By BEAU BROCKETT JR.

beau.brockett@leaderpub.com

NILES — Cotton Gin Smokers may not have won the Four Flags Area Apple Festival’s second annual Backyard Grillers BBQ Cookoff Saturday, but the new business did leave with its customizable smokers put to use.

On Saturday, 17 entrants spent the day cooking ribs and chicken for a $500 cash prize at the festival on Lake Street. At times, the smell of barbeque overpowered the rows of concessions serving friend food and sweets.

Cotton Gin Smokers owner Matthew Messer and his friend, Mike Witherow, said it was the first cooking competition they had entered, and they did not seem too disappointed on missing first prize.

Smokers created by Messer, of Niles, through his business were used for the competition. The bright red and bright blue smokers stood out among the black smokers other competitors used.

Messer created Cotton Gin Smokers in 2018 and began selling his product earlier this year. He assembles the drum-style charcoal smokers by hand and offers a variety of colors and customizable emblazoned logos.

“I talk to my customers, find out what they want, what’s going to be best suitable for them,” he said. “Then, I go through and drill out all the holes for the different parts. Then, I take it in to have it powder-coated. … Then, I assemble it all and get it out the door.”

Messer grew up eating barbeque in Texas, where he said brisket is king. Then, he moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where pulled pork reigns.

It was not until he moved to Michigan eight years ago that he began to make barbeque with a smoker, however. After taking a liking to it, he began to cater.

Now, he runs Cotton Gin Smokers as a side business.

He admitted that Michigan’s barbeque scene is lackluster, but he attributed it to few Michiganers having tried true southern barbeque before. His smokers may be able to help solve that problem.

Messer said his product is more expensive than the smokers one might find at a chain company, but the higher price for a local smoker is worth it.

“The efficiency on one of these compared to one of those is out the roof,” he said, pointing first to his smoker then to a national smoker line. “You’re going to get 15 to 20-plus hours in a basket of fuel there without ever refueling it.”

He said that learning to work a smoker is easy, so long as one is either willing to study or to fail a few times before catching on. He calls smoking food a science and an art.

“If you’ve never smoked anything before, it can be intimidating until you actually do it,” he said. “I guess my tip for somebody would be just dive in. Everybody’s going to fail, so you got to allow yourself to fail so you can succeed.”

Messer’s friend, Witherow, knows that failure firsthand. When the Eau Claire resident bought his smoker from Messer a couple weeks ago, he said he put a leaf blower to it in an attempt to stoke the coals to the right temperature.

“When I first started and looked at it and had to figure it out myself, it looked more like rocket science trying to figure it out,” he said. “[Now], it’s an easy thing to control, very smooth, simple.”

About two weeks and a few cooking attempts later, Witherow cooked for the Apple Festival barbeque competition. His chicken slid off the bone.

Cotton Gin Smokers’ product can be quoted at Messer’s website, cottonginsmokers.com. Prospective buyers can also go to its Facebook and Instagram pages for more information.

Messer said to keep an eye out for a stronger, more consistent production of smokers. He is talking to an area business that may be able to help produce his smokers in standard colors and designs while he works on customized orders.