Chef Jason Morse, Founder of Chef J’s BBQ Provisions

 Meet Chef Jason Morse, known affectionately as ‘Chef J’ by his community of BBQ friends. His greatest thrill is sharing his fiery passion for grilled and smoked foods with epic tastes. With a knack for captivating audiences, Chef J’s enthusiastic grilling demonstrations to help others rock their backyard grill and tailgates have engaged millions, both in person and through screens across the country, including the Food Network.  

A fire lit in Chef J’s belly for grilling and smoking meats when he was a young Boy Scout experimenting with outdoor campfire recipes and bonding over meals with fellow scouts. His passion was further stoked during childhood visits to the Hawaiian island of Kauai, where his grandfather served in the U.S. Army, exposing him to a culture that honors fire-smoked cuisine.

By his earliest teen years, Chef J was frying up tortillas at a Mexican restaurant and honing his knife skills at a steakhouse in the suburbs of Minnesota. Thanks to the encouragement of his family and his mentor, Chef Mike Moros, the always-hungry young Jason pursued a culinary degree at Johnson & Wales University in Charleston, South Carolina, and graduated summa cum laude.

Chef J revels in many culinary career highlights as an award-winning corporate chef and trainer, and food industry educator. Among his favorites is serving as Ace Hardware’s national chef spokesperson and BBQ expert. 

Chef J also runs a culinary consulting business, 5280 Culinary, in Denver, Colorado, where he resides with his wife and kids. He has guided local restaurant businesses to win in the kitchen and led Colorado Proud campaign initiatives to promote the quality of locally produced meats and agriculture. Once a boy scout, always the boy scout, Chef J led a healthy cooking education program for nearly 70,000 Colorado kids. His service earned him an invite to help launch a White House initiative called the ‘Chefs Move to Schools ‘program, impacting millions of kids in their knowledge of nutritious cooking. 

Chef J has always believed fire-grilled and smoked tastes are among nature’s greatest gifts. At 5280 Culinary, he began experimenting with flavor concoctions blending fire-friendly natural herbs and spices that won’t load his recipes with junk. The results became Chef J’s BBQ Provisions, a line of flavor-packed products that elevate his inventive BBQ recipes. Backyard grillers have sought out these products at Ace Hardware stores across the country since 2012. 

As Chef J’s community of BBQ friends grew, so has the demand for more convenient access to his unique flavors. Chef J humbly accepted their challenge to aim for the next level once again. In 2023, Chef J rebranded Chef J’s BBQ Provisions line of flavor products and ecommerce presence and expanded manufacturing. Today Chef J’s BBQ is on a mission to help BBQ friends level up their grill game and create core memories of making their guests’ taste buds rock.