in time. Turn in times will be assigned at random during the cooks meeting on Friday the 20th. An entry will be judged only at the time established by the contest organizer. The allowable turn-in time will be five (5) minutes before to five (5) minutes after the posted time.
Garnish is optional. If used, it is limited to chopped, sliced, shredded or whole leaves of fresh green lettuce, curly parsley, flat leaf parsley and/or cilantro and Kale. Endive, red tipped lettuce, lettuce cores and other vegetation are prohibited “Illegal” garnish shall receive a score of one (1) on Appearance.
Sauce is optional. If used, it shall be applied directly to the meat and not be pooled or puddled in the container. No side sauce containers will be permitted in the turn-in container. Chunky sauce will not be allowed.
Entries will be submitted in an STF numbered container, provided by STF. The containers will be provided Saturday morning, and will be numbered at turn-in.
The container shall not be marked in any way that makes the container unique or identifiable. Aluminum foil, toothpicks, skewers, foreign material, and/or stuffing are prohibited in the container. Marked entries or containers with the above listed material will receive a one (1) in all criteria from all Judges.
Each contestant must submit at least five (5) portions of meat in the provided container. Brisket may be submitted chopped, pulled, sliced, or diced as the cook sees fit, so long as there is enough for five (5) judges. If there is not enough meat for each judge to sample, the shorted judge(s) will score a one (1) on all criteria, and the judges having samples will change the Appearance score to one (1).
Official Judging Procedures
STF allows blind judging only. Entries will be submitted in an approved STF numbered container provided by the contest organizer. The container may be re-numbered by the STF Contest Rep at turn in or authorized personnel before being presented to the judges.
Each judge will first score all the samples for appearance of the meat. The turn-in containers will then be passed around the table and each judge will place a sample from each of the containers in the appropriate box on the judging plate. Judges shall not lick their fingers while taking these samples; paper towels, unscented wipes or damp washcloths are preferred. The judge will then score each entry for taste and tenderness, before moving on to the next entry.
The scoring system is from 9 to 2, all whole numbers between two and nine may be used to score an entry. 9 excellent, 8 very good, 7 above average, 6 average, 5 below average, 4 poor, 3 bad, and 2 inedible.
A score of one (1) is a disqualification and requires approval by a Contest Rep. Grounds for disqualification: All judges will give a one (1) in Appearance for unapproved garnish, pooled sauce or less than 5 samples of meat. All judges will give a one (1) in all criteria for sculptured meat, a marked turn-in container, foreign object in the container, incorrect meat. All judges not receiving a sample will give a one (1) in all criteria.
The weighting factors for the point system will be: Appearance - 1, Taste – 3, Tenderness - 2.
The low score will be thrown out. Results will be tallied. If there is a tie, it will be broken as follows: The scores will be compared (counting all four judges) for the highest cumulative scores in taste, then tenderness, then appearance. If still tied, then the low score, which was thrown out, will be compared and the higher of the low scores will break the tie. If still tied, then a computer-generated coin toss will be used.
Total points will determine the winner.