Frequently Asked Questions

Yes — forever, into perpetuity. Every completed EasyCookoff.app event is saved permanently: organizers keep it on their dashboard and teams keep it on their team page, both with the full results, payouts, leaderboards and Champions Cards.

Nothing expires or gets deleted on you (the only exception is free Practice Events, which are clearly labeled and auto-clear at midnight). Your cookoff history is yours to revisit and share for good.

Yes. Sign up as an Organizer, create any event (it can be fake), and enter code FREETEST at activation. It becomes a private TEST EVENT for 7 days — no charges, hidden from the public, and every email goes only to you. Add sample teams with one click, score, set payouts, finalize and print every form. After 7 days it's deleted automatically and stays listed under My Test Events. Full steps are on the 'Test EasyCookoff.app for free' page.

Not at all. EasyCookoff.app works just as well for a casual gathering as for a sanctioned contest. Run the yearly rib cookoff in your cul-de-sac, your town's annual festival, a non-profit or business fundraiser (church, school or charity cookoff), or any business looking to draw a crowd.

You get the same professional tools either way — registration, payments, instant scoring, leaderboards and shareable Champions Cards — and you only turn on the divisions and scoring methods you actually need.

EasyCookoff.app is a browser-based web platform — it runs on any phone, tablet or computer with no download required.

You can also install it to your home screen: on Android or desktop Chrome tap “Install app,” and on iPhone/iPad tap the Share icon then “Add to Home Screen.” It then opens full-screen like a native app.

A full App Store and Google Play version is in active development and coming soon.

Scoring options emulate sanctioned cookoffs. Each event can run one or more independent divisions, and every division uses the scoring method that fits its contest:

KC-Style (BBQ) — emulates sanctioned KC-style contests. Judges score Appearance, Taste and Tenderness on a whole-number scale; the lowest judge is dropped and weighting factors are applied.

SCA-style Steak — emulates the Steak Cookoff Association. Judges score Doneness, Appearance, Tenderness, Taste and Overall in half-point steps, with Overall used as the tiebreaker.

CASI-style Chili — emulates Chili Appreciation Society International. Judges score Aroma, Red (color), Consistency, Taste and Aftertaste on a whole-number scale.

People's Choice / Ribfest — attendee ticket voting. Tally votes for 1 to 4 separate items (e.g. Ribs, Sides) with their own payout ladders and automatic tie-splitting. People's Choice / Ribfest and Kid's Que team entries are FREE on the platform whenever they run alongside at least one paid (judged) cookoff. If an event has only a People's Choice / Ribfest or Kid's Que cookoff, each team entry is charged at the normal rate.

Ancillary contests — KC-Style scoring for extra categories you name yourself (Dessert, Beans, Showmanship, etc.).

Ultimately, it is up to the organizer to set the rules for turn-in boxes. EasyCookoff.app scoring emulates sanctioned cookoffs and we call this "KC-Style" scoring. We suggest organizers refer to the current KC-style sanctioning body rules sheet for reference. This is not an all-encompassing guide — refer to the EasyCookoff.app event guide for more suggestions.

The scoring system uses whole numbers: 9 (excellent), 8 (very good), 7 (good), 6 (fair), 5 (poor), and 2 (inedible). A score of 1 is used by all judges in the event of a disqualification.

The low score is thrown out and results are tallied. If there is a tie in a category, it is broken by comparing the highest cumulative scores (all five judges) in taste, then tenderness, then appearance. If still tied, the thrown-out low scores are compared and the higher one breaks the tie. If still tied, a computer-generated coin toss is used.

Weighting factors: Appearance 0.5600, Taste 2.2972, Tenderness 1.1428.

Organizers enter all scores on EasyCookoff. Judges score on paper (use our printable Judge Score & Comment Card), and the organizer or their score table types each judge's numbers into the Scoring page. Totals, ties, tiebreakers and results are calculated automatically.

Event Listing — $15: a public event page on search and the map (date, location, flyer, contact, optional link to your own sign-up form). NOT included: online registration, scoring, results, Rules Packet, P&L, Flyer Maker, QR rib cards.

Scoring Only — $30: everything in Listing plus a Scoring Style, manual team entry, organizer-entered scores (organizers enter all scores on EasyCookoff), automatic results, ties and tiebreakers, Print or Email to Me. Results stay private unless you publish them. NOT included: online team registration and payments, results emailed to teams, Rules Packet and sign-off, P&L, Flyer Maker, QR rib cards, PC Tracker.

Full Organizer — $45 plus Competition Entry Fees: the complete platform. Event Listing is a flat price; Scoring Only adds $1.00 per team (walk-ups included), billed to the organizer when results are Finalized & Locked — People's Choice and Kid's Que are free alongside a scored cookoff. Upgrade anytime and pay only the difference; your event, teams and scores carry over.

Yes. The Worked Example page (Event Resources → Worked Example: Rules Form) maps a fictional Pulled Pork Cook-Off paper rules & registration form line-by-line to EasyCookoff, and you can download the sample form. In your Rules Packet, tap 'Start from the Pulled Pork example' to load its rules and edit them.

Yes. If the team signs up (or logs in) with the email you entered, My Team shows 'We found results from cookoffs you were added to manually — Claim them'. The results email also has a one-tap 'Claim these results' link. Once claimed, the results join the team's history, career, Team Finder and milestones, and your Dashboard tag changes to 'Claimed by [team]'.

Yes. Every payment through EasyCookoff (event activation, Scoring Only team fees and Full Organizer Competition Entry Fees — team entry fees are paid to the organizer directly, not through EasyCookoff) sends a branded receipt email from Event Apps, LLC (dba EasyCookoff.app), Twin Cities, MN, with the amount, date, Stripe reference and 'No sales tax collected'. Each has a View / print link, and your Dashboard has a Receipts list for every event.

Yes. Tap 'Add team manually' on your Dashboard or the Scoring page, enter the team name (plus an optional email and phone), choose their cookoffs and mark how they paid you offline. They're scored like any other team and count toward your entry total. If you add an email, they get the results email with a link to create a free account. Manual teams don't get a saved history or career page.

Yes. On My Team → Off-Platform Results, the team owner adds the cookoff, date, location, Scoring Style, sanctioning body, category, place, number of teams, prize money, title and an optional proof link or photo.

They appear on the team page, career, milestones and Season Recap with an "Off-platform · self-reported" badge. Results scored here show a green "Verified on EasyCookoff" badge. Hall of Champions and Team Finder use verified results by default, with a "Show off-platform results too" option.

Event search for teams; team and organizer messaging; KC-Style scoring like a sanctioned cookoff; historical data tracking for teams; organizer uploads for pictures, forms and references; social media integration; each day treated as its own event to keep sign-ups simple; flexible payment collection (cash at the event, mailed check, PayPal or Venmo); and emailing/printing of scores so teams get results immediately after the awards ceremony.

Organizer time-savers: Duplicate Event clones all of a past event's setup into a fresh draft (no teams, scores or payments carry over); Clone to next year does the same and moves the date forward a year; the Rules Packet builder auto-fills your fees, payouts and dates into a printable rules packet; Payout Templates let you save a payout split once and reuse it across future events in one tap; and a Results email log shows when results were last emailed and to how many teams.

Rules Packet builder — open Rules Packet from your Dashboard. Event name, date, location, cookoffs and Scoring Style, entry fees, payout ladders, schedule, rib options and payment methods fill in automatically. Edit the standard sections (general rules, meat inspection, turn-in & judging, disqualifications), save, then print or save as PDF. Flip 'Publish to event page' so teams can read and download it. Teams tap "I've read the rules" and you see who has signed off (with a Rules ✓ badge on your Dashboard and a 'Remind unsigned teams' button). Editing the rules clears sign-offs so teams re-sign the new version.

Clone to next year — one tap copies your setup into next year (same weekday, year bumped in the title) as a draft to review before publishing. Teams, scores and results don't carry over. We also email you 60 and 300 days after your event with a one-tap clone link.

Automatic event lifecycle — events are marked Completed at midnight after the event (in the event's time zone) and move to Historical 30 days later. Historical events leave the active lists but stay under Historical & Archived on your Dashboard, with results and history viewable forever.

People's Choice Ticket Counts — People's Choice votes are now called ticket counts, and the PC Tracker's # column matches the team numbers printed on your People's Choice ballots.

Duplicate Event — on your Dashboard, click Duplicate on any of your events to instantly create a new draft copy with the same divisions, categories, payouts, rules, payment methods and cover. No teams, scores, payments or results carry over, and you pay the activation for its level when you publish the copy.

Payout Templates — inside the Payouts editor you can Save current as template, then Apply a saved template on any future event. Applying loads the amounts into the form so you can review before you Save Payouts. Templates match by division and category name.

Results email log — after you Email Results & Complete an event, your Dashboard shows when results were last emailed and to how many teams, plus the full re-send history each time you re-send.

Yes — included with the Full Organizer level. Every Full Organizer event gets its own Event P&L & Budget tool, named after your event (e.g. "Jump-Off BBQ Championship P&L"). Open it from the [Event name] P&L button on your Dashboard, or turn it off if you don't need it.

It auto-fills registered teams, entry fees collected, rib orders, prize purse and your EasyCookoff fees, and covers Event Setup, Sponsorship (add each sponsor's name and donation, mark it paid, and switch it in or out of the totals), Revenue, Expenses, Prize Purse, Rib & Entry Tracking, Team Capacity and a Feature Usage report.

See projected vs actual profit, margin and break-even team count at a glance. Print or save as PDF anytime, or download the full Excel workbook.

Sponsor Thank-You Report — from the Sponsorship tab, print a sponsor summary plus a personal thank-you letter for every sponsor (with or without donation amounts).

PC Tracker: enter rib tickets, two side-dish tickets and votes per team. Paybacks, the leader and ticket income calculate automatically and flow into your event P&L. Print tallies plus team payout sheets, and toggle whether each team sees its tally in its portal.

Rib Cards: print branded, numbered rib cards and golden tickets with your event name — each with a QR code to your event page so tasters can follow teams and return next year.

Event Flyer: one click makes a printable, shareable flyer with payouts, your cause and QR codes for team sign-up and the event page. Download it as an image for social, and choose whether fans can print it too.

Sponsor wall: show sponsor names and logos on your public event page. Upload logos on the P&L Sponsorship tab.

Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion are only awarded in KC-style BBQ cookoffs (or divisions) with 2 or 4 meats, based on the combined score across those meats. Chili, steak, ancillary, People's Choice and single-meat contests use 1st, 2nd, 3rd Place instead.

Single-category cookoffs — like a rib, steak or chili cookoff — award 1st, 2nd, 3rd Place in that category instead (for example "1st Place — Ribs"). EasyCookoff applies this automatically on results, payouts, champions cards, team careers and the Hall of Champions.

Yes. In My Registrations, each cookoff has a switch to keep that event's scores private. Public results, leaderboards, payout ledgers and Hall of Champions then show "Private Team" instead of your name, and the event is left off your team profile and Team Finder career. Organizers still see your real name to run the event.

On My Team → Privacy & Sharing you can also hide your competition record, roster, photos, trophies, sponsors and social links from your public profile, and Team Home lets you hide your career from Team Finder.

Team Finder (Explore → Team Finder) lets anyone search any team on EasyCookoff — even teams that haven't competed yet — and see its full career — events, Grand and Reserve Champions, top-10s, best finish and every result. Different spellings of a team name are merged into one career.

Team owners can tap Claim this team on their career page. Claims are verified automatically when your team registered for one of those events; otherwise we review them. Verified teams get a badge, a Team Home with milestones, and a printable Sponsor Stats Card.

Prefer privacy? Turn off 'List my team publicly in Team Finder' on Team Home.

Rivals: follow any team as a rival to see their latest placings and your head-to-head record.

Follow friends (they approve) and organizers (instant) from My Account → Friends. Sync phone contacts, upload a contacts file, search by name, or send your personal invite link — anyone who joins with it follows you back automatically.

Like events with the heart and save them for later with the bookmark (My Account → Favorites).

The header bell shows your Activity. Control every in-app, email and push alert under My Account → Manage notifications, and every other preference under My Account → Settings.

Organizers: your followers are alerted automatically when your new event goes live, and registered teams get reminders before the event and a feedback request after it.

Need more teams? Open the event on your Dashboard and use Share Invite Link — the 'invite more teams' prompt also shows how many more entries until each extra entry costs less (rates stack: $2.00, then $1.50 from entry 13, then $1.00 from entry 25).

We are reaching out to sanctioning bodies to discuss how we can help the sport of BBQ — please ask these bodies to reach out so we can partner with them. As the app grows and we line up agreements with sanctioning bodies, we can add more scoring options.

Looking ahead, we can build dedicated sanctioning-body portals and rankings directly in conjunction with this platform — official standings, member management, season points and event calendars all in one place. Our goal is to make EasyCookoff.app a one-stop shop for each sanctioning body, giving the organization and its members an easier, unified experience.

Love using EasyCookoff? Please help us grow — email your favorite sanctioning bodies and ask them to reach out and partner with us. The more interest they hear from cooks and organizers, the faster we can add official scoring for each one. Here are good starting contacts:

• KCBS — Kansas City Barbeque Society:contest@kcbs.us
• SCA — Steak Cookoff Association:brett@steakcookoffs.com
• CASI — Chili Appreciation Society International:casied@casichili.netcasievent@casichili.net
• MBN — Memphis Barbecue Network:info@mbnbbq.com
• IBCA — International Barbeque Cookers Association:info@ibcabbq.org
• LSBS — Lone Star Barbecue Society (TX):presidentlonestarbbq@yahoo.com
• FBA — Florida BBQ Association:treasurer@fbabbq.com
• RMBBQA — Rocky Mountain BBQ Association:backyard@rmbbqa.org
• MNBS — Minnesota BBQ Society:president@mnbbqsociety.com
• IABBQ — Iowa BBQ Society:info@iabbq.org
• GBA — Georgia Barbecue Association:webmaster@bbqga.org
• CBBQA — California BBQ Association:admin@cbbqa.org
• MABA — Mid-Atlantic Barbecue Association:maba@mabbqa.com
• PNWBA — Pacific Northwest Barbecue Association:info@pnwba.com
• NEBS — New England Barbecue Society:sanctioning@nebs.org
• GLBBQA — Great Lakes BBQ Association:info@glbbqa.com
• SCBA — South Carolina Barbeque Association:donadkins@scbarbeque.com
• MWBA — Mid West BBQ Association:mwbabbq@gmail.com
• NBBQA — National Barbecue & Grilling Association:admin@nbbqa.org
• WBQA — World BBQ Culinary Association:office@world-bbq.com
• CTBA — Central Texas Barbecue Association:254-760-1014

Don't see your regional or state body? Email us at support@easycookoff.app with their contact and we'll add them to this list.