General Information and Rules

Eligibility:

Participants must be current 4-H members with an active enrollment status in ZSuite.

Each contestant must have passed their 14th birthday and must not have passed their 19th birthday on January 1 of the current year to participate in the contest or at the National level competition.

Rules:

Product Cooking and Sensory Evaluation

1. The contestant will prepare and cook turkey patties using ground turkey (as is 85-90% lean) provided by the contest monitors. At least 75% by weight of the burger ingredients must consist of the ground turkey provided by the contest monitors. Only the patties are submitted, and no other hamburger toppings may be included.
2. There will be a 2-hour time limit on the preparation of the turkey patties. Each contestant will be provided 2 pounds of ground turkey. The contestant will use this turkey product to prepare turkey patties of a minimum of 1/4 pound (uncooked weight), with two (2) to be submitted for sensory evaluation. The ground turkey will not be available to the contestant prior to the contest starting time.
3. The fire may not be lit until the contest starting time.
4. Parboiling and/or deep-frying competition meat is not allowed. The turkey patties may be cooked in aluminum foil wrap or a basket formed of foil wrap. Separate ingredients such as sauce or similar products may be placed in a small metal pan on the grill for heating, but the meat product may not be placed in the metal pan while on the grill.
5. Barbecue grills will be provided for all contestants, which they will be required to use. Each contestant will be assigned a cooking space and grill along with a work area of one half of an approximately 30-inch by 8-foot table adjacent to their grill.
6. Charcoal and lighter fuel will also be provided, but contestants may bring their own charcoal and lighter fuel. Self-starting charcoal or automatic fire starter blocks will not be permitted.
7. Chimney-starters may be used, but such devices must be placed inside the grill before and during ignition and removed from the grill prior to the addition of the turkey for cooking. Fire is restricted to inside the provided grill. Burning materials outside the grills will be considered a fire hazard. The use of non-charcoal combustible fuel is to be limited.
8. Accessories such as spits, augers, or forced draft are not permitted. Electricity will not be provided or used.
9. Material may not be added to the grill area such as rocks, sand, or other dense materials to aid in cooking. Appropriate charcoal use will be considered by the evaluators.
10. All other equipment, supplies, and ingredients, including sauce, must be furnished by the contestant. Sauce, if used, may be a commercial product or private recipe (description must be provided to judges on the recipe card to assist during flavor and appearance evaluation).
11. Contestants are expected to use a meat thermometer.
12. Devices used for supporting, containing, or covering meat during cooking will not be permitted; only aluminum foil wrap may be used.
13. The contestant must provide recipe or preparation outline cards describing sauce, rubs, or other treatments associated with the cooking of the turkey. They must list include ingredient quantities and special instructions if necessary, for food safety relating to these ingredients such as keeping sauce ingredients either cool or heated. NOTE: Three (3) copies on note card stock, single 3-inch by 5-inch size preferred, containing these cooking instructions or recipe must be provided to judges - 2 copies to skills judges before starting the fire, and 1 copy to turn in to sensory evaluation judges with the cooked product.

14. Recipe cards need to include the following information:

1. Name of the recipe and contestant number
2. Ingredients and general cooking instructions for the sauce
3. Materials added to the turkey meat
4. If special cooking techniques were used to achieve unique flavoring
15. Prior to the submission of the cooked turkey burgers for evaluation, the contestant must demonstrate to the barbecue skills judges the criteria and methods they use to determine the proper doneness of their product at the time of turn-in. Judges may also independently evaluate the product at this time.
16. Contestants must turn in the product by the end of the stated cooking time. Contestants will be notified 15 minutes prior to the end of the cooking time. Cooking skills will be evaluated using the turkey cooking skills score sheets.
17. Each contestant will present two (2) cooked turkey burgers on containers provided to the panel of judges at the conclusion of their cooking. No burger toppings, garnishes, dips, or additional items shall be presented on the plates or containers or submitted to the judges. Only the turkey patties are to placed in the containers submitted. NOTE: that one recipe card or cooking outline card for the sensory judges must accompany the product when turned in. The product will be evaluated using the turkey sensory score sheets.

Oral Presentation

1. An illustrated presentation, including factual information about the commercial domestic turkey will be made by each contestant (see score sheet). The participant is to demonstrate their knowledge in the following areas:
   
   • The turkey industry in the United States and its economic importance
   • General food safety, including safe storage and handling of turkey (uncooked and cooked
   • Nutritional value of turkey and role in a balanced diet
2. Contestants will be allotted a maximum of 10 minutes for their presentation. Judges will have up to 3 minutes for questions directed to contestants. Questions may be related to statements made by the contestant during their presentation that the judges feel might need further explanation. No contestant will be allowed to have any form of identification as to name or state represented, including from the presentation content, posters, or from the tabletop graphics utilized during the oral presentation.
3. Easels will be provided. PowerPoint presentations using a computer and computer projector can be used. A Windows based laptop computer and computer projector will be available. PowerPoint will be installed on the computer and contestants should have their talk on a USB flash drive device. If a PowerPoint presentation is planned, the presentation is due in final form for submission at time of contestant briefing the evening before the contest. PowerPoint presentations are not to include audio. Order of presentation and contestant number will be determined at contest briefing.
4. Presentations will be evaluated using the presentation score sheet.

   * In case of a tie following tabulation of contestant scores, the tie scores of the top five contestants will be broken in descending order by:

   • Highest score in Sensory Evaluation.
   • Highest overall presentation score.
   • Highest score in Barbecue Skills portion.