Cookoff Champs
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How to run a Thanksgiving pie contest
A pie contest is the easiest dessert tradition to start. Everyone was going to eat pie anyway. These are the choices that make it feel fair, and keep it friendly.
The short version
- Pick the categories. Decide what can win: best overall, best crust, most creative, and a kids' prize if children are baking.
- Collect the pies. Ask bakers to arrive early. Write down who brought what, then keep that list out of sight.
- Number every pie. Put a number card beside each pie, and nothing else. Guests vote for a number, not for a person.
- Let everyone taste and vote. Give each guest one ballot, or one vote per category, and a few minutes to taste. Cut small slices.
- Count the votes. Add up the ballots, or let the app do it. Check for ties before you announce anything.
- Announce the winners. Read third, second and then first, and only then say whose pie it was.
Choosing categories
One prize is fine for a small family table. Once there are more than six or so pies, a few categories give more bakers something to win.
- Best overall: the headline prize.
- Best crust: for the bakers who made their own.
- Most creative: for the pie nobody expected.
- Best traditional: pumpkin, pecan and apple deserve their own shelf.
Keep it to three or four. More than that and every pie wins something, which is kind but dilutes the fun.
Voting blind
The pie contest is only fair if guests cannot tell who baked what. Put the pies on a table with numbered cards, keep the baker list with one person, and ask bakers not to hover.
Pies that are obviously someone's, like the one in grandmother's dish, are hard to hide. Move them to plain plates, or accept it and let those votes ride.
Ask guests not to vote for their own pie. In a small group that is an honour-system rule, and it works better than you would expect.
Breaking ties
Decide how ties are settled before the votes are in, so nobody feels the rules changed.
- Co-champions: the simplest answer, and nobody argues.
- A re-taste: tied pies only, and a show of hands.
- A judge's call: one neutral person, who did not enter, chooses.
Kids' entries
Children baking alongside the adults is the best part of the day, and a head-to-head against a 30-year pecan recipe is not always kind.
- Give the kids their own category, with its own prize.
- Let a child's pie also compete overall if they want to, but make it their choice.
- Let young children vote too: a sticker on a numbered card is enough for those who cannot write yet.
Practical details
- Cut slices small. A pie cut into sixteen lets guests try all of them.
- Label allergens on the number card where you can: nuts, dairy, gluten.
- Keep plates, forks and napkins by the table, and a jug of water for between tastes.
- Allow about 20 minutes for tasting, so the voting does not get rushed.
Questions people ask
How many pies do I need for a contest?
Three is enough to make it a contest. Around eight to twelve is the practical maximum for guests to taste them all without getting full.
Should the pies be judged or voted on?
For a family gathering, let all guests vote. It is more fun, and you do not need to find judges. For a larger or more serious event, a small panel of three judges, with a guests' prize on top, works well.
How do we stop people voting for their own pie?
Ask them not to, and number the pies so most people do not know which is theirs. If the group is small, it is an honour system.
What if two pies tie?
Call them co-champions, or taste only the tied pies again and vote by show of hands. Agree on the method before voting.
More guides: How to run a Christmas cookie contest · How to judge a chili cookoff
Run it in the app
Cookoff Champs is free for family and friends. Set up your event, add each entry, print the QR poster and let guests vote on their phones, blind. When you are ready, the reveal shows third, second and then first place, one click at a time.