Bean Chefs at the 2024 Bean Fest

The 2024 Bean Fest and Arkansas Championship Outhouse Race in Mountain View Oct. 25-26 drew the largest crowd in many years.

Twenty-six teams competed in the bean cook-off, using various recipes in the quest for the title of Best Beans.

The award for best beans went to David Warner of Little Rock at Pot #12, who in his third year of competition cooked up a savory recipe with ham bone.

Second place went to Lane Galloway and Brooke Underwood of Tupelo, Miss., at Pot #5 whose secret recipe mixed with “lots of love” has garnered them two wins in six years of competing.

The Jolly Beans at Pot #4 were ranked third by the judges. Amy Faulkner and her crew from Searcy cooked a pot with smoked ham and seasonings like Cavender’s for a homestyle flavor.

Other competitors this year were:

Pot #1: Jay Harrison and Doug Long of Heber Springs, who tried something different with a chicken gumbo profile this year. Jay has competed since 2015.

Pot #2: Terry Coombs and Kristal Brown of Stone County who, in their fourth year of cooking, used a combo of smoked ham hocks and spices.

Pot #3: Joni Mitchell, who won in 2022 but missed competing last year, entered for her eighth time. She boasted a simple recipe with all local ingredients.

Pot #6: Matthew Mayfield of Stone County and Adam Grimsley of southeast Missouri, who competed for their third year and provided extra onions, peppers and meat for add-ons.

Pot #7: Geneva and Renee George of Mountain View, who have entered in most years since 1999, cooked up a traditional family recipe with an added undisclosed ingredient.

Pot #10: Maureen Harrod, Holly Meyer and Sandy Bradley of Heber Springs used a southern recipe involving a honey baked ham bone and bone broth that had been simmered the night before.

Pot #11: Lavelle King of Little Rock, who has won first and third in his 23 years of entering, cooked his beans using salt pork, bacon and garlic salt.

Pot #13: Darian McGee of Star City, cooking for his third year, said he used pork butt, sausage, spices and Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce, along with “a whole lotta love.”

Pot #14: Tobby Whetmore and crew broke away from the school cafeteria menu with a Creole brown bean recipe anchored with the “holy trinity” of flavorings: onion, green pepper and celery.

Pot #15: Tammy Miller, Whetmore’s Chartwells rival, cooked up a sweet and spicy pot of cowboy beans with a beef base.

Pot #16: Faye Tindall and Guyla Nelson made up the Smok’N Hot Team that they assured was not a reference to the beans, which they flavored with smoked ham and Cajun sausage and spices.

Pot #17: Gerbine Cooking Company, a crew originally from Louisiana, declared their beans a failed effort and refused to submit them for judging.

Pot #18: Joey Gerbine of Mountain View used a recipe of Cajun ham and smoked sausage from southern Louisiana in the Cajun beans he stirred up in his second year of competition.

Pot #19: Eldon and Donna Haynes of Paragould competed for their 10th time with a recipe involving smoked butt, bacon, spices and Sweet Baby Rays.

Pot #21: Michelle and Bryan Raines represented The Blossoms in their first year of competition. They used traditional ham and seasonings.

Pot #23: Fred Hubberd and the Re/Max crew, competitors since 2018, cooked up traditional ham and beans.

Pot #25: Catherine Smith competed for the first year, adding rabbit meat to the beans.

Pot #26: Ronnie Andrews of Quitman, a veteran bean cooker of 30-plus years, cooked traditional ham and beans.

Pot #27: Barry Andrews of Cabot, in his fourth year of cooking, used ham hocks and turkey necks for flavoring.

Pot #28: Tim and Sally Griffith of Hot Springs, competing for the first time, tossed in turkey necks with some special sauces.

Pot #29: James Holland of Louisiana has been entering about 20 years. He uses Williams bean spice with some brisket for flavoring.

Pot #30: Sonny Daniels of Mountain View and Hernando, Miss., carries on a tradition started by his dad in 1998 and cooks beans “like grandma made” with bacon grease, salt, pepper and smoked sausage.

Pot #31: Lori Vuoso, Sonny’s daughter, has been entering her own pot for 10 years. She used ham hock, bacon and spices.

Some numbers were skipped in order. Two additional pots were cooked by volunteers and were not entered in competition.