2-day Grilling at the Pass event set for Sept. 13-14

The Pass Post

Local residents who have a passion for grilling and the great outdoors have the opportunity in September to participate in what City officials say will be an internationally-televised cookoff competition. Pass Christian will host Grilling at the Pass, a Steak Cookoff Association (SCA) event that allows backyard chefs to show off their steak-cooking skills and compete for cash, trophies and prizes. The event will be the first SCA event ever held on a pier.

Grilling at the Pass, set for September 13-14 near the East Harbor Bridge, is open to anyone ages thirteen and over. The steaks for every SCA event are provided by the event promoter to create a level playing field, and cooks bring whatever is needed to prepare their competition steak or ancillary, such as a tent, folding table, ice chest, grill and spices.  Ancillary categories for the event will include anything with shrimp, anything fish, anything Creole and anything Mississippi mud pie.

Cooks may cook on any fire or heat source, including wood, charcoal, gas, electric, pellet and sous vide. More than one cook may use the same site and grill, but each registrant must do their own steak selections, seasoning, cooking, and steak or ancillary turn-in at the event.

The event will be judged by a panel of judges under a “blind judging” format. Steaks will be judged on appearance, doneness (medium), taste, texture and overall impression. Steak winners can win cash prizes starting at $25 and going up to at least $725. The event will feature “dynamic payouts,” which will increase the steak prize money as more teams sign up to participate. Ancillaries will be judged on appearance, creativity, taste and execution. Ancillary prizes range from $50 to $175.

The first-place steak winners from each day and the top four ancillary cooks will be invited to participate in the Battle of the Grills on Saturday afternoon, with the chance to win more prize money. The Battle of the Grills steak prize is $700, and the ancillary prize is $600.

The action starts on Friday with a cooks’ meeting at 4:30 p.m., ending with awards at 9 p.m. Saturday begins with a cooks’ meeting at 10 a.m., with awards at 5:30 p.m. and the Battle of the Grills beginning at 6 p.m.

City officials say the televised event is expected to have over 144 million viewers. Organizers say the goal of the event is to create a fun, relaxed environment and a fair competition that is about cooking, not who has the most money. SCA events are family-friendly.

 For more information, a list of entry fees, rules and prizes, or to sign up to compete, visit www.SteakCookOffs.com.