Crosstimber team wins 26th cookoff

The Crosstimber Ranch team from Mustang, Okla., was the overall champion of the 26th annual Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff last Saturday, September 26, at the Saints’ Roost Museum.

Fifteen wagons prepared food for the event, which served more than 615 people. Crosstimber placed in three out of five food judging categories and placed first in Overall Cooking and second in Wagon & Camp to take home the custom cutting board designed by Clarendon artist Jack Craft.

The 13th annual Junior Cookoff the day before the big event drew six contestants, who were paired with experienced wagon teams to prepare potatoes for the cooks’ dinner Friday night. Henry Bivens from Clarendon won first place and was teamed with the Crosstimber Ranch wagon.

Kaston Snyder of Amarillo was second, working with the Lazy M Cookers of Lamar, Colo.; and Jaythan Green of Clarendon was third and worked with the Camp Cookie team from Germantown, Tennessee.

Other junior participants included Haughton Bivens and Haylin Bivens, both of Clarendon, Blake Boedecker of Canyon, and Gus Boedecker of Lockney. The respectively were teamed up with the Double Nickle Wagon of Amarillo, The Honey-Do Spoiler wagon of Pampa, the Cocklebur Camp wagon of Odessa, and the Robertson Chuckwagon of Granbury. The Junior Cookoff is sponsored each year by the American Chuckwagon Association.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, there was no dinner with the cooks for Museum members this year following the Junior Cookoff.
The trade show was held throughout the day Saturday, and live entertainment was provided. Relatives of Chuckwagon inventor Charles Goodnight also were present for their annual reunion.

Competing wagons served a menu of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, beans, and cobbler. Wagons came from as far as Tennessee and Colorado to attend this year’s cookoff.

Prizes totaling $3,250 were paid out to the winners. Complete results were:

Overall Wagon & Cooking: 1) Crosstimber Ranch.

Overall Cooking: 1) Crosstimber., 2) C Bar C of Hartley, 3) J Bar D Ranch of Amarillo, and 4) Lazy M Cookers of Lamar, Colo.

Best Wagon & Camp: 1) J Bar D, 2) Crosstimber, 3) Robertson Chuckwagon of Granbury, and 4) C Bar C.

Best Meat: 1) J Bar D, 2) J3 Wagon of Stinnett, 3) Robertson, and 4) C Bar C.

Best Beans: 1) Crosstimber, 2) Camp Cookie, 3) C Bar C, and 4) J3.

Best Potatoes: 1) Crosstimber, 2) Lazy M, 3) C Bar C, and 4) Honey-Do Spoiler.

Best Bread: 1) Lazy M, 2) Crosstimber, 3) C Bar C, and 4) Teepee Creek wagon team of Matador.

Best Dessert: 1) J Bar D, 2) C Bar C, 3) Robertson, and 4) Palo Duro Cowboy Church of Canyon.