Cook-off official rules

Draft. Have a lawyer review before awarding real prizes.

Entering

No purchase is necessary. Free accounts can enter. You must be 18 or older and a US resident. One entry per person per cook-off; posting again replaces your entry and resets its votes. Your photo must be of food you made yourself.

Voting

Each signed-in person gets 3 votes per cook-off and can't vote for their own entry. Vote for the copies that look closest to the original dish. Votes can be taken back and moved until voting closes. Fake accounts, bought votes or automated voting will get entries removed.

Winners and prizes

Up to three winners each week. Crowd favorite: the entry with the most votes when voting closes (ties go to the earlier entry). Chef's pick: the best-looking copy, chosen by the Yumjack team based on how closely it matches the original and how good it looks. Each wins 3 months of Yumjack Plus, a winner badge, and may be featured on Yumjack's homepage and social accounts. Thriftiest copy: the lowest receipt-verified price per plate (ties go to the earlier entry), which wins 1 month of Plus and a badge. Self-reported prices can't win Thriftiest copy. The month's top points scorer wins a $50 grocery gift card. Prizes have no cash value and can't be transferred.

Points

Points (20 for an entry, 5 per vote received, and more) count toward levels and the monthly prize. Yumjack may remove points earned through abuse.

Daily trivia: three questions a day, one go each. 1 point per right answer, plus 5 points every 7 days in a row. Trivia points count toward your level and gear but not the monthly prize, which is for cooking. Questions are written with AI and checked by our team; if one turns out to be wrong, we may fix it without changing points already earned.

Daily games: Guess the Dish and Higher or Lower are one go per person per day, the same puzzle for everyone (days run on UTC). Guess the Dish gives up to 3 points; Higher or Lower gives 1 point every 5 in a row, up to 3. Cooking Bingo is weekly (Monday to Sunday, UTC): 5 points per completed line and 20 for a full card, counted from what you actually do on Yumjack. Like trivia, game points count toward your level and gear but not the monthly prize. Games are skill-based: nothing is bought and no prize is left to chance.

Prices and receipts

You can add your cost per plate, cooking time, swaps and notes to your entry. Prices you type in are shown as self-reported. To get a verified price, add a photo of your grocery receipt: Yumjack reads it once to match items to the recipe and work out your cost per plate, then discards the image. We keep only the result (price, store name and date checked). The receipt must be dated from two weeks before the cook-off started onward and cover at least half of the recipe's paid ingredients. Pantry staples you already had count at the recipe's estimate. Yumjack may remove a verified badge it believes is inaccurate.

Your photos

By entering, you let Yumjack show your photo, public name and caption on Yumjack and its social accounts. Yumjack isn't affiliated with any restaurant named in a cook-off.

Questions about the cook-off? Email djcurtis2@gmail.com.