General Cook-Off Rules

There are three rules that must be followed for a cook-off to be eligible for the IDOS World Championship Cook-Off. Those are:

  1. Three dishes must be prepared: Dessert, Bread, and Main.
  2. Local Health Codes must be followed
  3. You must have fun!

All other rules help define the standardization of rules that are used during the IDOS World Championship Cook-Off. Here is a quick summary of the basic rules.

  1. Contestants will be required to provide their own Dutch Ovens, recipe ingredients, cooking equipment, fuel, and supplies. If you don't have a cooking table, we can find one for you, just ask! Ted Cromer will offer yeast or a rolling pin or anything else you forget, so make sure you are at a cook-off with Ted! Just try not to beat him after borrowing stuff from him.
  2. Novice contestants must prepare a main dish and a dessert. Novice teams are allowed to prepare all three dishes, but will only be judged on their main and dessert dishes. Advanced contestants must prepare all three dishes: main, bread, and dessert.
  3. All food being presented for judging must be prepared on site, including garnishes, marinades, chopping, dicing, etc unless bought as a pre-packaged item such as a pre marinated pork loin, frozen bread dough, etc. You can make your personal lunch at home and bring it, but you aren't supposed to eat in your cooking area.
  4. Garnishing should be kept simple and complement the dish. Garnishes should be edible.
  5. Interaction with the public is encouraged. Please, be courteous in sharing cooking information. Try not to bring attention to the bread that was burned by the team next to you.
  6. All cooking will be done using charcoal off the ground. Please, ensure that you are at least 18 inches above the ground when cooking with charcoal. Propane can only be used for starting charcoal and heating water for cleanup. Feel free to use your propane to make a cup of coffee or cup of Green Tea if you want.
  7. No power tools of any kind in the preparing of food. This means no item that requires electrical power, batteries, solar engery, gasoline, etc. If you want to modify your Kitchen Aid to be hand powered, go for it. Digital scales and digital thermometers are acceptable because they are not used for the prepartation of food.
  8. One or two members can make up a team. Only team members should be allowed in the cooking area, your family can join you after the competition. One team member should remain in the cooking area at all times for fire safety reasons. If you are cooking solo and need a potty break, I am sure someone will watch your area for you if you ask... but don't be surprised if your cake is spiked with hot sauce when you get back.
  9. All foods prepared must be presented to the judges with the exception of excess sauces and gravies. That means excess rice, veggies, under cooked desserts (that was a bad cook-off for me), etc. You don't have to present the left over sandwich you had for lunch.
  10. Harassing other teams is not required but is appreciated. Leave the Novice cooks alone and pick on those your own size. If you are going to spike someone's dish with hot sauce, at least let the judges know in advance.
  11. Contestants will be judged by a panel of taste judges and field judges on the manner of cooking, cleanliness, spectator interaction, presentation or entrees, sportsmanship, and appearance and taste of entrees. All food will be presented to the judges in a Dutch Oven or on a Dutch Oven lid. All food must be prepared on site. (I must have copied that from the IDOS site... I couldn't have thought up all that on my own) Bribing the judges is allowed, just don't get caught. Cash is preferable over checks, no credit cards.
  12. Entry in the cook-off releases recipes and contestants for media use by the cook-off committee. Images of entries, contestants, cooking area, and recipes will be posted on the Storm Mountain Chapter web site after the event and most likely printed in a cook-book that will make me rich one day... so thanks!
  13. Reasonable sanitary conditions will be observed.
  14. No alcohol consumption is allowed during the competition. Smoking in designated areas only.
  15. All judging decisions are final.

If you have ANY questions, please ask them BEFORE the cook-off.

This Dutch Oven Cook-Off and it's sponsors are NOT responsible for
accidents or damage incurred during the cook-off.