These rules are in place for the October 3 2025 Boise BBQ Battle-sponsored by Modern BBQ Supply
Prior to cooking, all teams must have their meat inspected, present their fire extinguisher, have a signed waver by each team member and be in compliance with food safety and safety rules. If you have questions about this, speak with Jared.
Definition of Amateur BBQ teams:
The intent of this barbecue competition is to allow amateur competitors an opportunity to compete with other, similarly experienced participants and to encourage first time teams to participate.
As this is a backyard competition, teams must not consist of any members with significant BBQ competition experience. Any team member who has competed in more than one sanctioned competition is ineligible for this Amateur Event. Decisions on Amateur status of team members is at the sole discretion of Event Organizers.
First time competitors are welcome in this competition.
Event Schedule
Competitor schedule:
8am – 8:59am Teams arrive and begin to setup. Meat is inspected upon arrival.
9am Teams meeting. All Team Captains must be present
1pm Chicken Hand-in
2pm Pork Ribs Hand-in
3pm Third Category (TBD) Hand-in
4:30pm Prize Giving & Announcements
Vendor Schedule
Vendors will give out samples beginning at noon and running until 3pm.
Rules and regulations:
The decision and interpretation of competition rules & Regulations are at the discretion of event organizers and/or IBA representative. Their decisions and interpretations are final.
· Neither the IBA or event organizers will be responsible for any injury, loss or damage that may occur to the contestants or the contestant’s property from any cause whatsoever. It is the contestant’s responsibility to protect equipment and space so that no injury will result to the public, visitors, guests or persons or property.
· All competition meats shall be inspected by the Official Meat Inspector during the times established by the contest organizer. A member of the cooking team must be present during the meat inspection. Cooking shall not begin until the competition meat has been inspected. All meat should be raw, and no pre-seasoned meat is allowed. Meat can be trimmed prior to arrival at the event. Once meat has been inspected, it must not leave the cooking site.
· Each team should consist of a “Chief cook” and up to three additional assistants. Chief cooks and assistants can only compete as part of one team, per event.
· Each team will be assigned a cooking space and must cook on site. Teams are responsible for bringing all equipment needed for preparation, safety, hygiene, cooking and serving. All equipment (including generators) must be contained within teams assigned cooking space.
· Contestants must adhere to all electrical, fire and other codes. Each team site must have a fire extinguisher.
· Meat shall be cooked using wood, wood pellets or charcoal. Gas and electric heat sources shall not be permitted for cooking or holding. Cookers that utilize wood for the heat source but run on electricity are permitted (eg Pellet smokers). Fires shall not be built on the ground. Propane or other energy sources can be used for applications such as warming sauces. Parboiling, Sous-vide, and/or deep frying competition meat is not allowed. Chicken may be cooked and served breaded. Searing meat with a gas torch is also prohibited. 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 a one (1) in all criteria for that entry.
· Ashes and grease must be disposed of by each team, prior to leaving. Team site will be left with no garbage, ashes, debris or liquid/grease spills. If site is not left in a clean manner the IBA will clean the site and bill the team for the labor involved.
· Unless otherwise indicated for the specific event, Electricity and water will not be provided. Please plan accordingly.
· First aid is not required to be provided by event organizers. Please plan accordingly.
· Cancellation and Refunds – A team may cancel before August 1, 12:00AM and receive a full refund of fee. Cancellations after August 1, 12:01 AM will forfeit all fees. Teams on the waiting list are required to make payment in order to hold their spot. Registration fees will be refunded for Waitlist teams who do not have the chance to compete.
· If desired, teams may organize their own sponsors and display these sponsors within their designated team space. Teams who operate their own brands are welcome to include this within their signage. The competition area is not a space intended for significant levels of promotion. This includes but is not limited to handing out flyers, having “information desks” and having items for sale. Please connect with event organizer if you have questions.
Cleanliness & Food Safety
The following cleanliness and safety rules will apply:
a. No use of any tobacco products while handling meat.
b. Cleanliness of the cook, assistant cooks, cooking device(s) and the team’s assigned cooking space is required.
c. Shirt and shoes are required to be worn.
d. Sanitizing of work area should be implemented with the use of a bleach/water rinse (one cap/gallon of water). Each contestant will provide a separate container for washing, rinsing, and sanitizing of utensils.
e. First aid is not required to be provided by the contest, except at the election of the contest organizer.
f. Prior to cooking, meat must be maintained at 40° F or less.
g. After cooking, all meat: Must be held at 140° F or above OR Cooked meat shall be cooled as follows: Within 2 hours from 140° F to 70° F and within 4 hours from 70° F to 41° F or less.
h. Meat that is cooked, properly cooled, and later reheated for hot holding and serving shall be reheated so that all parts of the food reach a temperature of at least 165° F for a minimum of 15 seconds.
Contest Hand ins
As an Amateur Series Contest, teams will cook all three categories:
PORK RIBS: Ribs shall include the bone. Country style ribs are prohibited.
CHICKEN: Chicken includes Cornish Game Hen and Kosher Chicken. Any part or combination of parts of the chicken can be utilized. Different chicken portions can be added into one box.
Third Category-TBD:
· Teams will submit six individual servings of each meat, per hand in box. Meat (Excluding ribs) can be submitted chopped, pulled, sliced or diced, as the cook sees fit. Ribs must be served bone in. Judges may not cut, slice, or shake apart to separate pieces. 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) as a penalty.
· Serving sizes should be of a similar size, but do not need to be the same cut of meat. Eg, a box could contain chicken flats and drumettes.
· Meat shall not be sculptured, branded, or presented in a way to make the team’s entry identifiable. Rosettes of meat slices are not allowed. Violations of this rule will be scored a one (1) on all criteria by all six judges.
· Boxes CAN contain garnishes. If used, once determined to be legal, garnish plays no further role in the appearance score. When used, garnish is limited to chopped, sliced, shredded or whole leaves of fresh green lettuce, curly parsley, flat leaf parsley, curly green kale and/or cilantro. PROHIBITED GARNISHES ARE lettuce cores and other vegetation, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO endive, red tipped lettuce. “PROHIBITED” garnish shall receive a penalty score of one (1) on Appearance.
· Sauce is optional, but if used, shall be applied directly to the meat, and not pooled or puddled in the container (There is some exception for run off). No side sauce containers are permitted. Sauce must not be “Chunky” with pieces no larger than 1/8 of an inch. Salsa, Gremolata, Chimichurri or similar “Chunky” sauces are prohibited.
· Entries will be submitted in an approved container, provided by the event organizers. Tampering or marking containers will be cause for disqualification. Event organizers will provide replacement boxes if needed. 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 and disqualified.
· Scoring will be based on taste, texture and appearance. The scoring system is from 9-2, with a 1 being reserved for disqualified entries. Scores will only include whole numbers.
Causes for disqualification and eviction of a team, its members and/or guests:
Disqualification and/or eviction of a team and its members/guests is at the sole discretion of event organizers.
Disqualified and/or evicted teams will not be refunded for their entry fee, or any costs associated with the event/competition.
Judging procedures:
IBA regulations allows for blind judging only. Entries will be submitted in a numbered container provided by the contest organizer. The container may be re- numbered by the IBA Contest Rep before being presented to the judges.
· Judging will be done by a team of up to 6 persons at each judging table.
· Hand-in windows will be based on the timer managed by the IBA Head Judge. Hand-ins submitted outside of the hand in window will not be judged and receive no score.
· 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. 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. Any score of 7 or lower, will require comments. The lowest score per table will be dropped. In the event of a tie, drop scores will be considered. If the tie remains, judges will flip a coin (This is very rare).
· A score of one (1) is a penalty or disqualification and requires approval by a Contest Rep. All judges will give a one (1) in Appearance for prohibited garnish, pooled sauce or less than 6 samples of meat. All judges will give a one (1) in all criteria for 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 are: Appearance – .5600, Taste – 2.2972, Tenderness – 1.1428.
· The low score will be thrown out. Results will be tallied. If there is a tie in one of the categories, it will be broken by the computer, as follows: The scores will be compared (counting all five 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 per entry will determine the champion within each meat category.
· Cumulative points for all categories will determine the Grand Champion.