Chili Cook-off Sample Tasting Trays
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Jo and I host a chili cook-off every year in the fall, and every year the same problem crops up when it comes time to vote — how do you hold your sample cup, spoon, voting ballot, and pen all at the same time, AND be able to mark your score on the ballots? After several failed attempts at solving this problem, we finally came up with a great solution. We made sample tasting trays that make it easy to hold everything!
We started with some simple, inexpensive hardboard clipboards. If you time your purchase right, you can find these really cheap at back-to-school supplies closeout sales.
For sampling our chili, we always use disposable 2oz portion cups (a.k.a. souffle cups) because they are inexpensive, convenient, and the perfect size. I positioned three of them on the board in a way I liked.
Then I marked their position by drawing around the bottom edge with a pencil.
Next I got out my hole saw set and found the one that was the right size for my sample cups. It has to be big enough for the cup to fit into but not so big that it would fall through. Just put a cup into each of the graduated saw blades until you find one that fits just right.
I then attached the saw blade to my drill and took it all outside, where I cut out the three holes in each clipboard.
A little light sanding with a piece of sandpaper took care of any rough edges.
When all the holes were drilled, I tested to make sure my cups fit and the result was great!
Once I had the first board cut, I used it as a template to draw the circles on all the other boards, then I cut the holes out on those in the same way.
To finish them off and make them easier to wipe clean, I masked off the clip area and spray painted the boards with glossy black.
We tied 24" lengths of ribbon to each clip and added a pen for easy scorekeeping. They look perfect with the voting ballots in our printable chili cook-off ballots that are part of our collection on Etsy.
3 comments so far:
I love this idea!
Love idea but what if you have 15 entries any idea
Linda, we always have way more than 3 entries, but just sample them three at a time. That way they stay hot and people don't get confused about which one they're tasting. 15 entries will just require 5 trips!