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·         Jalapeno poppers must be cooked at the designated cook-off site from 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm Saturday, September 30, 2023.  Entries will not be accepted from outside the cooking location.  The location of the cook off will be determined upon reviewing cook off forms and each team will be notified before arrival of where to meet to set up

·         Each team will be responsible for bringing their own portable gas or charcoal grill for cooking.  Poppers must be cooked over an open flame and not smoked, as the space requirement will be limited. 

·         Poppers can be cleaned but the final prep of putting them together must be done at the designated cooking site during the 2 hours allotted for the cook off. 

·         Shade, tables, and trash cans will be provided for participants

·         Teams can be up to 4 people

·         Cooks meeting is at 11 am Saturday (at least one member of the team must be present)

·         Must be set up and cooking by noon.

·         Places 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd will be awarded with prizes and of course most importantly, bragging rights!

·         Please check back before the event for the most up to date information

POP-OFF UPDATE: Here is an update on the information you should know about the Pop Off contest:

COOKING DETAILS:

Location - Cooking will take place under the Miller Lite Main Stage Area. Each team will be provided a 10’ working space with a 6’ or 8', which should be sufficient for preparation, cooking utensils, and your grill.

Time – Cooking and preparation takes place only between 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm. No preparation before 12:00 pm, other than firing up your grill, will be allowed. Judging will begin at 2:00 pm. We recommend having your poppers prepared as closely to 2:00 pm as possible so they are fresh for judging.

Number of Poppers – due to the number of entries, we have increased the minimum number of poppers we need for judging to 12. Please prepare as many as you like for crowd sampling, but you will need to submit 12 poppers for the judging.

Cooking Teams - Each team is allowed 4 participants. We will provide 4 name tags for your team so that you will be allowed in the cooking area. Each team will also be assigned a number, this is how the judges will identify you during the judging process.

Ingredients of Poppers – this is a jalapeno contest, so each team is required to use a “jalapeno pepper” (no green chilis, pablanos or other style peppers as the main dish will be considered). All ingredients MUST be inside or on the jalapeno. Dipping sauces, side condiments and such will not be considered by the judges.

JUDGING DETAILS

 Judges – We will have 13 judges total - 10 for the preliminary round, and 3 for the finals, plus a tie-breaking team, if needed. Each team’s entry will be delivered to the judges with a label bearing their team number. This will ensure that the judges are tasting each dish blind, with no knowledge of who made it..

Turn In of Poppers – Turn in is 2:00 pm sharp. Each team will be provided 2 foil “to go” style boxes for turn in, labeled with your team number. Teams will place 6 poppers in each box, one for the “Preliminary Judging”, and one for the “Finals Judging”. Teams will be provided with an optional information form to include the name of the popper, special ingredients, a description of their preparation and cooking process, or anything else you would like the judges to know about your popper. This form is not mandatory since the judges will be selecting the winning popper based on its overall tasting experience.

Judging Process – Preliminary Judges will be divided into 2 groups of 5, and each group will select their top 3 favorite popper to advance to the finals. The finals judges will then be presented with the advancing teams’ poppers for judging. This will be a “closed judging” event where spectators and contestants will not be part of the judging process. All judges will be allowed to consider:

 - Presentation/appearance (do the best you can with the foil boxes and liners)
- Taste
– Texture
– Uniqueness/Creativity

*We realize temperature is a factor in the quality of the dish, and due to the amount of time between turn in and the final judging, the judges will take this time lapse into consideration.