Latest / BBQ Therapy / Chris Webb | Bushmaster BBQ - Ready, Aim, Fire up the Smoker

Transcript

Chris Webb | Bushmaster BBQ - Ready, Aim, Fire up the Smoker · BBQ Therapy

0:00
Me, if you have the balls to ask me for something, I have the
0:03
intestinal 42 to give it to you. I might leave out a couple
0:07
things, but you're going to you're going to get in the game,
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right. That's why the BBQ league's so
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great. But anyway, finally I was like,
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man, I just need to people are like just put it in the bottle.
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No man was put in the bottle and that's what we did and it's
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great. It was designed for brisket, the
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man. You can run it.
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I got guys. The biggest compliment to me,
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man, is whenever people are like, dude, I put this on XY and
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Z and it's stuff that I've never thought about.
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Ham BBQ, Ham BBQ, Ham BBQ, Ham BBQ.
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Welcome to the BBQ Therapy Podcast.
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My name is Tavis Bryant of Yago Ham BBQ.
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Have you ever stood around a smoker or a grill?
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Felt the world fade away? Now that's BBQ Therapy.
0:58
Welcome to another episode of the BBQ therapy podcast and
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joining me for a therapy session.
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We're excited to welcome Chris Webb, the US Army veteran turn
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competition BBQ powerhouse behind Bushmaster BBQ.
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With over 100 contests under his belt and more than 25
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championships, including 2 Reserve Grand Championships at
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the American Royal and multiple KCBS titles, Chris has carved
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out a remarkable reputation on the BBQ trail.
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But that's not all, he's also the founder of El Paso's first
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full service BBQ supply shop, Bushmaster BBQ Supply Company.
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Serving pitmasters of all levels.
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Chris joins us today to share what fuels his fire.
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From mastering competition techniques to launching a
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thriving BBQ retail hub, they got one rule.
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Just welcome to the show. Make yourself at home and just
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have fun. All right, my first question,
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how you do it differently? Before you went to the military,
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what was your grilling life with your family?
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Oh man, almost bare to none. I'll be honest, we didn't grow
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up in this big culinary background.
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I think a lot of people always ask me my story, right?
2:12
Where you from is the first thing they ask, right?
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That's how they gauge the level of pitmaster based on
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introduction is necessarily a region, right?
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So they hear Alabama. OK, now I'll be honest, I didn't
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really get into it until later in life.
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But no, we, we grew up on the Gulf Coast in a little town
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called Daphne, AL, which is a suburb just on the Eastern Shore
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of Mobile in between Bill in Pensacola, essentially Gulf
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Coast boy for sure. But honestly, man, my folks
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didn't cook. We didn't.
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We went out to eat a lot, man. We had a lot of Ruby Tuesdays,
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but a lot of Waffle House. But, but Nah, dude, I didn't cut
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my teeth until years later. My, my dad never cooked when he
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was a pharmacist for about 40 years to work for CVS, Refco,
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Dale Shams, all Piggly Wiggly, all the southern, the brands.
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But when he retired, I had, I'd already, I was already owning or
3:02
working at a BBQ store. So I bought him a Yoder Smucker
3:05
pellet grill and I'm like, man, the guys got time.
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He never cooked. He was always working retail
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pharmacy hour. I said, man, let me show him
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what I like to do and he already knew that and stuff.
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Man, I bought him that pellet grill.
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My mom is the pit master, like their household, she's got a
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Yoda or a pellet grill and she's got a little 30 gallon Gateway
3:23
drum man, and she gets after it, dude.
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But yeah, no cool story there. It just, yeah, my journey didn't
3:29
start till a little bit later in life for sure.
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Yeah, but those pellet grills, a lot of people pull them, but it
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helped me because my first grill grill was a pellet grill and it
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allows you to focus on the actual cook versus having to
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worry about the cook and the grill since it's so easy to
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operate. So it boosts your confidence in
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into making barbecues. A lot of people down it, but it
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helped me and I know it helps a lot of people because it takes
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time away from having to learn everything.
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And then once you get confident, you can go get a regular
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charcoal grill and other stuff like that.
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But hey, she got out there and got out there.
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So hey, especially a drum. Yes, Sir.
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Yeah, and I'll share my mom. She's, you know how old I'm mid
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40s. So she's mid 70s, man.
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But whenever she had, I'd bought my dad, he probably retired 10
4:23
years ago. But then she had took to that
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pellet and then and I was in Colorado and she goes, you got
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it in her southern accent. She goes, y'all got to need them
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drums playing around. And I said, yes, ma'am, it was
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around her birthday. She was sniffing around without
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saying she was. And she seen me cook on and went
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on drums. And she loves the flavor, right?
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Let's be real, man, there's a grill for everybody.
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But I think she already had gas grills.
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She already had pellets. And I think they're awesome.
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They all have their own place in our arsenal.
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But man, she wanted to cook chicken them, have chickens or
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legs or quarters like her dad did.
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Her mom or her dad was a big charcoal griller.
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And she missed that flavor. And man, so I sent her, she
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wanted a 55. I said mommy, you're only 5
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three. I said you you'd never be able
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to get the fire basket. I said let's crawl before we
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walk. If you know anything about
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drones, man, what is the 30? A Shorty or or a 55 man.
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If you know how to run a pig you'll be fine.
5:15
Yeah, definitely. What inspired you to join the
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military? And thank you for your service
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in advance. Yeah.
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Thank you, Sir. Man, that's a great question.
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I was, I was obviously where I grew up and that where I was
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born was obviously in Daphne, AL.
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And I think all the kids that I grew up with either you grow up,
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you go to high school, you play some sort of sport, right?
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And then you go and you go to college and then you meet
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somebody in college and to get married, then you go get a real
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job and in the 9:00 to 5:00, right?
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So I was, I bought into that because that's how I was raised.
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That's how my parents did it. But I went to, I went to
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Community College called Southern Union, which is in
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Opelika, AL, which is a suburb of, of Auburn University.
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And I was going to utilize that as a feeder, get my basics out
6:04
of the way and everything. But man, I'll be honest, dude, I
6:07
couldn't handle it, man. It was too much.
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I was 4 hours from home. I like to party a little bit
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back in those days. And I got a little bit loose and
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my parents came up for a game because they're big Auburn fans.
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And the Community College I was going to was maybe 20 minutes
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from the University of Auburn. And so they show up just to go
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to the game. What they're really doing is
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checking up on on my academics and what they found out was not
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good. So my dad coincidentally came up
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there with his pickup truck and a trailer, knowing what his
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fatherly instinct told him. And he said, I said where you
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want to go, you want to go to lunch, you want to do whatever.
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He's not. Let's go down here to the
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admissions office, Ellen. He pulled them grades, buddy.
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And man, I was in a pickup truck 2 hours later.
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Moral the story is I went back 4 hours South to Daffy and, and he
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gave me an ultimatum. Man, I'll be honest, any parent
6:57
who cares about their, their son or their daughter's future, He
7:01
was like, brother, you're not ready man.
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He goes, you got three options. He goes, you get a job and you
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work. He goes, you go to school and
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you go to school and he goes, or you get a job and go to school.
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But at the end of the day, brother, you're living at home.
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He goes and he got 7 days to figure out what that looks like
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and so on day 6 all procrastinating 18 year olds in
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the year 2000. Man I'm sitting on the couch for
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my buddy having a couple pops in my parents house and he's man,
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what are you going to do? It almost looks like next for
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that movie Friday. What are you going to do?
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What are you going to do? And all of a sudden, no joke,
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this, this Army commercial back in you're roughly my age, right?
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And that was like, it was be all you could be.
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And I saw these dudes, man, climbing out of the swamp.
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They were camouflaged doing all this crazy stuff.
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And it says, who says money can't grow on trees?
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And I'll be. Damn, man.
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It had a 800 number. And I called the 800 number.
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And. And yeah, I mean, I joined the
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Army, I think subsequently one week later.
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So, yeah. So my dad pulled up and I asked
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him if you wanted to go to lunch.
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It was right the day before the game.
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He pulled up on Friday, right? Saturday is the big game.
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And I would never forget it was Auburn versus Mississippi State.
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And my dad's from Mississippi's Auburn fan.
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But he pulled up and I said, Manny, where do you want to go?
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And he told me he goes, let's go to the admissions office.
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And we got in that truck and we went down there and he didn't
8:19
like what he saw. He politely told me to pack my
8:22
belongings and we loaded it up into that truck.
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Man, as far as BBQ is concerned, the funniest thing.
8:27
And him and I still joke. It was a serious conversation
8:30
back then. But I had this little kind of
8:32
Charboro little offset stick burner.
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It's probably I spent 80 bucks right?
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It was in the bed of his truck and and the grill actually flew
8:40
out on I-65. Right around Montgomery.
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So whoever found that man? They probably went in good.
8:46
Shape but hey, you got a free grill so when I got home he'd
8:51
given ME3 ultimatums. Essentially, he goes, you're
8:53
going to go to work and live at home.
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You're going to you're going to go to school and live at home or
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you're going to go to work and go to school and live at home.
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So basically, I wasn't ready to to live by myself at that point.
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I'd like to party a little bit. And I'll be honest, man, I was
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sitting at home. He gave me one week to do these
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to find what I was going to do. And on day six, I was sitting in
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the living room having a couple pops with my buddy.
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And I mean, I see this deal, man.
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These guys are coming out of a swamp like this.
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They said their slogan of their business model was who said
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money can't grow on trees? These snappers coming out of the
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woods. And I was like, that's it.
9:30
That's it. My, I don't have AI, don't come
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from a long lineage of military personnel.
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My, my dad's dad was a Korean War vet.
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He was an infantry guy like myself.
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And but that was kind of connection.
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It wasn't like I was brought into this it I never had always
9:45
had a high level of patriots and respect for the people who
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wasn't part of the plan, if that makes sense.
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Yeah. I joined, I graduated whenever
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normal kids do, right, June or so of a certain year.
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And I was in basic training in November the same year, really
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quick in that point in my life. So you were in the service,
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what? But you said about 20 years from
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when I researched. Actually, no, I did not.
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I served right at 14 years and then I got out.
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I just got out. My philosophy on on that
10:15
decision was very difficult. That wasn't one I took lightly
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my thought process. So I was my time frame.
10:22
There's not a lot of soldiers that were in when I was in there
10:25
were, but when I joined, I graduated basic training in
10:28
November of or no, yeah, November of, no, April of 2001
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or so. And I went directly to to Korea
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and I went to Korea because it was a peacetime army.
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I joined the armies and Neferture men because I was
10:42
like, man, if I'm going to join something, I want to do a job
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that I can't do it in in the real world.
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So I picked I was a gunslinger. And so I was there and it was a
10:53
peacetime army, right? But then shortly thereafter, not
10:57
911 popped off and in the whole world turn upside down.
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I went from a kid who was like, let me do four years and figure
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out what I want to do with my life.
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We came down on deployment orders for the invasion of Iraq.
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And I was like, man, this has got real.
11:09
And so that really was a different trajectory of the way
11:12
I processed my military service. What I thought was going to be a
11:16
four year, let's figure this out, turn into 14 and
11:20
everybody's man, you only had to do 6 more years.
11:22
You would have got the pension and all this stuff.
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I'm like, have you ever done six years in the Army?
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You know what I mean? Six years in the infantry is
11:29
like 100 years in real life, right?
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But my thought was I was at a point where they have a term
11:36
that they use which is irrelevant, called indefinite.
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The word indefinite scared the heck out of me.
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That just made you commit 20 years to the United States
11:44
military or whatever. But I had a very special skill
11:48
in the United States Army as an infantryman called a Bradley
11:50
master Gunner, which is where actually my Bushmaster name
11:54
comes from, which I'm sure we'll get to later, but I won't jump
11:56
too far ahead. But man, they were paying big
11:58
bucks to go be a civilian contractor.
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So I got out of the I was able to make the decision before I
12:04
had to go indefinite. I exited the military the United
12:07
States Army on a Tuesday I. Was Saudi.
12:09
Arabia on Thursday as a private security contractor training the
12:13
Saudi Arabian army on some stuff that I was really good at, Man,
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I did that for a couple years and it was awesome.
12:19
But I think that's still, I was probably in my early 30s at that
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point. I'd say 32 if I had to remember.
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But yeah, dude, I had a heck of a time.
12:27
And it was one of those moments that I would never redo that.
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And I always tell people it's like you're one decision away
12:35
from a totally different life. And for me, joining the
12:39
military, getting out of the military and not doing the full
12:42
20, had I done those things or not done those things, the
12:46
trajectory of my life would, I would not be sitting where I'm
12:48
at. I'm not saying one's better than
12:50
the other. I wouldn't be sitting on this
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podcast with you or or telling my story and BBQ if I would not
12:55
have gotten out that that time and space.
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So I'm eternally grateful for the experiences and the
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employments and the friends and the people.
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But man, you sometimes you got to know when to leave.
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Yeah, definitely. I'm glad you told this story
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because probably a lot of people didn't never heard the story.
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So I'm definitely. And to dovetail on that, what I
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was going to say before we got disconnected is I was a war
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soul, right? So my point is 911 happened six
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months after I had, I had went to my first duty station and
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then from there it was just you're on the cycle, you're on
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this, you're on the cycle, which is good.
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It was, I needed that. I needed the structure.
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I needed all these things. And and what was crazy is
13:37
whenever the war died down on those 2012 to 2013, we left
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Iraq, Afghanistan, what's so happening?
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But I looked at myself and I was like, man is an infantry guy.
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Like what do you really do outside of go to war?
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What do you do? Not a lot.
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You train a lot, which is great. But I was already so seasoned
13:56
and I was, I was an instrument. I, I was just thirsty to get
14:00
back. And we had a change in
14:01
leadership in, in the US and we were trying to pull things back,
14:04
which I totally agreed with, But I just was like, man, what's
14:07
next? So that's really what forced my
14:10
decision to exit at that time of space was man, I'm a, I'm an old
14:15
dog, right? I was still young in my 30s.
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I was old to the young kids now who would never, never went.
14:20
I went multiple times at that point.
14:23
So I was like, man, I'm better suited in in helping one of our
14:26
allies and maybe and maybe just bring some value there.
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That was it. OK.
14:31
OK. So while you were deployed over
14:33
there, how was the BBQ scene overseas with it?
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Was it existent or done? Existent.
14:39
Oh, sorry, I was the BBQ scene. Yeah, there it was.
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It's not existent, right? Especially we were always
14:46
forward as an infantryman by trade.
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We weren't the folks that you might see with the Britney
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Spears or the wrestlers out there and whoever it was at the
14:56
time. But no, we were man.
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We were on outpost, dude. But I think that really is we.
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You asked me earlier, when did your BBQ?
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Did you cook a lot at home? But I was always cooking.
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But I think getting creative and that's what really taught me.
15:10
I understood fire. I love firemen, but I would
15:13
build fires and a lot of times that we wouldn't have chow halls
15:16
or the cafeterias like you might see the guys do now.
15:20
So we would operate a lot off the economy.
15:22
So what I mean by that is we might be on patrol and go by a
15:26
market and grab people think I'm joking, they'll go camel.
15:30
Obviously chicken, beef there is pretty scarce.
15:33
Obviously no pork in those countries.
15:35
We would take those things back, right?
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We would barter, we trade, we do whatever.
15:39
And man, did you get creative, dude.
15:40
We didn't have grills. We didn't have these nice drum
15:43
smokers. Mean you made drum smokers or
15:44
you made sandbag deals or rocks and then maybe you had a Humvee
15:48
grate when you utilize that as your grilling station.
15:51
And I really thought man, if I could give back to these dudes.
15:54
You know that Buster tail for me.
15:57
You know the country every single day dude, it's amazing
16:00
what what a meal can do to somebody.
16:03
Look at Operation BBQ Relief for different nonprofit 501 CS like
16:07
that who does do such a great job, especially right now in
16:10
Texas just 8 hours east of me. Man, a hot meal and something
16:15
reminds people, dude goes a long way.
16:17
So I think that's what really just triggered me.
16:20
And then always trying to be creative and come up with
16:22
different ideas and spices and things that I can make someone
16:25
feel like they're maybe back in Daphne, AL or back in Stone
16:29
Mountain, GA do that. That was my value outside of
16:32
being a leader. But I think leadership and
16:35
taking care of people also goes hand in hand.
16:37
So when did your interest spark into competition?
16:40
Was it while you were serving or after you got out?
16:44
Yeah. So great question.
16:46
Now it was while serving. So the way the Army works, as
16:48
you work, you work yourself through the ranks, you go on all
16:50
these deployments back in in my era and then they try to give
16:53
you a break. I was lucky enough to be sent to
16:56
West Point, NY United States Military Academy and in 20/20/10
17:00
I believe. So that was the first time
17:02
honestly in my military career where I wasn't on deployable
17:05
status or overseas. So I was more or less in a
17:08
training capacity at that point. But what that did is that gave
17:11
me the flexibility to actually have the time and have the space
17:16
to figure that out. I knew about, I've seen BBQ pit
17:18
masters. I was watching all the guys and
17:21
that was awesome. But I was at this butcher shop
17:23
in Highland Falls, NY, which is the the town adjacent to the
17:26
Military Academy at West Point. And I saw this thing and it was
17:30
a flyer that said king of the cul-de-sac.
17:32
I'm like, I am. So I like took the flyer, took a
17:35
photo, probably took the flyer, I don't remember.
17:38
And I signed up for this contest in New Paltz, NY, maybe 2 1/2
17:41
months later, man. And that was my first taste of
17:44
barbecue and or competition. I didn't cook under Bushmaster.
17:48
I cooked under a very loose team with my dear friend.
17:52
His name is Bradley Mott. And he also, he was a civilian,
17:55
but he worked on West Point and the medical department at the
17:59
hospital. But we got connected anyway and
18:03
we came up with this team. It was called Got Pork, Got Beer
18:06
because I mean, if you got pork and got beer, brother, you
18:08
already win it. But we go to this contest and so
18:11
we roll in there, man, I had a 1974-F100 pickup truck.
18:16
He had a mini fan, right, because he had a family.
18:19
So we load all these kettles and rubber Smoky Mountains and our
18:22
two vehicles and we go to New Paltz, which is in the Hudson
18:25
Valley, beautiful place. And the contest is no longer
18:29
exists called the, it was called the Hudson Valley Ripfest.
18:31
I mean, we show up and just to put in perspective, like how
18:34
grain we were, Bill Gillespie from smoking hogs is like right
18:37
across from us, man, man, I don't know this dude.
18:39
You know what I mean. If it's not Harry Sue, Myron
18:42
Mixon, Tuffy Stone, MO Caison, I ain't never heard of you, but
18:45
he's he's a world champion at this point, right, even back in
18:48
the in those days and such a great friend and advocate BBQ.
18:52
But man, we go out there dude, and we get hammered on both
18:55
ends, right. We get drink way too much.
18:57
We finished probably 38 out of 50, but and I was just so
19:03
shocked. BBQ for new competitors,
19:06
especially before the BBQ league and podcast, like yourself, you
19:09
don't understand how good people really are.
19:12
So you're around people who are really good and you think
19:15
everybody's just like you. You think it's a bunch of
19:17
backyard guys in this parking lot or in this field in this
19:20
instance, and that was not the case.
19:22
There were people that had won so much stuff and are still
19:26
relevant in BBQ today, which is extremely hard to do well.
19:29
The man, we went out there, we got hand, we had slaughter and I
19:31
was like, I hate, I hate losing. And I was not like I wouldn't a
19:36
sore loser. I wouldn't throw in a tantrum,
19:39
but like I was processing things and I was like this cannot
19:43
happen again and where is the next one?
19:45
I think that's the thing about competition BBQ.
19:47
A lot of people come in, maybe not so much now, but people
19:50
still have a sense of pride and expectation.
19:52
Fortunately for me, I was that guy, but luckily was also 14
19:56
years ago. But man, it just made me.
20:00
I just wanted to eat that stuff up.
20:02
Dude, let's go. And that's what really
20:04
triggered. I hate losing more, not more
20:07
than I like winning. I'm one of those guys.
20:08
But yeah, that's what you see now.
20:12
So at that moment, after that contest, did y'all take any
20:16
classes or did you just do trial and error practice?
20:20
Man, just trial and error. I don't want to say there
20:22
weren't any classes, but there weren't any classes that I knew
20:24
about, man. So I just went to this place
20:27
called it was place I remember it was called Adams Family
20:29
Market or something. But that was the only place I
20:32
could really source brisket. It was choice or prime, but that
20:36
was my deal was like my philosophy.
20:39
I'm starting out was like, man, let me start with the hardest
20:41
cut. I think we all would agree,
20:42
especially starting out. That's probably brisky.
20:44
Hindsight is probably chicken, but but in those days bigger
20:47
than me, the more I thought man, so I would cook brisket and stop
20:51
here. I would just cook it burn in and
20:55
but man, I finally started getting things figured out, but
20:57
no classes. I didn't actually take my first
20:59
class Tavis until probably actually it was the week that
21:04
COVID, the week that COVID kicked off and the market of 20.
21:07
20 Oh wow. So how did the military service
21:12
shape your mindset for BBQ competitions?
21:18
Oh man, it was everything. Especially coming out of the
21:21
height of the war. I looked at every, everything I
21:24
did is you're competing. I was fortunate to be in some
21:27
really great units with some awesome athletes.
21:30
That's what I'll call if you're operating, if you're an
21:32
infantryman or a special operations guy, I consider you
21:36
and you're operating a high level dude.
21:37
You're an athlete. And so to compete with dudes
21:40
like that day in, day out, man, everything you do is a
21:43
competition. Can I eat fashion?
21:45
You, can I throw fashion you can I run fashion?
21:47
You can I, can I do all these things faster?
21:49
And you were better than you should I say.
21:51
And so it shaped everything I did.
21:52
And I still think it does. Whether it's my approach to
21:55
accomplish BBQ or business or my family, I'm always looking for
22:00
the next not best thing, but look in how I can make myself
22:03
better. So man, it shaped me as a human
22:05
dude. And I think I had some of that
22:07
in me already. Just being an athlete as a child
22:10
and taking and having great parents and taking ownership and
22:13
things and learning the intangible things that that we
22:17
don't always necessarily see anymore in today's society.
22:21
But yeah, it was a huge part of structure, order, being honest
22:26
with yourself. I think we all say the contest
22:29
didn't go that well. My food was great when sometimes
22:31
it isn't and it just doesn't work out.
22:33
It's a table game. But yeah, once I started being
22:36
honest to myself about my food, I put my ego down, man, that's
22:41
the best thing ever did. So how many comps did it take
22:43
you to say, hey, I'm getting pretty good at this?
22:47
That's a great question I so my 4th contest ever or once I so
22:53
back up so got pork, got beer lasted 2 contests and not
22:57
because we were so terrible. That was that was also part of
23:01
the equation. But then I went back there
23:03
wasn't a lot of contest back in those days in New York and I
23:05
didn't have the money to travel or I don't even know about.
23:08
I went back active duty after that I was always active went
23:11
back to the line is what they call it when I was back
23:13
deploying again and everything when I got out in 2015 and I
23:17
once I got done with my stint doing military contract work, it
23:21
was 2018. So I think I cooked 2 contests
23:24
2018 and I did fine. I got some calls, top ten I
23:27
think one or both of them I can't remember.
23:30
And then 2019 I GC D my 4th contest total, but my second
23:35
that year, I didn't really feel that I had barbecued figured
23:38
out. And I still think that
23:41
sometimes, but I knew I was getting really good probably in
23:45
in 2020. 21/20/22 I think is whenever I was like, man, I
23:52
really think I'm getting this thing figured out.
23:56
And for me what that looked like, which is pretty unique.
24:00
And I always take this back to athletes or military or that's
24:04
just the way I equate it. Whenever you can slow down the
24:07
game and make the game maneuver the way you want.
24:12
I think I always had good flavor profiles.
24:14
I had a good sense of taste and smell and doneness.
24:17
But where I struggled at is an early competition cook with
24:20
moderate success was the finishing board.
24:23
Right? I think that's what separates
24:25
good cooks to grate to Elite. OK, but whenever I was able to
24:29
finally figure out a system on the board and learn how to
24:33
process things, dude, that's whenever time slowed down.
24:38
And I was deadly. That's when I was like, holy
24:40
shit, like I've this is awesome. And I equate this to a sports
24:45
game. Whether you're playing football
24:46
and if you're running back and you can see the gaps and you can
24:49
see your blockers and it's like you're moving in a high rate of
24:52
speed. But the game, everybody else
24:54
slows down. Have a big bigger television.
24:57
Everything's more dialed in. I would look at that for me
25:00
personally in a firefight. The Bulls start flying the first
25:04
deployment way back when, man, it's like, holy crap, this is
25:08
ask me that. Two months later, things are
25:10
moving in slow motion. And then you can be more
25:12
methodical with your choices. When I started making better
25:15
decisions is whenever I started seeing more winds roll up.
25:19
And I think once you can figure that out and there's no secret
25:22
recipe, there's no time, there's no space, there's no class.
25:26
It's up to us as cooks. Whenever that happens in the
25:30
clock, you're like, holy crap, we've got to be getting close.
25:33
You're like, man, I've still got 8 minutes till the turning
25:37
window opens or 8 minutes till the turning window closes, and
25:41
whatever it takes for you to figure out what that space looks
25:44
like for you is. Whenever you.
25:45
Really start seeing a difference in the food quality, but learn
25:50
how to fix barbecue and really learn how to elevate barbecue
25:53
and making it look the way you want and getting the flavor that
25:56
you're looking for is whenever you can figure out how to slow
25:59
things down and make better decisions.
26:02
I think a lot of people are always, they think let's cook
26:04
more food, let's cook more CTS, let's put more butts, let's cook
26:07
more chicken. My philosophy is the opposite.
26:10
Let's focus on the minimal stuff.
26:12
So then when I am on the cutting board, I'm really making
26:15
calculate decisions. I don't have so many racks of
26:17
ribs. I don't have so much stuff to
26:19
process. So where I know that if I've
26:21
done my due diligence as a cook, everything I did from 7:00 AM up
26:26
until right now, man, I already know where I'm going.
26:29
I'm labeling racks or ribs. I'm labeling CTS12345, whatever
26:34
it is I have. That way when I hit the cutting
26:36
board, we're not opening up stuff this that we're not going
26:40
to use anyway. So let's focus on what we did
26:42
really good and figure out how we can make it a whole lot
26:45
better. And that's what will take you
26:46
from good to great, great to elite.
26:48
That's definitely good information.
26:51
So how did you come up with the name Bushmaster?
26:53
I knew it's a gun, but how did you, where did you decide to
26:57
come up with that? Yeah, no, it is, man.
27:02
Bushmaster is a weapon company. But so I was an infantry guy,
27:05
like I said, when I was mechanized infantry and I was so
27:09
pissed whenever I joined the Army because I wanted to be
27:13
parachutist, I want to be airborne Ranger.
27:16
I want to do all the all these things right.
27:18
So I go back and I was able to do a lot of those things.
27:23
But what mind messed me during basic was they pulled your last
27:29
number, your last digit of social right, because the
27:32
government runs off social and they said Light Infantry over
27:35
here. I wanted to be Light Infantry
27:37
and so they said if you're social ends with this earlier.
27:40
So I was, I started out mechanized infantry, which
27:42
mechanizes like a Bradley Fighting vehicle, which are the
27:45
baddest machines on the planet next to an M18.
27:48
But what I loved about these things was the fact that it's
27:52
almost like an Uber for infantry dudes, right?
27:54
It's got a 25mm chain gun on top.
27:56
You got 8 savages in the back. Ramp.
27:59
Drops, they're just, they're creating havoc.
28:03
So they chose my Social Security number as a mechanized infantry
28:07
guy. And I was man, I was so upset.
28:09
I was, I went all the way from Auburn to Daphne to go to Fort
28:14
Benning, GA to train some guy to tell me that I can't walk with a
28:17
machine gun. What the heck?
28:20
In my older years, I was like, man, this ain't too bad.
28:22
But what the Army did mid, mid 200005 or something like that,
28:26
they made us all Light Infantry. And then you could have
28:29
different expertises throughout that.
28:32
So I was fortunate enough to get blessed with a couple very
28:35
select qualifications and one of which was called a Bradley
28:39
Master gutter suicide, which is the epitome of that deal.
28:44
And there's at the time, there's only 242 active master Gunners
28:48
in the United States Army. And I was fortunate enough to be
28:51
a graduate of this very difficult course.
28:53
And but the weapon system was a Bushmaster chain link machine
28:57
gun. And so whenever I was thinking
28:59
about what I'm going to be called, I was like, man, it's
29:01
got to be something you can't just bypass that many years of
29:04
service and not give an ode to your friends that you lost or
29:07
your service or the country. And I said, man, let's run with
29:10
this. And that's what it was, dude.
29:11
And, and I like to cook aggressive.
29:14
I'm an intense dude. I process things a little bit
29:16
differently than folks and I'm very regimented when I stick to
29:20
the program. And I think that's what all
29:23
successful master Gunners did. So I'm in the Bushmaster was our
29:27
weapon of choice and it took me through several deployments and
29:30
it did me really good. Yeah.
29:31
No, I sure was. I was.
29:33
Yeah, I was, I was a partner of that company and and I was the
29:37
chief operations officer of that organization for almost 8 years.
29:42
Yeah. And, and to me, I still say,
29:45
even though I have my own company here, man, still the, in
29:50
my opinion, the best privately owned BBQ supply store on the
29:54
planet, man, what we as a company were able to do, we did
29:58
it before, before everybody else.
30:00
I'll be honest. And anybody who knows anything
30:02
about that industry will tell you we were the best in the
30:04
business. We were scaling.
30:06
We took a very unique business model and and a lot of the
30:10
successful people you see that are still executing that model
30:14
and they'll tell you the same thing.
30:17
Either I told them or they took a playbook or but I was very
30:20
open and honest with other people because I want to high
30:23
tides raise all ships. I want other people to do well.
30:27
I want us to do well. I want everybody to do.
30:30
I want the community, I want your podcast.
30:31
I want my friends. Because if you think about BBQ,
30:34
when I look at I'm sitting in my store right now, I'm looking at
30:36
walls of stuff and man, I see faces, I see names and they're
30:41
people that I know I love. I've had connections with we've
30:45
and we failed together. We've won together, we've had
30:47
bickers, we've all these great wins and losses.
30:51
But man, I want to keep that going.
30:53
And I think that's something that we did at a high level and
30:56
we're able to scale nationwide without venture capital, without
31:01
corporate backing, man. It was a couple dudes, dude with
31:05
a vision and a dream and a big work ethic and a passion that
31:09
they just wanted to bring BBQ to from.
31:12
In our case, Colorado, even as Far East as Florida.
31:16
All right, and let's move on to those two trophies behind your
31:20
head, the American Royal. My first question is how close
31:25
were you to winning each one? Too close.
31:30
So my first one was in 2022, I was cooking lights out that
31:34
year, lights out leading up to that, after that, you know, and
31:37
that's kind of was, I feel like my trajectory at that point.
31:41
But I was reserved, fortunate enough to win reserve grand
31:44
champion at the 2022 Invitational.
31:47
And up to that, I think that was maybe my third or fourth year
31:50
cooking the Invitational. Man, I've always done really
31:52
well. I think I finished top, top 20
31:55
or so every, every year. Never did anything in the open,
31:58
but I think I focused all my energies on day one, which is
32:02
the Invitational. And you know, in day two I was
32:05
kind of like, that's a crapshoot, whatever.
32:06
But I was really close. So the gentleman who won that,
32:09
who beat me every, I'll be honest, everybody in that arena
32:13
thought I won it. There was, I think I had a
32:15
familiar name. I was cooking really well and a
32:18
reserve, so I had a 180 brisket. I had no port call but still had
32:24
A174175 respectable. I did have a chicken call and I
32:28
had a RIP. I had a high RIP call.
32:30
So everybody's holy crap. But the gentleman who beat me
32:33
that day won. Both days ran.
32:36
Out of. Chicago, IL First time that's
32:39
ever been done in history. So head nod to him when he won
32:43
day one and then turned around in one day 2.
32:46
So it was one of those deals. I mean, I think he beat me
32:50
within half a point, you know, or something like that.
32:54
I mean, man, the dude won, you know.
32:56
I mean, everybody's of course later I was like, you couldn't
32:58
have gave me at least one day, you know.
33:01
But man, I'll take it. You know, that was kind of
33:03
really my launching pack. I'd say my first big.
33:05
I had some big ones before that, but first big win.
33:08
But man, the feeling and you know, once you go through the
33:12
tunnel of the American Royal and what was cool was we had a
33:15
store. I was working a partner, Proud
33:17
Souls, right? But I was competing under
33:19
Bushmaster. But that was our coming out.
33:22
We had a huge raging party the night before at the American
33:25
Royal. It was our coming to Kansas City
33:27
party. That's when we announced we were
33:28
coming there. Open bar.
33:30
We had thousands of people going through there, man, it was wild.
33:35
And my business partner who Tony Roberts, who was a CEO, he
33:39
cooked under Proud Souls Barbecue and he did not qualify
33:42
that year for the Invitational man.
33:44
So he's partying his like he's partying his pants off, right.
33:47
And I was like, hey, man, I got work to do.
33:48
I got to go to bed. But our trailer was, we had a
33:51
big RV Class C and it was 5 feet from the party, man.
33:56
This thing was boom. I just hired Richard Fragola
33:58
from Fergalicious BBQ is my marketing manager.
34:01
And so he's a Casey guy. So he's Joe Bush, you got to
34:04
come. We got the Casey Wolf here.
34:06
We got Casey chill. I'm like, man, I'm a Broncos fan
34:08
anyway, don't care. George Colossus is here.
34:12
I'm like, I'll go see George Colossus game recognized game.
34:16
But it was all night, dude. And I was like, I have to get
34:18
some sleep, dude. I didn't sleep awake that eye
34:20
dude. And I'm very programmed, very
34:22
regimen, as we mentioned before. And man, the next day I was so
34:26
tired, dude. I was kept looking at my
34:27
timeline. It kept me honest, you know, I
34:29
mean, I don't look at it for recipes or anything like that,
34:32
but it just, it made sure I hit my marks, dude.
34:34
I was just hurt and we go to awards man, and I knew my food
34:38
was really good, but I also knew that 224 other teams food was
34:42
probably equally if not greater than mine.
34:44
I mean, we got fortunate and it was our day, you know that day,
34:48
man, it was awesome. I think I won the contest right
34:50
before that and I want or reserve this one And then and I
34:54
turned back and drove to Utah from the Royal, drove through
34:59
Colorado, picked up more meat, reset my trailer, drove to Utah
35:02
and won that contest. I was just, I was on a heater
35:05
that year and it just kind of kind of carried over and hadn't
35:08
really stopped. Very fortunate to have that
35:10
leapfrog for sure. So I read that in competition in
35:16
Yuma you got three one 80s. I did, man.
35:20
It was. That was cool.
35:22
Arizona man, another border town somewhere to El Paso.
35:25
Dude, honestly, in awesome contest, like I even said before
35:29
awards that day, I said, man, I don't care What is one of those?
35:32
I don't care what happens to this contest, dude, I'm coming
35:35
back. Like it's just it's lights out.
35:38
It's well ran. The city's extremely involved.
35:41
The public's there, but it's not obnoxious public.
35:44
This is awesome contest. But yeah, we yeah, we were able
35:47
to hit a 180 chicken, 180 rib and a 180 brisket.
35:51
The funny thing about it is pork was so bad, I thought it was the
35:56
best entry today, which goes to show what I know or what these
35:59
judges actually know. But man, we got three, one 80s
36:03
and a 163 pork and I thought the pork was honestly the best turn
36:08
in all day. So we do that.
36:10
And then the gentleman Brett from B Mackin, who's a dear
36:14
friend, he hit a seven O 1. I hit a 703 because our pork
36:19
scored so poorly. I almost lost that contest on
36:23
three one 80s. But the cool part was from there
36:27
since we did have that store in Kansas City at the time.
36:29
I literally drove from Yuma all the way to Kansas City,
36:33
restocked, reloaded, and then went on to the East Coast and
36:36
cooked the next literally the next week, a contest in
36:39
Williamsburg, VA. So what was awesome about that
36:42
is we were able fortunate enough to pull out a win there too.
36:45
So if you're talking cooking coast to coast, man, that was
36:49
awesome. And there's so many great cooks
36:50
in the Mabba family. And you know, you had Urkel, who
36:54
unfortunately passed earlier this week, who's man people talk
36:57
about how great a cookie was, man.
36:58
Let's talk about the man he was. I mean, not a better dude.
37:02
Literally in the BBQ, especially on the East Coast.
37:05
I mean, he was there, you know, Charles Curledon from Wolf's
37:08
Revenge, man, it was a loaded deck.
37:10
Chunky was there. And I ended up was fortunate
37:13
after one day one and then and Chunky reserved that one.
37:16
But you know, to go from me, that was like you mentioned,
37:19
when did I really figure it out or felt like I figured it out?
37:22
I think I knew it before that, but that was kind of a
37:26
solidifier. Like man, and I looked the other
37:29
day, it was funny on your phone, you had these memories pop up
37:32
and I had did a post and it was like my East Coast tour and I
37:36
think I cooked 2 double S in two weeks.
37:39
Flew back to Colorado for some meetings in between and was able
37:44
to rattle off 4700X amount of top tens, three first place
37:48
briskets out of four contests. I mean, it was just mean.
37:51
I was just, I was cooking lights out, you know, but I had that
37:54
dog in me, man. I wanted it, you know, And I
37:57
think once you hit, I mentioned trajectory, man.
38:00
I told a friend who rattled off his first grand championship the
38:03
other week named Milford Brinkerhoff from Brinkerhoff
38:05
BBQ, a guy out of Colorado who was a customer who's now turned
38:09
into a fiend, right like us. The guy just rattle off his
38:12
first even cooking good. But he's finally got his first
38:14
win, man. And I said awesome.
38:16
I said do it again, dude, do it again, do it again, do it again.
38:19
I said here's a cool part. The more you do it, once you
38:22
rattle off that first one, dude, I said man.
38:24
I said you would be surprised at how fast the rest just, I mean,
38:29
I don't know if it's confidence level.
38:30
I don't know if it's the craft. I don't know what it is, but I
38:34
think it's all the above to be honest.
38:36
But I said I promise, man, get the first one.
38:39
The rest will come. OK, so out of the comp meets,
38:42
which one is your highest scoring meet?
38:46
Man, good question. I would say probably
38:47
historically brisket. I think I have more first place
38:49
briskets probably than anything. If I'm looking around the shop,
38:52
I see more first place briskets than anything.
38:55
Ribs are a touch behind then chicken and a very tight I think
38:59
my Achilles heel throughout the years it changes, right.
39:02
I mean, I think you get on heaters and this man, I can, you
39:07
know, throw a rock in a box and hit a first place this right,
39:10
But then man, at some point, dude, it's man, it falls off and
39:14
I'll tell you a funny story that you'll appreciate.
39:15
You have my good friend Chris Shaffer on the other couple
39:19
weeks ago. I believe him and I've been
39:21
close friends for a few years now and I respect him.
39:23
He's a beast, right? You took us last.
39:25
He's a monster and that not in the 2023 year, man, I was.
39:31
I came out of gate how I had three back-to-back GC's or
39:35
back-to-back GC's and I ended up with six on the season that year
39:39
by June and I was on a tear. And my my oldest son who lives
39:44
in Palm Springs, CA, he comes out and he would work with me at
39:48
the shops and live with me and we'd spend the summer and we'd
39:50
travel and he'd work at the store and we'd pay him and we
39:53
had a great time. And so we go, we're on a heater
39:56
and we go somewhere and like, we should have won a contest,
39:59
right? We should have wanted I bombed
40:01
chicken or whatever. And no big deal, you know, bad
40:04
table, whatever we go to the next place should have won a
40:08
contest. It was in Minnesota.
40:10
And from Minnesota, I was going to Kansas City to work in the
40:12
shops and, and dude, we hit like a 33rd out of 38 chicken.
40:17
And, and the scariest thing in BBQ guys is whenever you like
40:20
your food and it's not hitting. I mean, I mentioned earlier
40:24
about being honest yourself. I was being legit honest myself.
40:27
I was like, dude, I cannot cook this any better, but I've done
40:30
the exact same thing and I felt the same way for two weeks
40:32
straight and so on The and it's on the way home.
40:35
It's quiet ride. He's poopy faces.
40:37
We didn't win. I'm like, whatever, you know, we
40:39
finished third that day, like 353 top fives and the 30
40:44
something. We finished third, whatever, you
40:45
know, and I was like, hey, what do you have to say about the
40:48
cook? And he goes, Dad, we got a
40:50
chicken pry. First of all, son, you let me
40:56
worry about that. But the moral story is, man,
40:58
don't be afraid to reach out to your friends.
41:00
Don't be afraid to reach out to your peers, man.
41:02
We're all here to help, dude. And I reached out to Chris
41:05
Shaffer and I called him and I said, hey, dude, I'm heading to
41:09
Kansas City. I need you to meet me at my
41:11
store. I'll be there tomorrow.
41:13
And I need some. Let's do it.
41:15
I'll cook my chicken my way. I already know how he did this
41:17
chicken, but I just wanted I needed them side by side.
41:20
I'm like you. I took his class in 2021.
41:23
I think, you know, but this is 2023.
41:25
You know, years pass and things change.
41:28
And I said I just need to see what what's what the difference
41:31
is, you know, And so him and Brian Payton from Meet me in
41:35
Saint Louis, They meet me at my store in Kansas City.
41:38
I said you guys can have whatever you want in the store,
41:41
I'll take you to dinner I just need some chicken work and yeah
41:44
man, they got me, you know, and it's so funny.
41:47
I think whenever people take it, I teach a lot of, I say a lot,
41:50
but I teach 2 comp classes a year.
41:53
I had some great people attend them and who I'm like holy crap,
41:55
this guy's taking my class, you know, which is to me the one of
41:59
the biggest compliments you can ever get.
42:00
Someone you look up to or appear equal to, if not greater than
42:04
you, you know, sit there, pay money and listen to you talk,
42:07
which keeps you honest. But I mean, you know, we're
42:11
sitting here and we're doing all these things, dude.
42:13
And it's, it's funny how people say, what would you do
42:16
different? You're like, oh, nothing.
42:18
You know, you might have changed your brand of chicken, You know,
42:20
I mean, little simple things, dude, just as far as your trim
42:24
weight, amount of phosphates. Maybe you didn't realize what
42:27
you're doing. But I mean, especially early on,
42:28
we have to be documenting everything we're doing and being
42:31
honest with ourselves. And I'll be honest with myself,
42:34
I was getting too busy with expanding new locations.
42:38
I had too much business and personal stuff going on.
42:41
And I was getting sloppy, dude. And once we went back and
42:44
Schaefer and Peyton came out, man, I was doing the same thing.
42:50
I always was. But it is sloppier level.
42:53
And I mean sloppy, not by trim work or pregame or everything.
42:58
I was just getting really off with some technique and just
43:01
watching those guys and them re solidifying everything that
43:05
already knew that I was already doing, but just put me back in
43:08
check, man. That's what I needed to.
43:11
I mean, it was just it was eye opening and and both of those
43:14
guys, I respect the heck out of them and I'm thankful for them.
43:16
And we got chicken back dialed in, you know, which was much
43:20
needed. But yeah, I mean, it's just the
43:22
minor things. You have to put a point on every
43:24
critical tact that you do. I mean, every action, there's a
43:28
point in the equal reaction, positive and negative.
43:31
My point is don't get sloppy, you know, trust the process and
43:35
you'll be fine. But document everything,
43:37
especially in the early years. Yeah, definitely.
43:40
And one thing about Chris, I love Chris because he'll tell
43:45
you what you need to hear and not what you want to hear.
43:48
So, and I love that because I told him I had AI got a 14 month
43:53
old and I was like, I'm thinking about competing at the end of
43:56
the year said dude, your daughter going to be winning
43:59
only once. So enjoy that time, competition
44:02
still be there. In the reverse effect on that
44:05
Davis, is the fact that whenever my son was in his infancy, we
44:09
didn't have that time because I was always deployed.
44:13
And so for him to be a young man now, you know, now he's 19 years
44:16
old, but back when I'm talking, he was, you know, 1718 years
44:21
old. But like, we were making up.
44:23
We didn't even realize what we're doing, dude.
44:24
But we were making up, you know, experiences that we missed due
44:28
to what I was doing before that dude.
44:31
Just man, some people get it early, you know, and I love that
44:35
for him. And some people get it later and
44:37
some people have the whole tenure, man.
44:39
I think that's the end game. But man, pick him when you can
44:41
get him, man. I was eternally grateful for
44:43
that year. Yeah, definitely.
44:45
Like I said, I'm going to postpone, man.
44:47
But like you said, I do go walk around competition because I
44:50
plan on going up to the American Royal and walk around and meet
44:54
some people. Hopefully if you're going to be
44:55
there, I can. I'll be there.
44:58
I'm always there. Plus man, I got a this 2024, I
45:02
won the, I won the American Royal GC in 20, RGC in 2024 in
45:07
the Open. So that was cool to me hitting
45:10
the 22 Invitational reserve and then hit this.
45:13
But I remember whenever they called my name for the 24, I
45:16
said again, I said God. And then people are like, what
45:20
are you talking about? I'm like, which I'm great.
45:24
I mean, anytime you get a square trophy, dude, awesome.
45:27
But but that the 2024 man, I had a main port box and I knew it
45:32
and I end up hitting a second place.
45:35
Perfect 180 to Fred Robles. And they called me for a second.
45:39
Perfect, Perfect. And I was like, who could have
45:42
beat me? And they were like Fred Robles.
45:44
I'm like, you know, we'll let him have it, you know?
45:49
But it was. Man, what a not a better dude
45:51
BBQ, you know, I mean, what a great guy.
45:54
And I've always I've always looked up to him and I'm sure
45:56
we'll get to this once we get to your favorite people.
45:59
But man, the dude can cook any sanctioning body, you know what
46:02
I mean? And still be competitive, which
46:04
is something that that I respect.
46:06
Instead of leaving with two square trophies that day, we
46:08
just left with one. But I'll take it.
46:10
Hey, that's good enough. So how heavy are they?
46:12
Are they real heavy? And they're real heavy.
46:17
I told somebody had a buddy from home and he's seen it.
46:20
He's man you like you struggling.
46:22
I used to be in really good shape.
46:24
These trophies get heavier the older I get.
46:26
But I said, you know, when we go downtown and we get that po boy
46:29
with that okra and the French fry, I said, you know when you
46:32
drop that bag, he's Yep, I said it's like that.
46:34
He goes, oh shit. But yeah, it's a heavy plate for
46:38
sure. All right, next we will move in
46:41
and let's sell some product. So tell me about the Bushmaster
46:45
BBQ Bra Brisket rough. Let's do it.
46:48
No, when I was on this, I was on a like a two year hiatus.
46:52
I mean, it was like we mentioned earlier, like you can throw a
46:56
rock in a box and it's just send it.
46:58
I mean, I think a lot of that is is the meat that I purvey.
47:01
I do cook a nines from the butcher shop.
47:04
Being a hometown guy. I mean man, the butcher shop's
47:07
25 minutes from where I grew up. I want to support the people in
47:10
my community. I'm just I'm very this obviously
47:12
is an entrepreneur, so anytime I can put back in the in the
47:16
community, man, I will dude, and Kevin Green's a great guy, him
47:19
and his son Jordan. But I do cook those briskets,
47:21
dude. And man, I was getting really I
47:23
was getting really good ones for I still do.
47:26
But in that time frame specifically, I mean, I mean
47:29
everybody's Oh, my brisket still look like that.
47:32
You know, I'm like these guys hand select every brisket there.
47:35
I mean period. I mean, the same way Snake River
47:37
farms, I mean people they know who's out there grinding in and
47:42
out every week. I mean, there's different specs,
47:44
comp specs, there's backyard specs.
47:47
But man, the breakfast I was getting was phenomenal.
47:49
So I will equate a lot of that. I was cooking a really high
47:51
level, but man, this seasoning dude was is something I came up
47:55
with and I was making at my house.
47:57
And when every time I taught a class or people were DM me, I
48:00
need your program, I'll pay you $500.00 for a recipe or
48:04
whatever. I mean crazy stuff.
48:07
And then I, and I mean, I would give it to people and I said,
48:09
dude, you don't have to. You don't have to pay me.
48:11
I said, I mean, I can as big a competition cook I am, dude, I'm
48:15
a small business owner. I want to grow the sport of BBQ
48:18
me. If you have the balls to ask me
48:21
for something, I have the intestinal fortitude to give it
48:24
to you. I might leave out a couple
48:26
things, but you're going to you're going to get in the game,
48:29
right? That's why the BBQ league's so
48:31
great. But anyway, finally I was like,
48:34
man, I just need to, people are like just put it in the bottle.
48:38
Was put in the bottle and that's what we did and it's great.
48:40
It was designed for brisket, but man, you can run it.
48:43
I got guys. The biggest compliment to me,
48:45
man, is whenever people are like, dude, I put this on XY and
48:49
Z and it's stuff that I'd never thought about.
48:51
Like my wife is 100,000% Hispanic that she is the
48:56
Mexicana of the world dude. She uses it like as a Margarita
49:00
beer salt Margarita. I mean she's putting on
49:04
pineapple and searing it off. I mean I got dudes putting it in
49:07
crazy stuff but I specifically I run it on chicken exclusively.
49:13
Like the only season I use, I do run it through like a Winco
49:17
shaker like that has a smaller holes like that way they get the
49:21
bigger flakes. And then I'll also use it on
49:24
brisket and I do use it on brisket in conjunction with an
49:29
with another commercial rub when I think they pair like this
49:33
dude. And it's excellent.
49:35
I think it's great. People use it in finishing
49:36
powder man. Have fun with it dude.
49:38
Just let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy it.
49:41
And let's move on to the glaze, the original grill candy.
49:45
What inspired that? So what inspired that is is
49:49
whenever we had our previous company, proud Souls BBQ, my
49:53
business partner, not Tony Roberts, we had this recipe for
49:57
it's called grill candy and man, it is.
50:00
We all love Texas pepper Jelly, right?
50:02
That's what people think. They think Cosmos Q Texas pepper
50:04
Jelly. That's the only glazes we use
50:06
right? And they're awesome.
50:08
I still use a couple of them still today my in my profile.
50:12
However, we had came up with this and it's not a apple
50:17
habanero, it's not a peachy Peach.
50:19
It's just man, it's very thin. Let me grab some.
50:23
It's very thin and I utilize it as a cutter.
50:29
So what I mean cutter is we're all using the 1st place teams
50:34
using Blues hog and last place teams using Blues hog.
50:37
What I use is this. So if you can see the texture
50:40
and consistency that this is extremely thin, but this is it.
50:45
I don't want to necessarily change the flavor.
50:47
Sometimes I want to add maybe a touch of sweet with a touch of
50:50
heat, but not have it fruit or flavor specific.
50:55
And so I utilize this one tablespoon for every 24 ounces
51:00
of my BBQ sauce. So sometimes sauce can get
51:03
thick, right? And whenever you're talking
51:05
about painting it on and all these things, that's how I
51:08
personally utilize it. I use it in at home for
51:11
cocktails instead of simple syrup in my Margarita.
51:13
I'll put some of this in there. And my old fashions, I put some
51:17
of this in there, man, Get creative, have fun with this.
51:20
Don't take yourself too seriously.
51:21
So whenever we ended up closing down Proud Souls, I went to my
51:25
business partner or my ex business partner and I said,
51:27
man, I said that product was so good, you know, are we going to
51:30
grants? Can I take this recipe and move
51:32
forward? And he's, dude, keep it alive,
51:33
man. And every class I taught and
51:36
people who know me and it's just back to our customers in
51:38
general, they love it, dude. I mean, so for me to bring that
51:41
back and call it the OGC, the original girder candy, just with
51:46
a little bit different look. And we went with the paint
51:48
bottle just because I was like, you know, candy, you know,
51:51
cotton candy, you know, let's do a let's do a fun play on it
51:54
because all my brawlers pretty serious looking, just kind of
51:57
have fun with it, man. But just more or less dude, just
51:59
in the Ode to Proud Souls barbecue and all the people that
52:02
sit behind it and all the competition coats, they continue
52:04
to ask for it, you know, and I said, man, I just want to keep
52:07
it cruising, brother. So that's what we did.
52:10
I'll never lie, that's a good idea what you did there because
52:14
most people want to use it but not change the flavor and that
52:18
that that's a good idea. What made you open up the
52:29
Bushmaster BBQ supply in the El Paso?
52:32
How did you get from Colorado El Paso?
52:35
Yeah, about 8 hour drive South, but so a lot of people don't or
52:40
a lot of people do know this, a lot of people don't.
52:42
So anyway, before, before I, I lived in Colorado, which I lived
52:45
in Colorado for almost 10 years. Dude, I lived in El Paso, TX.
52:48
My wife is from El Paso, TX. Hence the 1100% the most
52:53
authentic person I know, right? But maybe we were sitting in
52:57
Colorado and I'll be honest, you know, I had some being such a
53:00
staple as a company, as a person, as a figure, as a
53:04
business owner in Denver of a city of two, 2 million people.
53:08
You think like, what kind of impact does one person have as a
53:12
small business owner in the city?
53:14
close a store, close a few of them.
53:16
And I think you really realize the value you added to your
53:20
community once it's gone. So for me, I took it really
53:24
hard. So I'll be honest, man, I just,
53:27
I felt like I needed to step away and it went on bad reasons.
53:30
It was just on, you know, this part of this chapter of my life
53:35
in the city, in this industry or not this industry, but this
53:38
business is done. So I just needed to, there's a
53:41
lot of, you know, positive reinforcement coming my way,
53:45
but, you know, just a lot of sadness too, right?
53:47
So I decided to just take myself out of that situation in a
53:51
positive manner. But my wife and I had built a
53:54
new home probably 18 months before that for my
53:57
mother-in-law, who didn't want to live there.
54:00
That's a whole nother podcast. She likes her neighborhood, you
54:04
know, didn't like mine anyway. But it was a beautiful home.
54:07
You know, when I told my wife, I said, dude, I said, let's just
54:10
take a break from Colorado. Let me clear my head.
54:12
Let me figure out the next move. And I said, let's go back.
54:15
Don't pass her, man. And she was like, yeah, cool.
54:17
Her mom's getting older, and, you know, she has family here.
54:20
I mean, it was a natural fit. And we went down here and moved
54:22
down here very quickly. I would say.
54:25
I think we closed the business on December 31st.
54:28
I think I was down here by March, you know, And I was
54:31
sitting around Tavis and I was just like, man, I'm going to go
54:34
to the store. I'm going to get a mean steak
54:36
and I'm going to go, you know, grill it up or whatever.
54:39
And I went to the local grocery store.
54:42
I'm like, man, they don't have anything, you know, it's not
54:44
like a Publix, you know, it's not like fresh Marge.
54:46
It's not Whole Foods, man. It's either a Carnosaria or
54:49
nothing. You know, you can get some mean
54:51
skirt steak flank. I just wanted a thick old rib
54:54
eye, you know, and dude, I couldn't get it, you know, and,
54:57
and I was looking around for, you know, hiring butcher shops
55:00
or people. It's, you know, specified in the
55:02
stuff that that we like or high quality meats.
55:05
And I was like, man, I was like, crap, I'm out of this, I'm out
55:08
of that. I'm like, you know, I'm like,
55:09
let me see where I can buy a local.
55:11
Why couldn't you know? So I'm buying it online, which
55:13
is awesome, you know, but I mean, and I was sitting there
55:16
thinking I was just kind of bored and I was like, I said,
55:20
man, what if we just pop something up like low key, like
55:22
nothing crazy. We're not having 6000 square
55:25
foot showrooms. We don't have $20,000 grills.
55:28
I was like, but I think in El Paso being a border town
55:31
community, you know, Hispanic driven, but a lot of live fire,
55:34
a lot of great food in the city, man.
55:36
I said, I think there's a spot for us, you know, if we just we
55:40
play this, you know, we played it low key, played it safe.
55:43
Bring in seasoning, sauces, high quality meats, Snake River
55:47
Farms, pretty fresh prime Natty's, some drums, you know,
55:50
charcoal, all the stuff that we want, but we people here can't
55:53
get. I said, man, I'll be open Friday
55:55
through Sunday. We'll have a call to action with
55:58
reduced store hours. I mean, you know, tickets are
56:01
up. It creates, you know, this kind
56:03
of intensity people like want, they predict you to do this.
56:06
And it maximizes my time. And dude, that's what we did.
56:09
So we found a space about probably 30 days after I got
56:15
here and we opened 21 days after I got here.
56:18
I mean, everybody in the community is, holy crap, dude,
56:20
this is you did that so quick. I'm like, well, I've done it
56:23
about six other times. You know.
56:25
In a much larger scale. So for me to pop up what I might
56:28
would have considered in my previous life.
56:30
A satellite location, dude, in understanding your community,
56:34
understanding, you know, the demographics, understanding the
56:37
capital that's available here in catering and operating within
56:40
those means and not excluding people and making it welcoming
56:44
for dude. There's so many cooks that come
56:46
in here, man. And we're so new.
56:48
I mean, it's crazy. On our grand opening, we had
56:50
honestly 850 people here. It was unreal.
56:53
I mean, and this is a not a small city, but it's not a, it's
56:56
not Houston, but people were excited.
56:58
I felt we did a really good job on our marketing plan, really
57:01
targeted some key places, dude. But man, I'm not going to lie,
57:05
dude, we're all the buzz, man. And I'm very grateful and
57:07
fortunate we're teaching classes.
57:09
I mean, and people are excited and I'm just happy to take what
57:13
I think all of us who are probably watching this podcast,
57:16
maybe take for granted that P these people have never seen.
57:19
And it's dude, let's just make it easy, accessible, affordable,
57:24
talk to people and teach classes that aren't, you know,
57:28
competition 900 level, you know, which we will still will still
57:32
have Bushmaster comp classes. But what I'm focusing on right
57:34
now is really the backyard plus guy.
57:37
That's where BBQ is going. Competition is, we all know it,
57:41
man, is not necessarily the trajectory is not there like it
57:44
was in the mid 2000s. Cost of fuel, cost of meats,
57:47
economy, all these things that payroll, I mean, whatever.
57:52
But if I can sit here and impact somebody in a backyard level,
57:56
dude, and maybe they take that leap when it's right for them,
58:00
freaking great. If not, you know what the
58:02
biggest compliment I get is when someone takes a backyard class
58:05
and comes back, dude, it's Texas.
58:08
I showed them I taught a brisket class last week.
58:10
We did. We did Kansas City burn ends on
58:12
a Snake River Wagyu brisket. These people were like, when I
58:15
said we're going to sauce this dude, I almost got booed out of
58:18
my own store until they bid it. And they're like, holy shit.
58:24
Like the answer down here is salt, pepper, garlic.
58:27
I mean, to the home cook, right? The competition, Texas cooks,
58:29
they know different. But this is my market.
58:32
We don't have this thriving competition saying, but to be
58:35
able to deliver these people and show them what we do really
58:38
well, man, we're just we're spreading it.
58:40
We're spreading BBQ dude and it's awesome.
58:43
Yeah, because you couldn't. I mean there's more backyard
58:46
cooks out there, competition people.
58:48
So you that's the majority of your customers going to be.
58:51
So you have to cater to them and simplifying it and them being
58:56
able to just walk into a store and get a product that you don't
59:00
get to see too often is amazing. And not having to pay two $300
59:06
shipping on a drum or a grill or something like that, it makes a
59:10
big difference. That extra hundred $200?
59:13
Or so it does, man. And man, the community, I've had
59:15
some, like I said, I lived down here about 10 years ago and when
59:18
I was down here, I was doing BBQ, you know, just I was a
59:21
heavy cook and I was just really trying to create a scene.
59:24
But I didn't have a platform, right?
59:26
I didn't have a store, I didn't have anything.
59:28
So I'm just like on these forums, Hey, anybody, no pass.
59:31
I wanted, you know it, man, I have 10 or 12 core guys.
59:34
And here's a cool part, these core guys are still, they're
59:38
still cooking. I mean, they'll cook the local
59:41
stuff within 50 miles. IBCA maybe a CBA, but there's
59:45
not much out here. But dude to see whenever I came
59:48
back and I hit him up and I said, hey man, I'm going to do
59:50
this, but I'm going to need some local support, which you got you
59:54
guys ready. And they're like, dude, we've
59:56
been dreaming of this, but we just didn't, you know, either
59:59
have the know how, you know, we didn't know how to execute it.
1:00:01
It's kind of my plan or you know, they have big boy jobs.
1:00:04
You know, we didn't have the time.
1:00:05
We'd have the energy, we'd have the resources.
1:00:08
But for you to come back, what do you need, boss?
1:00:10
And I'm like, first of all, I ain't your balls, but I love
1:00:13
this. So let's do this.
1:00:14
Let's scheme like this weekend. We're cooking the famous Dave's
1:00:18
All Stars, right? So I cooked that last year, the
1:00:21
year before in one every category.
1:00:23
Great, don't need to do it again.
1:00:24
But there's one in El Paso Sunday and we're going to do it.
1:00:28
But I told these guys, I said, hey, we're going to cook it on
1:00:30
the store name so we can continue to bring brand
1:00:32
awareness. I said, I'll be the guy in the
1:00:34
front. I'll be handing out free chicken
1:00:36
wings. I got these fountains which are
1:00:39
I'm going to put a blue hog in there, grill candy and we're
1:00:43
going to that way. Whenever I cook the wings that
1:00:45
people come up, it's interactive.
1:00:46
They dunk. I can tell people what we're
1:00:48
doing here in El Paso. I can talk about the end of the
1:00:51
BBQ where it's going in El Paso. But man, I said, look, I'll pay
1:00:54
the entry fee. I'll pay all the meats, all the
1:00:56
seasons, all the sauce. Take it from the shop.
1:00:58
You guys go cook it, chicken, ribs, anything goes.
1:01:02
Keep the money, keep the trophies, man.
1:01:04
I appreciate you guys and I appreciate the community.
1:01:06
So that's what we're doing this weekend.
1:01:08
And Sunday my wife and I fly to New York to cook the Grand Am
1:01:12
that big 50,000 Invitational. The following week we'll
1:01:16
celebrate her birthday at Niagara Falls and then we'll
1:01:18
start heading down South near West Point, where my this will
1:01:23
be my 100th contest this next, not famous Dave's, but the Grand
1:01:28
Am World Championship with my 100th.
1:01:29
And the beauty of it is it's within 50 miles of the first
1:01:32
contest ever cooked. I'm excited to get back there.
1:01:35
We usually one out of every four we either grand or reserve.
1:01:41
So hopefully we can rattle off something here really quick,
1:01:44
man. But yeah, dude, we're having fun
1:01:45
down here and the people are great and they're thirsty.
1:01:48
And the thing I like about what y'all doing is y'all have
1:01:51
individual meet classes and as well as the four me classes.
1:01:56
So if I just only wanted to work on ribs, I can go work on ribs.
1:02:00
Or if I wanted to go or make a sausage or brisket, I can just
1:02:04
go take that class. Or if I some people might not
1:02:07
have the money to do the four me class that they might can, hey,
1:02:10
I can work on ribs because you can get ribs from the store and
1:02:13
all they can work on it. And I love that about y'all
1:02:16
because you think about the everyday person and what's going
1:02:20
on. Hey kudos to y'all for that
1:02:22
also. Yeah, just trying to make it
1:02:24
accessible, man. I think, you know, don't price
1:02:27
yourself out of your own passion.
1:02:29
You know, it's kind of always been my deals, man.
1:02:31
Keep the stuff affordable, man, and support the community that
1:02:34
supports you. I mean, that's what it's about,
1:02:36
man. If you, yeah, could we charge, I
1:02:38
mean, we charge an $800 a complex.
1:02:40
Can I charge you $200 for Ruplex?
1:02:43
Sure. But I mean, dude, I mean, what
1:02:44
are you gonna have three people in El Paso there?
1:02:46
I mean, dude, I want to open the floodgates, make everything
1:02:49
accessible and man, and then spread the word.
1:02:51
Go back on Monday, sit around the coffee pot, you know, with
1:02:54
your, you know, your compadres and be like what you do this
1:02:57
weekend, Tavis, man, I went to Bushmaster supply code.
1:03:00
Dude, I had this banging, you know, class.
1:03:03
And what we try to do is in our brisket class, we teach Texas
1:03:07
style, minimal trim decal off butcher paper, jambo.
1:03:11
And then we also do a Kansas City style, you know, drum burn,
1:03:15
insurance, sauce injection. And then same with the baby
1:03:19
backs versus Saint Louis, man. We just try to give two people
1:03:22
or people different options. And I think especially in a
1:03:24
community down here who's not really ever been exposed to
1:03:27
barbecue or American BBQ, man, dude, they are thirsty and they
1:03:32
want to try it all. So let's throw it out of man.
1:03:34
Exactly. Exactly, and it spreads the love
1:03:37
of BBQ around and it keeps everybody enthusiastic about.
1:03:42
It and The thing is like with us being open Friday through
1:03:45
Sunday, man we've had multi $1,000,000 operations, you know
1:03:49
what I mean? That's awesome man.
1:03:51
I don't want that, you know what I mean?
1:03:52
I want something I can manage. And I think the beauty in what
1:03:55
customers really appreciate about our business model is
1:03:58
we're all open Friday through Sunday, right?
1:04:01
So when does most grilling thoughts go down Friday through
1:04:04
Sunday, OK. And then what's awesome is
1:04:07
whatever we sell Friday through Sunday, on Sunday night, I'm
1:04:09
submitting a purchase order on Sunday night, which gets
1:04:12
processed Monday, which arrives back to my store on Thursday,
1:04:15
which goes back on the shelf. So there, we should never be out
1:04:18
of any product for the consumer standpoint.
1:04:21
The shelves will always be full, man.
1:04:23
We'll always be here, man. We're happy.
1:04:24
We're not cranky. We didn't just work six days
1:04:26
before this, man. We, you know, our Mondays are
1:04:29
Fridays. So man, we should be well
1:04:31
arrested. Definitely, but I love
1:04:35
everything y'all doing. So after all the wins and that
1:04:39
you have, what still drives you is the competition, the
1:04:42
community or the pursuit of perfection?
1:04:45
Oh man, I think they all tying together dude.
1:04:48
I mean, I think the competition, you know, the strive for
1:04:51
perfection is what drives a competition and vice versa.
1:04:54
I mean, I think the community is what sustainable, the community
1:04:58
sustainable. So if you look at every world
1:05:00
champion, if you look at every grand champion, every BBQ
1:05:03
advocate, right man, the competitions go away, the strife
1:05:06
and perfection will go away, but what they did for the community
1:05:09
will always live. So I think ultimately it's a
1:05:13
community driven deal, which is the long term.
1:05:16
I think the interim, which is what we're all chasing is the
1:05:20
excitement, right? It's the wins, man.
1:05:22
I'll be honest, I haven't been out this year really at all.
1:05:25
I think last year I cooked 12, I won 3 reserve three, we'll bat
1:05:30
500. I'll call it good.
1:05:32
I mean, but I think what it is, I mean, we were in the process
1:05:36
of closing down Proud Souls, which is was a almost a 10 year
1:05:39
venture for us. And then in the process of
1:05:42
opening something or one grieving, 2 figuring out the
1:05:46
next move and three executing it.
1:05:48
Which is why I think I'm really, I haven't done much.
1:05:51
I mean, I've done a lot, but not necessarily on the circuit.
1:05:54
But I'm thirsty to get back out next week dude and make some
1:05:56
noise for sure. Oh yeah, and oh, I forgot to
1:06:00
ask, did you? How do you cook with a partner?
1:06:03
Or do you cook by yourself? Cook by myself?
1:06:06
Yes, Sir. OK, OK.
1:06:08
Yeah, the only time I'll take any, I mean, I said the only
1:06:11
time I'll take anybody is at the American Royals of Jack One,
1:06:15
because I want people that I value in my life to experience
1:06:18
what I'm experiencing, right. It's like you can go to the
1:06:20
greatest party or the greatest concert ever or the greatest
1:06:24
movie or the greatest concert, whatever it is.
1:06:26
But I mean, it's funner when you share something with people.
1:06:28
However, when it comes down to business, I'm I need to be in
1:06:31
control and I need to box runner.
1:06:33
So if you know any box runners, I'm always hiring box runners.
1:06:36
But yeah, I'm by myself 99%. Yeah, I don't.
1:06:41
Like, I tell. They was looking at me like I'm
1:06:43
crazy. But when Tim Shear did the
1:06:47
promotion for his NASCAR sponsor, they was at the
1:06:50
racetrack. I told him, hey, you want you
1:06:53
handing out sauce, I'll come and help.
1:06:56
So I was out there hustling more than his people out there
1:06:59
because I was like, it's an experience that you're not going
1:07:02
to have all the time. And you get to see how a true
1:07:06
operation runs. And you can take lessons from
1:07:10
that since even though I'm kind of doing this for fun, but it's
1:07:14
still a business and you got to act professional and know how to
1:07:17
handle yourself and promote yourself.
1:07:19
Like I said, I went out there, I was hustling and handing out
1:07:22
sauce and samples to people and stuff like I work for Blues Hog
1:07:26
and I was like, it was worth it because of the experience that I
1:07:29
gained and stuff like that and see how operation runs so.
1:07:35
Oh, 100%. And I mean, truth be to your
1:07:37
point, Davis, I mean, a lot of people don't know this, but my,
1:07:41
my former business partner, Tony Roberts, who I keep Speaking of
1:07:44
proud souls. That's How I Met him, man.
1:07:46
He was set up next to me at a contest in Colorado.
1:07:49
I actually worked for a different BBQ store.
1:07:53
I didn't own it. I was like the manager or the
1:07:55
whatever you want to call it, right?
1:07:56
But I was out there and the owner couldn't cook.
1:07:58
So he brought me and he's, oh, cook this KCBS.
1:08:01
So all right, cool. And so we hit it off and stuff
1:08:04
and anyway end up moving to El Paso and Tony, who was the
1:08:08
founder of Proud Souls BBQ, he invited me up.
1:08:11
He goes, hey man, you want to come help me cater to this deal?
1:08:14
He was at the BBQ contest. He was the head cook, right, But
1:08:17
man, he just needed me to help feed the public dude and I kind
1:08:20
of worked my it was before he started the company because he's
1:08:23
the founder when that's kind of piggybacked on.
1:08:25
But whenever we started it, I mean, I was the first guy on his
1:08:28
list. I mean, it was it's like that's
1:08:31
who's the same man, Who's the same, right?
1:08:32
I mean, you never know. That's why I always I won't say
1:08:36
no to nobody. I mean, if I think it can help
1:08:39
me make me smarter, make me stronger, make me what more
1:08:42
marketable, whatever. I don't care what it is, dude,
1:08:45
you're a fool to turn down any opportunity, right, because you
1:08:48
never know where that boats going to take you.
1:08:51
So. Awesome job.
1:08:52
So that's why I like, I tough it out because I love BBQ that much
1:08:56
because like the podcast I do from during the week since I
1:09:01
have kids and stuff and I wait until they get into bed.
1:09:02
So I do it from 8:30 to 9:30. But most folks don't know I get
1:09:06
up at 3:45 AM for work. But it's worth it to me because
1:09:12
I'm able to talk to people in the BBQ community, which I love
1:09:16
and share with other people other the experiences.
1:09:19
I get the experiences based on your stories and everybody can
1:09:24
get something from your stories and all the stuff that you just
1:09:28
said. No, how many people is going to
1:09:30
run across and get enthusiastic? They might be on the edge of
1:09:35
maybe starting their own store or competing and stuff like that
1:09:39
and just hearing your story. They might say, hey, I could do
1:09:42
it and get out there tomorrow and yeah, and go from there.
1:09:46
So. And I mean, how many people
1:09:48
would have killed have been in your shoes serving food with
1:09:51
Blues hard. I mean, let's be real.
1:09:53
Exactly. I mean, that's the.
1:09:55
One in the many years that I thought I have Tim Shear number
1:09:58
in my phone or I got Harry Sue phone number in my phone and
1:10:03
like these folks I've seen on TV, I'm like I'm meeting all
1:10:07
these folks. I didn't met you and all that,
1:10:09
because that's what I say. I tell people do your homework,
1:10:12
study, watch and everything. So you never know when your
1:10:15
opportunity is. So if I get around fumbling and
1:10:18
don't know nobody and all that and don't know stuff, I come up
1:10:22
to people and every look. How do you know me?
1:10:25
I do my homework. Since I have a daughter, I'd be
1:10:27
in the room with her all the time, TV on YouTube all the
1:10:30
time. I got BBQ magazine, BBQ magazine
1:10:35
and everything I read, I study. So when opportunity time I'm
1:10:39
prepared and that's how I make those connections.
1:10:43
So that's why I like one thing people got to do is be prepared
1:10:46
for anything that they have planned, so.
1:10:51
Be a student, be a student of the craft, right?
1:10:53
I mean, it's man, I got a buddy dude, and he's a decent cook and
1:10:57
man, he doesn't know who he didn't know who nobody is.
1:10:59
I mean, it's he's like, hey, is you know Darren Worth?
1:11:02
I'm like, yeah, I know Darren. He's like, he's pretty good.
1:11:05
I'm like, what? I'm like, dude, you're dead.
1:11:08
You know. Are you kidding me?
1:11:10
You know, I wasn't around in the pitmaster years.
1:11:12
I'm like, no, the dude is ultra relevant or he's ultra relevant.
1:11:15
I mean, it's like, are you kidding me?
1:11:17
You know, it's I'm like, dude, if you're going to take this
1:11:20
stuff serious, man, you have to. And then when you approach
1:11:23
people, right, like in Memphis and May at the American Roy with
1:11:26
the Jack, if you're fortunate enough to get to get there, it's
1:11:29
man, you can have a conversation and be like, hey, man, like
1:11:32
minded people think of think the same.
1:11:34
And that's what connects us, right?
1:11:36
I mean, BBQ is one thing, but if you walk up to someone and say,
1:11:39
hey, man, great cook last weekend I saw you one chicken.
1:11:41
They're like, oh man, this guy's, you know, man, that goes
1:11:44
a long way, you know? Exactly.
1:11:46
Because I saw a little bit of homework when we went to Memphis
1:11:49
and May. I saw Mike Starr from Blazing
1:11:51
Star. Yes.
1:11:51
And he's looking at me like you know me.
1:11:54
Yeah, I knew. Really.
1:11:56
Because I do. My I study.
1:11:58
I know. He's a cold cat dude I love.
1:12:03
So he's. Just a great ambassador BBQ.
1:12:06
Exactly, and that's what I want to be as well as same as you.
1:12:11
Right. Bring BBQ to people.
1:12:13
I mean, it's not about like I said, I don't care about
1:12:16
sponsors and all this other stuff.
1:12:17
I didn't pay for podcast service for the whole year.
1:12:20
So I don't need, I just here to spread barbecue and my
1:12:24
excitement that I have for BBQ with everybody else and bring
1:12:29
people. I brag on.
1:12:30
These people are the greatest people that I know and the
1:12:33
friendliest people I know and I want to share it with everybody.
1:12:37
So why not? I'm trying.
1:12:41
So definitely I'm going to ask you one good hard question and
1:12:46
then two quick games to get you out of here.
1:12:48
All right? If you had a competition 4 meat
1:12:50
competition and you had to bring three people dead or alive and
1:12:55
you get to pick what meat they cook, who you bringing with you
1:12:58
and what you cooking. I'm not cooking, but no, we'll
1:13:04
go in order, right? We'll do chicken Reagan brosch
1:13:08
la pasta Dita. I mean, the guy, Oh yeah, I
1:13:11
mean, he's fun, dude. He's a Memphis of May, I'm sure,
1:13:15
right? I want to meet him over the pot.
1:13:22
Wait till the kids go to school or at least a newborn to sleep,
1:13:25
man. But dude, what what an
1:13:27
interesting guy, man. Once I moved to Texas, man, he
1:13:30
was honestly everybody I came, everybody knew I came down here,
1:13:34
but he was honestly the first person that was like, I want to
1:13:36
give you and I got a ton of them, but I want to officially
1:13:39
welcome you to Texas. I'm like, thank you, Sir.
1:13:41
But if I'm thinking chicken, whether CBAIBCA have chicken,
1:13:45
whole chicken legs, wings, thighs, whatever it is, man, the
1:13:49
dude is an assassin and I would take him on my team and he's
1:13:53
pure fun. I like to have fun at contest.
1:13:55
That's why we're there, right Two.
1:13:58
If I'm going ribs, I'm going laniger Brad.
1:14:01
I mean nothing said. I don't need to explain why 3
1:14:06
pork. Have you ever heard of Steve
1:14:07
Hayden, by chance? Yeah, I've heard of the name.
1:14:11
From he's out of Illinois, 1-2 BBQ.
1:14:13
He doesn't really cook anymore. Man, the guy pound for pound.
1:14:18
I, he was the first class I ever took.
1:14:20
It was a Gray St. and 1/2 barbecue and I flew in there on
1:14:25
March 19th when COVID hit. And, and to this day, that is
1:14:30
the best pork I've ever tasted from anybody, you know, from
1:14:33
anybody anywhere. My pork, this guy's pork,
1:14:36
anybody's pork. He's the best pork cook I've
1:14:39
ever met. And then brisket, I would say
1:14:42
Fred Robles. I mentioned him earlier in the
1:14:44
podcast. I mean, I think the dude, I mean
1:14:46
he, I mean, how many times he won beef in Memphis in May?
1:14:48
I mean, and he runs it up the middle.
1:14:50
And the biggest compliment, I said the biggest compliment, one
1:14:53
of the greatest compliments ever got was last week I talked a lot
1:14:57
about in podcast. Typically Tavis is high
1:14:59
elevation cooking and the differences in humidity and dew
1:15:02
point levels cooking in Colorado for so many years and wins so
1:15:05
many championships and briskets specifically in grands.
1:15:08
I mean, that's a play, dude. I mean, I do really well in high
1:15:12
elevation, but because I understand the way meat reacts,
1:15:15
right? But Fred texted me, he goes,
1:15:17
hey, Papa, he goes let's talk high elevation brisket.
1:15:21
I'm like, let's do it, dude, you know, And for a guy like that to
1:15:24
reach out and be like, hey, dude, I know it reacts
1:15:26
different, you know, and I understand and I respect it, man
1:15:29
is great. But the guy is a champion and in
1:15:32
so many ways. So I think that would be who I
1:15:34
would pick. I'd be man, I'd be doing dishes
1:15:36
or, you know, maybe some parsley duty.
1:15:39
I don't know. That's.
1:15:41
A good squad. Yes, Sir.
1:15:44
And some zingers, right? Not your typical, you know, a
1:15:47
couple cats that maybe you wouldn't think of.
1:15:49
Exactly. All right.
1:15:51
And usually I play a game with everybody.
1:15:54
You know the tournament brackets in college basketball.
1:15:56
I got a 16 meet tournament. Just pick what meat you like to
1:16:00
eat and we'll see which one comes out on top.
1:16:03
All right. First matchup is Lamb versus
1:16:05
Brisket. Brisket.
1:16:07
All right, next matchup is smoked ham versus sausage.
1:16:12
Oh, smoked ham. All right, next matchup, smoked
1:16:17
Turkey versus beef ribs. Man, I go.
1:16:23
Smoked Turkey. OK, next matchup is BBQ shrimp
1:16:27
versus hamburger. Oh.
1:16:30
I'll go hamburger. All right, next match.
1:16:35
Of most of my shrimp is fried Davis, you know.
1:16:37
Yeah, me too. It's there.
1:16:40
Next match of a pork chop versus smoked chicken.
1:16:43
Oh, pork chop all day. Oh.
1:16:44
Yeah, Oh, man, smoked Bologna versus pork ribs.
1:16:50
Oh. Pork Bologna, OK Oh yeah,
1:16:53
Bologna all. Right and hot dog versus pork
1:16:57
belly. Hot dog.
1:16:59
OK. And steak versus burnt ends.
1:17:03
Steak. OK, next round, brisket versus
1:17:07
smoked ham. Brisket.
1:17:10
OK. Next match up, Turkey versus
1:17:13
hamburger. Turkey.
1:17:17
All right, next match up, pork chop versus smoked Bologna.
1:17:21
Pork chop. OK.
1:17:23
And next match up, a hot dog versus steak?
1:17:27
Steak. All right.
1:17:29
Final four brisket versus Turkey.
1:17:32
Brisket. OK.
1:17:36
And next match up, pork chop versus steak.
1:17:41
Man, I eat these equally. Man, are we talking like a nine
1:17:46
steak, Derock steak? We just talking like commodity,
1:17:49
commodity. Commodity.
1:17:51
Here we go, Commodity. All right, I'll do a pork chop.
1:17:54
All right, all right. In the final, brisket versus
1:17:57
pork chop. So I would prefer to eat pork
1:18:03
chop, but I love cooking brisket so I'll go pork chop because
1:18:06
it's a taste thing. Pork chop it is.
1:18:09
Riley, Riley, we got a pork chop.
1:18:10
Really. I love pork chop.
1:18:12
You. I'll do that a little.
1:18:13
I don't care what it is. Brine smoke grill fried.
1:18:19
All right, next game I got AI made a special one for you.
1:18:23
I did a bracket of the top SEC quarterbacks.
1:18:29
I already know where this is going.
1:18:32
So I did 16 quarterbacks. SEC first matchup.
1:18:36
Joe Burrow. Matthew Stafford.
1:18:42
I'll go Burrow. OK, next matchup.
1:18:47
Eli Manning, Jalen Hurts. Hurts.
1:18:51
OK. Tua versus Vince Young.
1:18:57
Oh, that's tough, man. Are we talking big game or body
1:19:01
of work? I guess.
1:19:03
Because there's different deals. I would say career.
1:19:09
You can't even say career. I mean, all right, we go Vince
1:19:12
Young, OK, but I also hate Alabama, but that has nothing to
1:19:17
do with it. Johnny Manziel versus Bryce
1:19:21
Young. Johnny Manzo.
1:19:24
OK. Cam, he's a good time, you know
1:19:27
what I mean? Cam versus Chris Leak.
1:19:32
Come on now, Cam the man. Let's go.
1:19:37
All right, Dak Prescott versus Aaron Murray.
1:19:40
Oh, I go Dak. I go Aaron Murray.
1:19:44
Because Dak wasn't all that. Mississippi State.
1:19:47
OK. All right.
1:19:49
Tim Tebow versus Will Rogers. All right, we'll go, Tebow.
1:19:54
All right. And AJ McCarron versus Baker
1:19:58
Mayfield. Every time you say AJ McCarron,
1:20:01
I think about when Nick Saban spanked them.
1:20:03
That's all I can think about. Oh, man, We'll go the first
1:20:09
part. Yeah, we won't go, AJ.
1:20:12
OK, Mayfield. OK.
1:20:15
All right. Next round, Joe Burrow versus
1:20:17
Jalen Hurts. Oh man, it's so tough, right.
1:20:23
I mean, I mean, oh God, because I love Jalen heart, man, what a
1:20:28
great, what a solid dude and the way he stepped up and.
1:20:31
But Joe Burrow, Yeah. But if you're, if you're
1:20:33
talking, if you're talking body of work, I mean it's got to be
1:20:37
Burrow. Yeah, he was.
1:20:38
Lights out there wouldn't. He's lights out.
1:20:40
I mean, but if I had somebody take me to a national
1:20:43
championship or the Super Bowl would probably be hurts.
1:20:47
I mean, let's be real. All right, Vince Young versus
1:20:51
Manziel. They're kind of the same dude.
1:20:55
I mean, yeah, I still like Johnny, Man.
1:20:58
OK. All right.
1:21:01
Cam versus Murray. Cam all day.
1:21:05
All right, Tim Tebow versus Baker Mayfield.
1:21:08
Tim Tebow. OK.
1:21:11
The safer play? Final Four, you got Burroughs
1:21:16
versus Manziel. Burrow.
1:21:20
OK. And I already know Cam versus
1:21:23
TiVo. Let's go.
1:21:26
All right, Cam versus Burrow. Let's go Cam all day and I hope
1:21:34
you realize that that was not, I know how you played that you
1:21:37
already knew how I was going to do that.
1:21:38
But if you really think about it, he had, in my opinion, he
1:21:42
had the best single season as any SEC quarterback has ever
1:21:45
had. I mean.
1:21:46
He didn't have no help, no name brand help, like everybody.
1:21:50
Else, yeah, if anything, I mean, in talking about, you know,
1:21:53
competition, BBQ, resiliency and everything.
1:21:56
I mean, if you think about it, whenever that's the whole witch
1:21:58
hunt came out, I mean, it was right before the Iron Bowl,
1:22:01
which he freaking brought us back.
1:22:03
I mean, 38 points. I mean, it's let's go.
1:22:06
I mean, to be able to handle these outside distractions.
1:22:09
I will say has he gotten weird over the years, man?
1:22:13
He's weird as all hell. You know, from a longevity
1:22:18
standpoint, I would take Burr all day or you know, but but I
1:22:22
mean, if we're talking in their collegiate career, man, the dude
1:22:27
had the best single season that anybody ever seen.
1:22:29
I appreciate it. What are your?
1:22:31
Thoughts. I appreciate him because he gave
1:22:32
us a Super Bowl ring, but that's a different story.
1:22:36
But yeah, I would say yeah, because he had, he didn't have
1:22:39
the help as everybody else, so he had to go out there and win
1:22:44
that thing. So yes, Sir, definitely.
1:22:47
I would agree because even though Burrow had a season like
1:22:51
he did, he had a lot of help. Dude, a ton.
1:22:54
I mean a ton of help. I mean, at the end of the day,
1:22:57
we're still Auburn, you know what I mean?
1:22:59
Exactly. So there you go.
1:23:02
And that's all I have for sure. I appreciate you staying on.
1:23:05
We may. Not love.
1:23:06
That technical difficulties. So I appreciate you.
1:23:09
I'll let you know when it comes out.
1:23:11
And so you can collaborate on it and anything you have to
1:23:14
promote, you can do it now. And anybody shout.
1:23:16
Out. No, I appreciate that, man.
1:23:19
First and foremost, man, I appreciate you, Davis.
1:23:21
I mean, I think what you're doing, like I said, just one of
1:23:23
you sent me the podcast invite. I don't know if you saw my
1:23:26
e-mail response, but I said, man, I've been on 50 podcasts.
1:23:30
I was like, this is the most professional podcast invitation
1:23:33
I've ever seen. Usually it's a text message or
1:23:34
something, but man, you had a little, a little thumbnail.
1:23:38
I liked it. You know, man, you're a super
1:23:40
professional guy and I appreciate what you're doing to
1:23:42
elevate backyard and competition BBQ cooks alike.
1:23:45
Man, it's there's not enough of that going on, especially during
1:23:48
the times that we're seeing now. I want to thank my sponsors, the
1:23:51
butcher shop, Kevin Green and his crew down there, man,
1:23:54
keeping me stocked up with ribs and brisket is phenomenal.
1:23:57
Thank you so much, Big Papa Smoker, Sterling Ball.
1:24:00
I'm one of the elite teams for Big Papa Smokers, dude.
1:24:03
Thank you so much man, and I hope you continue to grow and
1:24:05
get better. I don't know if you guys know,
1:24:07
but he's going through some health issues right now man.
1:24:09
But one of the greatest friends and mentors and BBQ heavy smoke
1:24:14
Chris Schaefer dear friend man support him restaurant from the
1:24:18
Saint Louis area. One of the best honestly BBQ
1:24:20
restaurants I've been. He does some fun spins on some
1:24:24
things. I mean anything from egg rolls,
1:24:26
which is probably my favorite the nachos.
1:24:29
I mean it's anything you can do to support him.
1:24:31
Awesome. Reach out to him, ask questions.
1:24:34
He's a wealth of information man Meat BBQ.
1:24:37
Aaron Stauffer and his family I think probably make some of the
1:24:41
if not the best injections on the planet.
1:24:43
I mean non phosphates. That way I'm in control.
1:24:46
I can add 2. I use everything he creates.
1:24:49
You should get him on the podcast and maybe look at him
1:24:52
from like a seasoning guy. I mean he's a scientist when it
1:24:55
comes to this stuff. And lastly, Brad Leninger will
1:24:58
get basted. Always stocked up with his sauce
1:25:00
man. He's got 2 new sauces out if you
1:25:02
guys have not tried those. The shell sauce he's got spicy
1:25:06
and original. I'm eternally grateful
1:25:08
everybody. And lastly, the community of El
1:25:10
Paso, TX, man, you guys welcome me in like I was from here and I
1:25:15
know I'm not from here, but then you support us, man, and we'll
1:25:18
continue to support you and we'll continue to make BBQ
1:25:21
better, dude. One backyard at a time.
1:25:23
Exactly. Yeah, I'm definitely here to
1:25:25
join in and make BBQ better and promote everybody.
1:25:28
I definitely thank you for coming on and definitely look
1:25:31
forward to having you on again because I was like when you say
1:25:35
that, I was like, wow. He gave me a comment.
1:25:37
I was like, let me shoot this invite out real quick.
1:25:43
I have a calendar invite. It's not, you know, I mean, it
1:25:45
was very professional, dude. And then you're that guy.
1:25:48
So keep it up man, and keep shooting a shot dog and
1:25:50
spreading the BBQ love. And I'm excited to watch your
1:25:53
journey as you continue it. I appreciate it and.
1:25:56
Whatever we can do for you. Hey, anybody that you run
1:25:59
across, I mean they want to come on.
1:26:02
Like I said, I don't. I mean, just give them the link
1:26:05
and once I see that name, I mean, we're good to go because
1:26:08
I'm not with all that first come first serve, I don't do.
1:26:12
And then, and do me a favor, send me your address and I'll
1:26:14
send you some of that brawler and that grill candy man on the
1:26:16
House. OK.
1:26:17
I appreciate it. I appreciate it of.
1:26:19
Course man, we appreciate you. I appreciate it.
1:26:21
You enjoy your day and good Thank you for joining us on
1:26:24
another episode of the BBQ Therapy Podcast.
1:26:27
My name is Tavis Bryant. Please tune in to YouTube,
1:26:31
Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and any streaming platform near you.
1:26:36
Please pay the secretary on your way out and we'll see you next
1:26:39
episode.