Judges of Kent’s official school cookery contest had plenty to get steamed up about when they were put through their culinary paces.

Six members of the judging panel swotted up their cheffing skills at Kent Cookery School in advance of the KM Kent Cooks competition, which is currently open for entry.

The judges included Amy Woods from Three R’s Teacher Recruitment; Sarah Leipnik from Golding Homes; Matthew McPhail from DFDS Seaways; Jim Ratchford from Licensing Consultancy Services; Matt Parkinson from Voo Servers and Daniel Kennedy from Kent Cookery School.

The panel had a taster of what’s in store for youngsters across Kent who take part in this year’s contest where entrants from five to 18 years can put their cooking skills to the test.

Kent Cooks, which is organised by the charity department of the KM Group, also has the backing of Mini Babybel, Southern Water, Orbit South, Carefree Comms and Brakes.

Competition categories include Families for parent-and-child entries, Primary School, and Secondary School.

Event organiser Nancy Clark from the KM Charity Team said: “This is such a great competition because it gets young people excited about cookery and thinking more deeply about what they eat.

“All entrants need to do is create a healthy recipe, take a photograph and upload it to the Kent Cooks website. It’s so quick and simple.”

The deadline for entries is November 4 and an exciting Masterchef-style final will take place at East Kent College on November 27.

To find out more or submit an entry, visit www.kentcooks.co.uk.