Superintendents: Tish & Larkyn Eckstrom, Beth Hubl, Sarah Johnson
Jr. Superintendent: Alexis Meier-Glaze
Food Sale Jr. Superintendents: Cayleigh & Chaeli Bird
General Information: Entry areas include special exhibits, decorated food items, foods & nutrition–general (non-food items), cooking 101, 201, 301, 401 and food preservation. All static exhibits must receive a purple ribbon at the County Fair to advance to the State Fair.
- Supporting Information: Each exhibit must include the recipe, which may be handwritten, copied or typed. Place food on the appropriate size disposable plate or container and put in self-sealing bag. Attach entry tag and recipe at the corner of the bag. For non-food entries, please attach the entry tag to the upper right-hand corner of the entry. Additional information including recipes and supplemental information should be identified with 4-H member’s name & county.
- Criteria for Judging: Exhibits will be judged according to score sheets available at the Extension office or at https://go.unl.edu/ne4hfood-nutrition. Make sure to follow all entry instructions required for your exhibit. Incomplete exhibits will be lowered a ribbon placing. Commercially prepared mixes are ONLY allowed in Cooking 201 Creative Mix class. No commercially prepared/purchased food items will be accepted (with the exception of purchased items such as candy for decorated gingerbread houses, decorated cookies, etc.). Prepared baking mixes, biscuit mixes, commercially prepared seasoning mixes for food preservation or other pre-made mixes entered in other categories will be lowered a ribbon placing.
- Food Projects: Exhibits should be entered using a disposable pan or plate and covered by a plastic self-sealing bag.
- Ingredients: Any ingredient that the 4-H member uses must be able to be purchased by the 4-H member. Ingredients such as beer, whiskey, rum, etc., may NOT be used in any recipe file or food exhibit. Exhibits that include alcohol will be disqualified. *Sourdough is categorized differently than standard yeast breads due to its unique leavening agent and fermentation process and may ONLY be entered in Cooking 201 Baking with Whole Grains, Cooking 401 Family Food Traditions, or Cooking 401 Ethnic Food Exhibit.
- Food Safety: Exhibits are on display for several days. Please think FOOD SAFETY! Items that require refrigeration will not be accepted, judged, or displayed as exhibits must be safe to eat when entered, whether they are tasted or not. Glazes, frostings and other sugar-based toppings are considered safe due to their high sugar content. Egg glazes on yeast breads and pie crusts BEFORE baking are acceptable. Eggs incorporated into baked goods and crusts are considered safe. The following food ingredients are considered unsafe for fair exhibits & will be disqualified:
- Egg or cream cheese fillings and cream cheese frostings
- Any meat item including meat jerky, imitation meat bits (bacon bits, pepperoni, etc.)
- Melted cheese on top of food exhibit (cheese mixed into baked goods is considered safe and will be accepted)
- Uncooked fruit or vegetable toppings (i.e., fresh fruit tart).
Bread Machine: Any bread item prepared or baked using a bread machine should be entered under the Cooking 201 Non-Traditional Baked Product. All exhibits made in the Cooking 301 or Cooking 401 projects must have been prepared without the assistance of a bread machine for mixing, raising, or baking of the food item.