EVERETT – When the barbecue smoke and the car exhaust cleared Monday afternoon, Chuck Senn of Olalla Smokers took home the grand prize in the Washington State Championship BBQ contest.
The cook-off was coupled for the first time with Everett’s Cruzin’ to Colby event, which is in its fifth year.
The contest pitted 18 of the region’s top barbecue cooks against each other in five categories: brisket, pork butt, chicken, pork ribs and dessert.
Senn’s Olalla Smokers pork butt was good enough to win the $1,000 prize and a spot in the world barbecue championship in Kansas City, Mo., in October.
Other winners included:
* Steve Yip, Rainbow Catering of Bellevue for his brisket.
* Konrad Haskins, TeddyBearBBQ.com of Monroe, for his chicken.
* Steve Sanders, Smoke a Fat One of Snohomish, for his pork ribs.
* Kurt Rough and John Seuferling, Bone Machine of West Seattle, for their dessert.
About 500 pounds of pork was donated by Food Services of America for the event. The Silver Lake Kiwanis Club sold about 2,000 meals at $5 each, raising about $10,000 for local charities, said Mack Yarbrough of Edmonds, who organized the event for the Pacific Northwest BBQ Association.
“This is a hobby for us. It gets serious because we want bragging rights for who’s the best cook,” said Yarbrough, whose pork ribs came in third place. “But really, it’s for a good cause.”
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