Meet the Winners of the 2026 Steamboat Chili Challenge

Written by Skylar Leeson

Great chili takes time, patience and a little creativity. Just ask the winners of the 2026 Steamboat Chili Challenge, who brought two very different approaches to the table and walked away with top honors.

Dean Montgomery of Q Live Crew BBQ earned the Best Chili award for his Slow & Low Smoked Brisket Chili, impressing judges with its rich, smoky flavor and standout execution. Meanwhile, The Laundry chefs Nick Winden and Ryan Hoth captured the People's Choice award with their Chunky Pork Green Chili, winning over community members with a hearty combination of slow-smoked pork, roasted peppers and balanced heat.

While their recipes and cooking styles differ, both winners share a passion for experimenting with flavors, perfecting their techniques and putting in the time to make something worth tasting.

Best Chili Winner - Q Live Crew BBQ - Dean Mountgomery (right) and Joe Haines (left).

Best Chili: Dean Montgomery, Q Live Crew BBQ

Dean Montgomery knows the secret to award-winning chili isn't a complicated recipe or a long list of ingredients. It's patience, a smoker and a technique he's spent years perfecting on the barbecue circuit.

And while he’s spent a lot of time competing in barbecue contests across the country, his journey into the world of smoked meats began right here in Steamboat Springs.

Despite growing up in Missouri, a state known for its barbecue traditions, Dean didn't discover his passion for barbecue until moving to Steamboat.

"One of my buddies had lived out here and he told me about his brother doing a big barbecue competition, and I just thought that was interesting because I love to compete and cook," Dean says.

With a background in bartending and restaurant work, including plenty of time spent in kitchens, Dean was no stranger to the food industry. But when it came to barbecue, he was largely self-taught.

He purchased a barbecue trailer and began selling his food at the Steamboat Farmers Market, catering events and setting up around town. Along the way, he developed a passion for competitive cooking that has taken him well beyond the Yampa Valley.

Dean has traveled to barbecue competitions in Lamar, Colorado; Kansas City; and Boulder City, Nevada, among other destinations. His efforts have earned him second- and third-place finishes in pork, a third-place finish in chicken, a second-place dessert award and numerous top-10 finishes.

Still, there's one title he's chasing.

"I have yet to win the elusive overall grand championship of any kind, so that's the ultimate goal," Dean says.

While barbecue remains his specialty, Dean's venture into competitive chili came naturally from another staple of his menu: baked beans.

"I really just came to the conclusion that I make pretty gosh darn good beans for barbecue," he says.

After years of preparing baked beans in a smoker, Dean discovered that cooking them low and slow helped preserve their texture while allowing the flavors to develop.

"It doesn't break apart the beans, it doesn't get starchy, it doesn't make the meat all stringy," he says. "So I applied that thought process to chili and it has gone really well."

That technique became the foundation for his Slow & Low Smoked Brisket Chili, which impressed judges at this year's competition.

Customers looking to track down his next stop can follow Q Live Crew BBQ on Instagram, where Dean regularly posts updates about where he'll be serving.

And while an overall barbecue grand championship remains on his wish list, his latest victory is another milestone in a competitive cooking career that began in Steamboat.

People’s Choice Chili & Best Corn Bread - Laundry Kitchen and Cocktails

People's Choice: Nick Winden and Ryan Hoth, Laundry

For Laundry chefs Nick Winden and Ryan Hoth, making chili is more than just another cooking project. It's something of an obsession.

"So this is a team thing between me and my other chef, Ryan Hoth, and we're both pretty obsessed with chili," Nick says. "It's our favorite thing to cook. So every time there is a chili competition, we feel like we have to do it."

Nick's love for chili started long before his culinary career. Growing up, his father kept a steady supply of pickled peppers around the house, introducing him to spicy foods at an early age.

"We always had a Cool Whip container of pickled chilis that we would eat from a super young age," Nick says. "I mean, he'll still mail me dried chilis."

Ryan, who grew up in New Mexico, shares that enthusiasm for spice. The two regularly experiment with different peppers and make hot sauces in Laundry's kitchen.

Their winning Chunky Pork Green Chili is the product of an extensive preparation process that begins with several cases of fresh peppers, including Anaheim, poblano, Pueblo chilis and bell peppers, which are roasted and peeled.

The chefs then incorporate dried varieties, including Morita, a smoked jalapeño, along with habanero, ghost chili and guajillo peppers.

Despite the lengthy list of peppers, Nick says they made a conscious effort to keep the spice level approachable.

"We did a better job this time not making it too spicy, which we can have a hard time doing," he says.

Preparing the pork is an equally involved process. Pork shoulders are brined for three days, coated with mustard and a chili-sugar rub, then smoked for 10 hours before finishing low and slow in the oven. The drippings are saved to create a pork stock that serves as the chili's base.

"So it's a process," Nick says. "I think Ryan and I both go about it in the way that the more chilis you can use, the more depth of flavor you can get from smoking and roasting."

The combination of fresh and dried peppers, slow-smoked pork and rich stock helped the dish stand out among voters at this year's competition.

The winning recipe reflects their shared approach to cooking: experimenting with ingredients, combining techniques and taking the time to develop layers of flavor.

"It's a process of using a lot of different cooking techniques and chili profiles to get this amazing pot of depth," Nick says.

And judging by the community's votes, that process was worth the effort.