Big Pig Jig facts for kids

The Big Pig Jig is a super fun barbecue cooking contest. It happens every year in Vienna, Georgia, in the United States. It's actually Georgia's official pork cook-off!

History of the Big Pig Jig

The Big Pig Jig started way back in 1982. A group of "pig cookers" in Vienna, Georgia, decided to mix a barbecue competition with an arts and crafts fair. It was a great idea!

When it first began, only 20 teams competed. Today, about 100 teams join in the fun! The winning team gets $2,500. They also get to compete in other big barbecue contests. These include the Memphis In May cook-off in Memphis, Tennessee, and the Memphis Barbecue Network Championship.

At the very first Big Pig Jig, teams only cooked "Whole Hog." The winner received $1,000. Now, the event has grown a lot. It includes an academic quiz bowl contest. There's also a 5K "Hog Jog" race. A golf scholarship tournament is part of the fun too.

Since it started, about 25,000 people have come to watch. The contest now needs about 350 judges to taste all the delicious food. The Big Pig Jig took a break in 2020. But don't worry, it came back in 2021!

How the Competition Works

The Big Pig Jig has main cooking categories. These are Whole Hog, Shoulder, and Rib. There are also other fun categories. These are called "ancillary" categories. They include Sauce, Stew, and Chicken. These extra categories don't count for the Grand Champion award.

Teams can choose to cook in one, two, or all three main categories.

Judging the Barbecue

Seven judges taste the food. Three judges score the food right at the cooking site. Four judges taste the food "blindly." This means they don't know which team cooked it.

Onsite judges look at a few things. They check the cooking area and how the team looks. They also score the food's presentation and appearance. Most importantly, they judge its tenderness, flavor, and overall impression.

Blind judges focus on the food itself. They score its appearance, tenderness, flavor, and overall impression.

All entries are scored on a 10-point scale. A 10 is the highest score. For "Overall Impression," judges can use decimals like 9.9. For other things, they use whole numbers like 8, 9, or 10.

Onsite judges visit three teams each. They compare the food from those teams. They decide which one is the best they tasted that day.

Blind judges have four to six entries on their table. They compare these entries to find the best one. The "double blind system" keeps things fair. Judges never know which team made the food they are tasting.

Preliminary and Finals Rounds

There are two rounds of judging. First is the Preliminary round. All teams in a category compete here. The top three entries from each category move to the Finals round.

The Finals round starts with new judges. But there is no blind judging in this round. Four judges are in the Finals round. They taste all nine final entries. This means three Hog, three Shoulder, and three Rib entries. Their goal is to rank each entry. They want to find the very best food of the day.

Only teams that reach the Finals round can win the Grand Championship. In the finals, judges are looking for the absolute best barbecue!

Teams can cook using any type of wood or charcoal. They can use electricity or gas to start their fire. All the meat preparation must happen during the competition.