I was looking at the canning/pickling contests for the 2024 Wisconsin State Fair today and I feel… weird about them. The opening paragraph says you have to follow USDA standards, great. But then you get down to the actual jam/jelly classes and some are so hyper-specific that you’re pretty much forced to make up your own recipe – at least, I couldn’t find a tested peach-hibiscus jam on my initial search. Or is hibiscus considered an herb and you can toss it in at will?? Alternately, does everyone just make the exact same tested recipe for carrot cake jam, since only one seems to exist? That seems unlikely. And I know the judges are eating this stuff because taste is 40% of the final score.
Full disclosure, part of me thinks I’m just being judgy because it’s not what I’m used to: I grew up in Nebraska with a much more ag-centric fair (as opposed to WI, which is very much a music festival that happens to have cows at it).
In summary: is this as weird as I think it is?
by SwagzBagz
7 Comments
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Link to the full culinary contest page:
http://www.wistatefair.com/pdfs/competitions/entry_info/culinary_day_1.pdf?
I have entered jams and jellies into the Minnesota State fair for the past three years, and placed in the wild fruit jam category last year. The rules and scoring system are very similar to this. They are very, very specific down to getting dinged a point if your headspace is slightly too low or too high. The recipe I won with was a jam recipe from the insert in the Sure Jell pectin box. I have also entered into other categories, with recipes that I got online, they needed to be printed out and submitted with the detailed processing information included. Even though they did not come from a technically “Approved” source like Ball or an extension, they were still accepted. I got 97/100 points and that was 3rd place, so they’re very discerning on meeting exact criteria.
They mention current USDA standards; that might not be the same as “tested” recipes as we know them here. To answer your question “is it weird” I’d say no, as I think the rules for canning and preserving at most state fairs are like this.
Vibe check: wow, judges actually open and taste the contents? Brave, brave souls.
Anyways, seems legit. There’s “Ball back to Basics” that has some of the leeway recipes which gateway into this, and some of the NCHFP sites for jams had the rose and other flower syrups alternatives to play around, so that seems correct. Fortunately states in their rules no flipping, so that eliminates some of the rebel canners along with the paraffin crowd. Coupled with the recipe card, pretty much alerts the judges if it can make the taste test round.
I’d inquire where these recipes are supposed to be sourced from – most state fairs are supposed to encourage the educational and informational sides of canning and showcasing it with the public entries. I’d give it a go, because I would definitely learn something.
One thing I want to add on, granted it’s been a few years since I submitted something to State Fair. but when I entered the point was to have the best of that particular item. so not necessarily the most creative but the most well done.
so like for carrot cake jam the point is to have the one that followed the recipe the best. there is some leeway in that taste can vary depending on the types of herbs and quality of produce you use.
there are other categories where creativity can show off typically.
One of these days I’ll have ago again entering my pepper jam. In the meantime I’d love the recipe for the peach hibiscus jam!