Barbecue Ideas & Advice | Sources for BBQ Support

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

[00:00:16] Where do you turn when you're looking for the best barbecue ideas and recipes? What

[00:00:21] if you're trying to find a barbecue pit stop in a foreign place? Maybe you're looking

[00:00:25] for a weekend adventure that promises a full menu of barbecue delights mixed with music

[00:00:31] all in the name of helping a good cause. Welcome to The Low and Slow Barbecue Show, where we

[00:00:37] share barbecue advice, barbecue recipes, and all the details you need to make your life

[00:00:42] better with barbecue. Of course, we've got a long list of help at our website, LowSlowBBQShow.com.

[00:00:50] It's filled with podcasts and blogs. Check out the podcast with Edmar Samoas. That's

[00:00:55] our latest one from Resident Culture Brewing Company, or our podcast with James Beard finalist

[00:01:00] Robbie Robinson. He's at City Limits Barbecue in West Columbia. We've got details, podcasts,

[00:01:07] blogs, all that good stuff at LowSlowBBQShow.com. In this episode, we're sharing a few secrets

[00:01:13] that will help you improve your barbecue journey. Let's get cooking. First of all,

[00:01:18] I want to start by sharing some of our favorite Instagram feeds that we love to follow. Top of the list are buddies over at the Carolina

[00:01:25] Barbecue Festival. All the latest updates from the festival and the team at Let's Meet Charlotte,

[00:01:30] as well as all the friends of the festival and the pit masters. They get updated regularly.

[00:01:35] There's details about new events coming and other events that are going to be coming down the line.

[00:01:39] I promise you want to stay tuned to that. There's a lot of fun things happening through

[00:01:43] the Carolina Barbecue Festival all year long in 2024. You can find them at Carolina

[00:01:48] BBQ Festival. That's the address. John G's Barbecue is one of our other favorite follows.

[00:01:54] You can find out where John G's next pop-up is going to be. He makes a lot of stops at breweries all around

[00:02:01] Charlotte. If you can't make it to Peachland on a Saturday and I really think you should,

[00:02:05] be sure to find John G's at a pop-up at a Charlotte area brewery. Of course,

[00:02:11] he's got all his details at an Instagram site. He announces the time when you want to get there,

[00:02:15] where it's going to be. All that good stuff on Instagram. You can find it at John G's BBQ,

[00:02:21] just like John G's. So John G's BBQ. Lawrence Barbecue is another one of our favorites.

[00:02:28] Jake and the team with Lawrence Barbecue always have some really cool stuff and is really outside

[00:02:33] the box. He's got a clever sense of style about him in the post and the stories. That

[00:02:38] address is Lawrence Barbecue. You find all that good stuff from Jake Wood and the Lawrence

[00:02:43] Food Company there. Of course, we've had him on the podcast before.

[00:02:46] Edmar Samoas, I mentioned him moments ago. We got a new blog live with him on the website,

[00:02:52] lowslowbbqshow.com. Edmar does a great job sharing a lot of barbecue highlights from other

[00:02:57] regional pitmasters, including some events, some barbecue humor, as well as some of the latest

[00:03:02] things Edmar's doing at Resident Culture Brewing Southend. I'll warn you though,

[00:03:07] it's going to help a lot if you can speak Spanish or Portuguese or whatever language he's

[00:03:12] using there. Those are things that I don't speak outside of Donde Espanos. You can find

[00:03:18] Edmar on Instagram at American underscore BBQ. Check him out. Daniel Vaughn is another

[00:03:24] nationwide barbecue expert that we love to follow on Instagram. He's the barbecue editor

[00:03:29] for Texas Monthly. A lot of people know that as the barbecue Bible of the Southwest.

[00:03:34] And of course, Daniel largely reviews Texas barbecue around Lone Star State,

[00:03:39] but he gets out of Texas a pretty good bit. In fact, he's seen our friends at Fort Grove,

[00:03:44] as well as Lawrence Barbecue, John Gee's. He even goes on and names some of the best

[00:03:48] Texas barbecue outside of Texas. If you're looking for premier barbecue spots all around

[00:03:54] the country, Daniel Vaughn has the scoop. You want to follow him at BBQ Snob, just like I

[00:04:00] got my nose in the air because my barbecue and my barbecue taste is so good. That's Daniel

[00:04:06] Vaughn BBQ Snob. Apple City Barbecue is another one we love to follow. That's Adam Dula and his

[00:04:11] team. They regularly update their page with specials and weekend barbecue offerings,

[00:04:16] all at his barbecue business in Taylorsville. That's in Alexander County in the Hickory Metro.

[00:04:21] You can follow him at Apple City BBQ. One last one we want to mention, and this is

[00:04:26] another great tip to find the best barbecue around the region, not just in North Carolina,

[00:04:31] but South Carolina especially. That's Destination BBQ. He's got all your Destination BBQ joints

[00:04:38] outlined. That's James Roller and he's extremely prolific, has a lot of great stuff he posts.

[00:04:43] He's based again, of course, in South Carolina and he delivers reviews and information on

[00:04:47] South Carolina barbecue restaurants, recipes and events. You can find James Roller

[00:04:53] and Destination BBQ just at that same word, Destination BBQ. Moving on a little bit,

[00:04:59] we're going to check out some barbecue news I wanted to be sure and share with you guys today.

[00:05:04] Not sure if you saw it, but if you didn't, I'll tell you now. Southern Living BBQ editor Robert

[00:05:09] Moss has started a new Carolina barbecue debate. He recently declared that the Raleigh Research

[00:05:16] Triangle is this state's new barbecue capital. Sorry Lexington, sorry Charlotte,

[00:05:23] everybody down east. Robert Moss says that Raleigh and the Triangle are the best places,

[00:05:29] the capital place for North Carolina barbecue. Of course, that was from a piece in January in

[00:05:34] Southern Living Magazine. Robert sites seven shops in the Raleigh and Durham area. If you're

[00:05:40] in that region, you can't go wrong hitting any of these places. Of course, our buddy at

[00:05:45] Lawrence BBQ at the Boxyard RTP tops the list. Check out Lawrence BBQ. Put him number

[00:05:51] one on your list. Another great stop is Prime BBQ in Knightdale. We've also got a salute from Sam

[00:05:57] Jones BBQ in Raleigh and also Winterville, by the way you probably heard, Sam Jones,

[00:06:02] among those recently inducted to the North Carolina BBQ Hall of Fame,

[00:06:06] stopped by Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh and find out why he's earned that honor. He definitely

[00:06:11] has. The pit in Raleigh is another stop. Picnic in Durham and of course Longleaf Swine

[00:06:16] in Raleigh as well makes Robert Moss's list of top seven, closing it out with Lechon Latin

[00:06:23] BBQ and Bar probably said that wrong. Lechon Latin BBQ and Bar in Raleigh as well.

[00:06:29] These are all the places that he says makes the Raleigh-Durham Triangle the capital of North

[00:06:34] Carolina barbecue. Other mentions that he gives includes Bullock's BBQ in Durham,

[00:06:39] Old Time BBQ in Clyde Cooper's in Raleigh, as well as the BBQ Lab in Midwood Smokehouse,

[00:06:45] which by the way that's led by Matt Berry. We've had him on the Low and Slow BBQ show

[00:06:50] and that's a barbecue chain based with Charlotte Roots. It continues to expand in Raleigh and

[00:06:55] Columbia so yeah, the capital of North Carolina BBQ may be Raleigh-Durham area but it's got

[00:07:02] some of that Charlotte ties to it with Midwood Smokehouse. Another news item that came across

[00:07:08] the wire just this week, congratulations to John Gee's BBQ, Garen and his wife Kelly Kirtman

[00:07:15] just won Charlotte Magazine's 2024 Best of the Best Award for Legit BBQ. Definitely a cool

[00:07:22] recognition for those guys, got started in 2016 with a food truck and moved on to a brick and

[00:07:28] mortar. Now he's just doing great things. I mentioned the pop-ups in his Instagram site,

[00:07:33] now he's got the Bob Award, best of the best for legit Q. Stay tuned to the Low and Slow BBQ

[00:07:39] show. We're gonna have him coming up in an episode here real soon. Looking forward to

[00:07:43] speaking with John Gee and getting some of the latest lowdown on events that he's got coming up.

[00:07:47] I'll hit one of those events here in just a moment. Also want to invite you to check out

[00:07:51] our friends at the Smoke Sheet, mentioned them before and I want to let you know the latest

[00:07:56] mid-week edition of the Smoke Sheet features my coverage of the Carolina BBQ Festival. Yes,

[00:08:02] this chigger is in the Smoke Sheet. It's also got some hot links with national barbecue

[00:08:07] news you might want to know about. That includes a recipe for grilled street corn dip.

[00:08:11] I took a peek at it today. Man, that looks like a great recipe. Can't wait to try it out.

[00:08:16] There's also a video with the secret to Texas number one barbecue. This is a video that follows

[00:08:22] a day in the life of the founders of Fort Worth BBQ Joint Goldies. That's Jalen Hurd and

[00:08:27] Lane Milne. If you want to see what life is like for a barbecue founder and pit master in

[00:08:32] a Texas BBQ joint, just check out the Smoke Sheet. They got a cool video there. You can

[00:08:37] find it at bbqnewsletter.substack.com. I want to take a quick moment now to highlight some

[00:08:44] upcoming barbecue events. They're going to be coming around the Carolinas and beyond here

[00:08:48] very soon. First of all, top of that list once again is Getting Piggy With It. That's coming up

[00:08:53] May 18th and 19th. It's hosted by Jake Wood and his Lawrence BBQ Bunch as well as Trophy

[00:08:59] Brewing in Raleigh. Maybe that's another one of the reasons Raleigh is the North Carolina

[00:09:03] Capital for barbecue. Cool events like this. Last year that event raised $100,000 for the

[00:09:08] Frankie Lemon School. If you're not familiar with that facility, it's a five-star child

[00:09:13] development center for ages two to six. Jake tells us a little bit more about the fundraiser

[00:09:19] as well as the Frankie Lemon School and a reel that we captured with him at the

[00:09:23] Carolina BBQ Festival. Just check it out at the Low and Slow BBQ Show Instagram page.

[00:09:28] You got interviews there with Jake as well as some of the other pit masters during the

[00:09:32] BBQ Festival. Back to the Getting Piggy With It Festival. That VIP event is Saturday at Young

[00:09:38] Hearts Distilling. Then the main events coming up on Maywood Hall on the 19th of May. You can

[00:09:44] of course expect a full slate of top-notch pit masters. We got guys from Fort Grove, Longleaf

[00:09:50] Swan, Shepherd BBQ, Sam Jones, all those guys that again helped make Raleigh the BBQ

[00:09:55] Capital of the state. You can check out Getting Piggy With It to learn more about it.

[00:10:00] Zeff BBQ is going to be there. That's Logan Sandoval from the BBQ Showdown. Many more including

[00:10:05] Matt Register from Southern Smoke and Sweet Looz. Want to save that date, May 18th to 19th.

[00:10:12] Again follow the Instagram page for Getting Piggy NC. That's Getting With No G at the end,

[00:10:19] Getting Piggy Underscore NC. They do a great job. They're promoting all the pit masters

[00:10:24] are going to be involved and that'll give you plenty of reason to show up. Want to make

[00:10:28] sure that you know tickets go on sale April 19th at 10 a.m. That's going to be the day after we

[00:10:34] publish. That's Big Friday, April the 19th. Tickets on sale at 10 a.m. Check out Getting

[00:10:40] Piggy With It and get those tickets before they get sold. They will sell out. Another festival

[00:10:46] coming up here real soon is May 3rd and 4th. That's the BBQ Festival on the Noose.

[00:10:51] It's hailed as the largest whole hog BBQ cook-off festival in the nation. Of course it's

[00:10:56] in downtown Kinston. You can get all the details at KinstonBBQ.com. June 22nd, another event that

[00:11:03] we're really excited about. It's going to be John G's in Peachland. That's John G's Jubilee. This

[00:11:08] is the second year John G's hosting a festival at his place in in Peachland. Right now there's

[00:11:14] about a third of the tickets left so if you don't have a ticket you'll want to hurry up and

[00:11:17] get those. You can check him out at John G's BBQ and find out about it. Reasons you want to

[00:11:22] go of course John G's going to be there with his BBQ. Lawrence BBQ is going to be there. NC

[00:11:28] Oyster Company is going to be there. NoDot Brewing Company Beer. There'll be ice cream from Brown

[00:11:33] Creek Creamery and all those proceeds are going to benefit the Anson County Partnership for

[00:11:39] Children. Again that's John G's Jubilee. If you follow him on Instagram or you find him on the web

[00:11:44] you can get details for those tickets. One other event I wanted to mention in the Carolinas

[00:11:50] right quick. The Beer, Bourbon and BBQ Festival is at Valentine's Backyard. This is the 14th

[00:11:56] year for that event. There's going to be 60 beers, 40 bourbons and lots of barbecue.

[00:12:02] VIP is from 12 to 6th on the 18th and general admission is 2 to 6. You can get your tickets.

[00:12:08] They're still available. A couple things we want to hit outside the Carolinas you might

[00:12:11] want to know about if you're not listening here in the Carolinas. Saturday April the 20th

[00:12:16] is the 2024 World Championship Hot Wing Contest in Memphis, Tennessee. This is the 22nd year

[00:12:24] of that festival. 70 teams are competing for the title of World Champion Hot Wing.

[00:12:29] That's going to be going on in River Garden Park in Memphis. Meanwhile coming up Saturday

[00:12:34] April 27th is the Jeff Mitchner Foundation BBQ event. That honors the late Pig Beach

[00:12:40] BBQ executive chef Jeff Mitchner who died suddenly in 2018 at age 36. This benefit supports his wife

[00:12:47] and family. You can expect a star-studded cast of chefs and pitmasters from all over the United

[00:12:53] States. May 15th and 18th or 15th through the 18th as you probably know if you're a big

[00:13:00] barbecue connoisseur that is the Memphis in May Championship BBQ Contest. It's a four-day

[00:13:05] competition. Teams are competing for $150,000 in prize money. You've probably heard about

[00:13:11] the Memphis in May event. It's something really cool. A lot of barbecue folks go to it.

[00:13:15] Something new this year is they've got competition. That's right there's a competing

[00:13:21] barbecue contest going on in Memphis the same time as Memphis in May's Championship.

[00:13:26] It's going on May 16th through the 18th. This is the Smoke Slam, the world's ultimate

[00:13:32] barbecue showdown. It's all new and I want to tell you the prize purse for this is $250,000.

[00:13:40] That's right a quarter of a million dollars. It's the largest prize in pork barbecue competition

[00:13:45] history. This has been sanctioned by the Memphis BBQ Network and the category winners

[00:13:50] are going to get a golden ticket to compete in the World Food Championships in the fall.

[00:13:56] That just about wraps it up for this episode. I want to remind you to check back with us

[00:14:00] next week. We've got other great pitmasters coming up including John G, the folks from

[00:14:04] Hungry Heroes, our new friends at Blue Suede BBQ. Even get some stuff in from those guys

[00:14:10] at the Smoke Sheet all in the weeks to come. Stay tuned to the Low and Slow BBQ Show.

[00:14:15] We've got a lot of great stuff coming up and it's going to be dropping every Thursday

[00:14:19] right around noon on the East Coast. If you're on the East Coast it's ready just in time

[00:14:24] for lunch. You've been listening to the Low and Slow BBQ Show on the Meche.tv Network

[00:14:30] a podcast. Be sure to visit us online at LowSlowBBQShow.com. We've got podcasts and

[00:14:36] interviews from Carolina pitmasters and blogs that feature secrets for barbecue success.

[00:14:41] If you've got a show idea, a question or you want to explore becoming a promotional sponsor,

[00:14:46] shoot me an email. You can do that by emailing LowAndSlowBBQShow.com. New sponsorship

[00:14:54] opportunities are now available as we continue to break monthly download records with the

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[00:15:36] BBQ Show. Remember, for the best barbecue and the best barbecue podcast, make it low and slow.

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