Colusa Western Days Cookoff Photographs

They say that a photograph is worth a thousand words. If that's true, I just posted 3,000 words to 'Round the Chuckbox.

Don Mason, organizer of the Colusa Western Days Dutch Oven Cookoff, sent a batch of bright color photographs from the cookoff. Since I didn't attend the event this year, I've written captions based on those people I know and my knowledge of the dishes.

Don posted this message about the cookoff on the International Dutch Oven Society forum:

Colusa Western Days Dutch Oven Cookoff was a wonderful success. Twenty-eight Teams participated in the 5th Annual cook-off. Teams traveled from Nevada, Oregon, San Francisco Bay Area and all parts of Northern California. The Cook-off was a spectator pleaser.

The "Two Dans" present their dishes to the judges. The team consists of Dan Lima (standing in black shirt) and Dan Jimenez (standing in white shirt). Two Dans hail from Corning in Northern California.


Dan Lima is stuffing a pork tenderloin, Hawaiian style in their chuckbox. I've tasted their entries in past contests and can attest that they are quite skilled in making chicken roulades and stuffed loins.


Two wide strips of parchment paper were inserted under the pie to make extraction easier. It takes two cooks to lift the pie out of the Dutch oven. Each cook grabs one pair of parchment strips, then lift together.