CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The sniffling in the judges' room at the Green Chili Shoot-Out on Saturday wasn't caused by allergies or colds. Some of the spicier concoctions prompted the judges to blow their noses, wipe their brows, clear their throats and take a palette-cleansing swig of cold beer as they sampled. They worked their way around a table topped with 13 tubs of green chili that made it to the final round.

There were 35 entries from both local green chili chefs and those who traveled from Ontario, Michigan, Columbus and New Jersey to compete in the International Chili Society-sanctioned event at the Capitol Market.

When the judges emerged from the toasty room into the cold, wet day, a local man was declared the winner. Don VanLehn of Cross Lanes beat out the competitors and qualifies to compete in the world competition in October.

When Van Lehn, 45, turned his chili in to the judges, he wasn't optimistic. As a previous winner of the Green Chili Shoot-Out at Capitol Market and four-time world competitor, VanLehn said it was his worst batch ever.

"I honestly believed it was a bad pot," he said. "I didn't do anything different today. I try to follow the same recipe every time."

Good luck trying to pin down any recipes from these competitors. Most everyone uses some combination of simmered pork, green chilies, tomatillos, onion and garlic with absolutely no beans allowed.

"That's an automatic disqualifier," said Richard Chauvin of Ontario. He already qualified for the world competition with an earlier win in Rhode Island. His wife, Wendy, cooked for Saturday's competition.

The chefs are passionate about their chili, and many of them compete in both red and green cook-offs. Some couples cook together, while others compete against each other. To make it to the  world competition, they must win a sanctioned contest during the season, which typically runs from November through September.

Bob and Gail Kyle from Dearborn, Mich., are old hands at chili cook-offs. Bob's been at it for about 14 years, and Gail has competed for four. They are both retired, and enjoy traveling to competitions. Her green chili already qualified at a Michigan competition, so Bob cooked this weekend, hoping for a win. He made it to the final round.

"We never eat chili at home," he said. "We both like to cook. If we have leftover chili from a competition, we freeze it and serve it to friends who ask to taste our chili."

Gail competed in the People's Choice competition. Most cooks make one small competition batch of green chili, and a larger pot, usually with filling beans, to sell to visitors. At Saturday's competition, the visitors wandered around the festive tables and purchased tastes. They voted for their favorite. The people chose chili verde made by Jim Zimnox of Charleston as their winner.

The money generated by ticket sales benefited the MS Society. The Shoot-Out and a party Friday at Power Alley Grille on Friday generated more than $7,000.

Judge Dave Lorenz, from Marlton, N.J., placed second in the 2007 world championship. He's been competing since 1983, and has already qualified in both red and green chili for the 2009 world competition.

"I look for good flavor with a mix of cumin and green chilies," he said. "It should be hot, but not too hot. You don't want it to knock you down."

The most common mistake he sees, especially from new chili chefs, is to make their chili too hot or too salty. He also warned about getting too creative. A classic, full-flavored chili usually competes well. He favors a chili made from pork shoulder, rather than pork loin.

Earlier Saturday, bakers dropped off cornbread entries for a cornbread contest. The contest had two categories: traditional and nontraditional, which featured cornbread with additives such as whole kernel corn, other vegetables, fruit, meat and cheese. The nontraditional entries outnumbered the traditional 4-1 - a big change from last year's cornbread contest when there were more traditional entries.

Bakers added sausage, chili, pepperoni, cheese, zucchini, onions, garlic, and even mandarin oranges and pepper jelly to their cornbread. The nontraditional winner was Gazette food writer Judy Grigoraci, whose Orange-Pecan Cornmeal Cake reminded one judge of a pineapple upside-down cake.

Sharon Lane won the traditional category with her Southern Iron Skillet Cornbread.

After I left the soggy competition Saturday, I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some pork shoulder, green chilies and tomatillos. Fresh tomatillos are in short supply at this time of year, so I settled for a couple of jars of salsa verde, which listed tomatillos as the main ingredient.

The ICS Web site listed the last 10 years' winning recipes, most of which called for pork loin. Even though I'm a novice to chili verde, I went with Lorenz's preference for shoulder because I think the texture and flavor would make a better chili. It was a tough call because pork loin was on sale.

Reach Julie Robinson at jul...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1230.