Episode 11: Why BBQ?

February 15, 2022

Hello, Hello, Hello, ladies and gentlemen!

And welcome to today’s blog post and podcast episode.

The topic for today is something I’m very passionate about.

Something I’ve been super-invested in over the course of my life.

I’m sure you can already guess, but…

*drum roll please*...

Today’s topic is all about BBQ’s!

So, make sure you’re following us on social media and YouTube, and let’s get straight into it!

How the Hell Did I Even Get Started in BBQ’s Anyway?

Ya know people always come up to me and ask me about this.

‘Cos a lot of my audience only really recognize me as a BBQ guy.

But the truth is that where I grew up, going to a bar was really all that we did. Like every single weekend, we’d go to the bar.

Every Saturday -> Go to the bar.

Every Sunday -> Go to the bar.

Just out of work? -> Go to the bar.

It was really the main thing to do in our spare time. And it was great. Honestly! We’d spend hours together in each other's company just having a good time.

It was only when my wife and I had kids that I decided I needed a change, ya know? That was when I realized this kinda thing wasn’t sustainable.

Don’t get me wrong it took a long time for me to figure all that stuff out. ‘Cos you gotta remember, this was at a time when there was no internet, no Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube or any of that s***.

This was just me, the buddies who I knew tryna figure it out for ourselves.

Like if you wanted to get started today, man you would have it so damn easy. But still, I think the whole figuring-it-out aspect really made it more appealing to us.

The Most Meaningful Thing About BBQ's

Ahh man, this is a tough question.

I could think all day about this, but it would probably just have to be the memories, man.

The people, the friendships, being in each other's company. To me that’s the number one thing.

But if I have to be more specific I’d say there’s two main things in my mind.

There’s seeing the people who you’ve learned the craft with together. Back when I started out in 2009-ish there was a group of guys I met. Watching them come along has definitely been special.
Seeing young guns’ starting out now and being able to mentor them and show them the next level. For me that’s a really big one. One that’s super-fulfilling too.

Man I get this awesome rush of nostalgia when I think back to it. But I couldn't say that it was all golden…

The Worst Thing About BBQ's

Yup. Not everything that glitters is in gold.

There were definitely some things which irritated me - especially at the beginning.

When I think back to the beginning of the BBQ journey, the thing which I probably hated the most goes back to the people I guess.

But lemme explain that a little bit further.

So imagine the scene. It's the late 2000’s. No Facebook, Twitter or any of that stuff. You’d meet a small group of people in the community, you’d think they’d all be pretty open to each other, right?

Wrong.

It was literally the opposite for us.

I know, crazy, right.

But the truth is that back then there was almost nobody who was sharing recipes. Everybody kept their cards damn close to their chest.

It would even get ridiculous sometimes, like people wouldn’t let you taste their food, just about let you look at it.

But even still, there's some things that piss me off now in the BBQ world.

For example, y’know what I can’t stand? I see guys getting crushed in the Facebook group, literally destroyed, savaged, roasted (excuse the pun). But the issue is, that these guys are gettin’ roasted by dudes who were just as bad, if not worse 5+ years ago.

That really gets under my skin sometimes.

Like recently I saw a guy talking about how he tried burnt ends for the first time. He was asking guys for their opinion.

But the issue was that he had cut the burnt ends flat. An easy mistake to make I guess. But these guys went to TOWN on him in the comments section.

No mercy.

I guess that just shows, don’t mess with any of these BBQ guys!