Cooking on the Trail

History and good food come together each fall when competitors gather for the Chandler Chuck Wagon Cook-off at Tumbleweed Park. We have gone several years in the past and wanted to check it out again this last weekend.

The competition includes both authentic recreations of the chuck wagons that traveled with cattle drives in the old West and typical trail meals.  The contestants put a lot of effort into recreating the complete kitchens that fed the cow hands. Notice the tipi to the left rear where the cook would sleep.

A lot of time and effort is put into finding authentic containers and cooking equipment. Antique dealers must love to see these folks come in the door. Cooking without running water takes a lot of work. Look at the bucket of water this woman is carrying. And imagine how hot her clothing must be. I was glad to be in chorts.

I hope these red long-johns weren't washed in the water that was then used for cooking.

This miniature cook wagon attracted the young visitors. It's important to get children interested in cooking and history at a young age.

You can click here or here if you want to learn more by looking at my blogs from previous contests.

Cooking on the Trail

We have been traveling around in the country in an RV since 1988. Most of the time I prepare our meals in the trailer. So I guess you could say we have been cooking on the trail. But that has been going on for long before we began. Saturday we attended the Chandler Chuck Wagon Cook-off where contestants prepare meals as the folks driving cattle did in past centuries. They have built authentic chuck wagons and cook as people did then, over an open fire built in a trench in the prairie.

Each team prepared a meat, beans, biscuits, potatoes and a dessert. In our current trailer we have a 3-burner stove. Some have had 4 burners. But look at all these pots--several ovens as well as pots cooking like I do on the stove top.

About half the wagons served chicken fried steak; the others cooked beef tips or chili beef. One wagon was cooking a meal for the contestants to eat after the contest ended. They were roasting pork.

Do you think those biscuits are a little over-browned?

Cowboys and cowgirls need beans and potatoes, of course.

An odd factoid we learned.  Do you know why iron spoons like this are twisted?  It is so the heat from the bowl of the spoon doesn't make the handle hot.  This cook said he learned that from his 8-year-old granddaughter who had attended a class in blacksmithing.  (He checked it out with another blacksmith, as well.)

And then there are the chuck wagons.

We had a fun day. This is the third time we have attended this cookoff. It is getting so popular that the line to buy lunch tickets begins forming at 9 and tickets go on sale at 10. Only 550 tickets are sold. Each wagon serves 50 meals. By the way, the food is good. Those cowboys on cattle drives must have eaten well.

Fun and Good Food

It wasn't BBQ but Chuck Wagon cooks that gave us a fun and tasty time today. This is the third year we have attended the Chandler Chuck Wagon Cook-off. Tickets for lunch went on sale at 10 am. The event is becoming so popular that the ticket line looked like this when we arrived at 9:30. The ticket booth is under the small red tent on the far left in this photo.



By 10, this many more people had joined the line.



Each of the 10 competing wagons prepared 50 meals, meaning 500 people got lunch. The tickets were sold out somewhere between 11 and 11:30.

It takes a lot of pans and a lot of heat to prepare 50 meals, cooking with open fires and coals.







Contestants were given the meat and dried apples (and maybe pinto beans and potatoes). They provide the rest of the ingredients. One wagon prepared pan fried steak.



The dried fruit was soaked, then made into some kind of dessert.







Onions were friend to mix with meat or beans. Did these ever smell wonderful!



Beans had to be stirred.



Biscuits prepared for cooking.





This is what the menu board looked like at about 11 am. A little later, every single wagon was sold out.





Cook-off volunteers visited each wagon to pick up their entries for judging.



Here are the judges, waiting, with water close at hand, to taste and evaluate 10 different meat dishes, beans, potatoes and desserts.



While everyone waited for lunch, Chef Tess demonstrated how to cook with a hay box or solar oven.



Each contestant was also judged on their chuck wagon. This is just one of the 10 that were there.



Finally, it was time to eat. This was my plate of smothered steak, scalloped potatoes and cowboy beans from the Cannon Family.



This was John's pan fried steak with cream gravy, pecos beans and potatoes with bacon and onions, prepared by Rockin' RR.



We always buy food from two different wagons and share our plates so we get to taste more of the dishes that are prepared. Everything was good, but if we were the judges, Cannon Family would come out on top.

It was a warm sunny day with good food. We had fun. Tumbleweed Park in Chandler is where the event is held each year and we were able to go for a good walk while waiting for lunch. It was a good day and a good diversion from making our RV into our home and buying a new truck.

Fun and Mmm Mmm Good Food

Saturday we attended the Chandler Chuck Wagon Cook Off. Participants like to cook and are interested in history. According to the American Chuck Wagon Association, we want participants "to project a realistic portrayal of the chuck wagon as it was used on cattle drives. To the public, a chuck wagon cook off should be an informative, an educational, and an entertaining experience."

Cattle and dairy are still Arizona's most valuable farm products. The 1890s were the heydays of Arizona's cattle industry. Chuck wagons provided food for the cowboys on the range and during cattle drives.

Each contestant group in the cook off is given the basic ingredients for food preparation. Cooks furnish their own seasonings. All cooking must be done on site, over wood fires and in cast iron Dutch ovens or frying pans. The beef, potatoes, onions, beans and apricots they needed to prepare food on Saturday for 40 to 60 people were provided. Since everybody starts with the same basic ingredients, seasoning and cooking technique make the difference.

The tickets for food went on sale at 10 am Saturday. Last year, tickets we wanted were sold out before we got to the table, so we arrived about 9:15 to get in line. We weren't the only people there early. Look at this crowd a little before 10.



Some dishes were prepped Friday evening and had been cooking for a while before we arrived Saturday. But we saw some of the pans of food getting started.



It takes a whole lot of cast iron pots and pans, as well as other cookware for coffee and hot water, to feed 40 or more people. It makes my back hurt to look at all the gear they carry around in the wagons.



There were lots of hot fires



and smoke



and steam involved in the cooking.



The wagons are fascinating. Here are pictures of two we saw yesterday.





To really appreciate them, you have to look at the details. For instance, the hide hanging below the wagon is called the possum belly. That is where the cooks carried their wood. As they drove along in front or behind the cattle herd, they could stop and throw in fuel when they saw it.
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I have seen trucks in campgrounds that have a step attached to the rear wheel to enable people to reach into the truck bed. It turns out, shelves on wheels are not a new idea.



Items are stacked and tied on everywhere.



Many of the members of the cooking teams are dressed in period costumes.





Soon, the food was ready to be served.



As lunch time approached, Barbara of Cowgirls Forever, whose food we would be eating, added honey to her pioneer biscuits.



And here are three pots of our food, ready to serve.



Was it ever good! We had smothered beef, cowgirl beans, prairie potatoes, pioneer biscuits and frontier apricot cobbler.



There were lots of people enjoying the food.



Earlier, to tide us over to noon, we had purchased sampler tickets. One sample was of biscuits and gravy. Would you believe, neither of us had ever eaten that? I never could understand the attraction, till yesterday. It was good!