2025 Carolina BBQ Festival Pitmasters – REVEALED!

[00:00:02] What you want, when you want it, where you want it. This is The MESH.

[00:00:14] The Pitmaster List is out for the 2025 Carolina BBQ Festival. And your official podcast home for this year's event is talking to all the people who are going to make the great smoked meat and southern sides we love to eat. It's all going to happen April 4th and 5th at Victoria Yards in Charlotte. And of course, I'm Chigger Willard wishing you a Happy New Year. Best wishes for the greatest things that can happen to you in 2025.

[00:00:42] And here in our first episode of the new year, I'm very excited to bring you the biggest news of the BBQ New Year. And that's the Carolina BBQ Festival's Pitmaster lineup. So I'm going to talk about that today. A quick hitter, give you all the details about the festival and some previews of things to come a little bit later on in this month of January. And then of course, later on in February, March, and then the run up to the big festival coming up in April.

[00:01:08] Quick reminder, first time listeners or anybody that's returning to the show or the podcast or seeing it on YouTube, you can get more details about the podcast, the Pitmasters, the recipes, the blogs, all that good stuff. Low Slow BBQ Show dot com. You get all the Pitmaster episodes we've ever done in the history of the show. All of our blogs about the festival and a lot of those Pitmasters, a lot of those charities all at the website. And of course, while you're at LowSlowBBQShow.com, be sure and sign up for our newsletter.

[00:01:38] It's the Lowdown. It comes to you on Tuesday. Sign up there. We'll get you the latest news from the BBQ Festival and all the other news of BBQ goodness around the Carolinas. So as we said, we're going to talk today about the Carolina BBQ Festival Pitmaster lineup. If you're a subscriber to the Carolina BBQ Festival newsletter, they've got a great one, too. You found out about it. It popped into your email inbox. But I wanted to go ahead and give everybody a look at who's going to be on that.

[00:02:07] You can find it at the Carolina BBQ Festival website as well as their Instagram page. That's CarolinaBBQFest.org or the Carolina BBQ Festival at Instagram. And of course, we've got a special blog. Your official 2025 Carolina BBQ Festival guide is over at our blog at LowSlowBBQShow.com. So enough promos. Let's talk about the real deal. Why you want to listen today? The people who are going to be dishing it out at the Carolina BBQ Festival.

[00:02:36] First of all, top of the list, Jake Wood, Lawrence BBQ, Durham, North Carolina. Jake's got some exciting news coming in 2025 as he gets ready to open up a new brick and mortar location in Cary. Exciting stuff as those guys look to move from the Box Yard RTP. Something that's really cool going on. But they're going to be able to bring all their food innovations under one roof in Cary. We'll look forward to seeing how that shakes out for Jake. But when we see him in April, he'll be there with the BBQ. Last year, he bought the queso barilla tacos.

[00:03:06] Man, they were so fantastic. Can't wait to get a taste of those. So Jake Wood, Lawrence BBQ, and Durham. Next up on the list, Keith Hennig, Big Brisket himself from Black Powder Smokehouse in Jamestown in Asheboro. Let me tell you, folks, last year, Big Brisket brought this. It was ramen. It was pork belly ramen with quail eggs in it. Man, it was the best thing ever. I tell you, it was one of the better bites in the whole festival. Not that there's a bad bite, but it certainly was a good one.

[00:03:36] So Keith's going to be there. No telling what he'll bring to the table this year. Brian Furman on the pit master list as well from Brian Furman Barbecue in Atlanta, Georgia. We had him on the show last year, excited to talk to him. He was our first podcast ever from a U-Haul and then a U-Haul truck in motion for that interview. Go check it out in our episodes. You also see that actually live on our YouTube channel. Brian Furman will be there. No doubt he will bring ribs. They're likely to be the best ribs you've ever had.

[00:04:05] And if they aren't, add some of that peach sauce that Furman does. You'll love it. You'll see him at the barbecue festival. Elliot Moss is there. Now, Elliot has got some really cool stuff happening in Florence, South Carolina, his hometown. He's moved back there recently. He's been hooked up with a brewery there, Seminar Brewing, as they've tried to kind of get something going with the food. And now he's forging out as part of that project. It's going to be called Elliot's and it's in Florence. So we'll get to see Elliot and find out more about that.

[00:04:33] He's been at the barbecue festival in years past. Always a great producer of whole hog barbecue. That's kind of his thing. And a lot of folks around the area, especially in North Carolina, might know him from Buxton Hall. That's where he kind of got some big notoriety in the barbecue world. Certainly, he's got a broad list of experiences in barbecue. He's a great barbecue pit master. Certainly cool to have him on that list as he's been before.

[00:05:01] Some of the other pit masters, Dylan Cook, Fork Grove Barbecue in Sadler Creek, South Carolina. I had a chance to go see Dylan last year at his place. His brisket is fantastic. Last year, he brought along some pork belly with some sort of cowboy caviar on the top of it. He also had some sausage, I think. I kept hearing about the sausage, but I never got to it. So this year, I'm going to make him promise to, number one, save me some sausage.

[00:05:26] And number two, give me some secrets about how he quaffs that beard like he does so well. Maybe we'll talk to him. Got a podcast on the schedule for him coming up soon. Speaking of, we'll have all these pit masters lined up for interviews in the run-up to the barbecue festival. So stay tuned to the Low and Slow Barbecue Show. You can find out about them, as well as the food that they're serving, and a little bit about their backstory and some of the big news they've got coming down the pipeline. And I'll tell you, there is some big news coming for some of these guys.

[00:05:55] Back to the list, Garen Kirkman. It wouldn't be a Carolina barbecue festival without John G.'s barbecue in Beachland. John G.'s going to be there. His wife, Kelly, maybe. They've got a new addition to their family. So I know 2025 is going to be a big year for that bunch, and certainly going to have their hands full and look forward to seeing them at the Carolina barbecue festival this year, as well as Ken and Jess Hess from County Smoke in Lynchburg.

[00:06:20] A lot of folks probably know if you follow them, they come to the festival every year as well. They've got their County Smoke, but also their County Sunrise. That's their breakfast operation. So a lot of things going on. Those folks always have their hands full. And hopefully when they come to Charlotte, they'll be bringing their hands full of that fantastic smoked pastrami with their fire and ice pickles and the mustard that they do so well. I love to see the County Smoke people here at the Carolina barbecue festival. Louis Donald will be there.

[00:06:49] Of course, we can't have it without him. It's his big party. One of the festival organizers always does a great job. And last year he cooked up some of his signature sausage. So we'll look forward to talking to Louis. And while I'm talking about Louis, it gives me a chance to kind of remind everybody that this is all being happening. They're doing this whole barbecue festival for a cause. It's hashtag BBQ for a cause. And the causes this year on the lineup operation barbecue relief. And if you're in North Carolina,

[00:07:18] you probably know the name because they've provided hundreds of thousands of meals, literally to people in the Western part of the state in the wake of hurricane. So, you know, the operation barbecue relief have done a lot of good here is a great opportunity to kind of give back to those guys as, as they've supported us. The barbecue festival will be donating some of the proceeds back to operation barbecue relief. Another charitable cause in this barbecue for a cause that they've got going on will be hungry heroes. That's Amanda Riggin.

[00:07:48] And she goes to the scene and provides food and hot meals to emergency responders, either in the instance of tragedy or in the aftermath of an emergency and just provide support for veterans administrations as well. She's just kind of all over the country doing good things for emergency responders and veterans. And so two certainly beneficial and great groups to support through the Carolina Barbecue Festival. And you can do that with the ticket sale. You buy it at carolinabbqfest.com.

[00:08:15] You support those charities and you see these pitmasters like Lewis Donald who got this all together. And like one of our great friends of the show, Ronald Simmons from Master Blend Family Farms. And last year, Ronald brought, gosh, he just brought about everything. I don't know. He had chicken. I feel like he had some swordfish out there. He was cooking up some sweet potatoes too, man. He had it all. And Ron is going to bring in all gas, no brakes, 365. You can count on Ron to be there all the time.

[00:08:44] And he's certainly a great friend of the show. And his operation, Master Blend Family Farms, of course, they're producing, you know, farm to table pork in Kenansville, North Carolina. Check him out at Master Blend Family Farms and learn a little bit about the operation they've got going on. He does some really great stuff with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. He has an expanding relationship with them. I've seen him at Alabama A&M making some appearances there.

[00:09:08] So he's out on the talk circuit about talking about the important things that agriculture or the important role that agriculture has in our community, especially here in the Carolinas. And, of course, we all know that it's very important. Speaking of important, Robbie Robinson, he's a pretty important guy. He is on the pit master list for the Carolina Barbecue Festival in 2024. Of course, he's the pit master at City Limits Barbecue in West Columbia, South Carolina. I got to pop in and see Robbie and his operation and have some of his great food on a Sunday.

[00:09:37] I was kind of on a trip back from Charleston where I saw a Palmyra barbecue and hit city limits on the way back. Just a wonderful occasion. Hit him just right because no crowd, no line. It was sort of the end of the afternoon. And they ran out of a couple of things. I'm okay with that. But they had a couple of great things, too. And first, we were some of the first experimental taste of his brisket hot dogs dipped in cornbread batter. Oh, man, these were fantastic. And I think he's kind of fine-tuned them since then. So we'll see what he brings to the festival.

[00:10:06] He brought hash and rice last year. It was a great presentation. And, you know, I'm talking about what these guys brought last year. And some of them, you can probably expect them to bring the same thing. Other guys, they'll bring something a little bit different. They like to kind of mix it up, you know, kind of keep you thinking outside the box. And, you know, Dylan Cook from Fort Grove is one of those people. He's outside the box. Outside the box as well. Robbie, he kind of gets outside the box. Definitely Jake Wood is an outside the box. Or mentioned Keith Henning from Black Powder.

[00:10:37] Never know what he'll bring. But the next two guys, you can probably pretty much expect what they'll bring. And that's Michael Letchworth from Sam Jones Barbecue down in Winterville. And, of course, they've got a location in Raleigh. And that kind of comes from the Pete Jones family and Skylight Inn and kind of descends from that. So it's whole hog Eastern barbecue. And we're excited to talk with Michael again. We met him the first time at the 2023 barbecue festival and got sort of that first glimpse at his story.

[00:11:07] And now we're going to get a chance to talk to him again and look forward to seeing him at the barbecue festival. But expect whole hog, down east, pulled pork. That's what they do at Sam Jones. Maybe some coleslaw, the white slaw, and a little piece of cornbread. That's what you get when you go to Sam Jones. Now, if you want to start an argument in Carolina barbecue, compare that to our next pit master. And that's Nathan Monk from Lexington Barbecue.

[00:11:31] You say that Lexington's better than Eastern and Sam Jones or Sam Jones is better than Lexington. Well, you know what happens after that. Maybe we can get those two guys to square off when we see them in person at the barbecue festival about which is better. But I kind of don't think we will because they're both great guys. And I know that they're really just doing what they enjoy to do. And they're not looking for any controversy. Let somebody else sort that out, like you and me and all the other people listening out there. And maybe we'll sort it out when we get to the festival. So come see me.

[00:12:00] Let's have a conversation. Nathan Monk, Lexington Barbecue. He's going to bring the pork shoulder. He'll bring the Lexington sauce. Maybe bring that dip in the slaw. Of course, that red slaw that's so good. I look forward to seeing him. Also look forward to seeing Tank Jackson. He is one of the most exciting people you'll see at the Carolina Barbecue Festival. He calls it catertainment. I don't know what you call it.

[00:12:25] But he's always got something crazy going on on his big farm down in Watmala Island in South Carolina near the Charleston Seacoast, that part of the area. Raising hogs. But then he's also doing things at a restaurant down there on the coast. And he's also delivering his pigs all over the country. And he's also bringing a lot of pork goodness to the Carolina Barbecue Festival. So expect some cool stuff from him when he shows up April 4th and 5th at Victoria Yards in Charlotte.

[00:12:55] Last but certainly not least is a newcomer to the list, Ben Hooper from Ben's Backdraft Barbecue. We've had Ben on the show a couple of times. If you're a regular listener, you know Ben's in the fire services and the emergency services out west in the Waynesville part of North Carolina. He was out there on the scene during Hurricane Helene. And, of course, he is also in the barbecue business.

[00:13:16] So not only was he there as an emergency responder, he was also there as a provider of food in times of need and was able to deliver meals both to emergency responders, to utility workers, but also to his neighbors all out there in western North Carolina. And really excited to see Ben kind of step into this cool spotlight at the Carolina Barbecue Festival. And look forward to talking to him again on the podcast. I know Ben's got some kind of exciting news going on with him and his family and his business. So stay tuned.

[00:13:45] Look for his podcast coming up soon. So speaking of those podcasts coming up soon, we're going to continue our little bit of a hiatus for the Low and Slow Barbecue Show as we continue to get some of these podcasts lined up. Stay tuned. Be sure and watch the Low and Slow Barbecue Show blog. Adding updates there. That's where you'll find the Carolina Barbecue Festival official guide. There we have links to all the websites for the pitmasters that we've talked about today.

[00:14:13] We've got links to all the podcasts that we've done with these guys in the past. We've got their blogs. So all the information you want to know about them, you can find it at the Low and Slow Barbecue Show website, lowslowbbqshow.com, and our 2025 Carolina Barbecue Festival guide. There's going to be other updates as well. Hint, hint. I went to Jim and Nick's here in Hickory, and we love to put the spotlight on some local guys, but this is a big chain barbecue. I feel like it merits a review, and it's a good one with an exception.

[00:14:42] So stay tuned and find out what's going on with that. Until our next episode, when we really officially launched our pitmaster interviews for the Carolina Barbecue Festival, stay tuned. We appreciate you listening. Thanks very much to our production team at the Mesh.TV Network, a podcast, especially Andrew Moose. He's the man behind the monitors. Thank you as well for listening. Remember, for the best barbecue and the best barbecue podcast, keep it low and slow.

[00:15:09] You've been listening to the Mesh, an online media network of shows and programs ranging from business to arts, sports to entertainment, music to community. All programs are available on the website as well as through iTunes and YouTube. Check us out online at themesh.tv.

[00:15:37] Discover other network shows and give us feedback on what you just heard.