Send Junior Chef Announcement Letter 3 months prior to elementary and/or secondary administration along with the package of forms found here. Note: The Junior Chef Nutrition Analysis Form is only required for secondary level.

The application review should consider nutrition requirements, meal cost, and recipe creativity. Keep all recipe forms for each team so that they can be returned to contestants at the end of the cooking competition.

Make your team selections within a month of the event date so that contestants have time to prepare for the competition.

Invite students from the teams that were not invited to compete to serve as kid judges for the competition.

Select food service judges; can include the director, production chef, registered dietician, and others employees from the food service department.

Identify popular restaurants in the area and invite community chefs to judge.

Identify potential competition sponsors and send out a Community Sponsor Letter. Community sponsorships and donations can come in many forms: Cash sponsorships from existing vendors and local businesses; Competition T-shirts for team members; Product, promotional, and coupon donations for participant prize bags; etc.

Send out Junior Chef Press Release at least four weeks prior to the competition to invite the public and media to attend.

Choose a spacious location within the school district. A facility with a fully functioning kitchen is recommended.

Identify Volunteers and Interns to help with setup, logistics, and photography.

Plan for a two-and-a-half hour event. Contestants will have 90 minutes to prepare, cook, and plate their meal.

Secure audio setup for MC presenter.

Print a large blank check for the winning team and certificates for all participants.

Print copies of Junior Chef Judges Sheets and completed recipe entry forms. Bring clipboards and pens for your judges.

Setup individual cooking stations.

Setup the judging table with napkins, tasting forks, knives, and a bin for dirty silverware.

Meet with judges to go over judging criteria and encourage them to write notes throughout the competition.

Welcome everyone and go over the following information:

• Explain competition guidelines, timing of cooking, and presenting.
• Introduce teams, food service judges, guest chefs, and kid judges.

Start the competition.

Throughout the cooking time have the MC talk to each team and ask how they chose their recipe, how they prepared for the competition, etc. Also ask kid judges what they look for in a school lunch or what recipe they’re most excited to try. Find out more about chef judges and why they came out to judge the competition.

End cooking time and begin the plate presentations. Tier presentation times if desired. Have each team describe their recipe (two plates should be brought up) before the judges taste the dish. Clear plates to make space for the next team.

Judges deliberate. (This is where their notes will come in handy.)

During deliberation encourage the teams to try each other’s recipes.

Announce the judges’ decisions:

• Give certificates and participant prize bags to the runners-up.
• Announce third and second respectively.
• Present the large check to the winning team.

Give judging sheets and initial application forms to each team. These judging packets serve as helpful learning tools for future competitions.