Latest / BBQ Therapy / #66 How Richard Fergola Became One of BBQ's Greatest Teachers | Fergolicious BBQ

Transcript

#66 How Richard Fergola Became One of BBQ's Greatest Teachers | Fergolicious BBQ · BBQ Therapy

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And I was actually slicing my brisket from my turn in box and
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it was just, it was tighter than I wanted.
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And I started dropping swear words and I actually took a
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slice of brisket and threw it up against the wall.
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And my mom, she totally mommed the hell out of me.
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She's Richard, you stop that. And I put the freaking brisket
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box together and I turned it in and some of the dudes out, some
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of the dudes next to us were like, how was your cook today,
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Ferg? And I was like probably my worst
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turn insurance ever. And I think when I'm said
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Congrats on your GC because that's usually how it goes and
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that's how it went. So I think IGC that day and
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getting basted RGC that day. Listen, learn, get inspired.
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I'm Tavis Bryant and this is BBQ Therapy.
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Like, subscribe and follow to help grow the BBQ therapy
0:50
community. Also visit my website at
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www.barbecuetherapypodcast.com. Barbecues your BBQ off.
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Get your BBQ off. Get your BBQ off.
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Welcome to the BBQ Therapy podcast.
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My name is Tavis Bryant and today we got a guy who just
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didn't enter the BBQ world. He helped dominate it, but
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really defines him now as not just his trophies as his
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teaching, mentoring and building community.
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He's a retired educator and wrestling coach, turn world
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champion pitmaster, turn global BBQ instructor.
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Please welcome Richard Fergola of Fergolicious BBQ.
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Welcome to the show. I got one rule, make yourself at
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home and speak freely. Love it.
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I love it man. Thanks for that great
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introduction, I appreciate it. All right, no problem.
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All right, I always start at the beginning.
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So where were you born and how was the food scene for you
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growing up in your family as well as the BBQ singing in your
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family growing up? I was born and raised in Topeka,
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KS and the BBQ influence in my life and my family was pretty
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much zero. I had a lot of Italian
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influence. My grandmother, my grandpa and
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my dad's parents, They were heavy into cooking though.
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They were man, my grandma made some killer dishes and but it
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was a lot of Italian dishes, a lot of comfort food, those kind
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of things. But we're a pretty simple
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family. We weren't, we were middle
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class, if you will, goulash and spaghetti and meat potatoes and
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things like that. And so not a lot of BBQ
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influence. And I did go to Kansas City a
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lot, but we just didn't go eat BBQ a lot.
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We went to a lot of other places that my dad liked.
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I didn't really get any BBQ influence until until I started
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watching the TV show BBQ Pit Masters.
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That'll be another question you'll ask me later.
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We'll save after that. All right, so along your journey
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before you started coaching, did you wrestle yourself or did you
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just get into it afterwards? No, I, yeah, I was a wrestler.
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I, I started in the 7th grade. I went out for basketball.
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I was really small when I was that age and I went out for
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basketball and got cut and I was getting on the activity bus to
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go home bummed about it. And another kid my same age
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wrestling practice that already started, but they were a couple
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days in or whatever. And he's like, man, you should
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come out for wrestling. Now I know why he wanted me to
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come out for wrestling. He wanted to he wasn't a fan of
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mine or it was somebody he could pick on because I was little.
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But so I went home to my parents and I was like, hey, I'm going
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to. I obviously I'm not made, I'm
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not cut off for basketball. I'm going to try this wrestling
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thing. And my dad and I would always
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watch All Star Wrestling and he'd take me to those on Tuesday
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nights and Sunday mornings. We'd watch it on TV and he'd
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throw me up against the wall and clothesline me and my mom's
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making breakfast when. So I went out for wrestling man,
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and the rest was history. I excelled.
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I learned extremely fast and ended up being a pretty highly
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decorated high school wrestler. State runner up in class 6A in
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Kansas. Ended up going to college to
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wrestle and then ended up becoming a coach myself.
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And I was a teacher, high school special education teacher for 21
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years. I was administrator and I
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coached wrestling for 18 years. Eight of those years at the
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college level. Won a national championship in O
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6 as a college coach, Got to help coach the Olympic team in O
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Four. Yeah, wrestling was a big part
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of my life. And there towards the end, I
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finally, I always knew that I would leave the sport maybe at
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some point. But yeah, I had to.
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Something was going to have to tell me to do it.
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And I just got to the point where it was like my kids were
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little, but still they were growing up fast and I was
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missing a lot of that stuff because when you're a college
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coach, you're recruiting a lot. And so you're gone on the road
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kind of like barbecue. And so I was like, I think I'm
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done when I didn't feel like going to practice anymore,
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that's when you call it quits. And so gave up coaching.
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And then I had about a year there where I just was a teacher
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and came home after school just like a normal day and started
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watching BBQ pit masters and was like, and I just, I like cooking
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on the grill, a gas grill, but started watching BBQ pit
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masters. And then I saw this whole other
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world in front of me. So let's take it back to the
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wrestling part. Do so where does it take to be a
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top notch wrestler with attributes?
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Because most people think, oh, if you strong, you can probably
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take anybody. Yeah, well, that's a great
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point. I mentioned earlier that I was
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small, so like my senior year when I was in the state finals,
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I wrestled 119, but all through high school I was like
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9898112119. So I was a little guy, but I was
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big for my weight class. So at 1:19 I was cutting from
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like 135. And you're right it no, you
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don't have to be. In my opinion, wrestling is all
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about technique. If this if you have the skills
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and you have the technique, that's going to be strength
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almost any day. Now when you add in strength and
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speed and heart on your and toughness, then you're you're
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going to be a pretty badass dude.
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That's mine was all through hard work ethic, just training and
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trying to defy the odds all the time.
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Pretty much my whole life. That's been my whole life.
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So with the teaching and coaching, that's a long time
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because I know you're high school students and stuff like
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that. How tough was that?
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As a high school head coach and a teacher, that was nice.
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That was what I always wanted to do.
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That's what I went to college to do, and I got degrees in in
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special education, physical education.
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I've got, so I've got 2 bachelors, I have two masters in
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educational administration and I got half a doctorate in
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educational administration. It was always about education
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for me and the coaching side was that kid in me that wanted to
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help impact all kids. But like other kids that were
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like me growing up that had that inside of them.
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But you have to find it sometimes if I have a net would
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have never been put in the situations I was put in.
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Wrestling may have never become a part of my life.
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And it's but I soon realized that I was more cut out to be a
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college coach because when you're a college coach, but you
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don't have to deal with the parents as much or at all
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because they're you're giving them a scholarship to come
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wrestle for you. And you can always recruit
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somebody else. But I was more suited for
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college because I'm a back then I was, I'm pretty aggressive.
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I'm pretty fired up. I'm pretty passionate about what
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I do and at the college level I could let that part of me shine
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a little bit more. At the high school level, you
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got administrators and principals and people that are
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going to be like, you need to calm down.
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It's like wrestling's a tough sport and I want my wrestlers to
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see that enthusiasm and me because I want that out of them.
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So at the college level, I get, I got the recruit athletes that
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that fit that mold and that was cool because it was like picking
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teams for kickball at recess. But I was pretty good at, I was
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pretty good at that. I was pretty good at recruiting.
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So around the time you because I, I used to love wrestling back
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in the 90s. So you might have did you run
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across Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle and?
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Oh yeah, Kurt Angle was a little lower, a little older.
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But Brock, I actually sat in the opposite corner and coached one
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of my kids against Brock several times when he was at when he was
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at Minnesota. But who was the last person you
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mentioned? Shelton Benjamin, I think he
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went to Minnesota also. He might.
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Have that name. Doesn't ring a bell to me, but
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Brock for sure. Yeah, I've coached against
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Brock. I recruited John Jones out of
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high school. Oh wow.
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I was standing, I was in Cleveland, OH at high school
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senior nationals when he was wrestling there and was being
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recruited and I was right there on the side of the mat for every
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one of his matches talking to him.
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And he ended up going to a different JUCO.
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But Ben, Ben Henderson was a two time All American for me.
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He ended up being AUFC lightweight champ when he
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wrestled for me. He was on my national
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championship team. Yeah, I had a lot of connections
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with those people. Oh.
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Cool, I just wanted to know. Yeah, yeah.
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All right, so you said, I thought your answers were going
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to be different about BBQ pitmasters since you were on
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there, but I guess this is a you want BBQ pitmasters.
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What made you attempt to get out there?
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Just saying, hey, I think I could do that.
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Or which is the atmosphere that you saw on TV or what?
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You mean the show or just barbecue in general?
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Barbecue pitmaster when you saw the show?
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Yeah. Yeah, I had watched all the
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seasons of the show and I thought, wow, this is really
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cool and it was making me want to go out to more.
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I went out to a couple BBQ contests and walked around and
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saw all these big cookers and I'm like, man, this is freaking
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awesome. And I just thought it was
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something really looked like it's really fun and something I
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could do. And as far as being on the show,
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I, I, when I was going from being a teacher to an
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administrator, my colleagues got me a, they bought me a ticket to
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become a CBJ for KCBS to become a certified BBQ judge.
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And so I went and took the CBJ class, I think that was in like
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2011 and became a certified judge.
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And then I went and judged about 5 contests.
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I judged first before I ever cooked.
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And so I judged about 5 contests to see what it looked like
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behind the curtain. And then cooked my first contest
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in 2012 I believe, in my hometown of Topeka.
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And my eyes were opened up. I was like man, this is the
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coolest freaking thing ever. And then watching Pitmasters,
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they were sending out audition videos for it.
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And I was like, well, we should try this.
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And my teammate at the time and I filmed a video in my garage on
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our on my phone. And mind you, this is in 2014.
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I edited it on my laptop and sent the video in and got the
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phone call on New Year's Eve that year that said you've been
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selected and can you be in Tampa, FL in three weeks?
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So and then after that, after Pitmasters, it just the
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floodgates opened it. I think that opened up my entire
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career. Were you cooking on back then
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when you started? Was cooking on when we were on
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that show, the pit we were cooking on was a it was a Rebel
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gravity feed made by Jeff Ripplemeyer out of Saint Louis
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area, fully insulated gravity feed pit.
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Really nice smokers, but that's what we competed on the show on.
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So we did that for a couple years and then from that pit I
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moved to a Meyer and mixed in gravity feed.
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OK, OK, OK 'cause that was the beginning of the drum smoker
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boom around 2012. Yeah, yeah.
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Nope. I wasn't.
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I got drums. I got drums now, but I was, I
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was all gravity feet. I just, I just, I liked the
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functionality of it. I like the water cooker portion
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of it. I like the ease of it.
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It was almost like the ease of a pellet grill, but still cooking
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on a stick burner. OK.
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And did you start off with a trailer or did you just load up
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in the truck and go? Started out like that in a truck
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when we were cooking on an offset or whatever and then when
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we went to the gravity feed we got a little 6 by 12 trailer and
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put power in it and like tables and stuff like that and had that
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for a couple years and then from there went to our first porch
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trailer. OK.
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And weren't you the one that was cooking with your mom or
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somebody? Oh.
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My mom's, yeah, my mom's been doing a ton of contests with me.
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OK. How's that dynamic in there with
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your mom? So I lost my dad to cancer in
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2016. He was 67 and it was unexpected.
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But after he passed away, my mom was just here's a 65 year old
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woman that's husband's gone of 50 years.
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And I was like, I'm just going to start taking my mom with me
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on these trips and she can travel with me.
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But her biggest job is she would do all my dishes and make sure I
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had all my utensils and everything I needed as I needed
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them. And she was just always right
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there to give me a lending hand. Like, she didn't cook or
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anything, but she's just always right there to help me.
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And she went to a lot of places. She became very popular, very
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well known as Mama Ferg. My friends would like walk right
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past me and give my mom a hug and didn't even care about me.
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Anymore. That'd be cool.
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Yeah, Yeah. It was awesome.
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She's and I remember the first contest she was with me when I
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won AGC and she was there present.
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That was pretty freaking awesome because it was actually in
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Sheridan, AR and 1st year I was chasing points and it was in
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October and there was a contest right here in Kansas City.
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But all the teams there are all teams that I cooked against all
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the time. You see them all the time and I
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want to cook against the best all over the country.
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And so I drove 7 hours down to Arkansas and I was actually
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slicing my brisket from my turn in box and it was just, it was
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tighter than I wanted. And I started dropping swear
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words and I actually took a slice of brisket and threw it up
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against the wall. And my mom, she totally mommed
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the hell out of me. She's richer.
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You stop that and I put the freaking brisket box together
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and I turned it in and some of the dudes out, some of the dudes
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next to us were like, how was your cook today, Ferg?
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And I was like, probably my worst turn insurance ever.
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And I think one of them said, Congrats on your GC because
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that's usually how it goes. And that's how it went.
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So I think IGC that day and getting basted, RGC that day.
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But that was her first time seeing her son GCA contest in
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person. So she's been to, she's been to
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a few more of them. That's cool, that's cool.
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So you ain't got the call afterwards and tell her because
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she's already there and you got the support system right there
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and Yep, someone to get your head back in the game when you
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freak it out. And hey.
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Yeah, she's done that plenty of times.
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Plenty of times. All right.
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Do you remember your first contest?
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How did that go as far as good things and bad things when you
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cooked your very first contest? Oh, it was terrible.
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It was, it was smoke on the water in Topeka, KS and it was
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mid-october and it was rain. The contest still exists today.
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Same location. I've cooked it the last three
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years. It's it was pouring rain,
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pouring rain. We've got 310 by 10s.
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We've got like an off a reverse flow offset stick burner.
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We've got an, an offset that we bought at Home Depot or
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something. We got a, we don't know what
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we're doing, right? There's a People's Choice.
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There's a sauce contest. We've got 37 people on our team.
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That's an exaggeration, But and we're drinking beer and we're
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just like, this is cool. We get to sit out by the lake
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and drink beer and it's raining. It was madness.
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I think we got second in People's Choice, second in
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sauce, and we got third place in brisket, which I assure you from
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today's standards that brisket would get last.
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I think there were fifty teams and we got 19th out of 50.
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And when somebody hand me that check for that third place
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brisket, I was like, whoa. And they called my name and I
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didn't even know it. I didn't even hear it.
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That somebody just goes, that was you, that was you guys.
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I'm like, oh, OK. And this is my first time, so I
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don't know what I'm doing, man. But yeah, I was hooked after
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that. But didn't do a lot of comps
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those first two years and then decided I need to make it
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happen. OK, let's talk about the KCBS
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World Invitational. On that day that was everything
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lined up for you to win or there was any mistakes that happened
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or did you have a feeling you had a good chance to take it?
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We'll see. That was 2021, so I had I had a
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few three or four years in a row there that were good runs. 2017
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was first year chasing points, finished 9th overall and was in
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the top 25 every category by 2021 had some GCS and our GCS
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racked up and 2020. I didn't cook all of 2020
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because of COVID and other reasons, but I did cook the KCBS
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Word Invitational that year in 2020.
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And I actually thought I won it there.
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I got no call on chicken, no call on ribs.
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I got second in pork with a perfect 180.
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And then I went fifth in brisket.
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And just based on everybody else's calls, people were
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walking up to me like for you just won this, you won this.
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And I'm like telling them to all get away from me.
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I'm like, get away from me. Don't talk to me until I hear my
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meme called. I, I haven't won yet.
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You know what I mean? That's how I roll.
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And just as I expected, they killed me in my in ribs.
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And I, I think I finished like 20th or something like that
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year. I so the next year, the 2021 in
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Shawnee. OK, yeah.
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You get to a point in your BBQ career where you cook so much
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that it's just like second nature.
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You just you roll in, you know your plan and you run your plan.
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And I teach that in my comp classes all the time.
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And I had great cook, did the open first, finished 8th
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overall, got a rib call, got 8th overall in the open.
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And I think I won the wild child in the open too.
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So I already had a cool G in my pocket for winning the Wild
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Child. So I was like all right.
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And then they and the year we did that year, that was the way
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the format was, is they had a day off in between.
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So we had a day off between the open and the Invitational.
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So that Saturday I got to just chill for a little bit.
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I didn't have to wake up and do anything.
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And so then I got prepped for the Invitational and I had great
18:28
turn insurance and again went to the awards and I got 2 calls,
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4th and ribs and 4th and pork. And based on everybody else's
18:34
calls, like I thought Travis Clark won it because he had a,
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he had three calls. He had a first, fifth and 10th.
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And I was like, he's in. And several of my other friends
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had several calls, but I had the two top five calls.
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And when they called Travis Clark for 3rd, I was like, yeah,
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OK, maybe I'm there. But no, everybody was leaving me
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alone. Like nobody.
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I had a table full of people. I had all friends around me and
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then they called. Then they called.
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I can't think, I can't say their names right now that RGC,
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they're out of Alabama, but they RGC.
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And I'll be honest with you, I there's, I did not, I could not
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say to myself, I won. There's two, there was 98 teams
19:13
in that contest. So you just don't know.
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And when Emily called me for grand champion, I yeah, I lost
19:19
it. So that's pretty awesome.
19:22
It's pretty awesome. OK.
19:23
OK, sounds good. Most of the time you hear story
19:27
that people crying around them. You're the first story I heard
19:30
that you didn't win when people cried around.
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Yeah, yeah. They were crowding around me the
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year before and I didn't win. And then the next year, I think
19:39
that I think it was just with the way it was set up.
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We were in Shawnee, OK. We were in a big arena, so
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everybody was sitting at tables, whereas the year before we were
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all outside. It was at Prairie Van Casino and
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we were all sitting at tables. So nobody was really getting up.
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And I had a lot of friends around me and I was videoing the
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whole thing. I was live on Facebook when I
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did it and, but as soon as she called my name, it was, yeah, I
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got mobbed. Yeah.
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That was a great. That was a great.
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It was a great feeling that day. Definitely.
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It's definitely good to have one under your belt.
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Oh yeah, you can have it on your resume.
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All right, let's get into your products.
20:17
You got 6 rubs that you crafted over the years.
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What drove you to start making your own seasoning?
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Was it just something you did or you seen something that was
20:27
lacking out there that you wanted to make your own?
20:29
What made you get into that? I think it was probably being on
20:33
BBQ Pit Masters, but my teammate at the time, we were talking
20:37
about it and when we got selected to be on Pit Masters,
20:41
we were really using Cosmos products a lot at that time
20:44
because we were just in the beginning stages of doing
20:48
competitions. But I think right before we went
20:51
on the show, we started thinking, I said, I go first of
20:54
all, we need to redo our logo because this is going to be on
20:57
national television. So when the show comes out,
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whatever our logo is going to be, everybody's going to see
21:02
that. And so I just have two T-shirts
21:04
made-up with the new logo on it for the show.
21:08
And then we're talking about a rub and we couldn't do it in
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time and you couldn't show any brands on the on that show.
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So they call it Greeking. So they made us Greek everything
21:19
we were using, which is putting tape over the brand.
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So we just took some shaker bottles and just put like a
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Fergalicious sticker on it. It had Cosmos rubs in it.
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And that's where because we couldn't make ours of time.
21:31
But my, what I was trying to do was since we can't show brands
21:35
anyways and we can't talk about brands on that show, at least
21:37
this way, it gave a little bit of a lead in that there was
21:41
going to be a Fergalicious rub. And the first one came out like
21:45
6 months after that show aired, which is now called the
21:49
all-purpose rub. It was originally called Love
21:51
rub when it came out. But so that's how I how we went
21:55
about that. And then they just started
21:58
popping off. OK, if you want you can go
22:02
through each one and talk about each one that you have.
22:05
Yeah. So that that when I just talked
22:07
about that's called the all-purpose.
22:08
So that was the first rub ever. It's a it's exactly what it is.
22:12
You can put it on whatever you want.
22:13
I remember when we tested it, me and my teammate at the time,
22:16
we've tested on everything, pork ribs, beef, chicken, salmon, you
22:22
name it, we were testing it on. It was great on everything.
22:25
And that one came out in 2015. And at the time, I remember
22:31
doing Chad Ward's podcast down in Florida and he said that he
22:36
made a comment on the show. He goes, this rub has replaced
22:38
salt and pepper and everybody in Florida was using it and so it's
22:43
and it's still the exact same rub today.
22:45
It's it's a fantastic rub using at home on anything.
22:49
And then the one that followed that up was the sweet rub.
22:53
And that was originally supposed to be like a pecan rub, but a Co
22:56
Packer hadn't said that we couldn't do pecan because they
22:59
were a nut free facility allergen free.
23:02
I later found out that they were, that was not the case, but
23:06
it came out the way it came out and it's got some Peach notes to
23:09
it and some honey. It's my main competition rub.
23:12
I use it on, I use it on my chicken, I use it on my ribs, I
23:14
use it on my pork. Any award that I've won in those
23:17
three categories has been that rubs involved.
23:20
It's super legit. It's got some savouriness to it.
23:23
Fantastic color. Yeah, the sweet rub is it's
23:26
pretty badass. The rub that came after that is
23:28
the honey habanero. It's got a really sweet front
23:32
with a little kick on the back. It's, it's very similar to the
23:35
sweet rub, but instead of the Peach, it's got the habanero in
23:38
it and it's got a little bit different color base to it.
23:41
But now, nowadays I use it on brisket, like I'll use it on
23:45
steak, I'll use it on beef. I sprinkle it on my pizza.
23:48
I put it on my pasta. Like anything that you want a
23:50
little kick on. It's got that sweet heat.
23:53
It's like sweet heat done. It's that perfect balance of
23:57
that. It's becoming more and more
23:58
popular. Right now.
24:00
The rub after that is my buttery garlic.
24:03
It's a salt, pepper, garlic, butter and citrus.
24:06
I use this on my, I use this on my ribs, I use it on my brisket,
24:09
I use it on my pork. It's no other SPG that's out
24:13
there. It's really heavy on the butter
24:15
side and that citrus really bounces out really well.
24:18
You can use it on whatever you want, but when you put it on
24:20
beef, it really shines. Probably my most popular rub.
24:23
And then came the apple cherry. And the way I developed that
24:27
one, it was like all these people got apple rubs, they got
24:29
cherry rubs. But I wanted to give him
24:32
something up with both in it. And it's like sweet, savory.
24:35
Also fantastic color. It kills it on pork.
24:38
I've even sprinkled it on vanilla ice cream.
24:41
OK. And then the last one is my
24:42
butter pecan. And it's exactly what it sounds
24:45
like. It's I won my first that KCBS
24:48
world championship. I won that using that rub.
24:51
And it wasn't even out yet. That's what I was using on my
24:53
ribs and my pork, and its flavor, its color, it's aroma
24:58
is, in my opinion, unmatched. It's legit.
25:02
OK, OK. And.
25:03
Then I got 2 sauces coming out. Just about to ask.
25:07
Yep. Yeah, the Apple Chipotle and the
25:11
sweet and smoky. You can talk about those also.
25:15
Yeah, so Apple Chipotle is there's a lot of similar sauces
25:19
out there. Like I I remember using a Cosmos
25:21
Apple Chipotle. There's a head country Apple
25:23
Habanero, there's the Apple Habanero glazes, all of these
25:27
different flavors, and this is my version of that with some of
25:32
the all the good put into that sauce.
25:34
It's pretty phenomenal. I'll use that in my chicken,
25:37
I'll use it in my pork, I'll use it in my ribs.
25:39
And the sweet and smoky sauce is probably the one I'm most
25:42
excited about. In competition BBQ, I do a thing
25:47
called the rib dunk. And so after I slice my ribs and
25:50
I'm getting ready to box them, I've already sauced them, but I
25:54
have this rib dunk that's like scolding hot.
25:57
And then I take each rib and I dunk it in that and it has like
26:00
a perfect Sheen and it's a phenomenal flavor.
26:03
And my sweet and smoky is my rib dunk in one bottle.
26:06
Oh wow. Yeah, it's fire.
26:10
Yeah. So when you develop your
26:13
products, do you make them for make them comp ready versus
26:16
backyard ready or do you just make it universal that it'll
26:20
work on both area? I say my products are are
26:24
competition tested and backyard approved, man.
26:27
You can use it wherever you want.
26:28
If you want to have, if you're at home and you want to have a
26:30
killer sauce for your brisket or a killer sauce for your pork, I
26:34
got you. If you want to go out and try to
26:36
win a contest with them too, you can do the same thing.
26:38
I've never been a competition focused person when developing
26:42
my products. There's way more backyard cooks
26:45
out there than there are comp cooks.
26:47
I really try to focus on putting out products that anybody can
26:51
use, whether they want to win in a contest or win in their
26:55
cul-de-sac. OK, OK.
26:57
And what's the story behind name your name change on the labels
27:02
and stuff? Oh yeah, so my nickname has been
27:06
Fergie since I was like 10 years old.
27:08
My high school wrestling coach gave me that, and I've just been
27:11
called that forever. There's obviously another person
27:13
out there who's called Fergie and when I developed the team
27:18
name Fergalicious, obviously that's my name.
27:20
But it wasn't until, it wasn't until probably 5 or 6 years ago,
27:24
it was before COVID. I went to trademark Fergalicious
27:29
and I got denied by Stacey Ferguson.
27:34
And even though she spells it differently, she spells it with
27:38
an A because she's Ferguson. I know that's one letter
27:41
difference, but then the attorneys went back and they
27:45
said got more specific. They were like, he's in BBQ
27:48
products and competition BBQ. You're a singer and you do
27:53
perfume and shoes and that kind of stuff.
27:56
And they denied me again, saying that it's not abnormal for a
28:00
person like her to possibly open a restaurant later in her career
28:05
or whatever. So I got denied.
28:09
However, I continued at Frigalicious and then my Co
28:12
Packer old world approached me and said, hey, I think we need
28:15
to do a rebrand going into Home Depot.
28:17
Home Depot only accepts trademarked products.
28:21
So that was a big one. And we just needed to do a
28:24
refresh and make the labels a little bit more consumer
28:27
friendly and a little bit more straightforward and simple.
28:29
And so I they wanted me to get rid of Fergalicious all
28:33
together. And I'm like, I can't do that.
28:35
That's how long it's taken me to build that name up.
28:38
So we compromised and I said I'm going to keep my team as
28:41
Fergalicious and my brand as Richard Fragola Barbecue.
28:44
And I went with my name just because I couldn't think of
28:47
anything else. It was cool.
28:50
And I figured I might as well just be me.
28:52
So I took a page from Heath Rouse's book.
28:55
I talked with him many times and he was Victory Lane before he
28:59
made his switch. And he just went to his name and
29:03
that's what I did. OK, OK.
29:05
And it's been a great move too. It was a great move to do it.
29:09
So it's been very successful since I made that switch.
29:14
All right, let's talk about the teaching.
29:17
You teach a lot more than I see you compete.
29:19
What made you transition into teaching more versus
29:22
competitions? I've been, like I said earlier,
29:26
I've been teaching BBQ classes since 2015, but I went on this,
29:31
I went on this stretch where man, I just love to do.
29:35
I just love to compete. I still do.
29:38
I still love to compete, but BBQ competitions cost a lot of money
29:43
and a lot of times you don't make that money back and or you
29:48
break even if you're lucky. And the classes have always been
29:51
a like a second job for me previously and then for the not
29:56
the last two years, but two years up until this last year, I
30:00
was working for proud souls BBQ provisions here in Kansas City.
30:04
And, and they, and when they closed, I got a crossroads.
30:09
I could try to find another brand or somebody to work with
30:12
and work for or I could just go full time me and I chose me.
30:18
And that's why I'm, that's why I'm not competing as much right
30:22
now. And I'm doing more of my classes
30:23
and I'm attending the Ace Hardware shows and the do a best
30:27
true value shows that I'm doing all the things that are going to
30:30
build and support my brand. And I've done 250 plus contests.
30:35
I don't need to do that as much anymore.
30:38
And this is my business, my full time business.
30:40
If you're out there competing and just throwing money out the
30:42
window all the time at contests, you're not building your brand.
30:45
Yeah, that's definitely true. And yeah, you've already made a
30:49
name for yourself, so now you're using it to further your new
30:53
venture and is working out. Exactly.
30:56
So yeah, that's when I was competing.
30:58
That's I was just, I was trying to, I was trying to build up my
31:00
resume and my accolades and credentials so that when but my
31:04
products have been out for 11 years, but now really pushing
31:08
what I've accomplished in the BBQ world behind those products
31:12
even more. And my teaching and those kind
31:14
of things when people are deciding, hey, whose class do I
31:17
want to take? I want them to be able to look
31:19
at what I've done and be like, yeah, we want to come learn from
31:23
this person. Because if I take a clap from
31:26
you, I'm familiar with you, so I know to go get your product as
31:29
well as hey, try this guy's product and stuff like that.
31:32
But a lot of people think people automatically know them is it's
31:36
a very BBQ mix of a small percentage and people.
31:40
Don't you know how many people don't know Heath Riles or Blues
31:43
Hog and all that stuff? And what you're doing is you're
31:45
getting out in the do backyard classes, you're doing comp
31:48
classes and stuff and people getting more familiar and
31:51
spreading the word. And hey, you want to take a
31:53
class, take this guy's class or you want to take a product,
31:56
taste this product and stuff like that.
31:58
And it keeps spreading. And this one person tell two
32:00
people, these two people turn tell 4 people and they keep
32:03
going from there. Instead of people just thinking
32:07
automatically because I won a trophy, people going to buy my
32:10
product. It doesn't work like that.
32:11
I'm sorry. No, it doesn't.
32:13
It doesn't and you can't. You don't just win once and and
32:17
you're you become an expert in BBQ, but it happens over time
32:21
and failure. I've failed, I've lost more than
32:24
I've won, you know what I mean? But it's and I think that's a
32:27
big that's a big deal to to make sure you say that.
32:31
I've done almost 250 contests, but I've, I think I've only won,
32:35
like won and reserved probably about 40 or 45 of those.
32:39
It's yeah. So I've lost way more than I'd
32:42
won. But when you develop a winning
32:46
recipe and a consistency, I think the one thing I've always
32:50
believed about Comp BBQ is it's not just about the recipes and
32:53
the flavors and all that kind of stuff.
32:56
It's about being a consistent cook and doing the same thing
33:01
over and over again every weekend and sticking to that and
33:05
understanding what tenderness is and when you can accomplish
33:08
those kind of things, that's when you become a good
33:09
competition cook. Throughout your venture as a
33:12
teacher, what are some of the countries that you visited
33:16
teaching classes? So I let me see if I get these
33:20
numbers right. So I've taught classes now on
33:23
4/4 different continents in five different countries.
33:27
So I've done classes in the Netherlands and I've taught
33:32
classes in Costa Rica twice. I did a class in Panama.
33:37
I did a class in Australia. I think that's five.
33:42
Yeah, that's 5. Yep.
33:44
Costa Rica, Panama, the Netherlands, Australia and Costa
33:51
Rica. OK.
33:52
And didn't you compete in something the contest in
33:54
Australia? I did.
33:56
I competed in a world championship there.
33:58
It was a double and I won day one.
34:01
The Invitational, Yeah. OK, no, that that was cool.
34:08
It was way cool, man. It was way cool.
34:10
And what was even cooler was my good friends LC BBQ from Texas
34:14
got reserved. So it came down to two Americans
34:17
at this world championship and it was just it was awesome.
34:20
It was a great it was a great time and I got 7th in the open
34:23
the next day. So I feel like that was a good
34:27
showing, considering you fly halfway around the world and you
34:30
got to rely on the cookers that they have for you and the
34:32
charcoal they have for you and the meat that they have for you.
34:36
And you try to take as much as your sauces and rubs and
34:40
injections and all that stuff with you.
34:41
But you still got to adapt to the lay of the land they're
34:44
giving you so. Oh wow, so what's the biggest
34:48
difference between BBQ here and BBQ over there?
34:52
I'll tell you what, Australia's got a fantastic BBQ following
34:56
and scene, the ABA, the Australian BBQ alliance is
34:59
growing exponentially. When I was at this contest, like
35:03
the people were just so awesome. It was, they were very welcoming
35:06
and supportive and funny. I think for about a week after I
35:09
was there, I was talking like them, but we were there for two
35:13
weeks. But no, it's great there and
35:15
they love American comp barbecue.
35:17
And it's, I think it's just they don't have the opportunities
35:20
that we have here as far as comps all the time everywhere.
35:24
So they don't get the, they don't get the repetition that we
35:26
do. And I think that's the same for
35:29
judging and all those things. It was kind of like in Panama a
35:32
few weeks ago. That was their first KCBS
35:35
contest and they were doing a judging class the day before.
35:40
They weren't ready. They weren't ready for that.
35:42
I'll say this out loud, it doesn't bother me to say it, but
35:45
they weren't ready for my stuff like it was.
35:48
They just hadn't seen anything like it before, you know what I
35:51
mean? I got 3 calls.
35:52
I finished 7th overall, but they just, I just don't think they
35:56
were prepared for that or have seen it.
36:00
And they had mixed judges. They had Panama and Costa Rica.
36:02
I think Costa Rica is a little bit more.
36:04
It has had a little bit more experience with KCBS because
36:07
they have a couple there. But I think that's what you
36:10
learn when you go to these other countries is it's not America
36:14
where you got judges that are judging every weekend.
36:18
So they're very experienced, yeah.
36:21
That sounds cool. That's cool.
36:23
So when somebody signs up for your class, what should they
36:25
expect and what are you trying to teach them?
36:29
Depends on if they're signed up for a backyard class or a comp
36:32
class. And I do way more backyard
36:33
classes and I do comp classes. But when I'm doing a backyard
36:36
class, my whole goal and it doesn't matter what the protein
36:39
is or what what it is. I'm there to teach people maybe
36:46
the little detail things that maybe they're missing to put out
36:50
great barbecue in their backyard, whether that's fire
36:52
management, whether that's do you have the right cooker for
36:56
you, making things easier for you.
36:58
I'm about that in both my classes.
37:00
Comp or backyard is stress free. BBQ is supposed to be for fun
37:05
and relaxing and chilling out, not stressing out and losing
37:08
your mind. You know what I mean?
37:09
Even when I'm at a comp and I do a comp class, that's my biggest,
37:12
one of my biggest points I try to make is you need to cook
37:16
enough to where you can get yourself in a position that when
37:19
you show up a competition, you know what's coming next and you
37:24
dictate the schedule and you make things happen the way you
37:27
want them to happen. And that's when you can do that.
37:30
You're more relaxed and you get to concentrate on cooking.
37:33
Same thing at home. So when I'm doing a backyard
37:35
class or I'm doing a comp class, the biggest things I'm trying to
37:38
teach people is be relaxed, enjoy yourself, understand how
37:44
to run a fire, understand that smoke is just like an
37:47
ingredient, like salt and pepper, treated as such, all of
37:51
those kind of things. Then when you get into the
37:52
meats, that's a totally different story.
37:54
But I think that's the biggest thing I want people to take away
37:56
from a class is they feel like they're a better cook when they
37:59
leave. Yeah, and it's all about just
38:03
knowing how to teach them and making people feel like they can
38:07
do it and stuff like that and not talking to the head.
38:11
Yeah, it's, it's about making sure they see it happen in front
38:15
of them sometimes actually, like tenderness.
38:18
I brought up tenderness. A lot of people don't know what
38:20
that feels like. Competition cooks.
38:22
I have people that will say to me in my class, well, you're at
38:24
a competition you were at, and we thought we turned in really
38:27
good food, but the judges didn't think so.
38:29
And I'll stop them. And I'll be like, what makes you
38:32
think you turned in really good food?
38:33
And then they usually look at me with this puzzled look on their
38:35
face and they're like, what do you mean?
38:37
I go. You said you felt like you
38:39
turned in good food. I said, So what I want to know
38:42
is what does that mean? Like, why do you think it was
38:46
good? And usually that's where they
38:48
get kind of baffled. And I said, that's what I'm
38:51
talking about right there. Until you've cooked and cooked
38:53
and cooked and cooked, you don't know what that is yet.
38:57
You don't know what good is. You don't know what Tinder is.
39:00
I was the same way. I didn't know either.
39:02
I was just like AI was like a person in a dark room looking
39:07
for the light switch. And until you can figure that
39:11
out and know what that feels like and what that looks like,
39:14
you got a you are going to be that person in that dark room
39:17
looking for the light switch. So that's one of the biggest
39:20
things in a class that will teach you is what that feels
39:22
like. So sometimes you got to have
39:23
come people up and actually get the knife and slice that
39:26
brisket, slice that rib so you can feel what I feel.
39:30
Probe it with your Thermopin so you can feel what I feel,
39:33
because I can give you adjectives and describe it all
39:35
day with words, but until you feel it and see it and touch it,
39:39
it's you're not going to understand yet.
39:42
And I've taken five classes and I think only one person allowed
39:47
us to come poke the brisket and all the classes I have.
39:52
So that's one of the main thing. Everybody say tender but like
39:56
most people don't know what tender is.
39:58
What does that mean? Yeah, only very few people that
40:02
really cooked a lot know what actual tenderness is, and that's
40:05
why people ain't winning like that, because they don't know.
40:08
They doing based on their own logic.
40:10
Oh yeah, this is Tinder. But how do you know it's Tinder?
40:14
Yeah, yeah, they're taking, they're reading a book from some
40:17
pellet grill company or something like that.
40:19
And that's not a dig on pellet grills.
40:20
I have yoders in my house. But what I mean is there's
40:24
literature out there that's given information that ain't
40:26
true. Like people will come in and
40:28
I'll, they'll say, Ferg, I'm having trouble getting my
40:30
brisket tender. I'm like, what temperature are
40:32
you taking timing it out at? It's like, oh, about 190.
40:36
I'm like, bro, you're way off. You got a long ways to go, man.
40:40
You got to get to like at least two O 5 man be pushing 2:10
40:42
depending on what kind of brisket you're cooking.
40:44
That's the other thing too. Are you cooking a choice?
40:46
Are you cooking a prime? Are you cooking a Wagyu?
40:48
They're all different. And that's the education piece
40:52
that I try to get through those classes because the average cook
40:56
at home does not know that. Yeah, we I didn't know really if
41:00
there were different grades of meat and all this other stuff
41:03
before I got into BBQ. All you think is all the same.
41:07
Yep, exactly, exactly. So it's like you got to cook
41:12
everything different based on the grade that it is and that's.
41:15
Right. It's, it's all science to it as
41:20
far as seasonings and sauces and all this other stuff where folks
41:24
getting a $2.00 sauce versus getting spending a couple more
41:28
dollars and get a real sauce that's actually made for the
41:31
meat that you're cooking as well as the seasoning that's made for
41:34
the meat that you're cooking instead of something that's mass
41:37
produced and just. You're dead on.
41:42
You're dead on. I'm an expert though.
41:45
Yeah, Oh, oh, trust me, go on my Facebook page and read some of
41:49
the comments I get in some of my videos.
41:51
It's pretty insane. Wow, wow.
41:57
Yeah, I just had some today. It's crazy.
42:00
Sad. Telling me that I telling me
42:03
that I'm cooking ribs on a gateway drum the wrong way and
42:06
that a gateway is a drum is for sissies.
42:09
And it's. Yeah, I get stuff like that all
42:11
the time, Yeah. It's more than one way to to
42:17
cook regardless of what you cook on.
42:19
You can cook on an offset. If you don't know how to cook
42:22
regardless what you cook on, it's going to be bad.
42:24
And if you know how to use it. Exactly right.
42:27
And what I told this person in the comment I said, bro, have
42:31
you ever cooked on a drum? And he's like, no, I go I'll
42:32
cook on a drum, an offset, A pellet grill.
42:35
I don't care what grill you put in front of me.
42:36
I'm going to put out good BBQ and I think that kind of got him
42:40
a little mad, but this dude was ready to throw hands with me
42:42
like keyboard fight. It was entertaining and I just,
42:45
I love it when they keep doing that because it just gives me
42:47
more views. I'll tell people I'd like
42:50
people, everybody think they can grill until they run across
42:53
somebody they can really grill. And you'd be like, yeah, because
42:56
everybody had no shot to Bucky's.
42:58
Everybody swear Bucky's is the best brisket ever.
43:00
I'm like, yeah, I have not had real brisket before.
43:05
Yeah, go to Burnt Bean in Seguin, TX, or come up here to
43:08
city and go to Chef J or go to a lot of these Central Tech Texas,
43:12
but go to Terry Blacks. Go to these guys, pump out some
43:15
excellent brisket. Exactly.
43:17
Burt Bean itself is just. Yeah, it may have gifted.
43:23
It's another level, yeah. Exactly.
43:25
All right, let's switch over to TV and we started talking you,
43:28
you was on BBQ Pit Masters, you on Chop BBQ USA and BBQ Country.
43:35
How does some of those opportunities come about?
43:38
Did it just reach out to you or did you have to audition for
43:41
some of them? You got to audition for all of
43:43
them after doing pit masters. You're you're when you do 1 show
43:47
your name. Kind of your name is kind of in
43:49
a pool now and with Chopped and I get casting emails all the
43:53
time and Chopped, they reached out and I filled out the app and
43:58
then they reached back out again and they're like make an
44:00
audition video. So I did and I was a little
44:03
hesitant about Chopped because it was Chopped Grill Masters,
44:06
but it was, it's always such a chefy show and I got picked.
44:11
I got picked. I filmed it in Queens, NY in a
44:14
petting zoo and I got chopped the first round.
44:17
It was just it's just the stuff they give you is it's insane.
44:19
It was a great experience. I learned a lot from it.
44:22
And then BBQ SA was probably my most favorite show I've ever
44:25
done it. Michael Simon did such a great
44:28
job of educating the viewers on what we were doing.
44:33
And it was filmed at a BBQ contest and I just happened to
44:36
RGC that comp that day and slaps G seed it and we were two of the
44:40
featured teams. So that turned that that turned
44:43
out really well. And I was on another episode
44:45
that same season. I think it was the last episode
44:47
of Memphis in May. It was me, Luton booty and Sugar
44:50
fire Manalfragoni. And I think we had some friends
44:54
from Australia on a team that year too.
44:55
But and then BBQ country was because I'm a Royal Oak
45:00
ambassador. So they brought 4/4 of the 12
45:04
pit masters were Royal Oak ambassadors.
45:06
We filmed that in Nashville and did that show.
45:09
So yeah, they're all fun, all different experiences.
45:13
The BBQ SA is by far my that was my favorite.
45:16
Yeah, I had a three second cameo because I was at the Blues Hog
45:21
tent when they was doing a presentation for the judges.
45:24
Yeah, we were right across from there.
45:27
So yeah, we're right down the street there.
45:31
Yeah, that, that's when I, it got me really hooked because I
45:35
ran across Mark Bayless and he introduced me to Johnny Trigg
45:40
and my wife was there and he just let me try on the
45:43
championship ring from 2022 and all that.
45:46
And after that I was like, I'm hooked and.
45:50
Bayless is the man, dude. I consider him one of my best
45:53
friends. He's a good dude.
45:54
I was just with him last week in Orlando.
45:56
Yeah, I call him a BBQ dad because he it wasn't for him.
45:59
I wouldn't be as hooked as I am because he was just so friendly
46:04
to me and my wife and every time I go out to Memphis and may I
46:07
look for him or anywhere else I go.
46:10
Yeah, Mark Bayless is awesome. Yeah, yeah, a real good guy.
46:14
And I guess, yeah, I always look for him.
46:17
What is something that people doesn't don't understand when it
46:21
comes to TV that they might not know about?
46:24
Any unusual things that y'all have to do or?
46:29
The BBQ USA was pretty straightforward and we're
46:32
cooking a contest, so they had to play around us.
46:35
Chopped That's a that's the biggest production I've ever
46:40
done. That was there were so many
46:42
people on set. There was it was bizarre.
46:45
It was there was a lot happening.
46:48
Pitmasters was a lot of fun. I think that's probably the
46:50
biggest one. When you watch that show and you
46:52
see U.S. Open up the cooler and we see
46:53
the meats, people think that's happening and then we're
46:56
starting to cook. We're already cooking, but it's
46:58
already cooking and they can bring us back and film that
47:00
part. As a matter of fact, on our
47:02
season they gave us 1 meat the night before and we were able to
47:07
start working with it and got there early to start cooking it.
47:10
And then we filmed the cooler scene and you'll hear Myron say
47:13
you got 12 hours. We did not cook that long.
47:16
It's there's stuff like that and a lot of people that are on
47:19
these shows, they'll put a little extra into their
47:21
character just for TV. But for the most part, you're
47:24
seeing the people for who they are.
47:26
I know I try to just be me, be myself, which is enough.
47:29
I don't think I need to add any more to I'm already like, I'm
47:33
already like, that's why I don't drink caffeine.
47:35
But but they're just they're a lot of fun to do.
47:39
They do a lot for your brand and that's why I've done them all is
47:42
for the brand to help build it and hopefully do more in the
47:44
future. OK, OK.
47:47
And all the comps, the classes, traveling, family life, how do
47:51
you balance all that? My kids are all grown up.
47:56
My youngest is 21, so they're all adults and living their own
47:59
lives. And my girlfriend and I, she's a
48:02
real estate agent and I'm a BBQ person and her kids are all
48:05
grown up. So we're free to move about the
48:07
world, baby, and just do our thing.
48:09
I think that's I'm at a fortunate time in my life and my
48:13
small business career where I have that ability to do pretty
48:17
much whatever I want if I see it works for my business.
48:21
Yeah. Yeah, that's what I tell people.
48:23
I just, I got married two years ago and I got a 21 month old and
48:28
a 10 year old. So I was like, right now I'm a
48:30
father first. So I got to get them up in age
48:32
before I get out there competing all over the place.
48:35
And so I'll do my podcast, take a class here and there.
48:38
You'll see me at a comp walking around.
48:40
But I'm sorry, I got to take care here first.
48:44
Yeah, unfortunately, I was a wrestling coach and then a BBQ
48:47
person, and especially in my wrestling coaching years when my
48:51
kids were little, I was gone a lot.
48:52
But that was just my career. That was the job path that I
48:55
chose. And unfortunately it took me.
48:58
It took me around the country. And I hate all those times that
49:01
I missed my kids when they were little.
49:02
But I have three wonderful kids. They're all grown adults and
49:07
doing their thing. Yeah, it's definitely good.
49:09
All right, I'm going to ask you a question.
49:11
And if you had to pick a All Star team, you and three other
49:16
people to cook a contest, who are you picking and what meats
49:20
are each person cooking? Oh man, I didn't know there was
49:27
going to be tough questions. If I if I had to pick an All
49:30
Star team with me and three other people, it would be it
49:36
would be Sterling Smith and the and my reasonings for picking
49:39
these are both skill level and friend as well.
49:44
So Sterling Smith from Luton Biddy is one of my best friends.
49:46
We've taught a lot of classes together all over the world and
49:50
our products are made by the same company.
49:52
We do a lot of things together. We got some stuff coming up.
49:56
We're doing a, we're doing a brisket and pork competition
49:59
class in Fargo at Scheels and then we're competing together at
50:03
the contest there as Ludalicious or Ferg and Booty.
50:07
We couldn't decide. BBQ, that's our team name, but
50:11
he would be on the team and I think the other two I would pick
50:15
would probably be Tim Shear and Brad Lininger.
50:18
And I think I would probably do brisket.
50:22
Smitty would do chicken, Tim would do pork and Brad would do
50:26
ribs. That's.
50:28
A good team, that's. That's a good team.
50:33
Yeah, that's better than the best ones I heard.
50:36
That'd be a good thing, Definitely.
50:38
All right, I'm going to do something real quick.
50:40
What I'm going to do is because I've never did this before, so
50:42
I'm going to try it out. I'm going to do what we call a
50:45
teaching and mentorship master class, and I'm going to ask you
50:48
some questions for those that want to get into teaching and
50:51
stuff like that. So I'm going to ask you
50:53
different questions to help people that want to get into
50:56
that field as far as BBQ teaching, all right, What
51:00
qualifies someone to teach BBQ, do you think?
51:05
Man, you put me on the spot on that one.
51:07
This is just my opinion. I'll preface my answer with
51:11
this. I felt like I probably started
51:13
teaching classes a little too early.
51:15
What I mean by that is I felt like I probably should have been
51:19
a little bit more accomplished before I started doing that.
51:22
But I think the reason why I started doing it was because I
51:25
was a teacher and I just felt comfortable doing it, and I felt
51:28
like my knowledge base was solid enough that I could do that.
51:31
Now. I felt like I probably could
51:33
have had some more wins and accolades under my belt, and if
51:36
I had to do it over again, I'd probably do that first.
51:40
I feel like if you're going to teach competition BBQ, I feel
51:45
like you need to have a lot of contests under your belt and you
51:48
need to have a lot of wins under your belt.
51:49
I just feel like if you can develop a winning structure and
51:54
a winning format, you need to show that you've done that in
51:58
the trenches over and over again and repeated that before.
52:02
If I was going to choose somebody to go to, because I've
52:04
never taken a BBQ class, if I was going to go take a comp
52:07
class, I would I would pick somebody that's legitimately
52:12
accomplished all of those things at a high level.
52:16
And so if I'm going to pick somebody, that's what I'm going
52:19
to do. And I just, I feel like that's
52:21
teach backyard classes. I don't think you need to have
52:23
all that, but I think it definitely helps.
52:25
I think the more experience you have just overall cooking and
52:28
smoking and grilling and doing all those things, I think they
52:31
all make you a better teacher and more of an expert, if you
52:35
will, in this world. And whether that's cooking at
52:39
home, cooking in contests, they all transfer over.
52:42
So everything that I've done in comp BBQ, I can transfer that
52:45
into my backyard. So that's that's my answer.
52:50
OK. And why is hands on learning so
52:53
important? I don't think it's always, it's
52:57
important, always needed, but it does help.
52:59
It's hard to do when you're doing a class with 25 or 30
53:02
people in it to get 25 or 30 knives and you got to have, you
53:06
got to have more meat, you got to do all those things.
53:08
It's it's hard to do. I've done them and the hands on
53:11
ones are hard to do. I think the biggest thing in
53:15
comp BBQ classes is you're trying to, because you may have
53:19
people in your class that are accomplished comp BBQ cooks and
53:22
they're trying to pick up two or three little things that are
53:25
going to take them to the next level.
53:27
And sometimes I'll have people even tell me that when they come
53:29
to class, like, Hey, man, I'm, I'm here because I want to learn
53:32
your brisket, you know what I mean?
53:33
And they may not even pay attention during the chicken,
53:35
ribs and pork. Or sometimes they'll say that
53:38
and then all of a sudden I do something ribs like, Oh shit,
53:40
I've never seen that before. And then they write that down.
53:42
You know what I mean? Like I always, people always ask
53:45
me like, am I worried about when I teach classes about the people
53:48
in my classes beating me? I'm like, no, that's great
53:50
advertisement. I want them to, I want them to
53:53
be successful, but then I also will also couple with this.
53:58
I can teach you everything I do, but you got to execute it like
54:01
me and you can't do that because you're not me.
54:06
Just if I tried to execute like Tim Shear or Brad Leninger or
54:10
Sterling Smith, like I just mentioned, I'm not them, you
54:13
know what I mean? So I do things my way and I
54:17
think everybody's got a different skill set and the way
54:19
their brain works and the way they react to stress and changes
54:23
and all those things. Those are all factors in comp
54:25
barbecue and not everybody can do that at a certain level.
54:29
So you got to I was. I'm going off on a tangent
54:32
there, man. Yeah, are you fine?
54:36
I just think those are very important things.
54:38
Definitely. It's very important.
54:40
You're teaching style, how you communicate with people.
54:43
Don't talk, not talking down to people over the head.
54:47
Yeah, I'd say it all the time. I tell my wife, I try to explain
54:50
stuff that even a child can understand what I'm talking
54:54
about. And when you do that, it makes
54:56
everybody feel included in the class and stuff like that.
54:59
Instead of trying to use big words or the slang, a BBQ where
55:04
people might not know the slang, what you're talking about.
55:07
And if they don't know what you're saying, OK, this meat is
55:11
tight. If I don't know what tight is,
55:13
it's going over my head. Yeah, yeah, I can try doing that
55:18
when everybody in the class doesn't speak English.
55:22
Oh wow, I forgot about that. Try doing that when you have 100
55:26
people from Panama and Costa Rica and you're teaching them
55:29
ribs and chicken and you got to say something and then your
55:32
translator translates and you say the next thing and it's even
55:36
tougher. It's even tougher.
55:38
Wow, I forgot about the language barrier.
55:41
Oh wow, it's crazy. All right, I got 2 quick games.
55:45
I'm going to play with you and get you out of here.
55:47
Play college basketball. They got a tournament bracket.
55:50
I've made a tournament bracket of 16 meats that you cook on the
55:53
grill, and I'm going to tell you each matchup.
55:55
Just tell me which one you prefer to eat and we'll see
55:57
which one is the winner. All right, first matchup,
55:59
hamburger versus steak. Which one I prefer to eat?
56:04
Yes. Whoa, I'll probably steak.
56:10
OK, next matchup is pork ribs versus pork belly.
56:16
Ribs. OK, next matchup is hot dog
56:20
versus smoked chicken. Hot dog.
56:24
OK, next matchup Burnt ends versus pork chops.
56:29
Burnt ends. OK, next matchup, smoked Turkey
56:34
versus sausage. Oh, I'll go with the Turkey.
56:40
I love both of those though all. Right smoked ham versus BBQ
56:44
shrimp. Ham or shrimp?
56:48
OK, lamb versus brisket, brisket.
56:54
OK, beef ribs versus smoked Bologna.
56:58
Oh, probably Bologna. OK.
57:04
And next round steak versus pork ribs.
57:09
Steak. OK.
57:13
And hot dog versus burn ends. Burn ends.
57:18
OK. Turkey versus shrimp.
57:21
Turkey. OK.
57:23
Brisket versus Bologna. Brisket.
57:27
OK. Final four, you got steak versus
57:31
burn ends. Steak.
57:34
OK. And Turkey versus brisket?
57:38
Turkey. OK.
57:41
And finals you got steak versus Turkey.
57:43
I'm. Probably going to go with
57:45
Turkey. OK, All right, Turkey is the
57:49
winner. All right.
57:51
Are you a Chiefs fan? Is you up in Kansas City?
57:55
OK, All right. I did a special another bracket
57:58
for you, a special one of the top 16 chief players in history.
58:03
I got them matched up randomly. Just tell me which one you
58:06
prefer. All right.
58:07
First match up, Derek Thomas versus Alex Smith.
58:12
DT. All right.
58:14
Next match up, Krishna Koye versus Marcus Allen.
58:19
Akoye. OK.
58:22
Will Smith versus Travis Kelsey. Travis Kelsey's OK.
58:30
Jamal Charles versus Eric Berry. Eric Berry.
58:34
OK, Tony Gonzalez versus Dante Hall.
58:39
Tony. OK, Priest Holmes versus Tyree
58:44
Keel. OK.
58:46
Patrick Mahomes versus Joe Montana.
58:50
Mahomes. All right.
58:53
And Tomba Holly versus Derrick Johnson.
58:59
Tomba. OK.
59:02
Next match up with Derek Thomas versus Christian Nikoye.
59:07
Derek Thomas. OK, Travis Kelsey versus Eric
59:11
Berry. Kelsey.
59:14
Alright, Tony Gonzalez versus Priest Holmes.
59:19
Tony Gonzalez. OK.
59:22
Patrick Mahomes versus Tomba. Patrick Mahomes.
59:27
Alright, all right. Final Four, Derek Thomas versus
59:29
Kelsey. Kelsey.
59:33
OK. And Tony Gonzalez versus
59:36
Mahomes. Mahomes.
59:39
Mahomes all. Right, we know what the final
59:45
answer is. Just fun getting there.
59:50
All right, your therapy session is over.
59:51
If you had anything that you want to promote, give your
59:54
website and all that. You can do that at this time.
59:56
Yeah, yeah, just thanks for having me on the show.
59:58
I really appreciate the support and the love for barbecue.
1:00:01
And I'm at fergaliciousbbq.com or richardfragolabbq.com,
1:00:05
Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. You can check me out on any of
1:00:09
those social media outlets and you can see where all my classes
1:00:12
are at, product, new products coming out, where you can get
1:00:16
the products, all those kind of things.
1:00:18
Got all my social media, so any of those things you can find me
1:00:22
right there. And I'm getting ready to pop a
1:00:23
schedule out to find out where I'm going to be at.
1:00:25
In in your country or in ours? All right, feel free to come to
1:00:29
Georgia. Be there in May.
1:00:31
I'll be there in May. All right.
1:00:35
But I definitely appreciate you coming on.
1:00:37
And I was like, man, his schedule was super busy.
1:00:39
He'd be everywhere. I don't think you'll have time
1:00:41
to come on, but you definitely reached right back out.
1:00:43
And I was like, the people, I think they wouldn't come on, the
1:00:46
people that show up and the people I think you would be able
1:00:51
to come on if I'd be like, OK, you.
1:00:54
Told when you send me the e-mail I was in, we were in Cancun,
1:00:57
Mexico, I was on vacation and I was actually sitting by the pool
1:01:01
enjoying a beverage and I got your message But dude, that's
1:01:05
just me. I try to respond to everybody
1:01:07
that reaches out to me. I may not even know who you are
1:01:10
and they're asking me a BBQ question and I try to respond to
1:01:13
everybody that I can. It's sometimes it's hard to keep
1:01:15
up, but and I've done a I've done tons of these shows and
1:01:19
podcasts. I love the love and I appreciate
1:01:21
it very much. All right, no problem.
1:01:23
No problem. And I definitely appreciate you
1:01:26
taking your time and coming out and telling your story and stuff
1:01:29
like that and helping everybody as far as what you do as far as
1:01:33
the teaching, as far as the just competing period and just being
1:01:37
out there and welcoming and stuff like that and going all
1:01:41
over the country. Like I told you before we came
1:01:43
on it just it means a lot to people that you go all to these
1:01:46
different places and make people feel welcomed and feel wanted in
1:01:51
the BBQ community because that's what it's all about.
1:01:53
Just community and growing the community and making it bigger
1:01:57
and not trying to, Oh, I'm, I've been on TV or I did this and I
1:02:01
don't have time for you. No, you got time for.
1:02:04
Everybody at all. We got time for everybody.
1:02:07
I try to talk to every person I can.
1:02:09
I'll take every picture I can. It's you.
1:02:12
My, my job is I consider myself like a BBQ soldier.
1:02:16
I'm out here to try to impact the world with barbecue.
1:02:18
And if this is the way I'm that I've been put out here to do it,
1:02:22
this is I'm going to do it to the best of my abilities.
1:02:23
I love everybody and I'm just out here to have a good time and
1:02:26
spread the word. Yeah.
1:02:28
And I definitely thank you for my position, what you're doing
1:02:31
out there because it's definitely helping.
1:02:32
And I know this is I'm watching all you're doing and it is very
1:02:36
impressive. And it's inspired me because I
1:02:38
like I told my wife, I want to teach classes when I get to a
1:02:42
certain point. And once I get to do is I'm
1:02:45
going to come pick your brain and all this stuff, how to do it
1:02:49
and get better at it because everybody don't know everything.
1:02:53
So we definitely got to pull from each other and get advice.
1:02:59
Absolutely. I'm always here, man.
1:03:00
I'm a message away. I'm not hard to find.
1:03:03
And on that note, we'll see everybody next episode.
1:03:06
I built something onto my podcast that every BBQ brand
1:03:09
should be a part of. It's called the BBQ Therapy
1:03:12
Smoke Showdown bracket 16 meats you cook on the grill go head to
1:03:17
head and every guest picks their winner.
1:03:20
It's one of the most engaging parts of the show.
1:03:23
Every guest plays and every listener loves it because No2
1:03:26
brackets are the same. Now I'm opening it up for a
1:03:29
presenting sponsor, meaning your brand becomes part of the
1:03:33
segment. Every single show.
1:03:35
This isn't just an ad. This becomes part of the show.
1:03:39
And if you're interested, reach out to Tavis Bryant at
1:03:42
barbecuetherapypodcast@gmail.com. Thank you.
1:03:47
Thank you for joining us for another therapy session.
1:03:50
And remember, like, follow and subscribe to help the BBQ
1:03:53
Therapy community and also visit our website at
1:03:57
www.barbecuetherapypodcast.com.