Matt Whitaker the executive director of the Cache Food Pantry pulls fresh ribs from the smoker on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.
LOGAN – The Cache Food Pantry and the America West Heritage Center (AWHC) are joining efforts to hold a pellet smoker competition this summer. This first annual Cache Smokeout will be held at the Heritage Center on Saturday, July 23rd at the American West Heritage Center. It will be taking place during their Pioneer Day celebration.
“This is the first amateur cookout like this in Northern Utah,” said Matt Whitaker, organizer of the event and the executive director of the Cache Food Pantry. “Pit teams are signing up all ready.”
Whitaker made a connection with a guy who has software for cooking competitions, and he has agreed to help run the event. JBS Swift has agreed to supply the meat. Each team will smoke ribs and chicken thighs.
“We have $8,000 in prize money. The Grand Champion will win $2,000 and the Reserve Champion will take home $1,200,” he said. “We have other cash prizes; second place gets $750, third place gets $500, and fourth place gets $150.”
Whitaker is an avid smoker and cooks several racks of ribs each week and gives them to generous donors of the food pantry. He recently attended the Kansas City Barbeque Society World Invitational held at Fire Lake Arena in Shawnee, OK. And wanted to bring the excitement back to Cache Valley.
If someone were to win both the chicken thigh and the ribs competition, they could walk away with $2,000.
“The money raised will go to the Cache Food Pantry and the AWHC,” Whitaker said. “The AWHC will have other activities going on for their Pioneer Days celebration.”
This is the first time Whitaker has tried doing something like this here so they are not sure how it will go, but he is advertising it throughout the whole region.
“We are also accepting applications for sponsors,” he said. “We feel like something like this could be successful in Cache Valley.”
BBQ Pit Stop Manager Jack Carlisle said backyard smokers are really getting popular and the pellet stove has made it so people can smoke stuff on their patio.
“Camp Chef is made in Cache Valley and Traeger is based out of Salt Lake, which are really popular right now,” he said. “The pellet stoves are replacing gas grills that were so popular for years.”
Another Utah connection is Hey Grill Hey. Suzie Bulloch, from St. George, has dedicated a website to cooking on a pellet stove with different types of meats and side dishes. She has created over 450 recipes for thousands of people using smokers.
With the popularity of backyard pellet stove cooking, the Cache Smokeout could catch fire.