Behind the scenes of making tiger ears at the Eastern Idaho State Fair

There’s a lot of food at the Eastern Idaho State Fair, but there’s one long-time item that will have your stomach growling.

The tiger ear booth has been around for decades and is a tradition for many fairgoers.

“Come get a tiger ear, they’re terrific.”

That’s a call that’s hard not to answer for many people walking through the fair.

For many, going to the fair means grabbing a tiger ear.

Dan Deakin, district director the Grand Teton Council who is in charge of the booth, said it’s a tradition and it’s what many come for. He said he always hears people talking about tiger ears.

“All the time,” Deakin said. “In fact, I was just walking in here about five minutes ago and somebody says, ‘Oh we gotta go get our tiger ear’ and they don’t know who I am but I can hear them behind me saying that. I hear that many times a day as I’m walking around the fair and to see the little kids when you hand them this scone that’s you know, bigger than their torso, they’re like, ‘Whoa.’ Their eyes bug out of their heads so this has become a tradition to come and get a tiger ear.”

Tiger ears: a giant scone, soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside and covered in cinnamon sugar and honey butter.

It’s all produced on a large scale. First, the dough is mixed. Then the dough is allowed time to raise. It then goes to the chopping block to be cut into portions. Next, it goes through the presser and gets stretched to size. It’s then dropped into the grease to get its “orange tiger glow.” Finally, it’s topped with the sugar.

Deakin said they expect to sell around 30,000 tiger ears this year.

Making that many tiger ears, takes a lot of flour to do it. In fact, Deakin said they will use between 10,000 and 20,000 pounds of flour during the nine days of the fair.

Most all of the supplies they use come from local vendors, Deakin added.

The Grand Teton Council has ran the tiger ear booth since about 1990. Deakin said the booth was there at least 15 to 20 years before that – they’re not sure how long it’s been there exactly, but it’s been a lot of years.

The money raised from the booth goes to the youth in the council, whose region ranges from Malad up to West Yellowstone, over to Salmon and the other side to Star Valley. There are about 23,000 youth in that group.

“This helps provide great programming for the youth of our community, both boys and girls, and we’re really happy to serve in that way and these dollars are spent for them to have better camps, better programs and help us keep the lights on,” Deakin explained.

Deakin said the amount they bring in every year varies, but it’s one of the biggest fundraisers they have each year.

He said the community support they have every year is amazing.

“Almost every day when we flip open those windows, and I say, ‘Hey are you ready for your tiger ear?’ and they come over and get one,” Deakin said. “When you think about how many we sell, almost everybody that comes to the fair is buying a tiger ear and enjoying that, so it’s really neat.”

So next time you’re walking through the fair, don’t be surprised to hear: “Hot tiger ears! So good!”

The booth is open from 10 a.m. until the crowds are gone at night. They cost $4, or a little more if you want extra honey butter on top.