4-H'ers learn about the importance of quality in meat products from birth to plate. They work in teams of 3‐4 to prepare a Minnesota-grown meat product that is nutritious and appealing to consumers. Choose from beef, dairy, swine, sheep, meat or dairy goat, rabbit or poultry.
Watch them demonstrate what they've learned at the Minnesota State Fair!
It should be noted that this event is completely separate from the 4-H Chicken BBQ Contest.
For participants
- Teams can be made up of youth from multiple counties.
- Youth can choose to work in a different meat than the 4-H animal science project species in which they are enrolled.
- We'll provide teams with aprons, charcoal, grills, grilling utensils, the meat cut that will be prepared, salt and pepper, salad greens and cheeses.
- Teams will have 30 minutes to prepare a final dish. It could be the grilled meat by itself or the grilled meat worked into a salad creation.
- 4‐Her’s can bring processed rubs or processed seasonings to enhance their meat.
- Judges award points: 40% taste, 30% appearance and 30% team knowledge.
- Teams answer basic nutrition questions about their dish, such as calorie and carbohydrate content.
- Each meat is judged separately and at different times. See the schedule below.
There is no pre-registration for this event. Teams should sign up in the livestock office associated with the meat with which they will work.
For example, beef teams will sign up in the beef office, swine (pork) teams will sign up in the swine office and so on. Events will be held for beef, dairy, swine, sheep, meat and dairy goats, rabbit and poultry.
The days and times for each species are provided below. The entire process is estimated to take 90 minutes.
2023 schedule
- Beef – Friday, Aug. 25, 4 p.m.
- Dairy – Thursday, Aug. 24, 3 p.m.
- Dairy Goats – Saturday, Aug. 26, 2 p.m.
- Meat Goats – Saturday, Aug. 26, 2 p.m.
- Poultry – Friday, Aug. 25, 10 a.m.
- Rabbits – Thursday, Aug. 24, 1 p.m.
- Sheep – Thursday, Aug. 24, 4 p.m.
- Swine – Saturday, Aug. 26, 3:30 p.m.