Cast-iron Competition

Dave Smith, Kim Smith and Amanda McLeod took home the top overall award for Dutch-oven cooking at the 2025 Washington County Fair with a bacon-focused menu.

Dutch oven cooking skills heat up at the Washington County Fair

From campfires to county fairs, Dutch oven cooking has long been a favorite part of outdoor cooking across the Ozarks. Using cast-iron pots and hot coals, cooks can make everything from breads and desserts to full meals outdoors. At the 2025 Washington County Fair, the “Cookin’ Rookies” team of Kim Smith, Dave Smith and Amanda McLeod cooked up a winning bacon-themed menu featuring bacon-wrapped BBQ chicken, twisted bacon and cheese bread and bacon caramel apple crisp.

We caught up with Kim Smith to learn more about their award-winning menu and get one of their recipes.

Q. What do you enjoy most about cooking this way? I love cooking outside, gaining new friends and sharing food. I also love that you can cook anything using this method that you can cook in your oven at home, from canned biscuits to pork tenderloin.

Q. What inspired this dish? We thought it would be fun to give ourselves the challenge of putting bacon in all the dishes. Who can get too much bacon?

Q. Any tips for someone trying Dutch oven cooking? Just try it! Don't rush the cooking. When you get in a hurry is when you will burn your dish.  We use a cooking chart. Most often we cook at 350 degrees in a 12-inch oven. That is 8 coals under the oven and 17 on top.