The following comes from Steve Lieber, Director of Operations United States Pizza Team.

Enter this contest:

"The competitions are Gluten Free Championship September 12 and the American Pizza Championship September 13, 2010."

Registration Criteria
You must be employed at a pizzeria, or have pizza on your menu at the time of competition.

Competition Criteria

•  Competitor must bring own pre made dough, sauce, cheese and toppings for 2, 14-inch pizzas. On site refrigeration will be provided. (Contestants will have access to dough making equipment if necessary.
• Oven testing will take place prior to first competition. Bring extra ingredients if you want to prove the ovens.
• Dough trays and peels will be provided; competitor should bring any other needed tools.
• The choice of pizza ingredients is strictly up to the discretion of the competitors.   There is no requirement that this pizza is on any existing menu but part of the judging criteria is that it be commercially viable.   Bring your best pie.
• You must prepare and cook pizza in competition area.
• Competitors will make 2 pizzas. They will decide which of the two will go to judges. The second will be given to audience for sampling.
• Contestants must be at pre-competition briefing at 9 am September 5th.

Competitors must agree to judge criteria prior to competition. At the pre-competition briefing contestants must sign publicity waivers and rule agreement waiver.

• All contestants will be assigned numbers and a drawing will determine order. Judges will be sequestered before drawing takes place.
• This is a double blind taste test and numbers will be assigned to pizza in the order in which they are made.
• All contestants must write and print a description of their pizza and provide recipe of ingredients and cooking instructions. This will be used during the judging of each pizza.
• Contestants will remove finished pizza from oven and place on a pizza circle. At this time PMQ will take photos of chef with pizza, then the pizza will be taken to an area to have photos taken of the pizza itself.
• The pizza will then be taken by a runner who will then take it to the judging area. Here the runner will read the description and recipe of the pizza.   The runner will then cut the pizza and allow each judge to choose a slice (piece).   The judges will grade the pizza, then the score sheets picked up, tallied, and held by head judge. The tables will then be cleared.
• Contestants will give permission for PMQ to use photos and statements in any future media without obligation.

For more information:

For Additional Information Visit www.pmq.com  or

 Email steve@uspizzateam.com

www.pmq.com