These rules were localised for Australian competition standards, drawing primarily from the Australasian Barbecue Alliance (ABA) guidelines.
1. General Setup & Entry
Equipment & Fuel
Cooking units must be fuelled exclusively by wood, lump charcoal, or wood pellets.
Pellet smokers (which plug in to power the feed auger/fan) are permitted in the main competition.
Gas or electric assist is permitted for ignition only (e.g. a gas torch or electric starter to light charcoal). Gas-only or electric-only cooking is strictly prohibited.
BYO Smoker: Teams must bring their own cooking units (smokers, grills, or pits). No cooking equipment is provided on-site by the club or organisers.
Pre-Cooking Rule: All competition meat must start raw, unseasoned and unmarinated. Trimming, injecting and seasoning must be done on-site after passing the official meat inspection. No pre-prep at home.
BYO Meat: Teams supply their own competition meat (pork and beef brisket), brought raw and unseasoned, and it must pass official meat inspection before any preparation begins.
Fuel & Safety: Each team station must have a working fire extinguisher, food-grade prep surfaces, clean handwashing/sanitising stations, and accurate meat thermometers.
2. Competition Categories
Pork: Pork shoulder, neck (Scotch fillet), Boston butt, or ribs. Served shredded, chopped or sliced. Ribs must pull cleanly from the bone without falling apart into mush (overcooked).
Beef Brisket: Full packer, flat, or point brisket. Judged on bark formation, smoke ring, tenderness and moisture retention.
3. Turn-In Guidelines & Blind Judging
Numbered Containers: Teams are issued identical, unlabelled clamshell containers at registration for 100% blind scoring. Foil boxes are not used.
Turn-In Window: A strict 10-minute window (5 minutes before to 5 minutes after the designated category turn-in time). Submissions outside this window are disqualified.
The No-Garnish Rule: Absolutely no garnish of any kind is permitted in the turn-in box (no lettuce, parsley, coriander, kale or other greenery). The box contains only the meat and any cooked-on sauce or glaze. No foreign objects (toothpicks, skewers, foil, twine or markers).
Sauces & Glazes: Allowed, but applied directly to the meat. No pooling or loose sauce in the bottom of the box.
4. Scoring Matrix (ABA 60-Point Scale)
Entries are evaluated by independent judges scoring each category out of 60 points total:
Criteria
Max Points
Weight
What Judges Look For
Taste / Flavour
30
50.00%
Depth of smoke, balance of rub/sauce, meat richness without being overly salty, sweet or acrid.
Texture / Tenderness
20
33.33%
Correct bite and pull; not dry, tough, or mushy/overcooked.
Appearance / Presentation
10
16.67%
Colour, bark formation, clean slicing, and appealing presentation of the meat itself (no garnish to hide behind).
Tie-Breaker Protocol
In the event of a tie in any protein category, the winner is decided by counting back in this priority order:
Highest Taste / Flavour score.
Highest Texture / Tenderness score.
Highest Appearance / Presentation score.
Finality of Decisions
All judges' decisions are final. Scoring is conducted blindly and independently by the designated judging panel. No appeals, disputes or score reviews will be entered into once results are certified.
5. Typical Schedule Template
06:00 AM: Meat inspection, station assignments, and pits lit.
03:00 PM: Turn-in for Pork.
05:00 PM: Turn-in for Beef Brisket.
06:30 PM: Tallying, awards presentation, and public tasting.