Competition BBQ with Festival of Discovery Champion Cocamoke Smoke BBQ

[00:00:02] What you want, when you want it, where you want it. This is The MESH. Barbecue Summer is here! Whether you're at home or going to the beach, lake, mountains, or city, be sure to support your local barbecue businesses. From the butcher shops to the pitmasters in food trucks, pop-ups, and neighborhood joints, for dine-in or catering,

[00:00:28] Carolina BBQ Festival reminds you to visit your locally owned businesses for barbecue summer. Visit CarolinaBBQFest.org for a list of local pitmasters that will get you started. And while you're at CarolinaBBQFest.org, be sure to sign up and stay connected. You'll get all the latest details on upcoming events and coming soon, official dates for the 2027 Carolina BBQ Festival.

[00:00:53] Until then, be sure to enjoy BBQ Summer with your locally owned barbecue businesses. And as small towns across the South host barbecue competitions sanctioned by Kansas City BBQ Society, Southern BBQ Network, plenty others, a lot of competitive pitmasters may not be local to the downtown districts where they're firing up the smoker for the weekend,

[00:01:19] but the economic impact they bring sure can be positive to their community host. Today's guest is one of those pitmasters working hard on the competition circuit, probably off it as well. But his first ever stop in uptown Greenwood was especially fruitful. That's because Cody Turner is the grand champion of the 2026 South Carolina Festival of Discovery.

[00:01:41] With the victory, he qualifies to compete in the BBQ World Cup in Las Vegas and a chance to win $1 million. Cody, welcome to the The Low & Slow Barbecue Show. Congratulations on the victory right out of the gate. What were you thinking when you heard the Coca-Cola call on Saturday afternoon? Oh man, first off, I appreciate you having me on here. Dude, it really was just a crazy moment, man.

[00:02:10] We worked real hard out there trying to do our best week in, week out. Just to kind of see it all come together right there with all my buddies out there. It was a really amazing feeling, man. It really was. So you're qualified now for the BBQ World Cup. Was that in your thinking at all when you signed up to get on with the festival this year?

[00:02:37] Yeah, yeah, it was. So, you know, there's so many qualifiers out there, you know. And we kind of based our schedule off of that, off the qualifiers. And South of Festival of Discovery was kind of our last shot, man, to be honest. It was the last hope to get in there.

[00:03:06] And, you know, we made sure we signed up early, you know. They kind of got like a seniority system there. So some of the past contestants get like a grace period before they sign up. So you kind of, you know, with these qualifiers, you got to be on the ball, ready to sign up, ready to pay everything. And luckily we got in. So it's a good place. Now, have you started thinking about the BBQ World Cup yet? What you might do?

[00:03:36] Or I know it's April 2027, a little bit off. But do you go ahead and start kind of thinking about those things? Absolutely, man. I've been thinking about it all day and every day since it happened. I've been messaging folks that are associated with the World Cup and just kind of just picking their brain, asking them what they know about the event, because there's really not a lot of information out there right now. I haven't found any anyway.

[00:04:04] But, yeah, I've been trying to get a plan together. We've still got a pretty busy season, man. You know, we've got some other events coming up. But that's for sure the normal, those are all practice cooks now, you know, and we're all gearing everything towards that World Cup. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:04:30] And you talk about the practice cooks and think about the results from each one of those and the results from Festival of Discovery. I know you guys kind of get some notes and some scoring information, feedback. How much does that play into how you evolve your game as you work toward the World Cup? I mean, it plays a lot.

[00:04:49] I mean, really, we use that's what we use to, you know, adjust our cooks and everything from week in, week out. You know, we use that information. You know, everybody takes, I mean, I know myself personally, I can't speak for anybody else. You know, I'm taking notes after every contest. You know, very seldom do you get comment cards from judges. But, you know, you do have access.

[00:05:19] There is access to, you know, once you, you know, you compete on the circuit, you get to know some of these judges. So you get to talk and you get to ask questions and stuff like that. And obviously, you've got so many pit, you know, pit masters, seasoned pit masters out there that you can talk to as well and pick up information too.

[00:05:44] So, yeah, I mean, that's what we try and do, pick up from that. Keep learning and improving all along as you go. Now, I want to talk about the cook itself from the Festival of Discovery. Before we get to that, apart from the results, which were fantastic, right? First place in brisket, overall championship, a couple of top tens. How was your overall festival experience for the first time in Greenwood? Man, it was really awesome, dude.

[00:06:13] You know, even though we were in the back, we realized we were like the last people to park. Julie and her team did an excellent job. They put us, we were in the back, you know, like I was saying, they had that seniority center. We were at the very back, man. It's like five minute turn in, which is okay. You know, we're prepared for that. We try and adjust to that.

[00:06:36] But the festival itself, you know, we had all these vendors and so many people in and out. You know, people ask, curious people asking about your process, your cook setup and your cookers and all that. That's really awesome, man. I mean, really, that's why a lot of us do it is to, you know, be involved and stuff like that.

[00:07:01] And on top of that, you're with your buddies, you know, your cooking buddies, you know, the camaraderie. You know, all those guys, guys and girls, you know, they're all awesome. They're all really good people willing to lend a hand. But, man, the overall festival was awesome, man. Everybody was complaining about it being hot, you know, with the control of Florida. Man, I slept with my door open and my AC off, man. That's how good it felt to me.

[00:07:31] Yeah. Everybody else was, you know, complaining about it. Well, and the heat comes with the territory around the pits of the fires and obviously with uptown Greenwood. Okay, so take us through the cook. When did you first get the fire started? Did you come in and participate Friday or did you just focus on Saturday? We focused on Saturday. Everything went according to plan. I did. It was probably about 1130. I knew something.

[00:08:00] Everything was going smooth. And 1130, I said, man, something's going to happen. Something's not right. And I realized I didn't have any, I didn't have a lighter. I don't, you know, leave it to me, be the only pit master that didn't bring a lighter. I mean, propane gas. You know, every, every propane bottle I reached for was empty. Luckily, those good folks I was telling you about, they had some spares and I borrowed some from, I think it was Willingham.

[00:08:30] But yeah, we lit up at, we light our pits at four o'clock in the morning. On Saturday, right? Yes, sir. Four o'clock on Saturday, let it hold for about an hour. Just kind of get up to 10th. Nothing, no rushing or anything like that. We've rushed before, but it went, everything went pretty smooth that day. Well, take us through. And that's just on one pit. You know, we cook on, we cook on three different pits.

[00:09:00] Tell us a little bit about that. What are you cooking on and what does that, that operation look like? So, the four o'clock light up, that's going to be on, we cook on an old hickory, ACM, comp series. It's a cabinet smoker. We cook our pork and brisket on that. So, that's, that's, that's your earlier cooks. And then, we use a, a gateway drum. We kind of swap that.

[00:09:29] We also have a ring of two drums. We swap them in and out. Just then, and then a Hunsaker. So, the gateway and the ringo we use on our, for our rib cook. And then the Hunsaker we use for chicken. So. Gotcha. And, and what are you, what's the fuel for your fire there? So, I'm all over the place, dude.

[00:09:57] You know, I, I, I'm a big B&B charcoal. I'm a charcoal fan. But I also like Blue's Hog, um, long charcoal too. So, in my, for my brisket and pork, I run B&B, uh, oak, Texas style. And then, uh, on my drums, I run the Blue's Hog, uh, long for my chicken and ribs. So, it's just, I like the flavor, you know, uh, on both of them.

[00:10:25] You know, I like the flavor I get with each one. Um, I'm a big fan of both of those. Okay. So, uh, apart from the fuel and what you're cooking on, take us a little bit through the prep and your cook and your, your turn in timeline on a Saturday once the fires are going. Yeah. So, like I said, we start our fire at four. Um, usually the meats, uh, uh, we'll go on at five, you know, our bigger meat.

[00:10:54] And then our smaller meats are later on in the day. Um, you know, I think our chicken goes on at 10 and three is probably going around eight o'clock in the morning. Um, and all of those are going to have, we're going to have like an hour warm up time on that, on those smokers. We'll light them an hour prior to. And, uh, yeah, I mean, get it seasoned, put it on, uh, our turn, you know, the KCBS turn

[00:11:21] in is pretty, pretty much the same, you know, 12 o'clock chicken. 1230 ribs, one o'clock, uh, pork and 130 brisket. I think I said that right. But yeah, it's, it's pretty much the same. Uh, every now and again, you'll have a different turn in timeline, you know, depending on what this, what's going on with whatever festival you're at. I've had them where they, in 30 minutes earlier on everything. Yeah.

[00:11:51] And that really throws you off with the, this, this cook's pretty standard, you know, um, yeah. I mean, okay. So, uh, any kind of favorite rub seasonings? I know you guys probably have a lot of secrets on what you're using where, but anything that you like in particular and, and how long you ordinarily, uh, you know, letting that, that dry brine or marinate happen, um, before you put it to the grill or the smoker. Yeah. So, uh, okay. So, you know, we, we, we inject everything.

[00:12:21] Uh, we inject our brisket. Um, that's usually the night before. As far as preparation, um, you know, some people prep, uh, prior and, you know, in the week, um, throughout, throughout the week and then bringing everything to the contest. Here recently I've been just, uh, minus trimming the meat. You know, I'll bring, I'll trim the meat prior to coming to the event and then everything else I do on site.

[00:12:49] Uh, and that makes up my injections, my sauces and, uh, prep my, uh, my rubs, whatever they are, you know, uh, my favorite rubs, man. Uh, you know, I really like, uh, Blue Sock Sweet and Savory. Okay. I like the Bold and Beefy. Those are my two most used rubs.

[00:13:10] Um, and, uh, another one that I really like is, uh, it used to be Flats 20 CPR rub, but now it's a Bama Barbecue Supply, uh, CPR rub. Okay. Those are some jam up rubs, good products. Sauces are all going to usually run around, you know, they're going to be Blue Sock and

[00:13:35] some mixtures with some other things, some, uh, some of your glazes and stuff like that. Right. Uh, and I know that that has a big role in flavor and appearance. So some of that's the secret sauce, right? Oh, absolutely. You know, it's just, uh, how you, how you mix it together, man. You know, uh, recommend putting in a little bit of Blue Sock and everything, you know, Blue Sock original. Yeah.

[00:14:01] You know, that's kind of a funny, uh, thing everybody says, you know, first place and last place has a Blue Sock in it. That's funny. I mean, it's true. You know, everybody uses Blue Sock original. It's such a good sauce, but you know, um, really it's about balancing those flavors. You know, um, not, uh, getting too crazy with one or the other.

[00:14:29] It's just about balancing everything out and making a good, a solid sauce, right? Yeah. As all the, everything you're looking for and sweet, savory, and a little bit of heat on the back end. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So, uh, you've got it all done. You've been through your process. You've factored in that five minute walk to the turn in. Sometimes it can be run. I know on this particular occasion, there was a thunderstorm right in the middle of the

[00:14:56] turn in, but once you were taking everything to the station, how did you feel? Did you feel like you were, you had the heat? This is going to be the one we did really well, or are you kind of uncertain? Absolutely not. This was, it was, it was terrible, man. We were behind, we were behind on everything. Um, you know, we had a big discussion, me and, me and the rest of the team, which is my, my wife, Heather Kate and my mom, Terry. Uh, we had a big discussion.

[00:15:25] We were like, Hey, look, got a long turn in, long walk. We want to make sure that we're getting that chicken out early. Mm-hmm. And ultimately that's on me to get it out early. Uh, well, I was behind and, uh, I had to sprint that guy up there. And then, um, I came back, I had to sprint back. People don't realize when you sprint back, they're like, Oh, you're fine. You know, I'm like, I gotta get back. Yeah.

[00:15:55] You know? Uh, and when you get back in there sucking wind too. Yeah. And you gotta repeat the same process. Right. So ribs came up and then that's when it started to pour down. And, uh, yeah, I mean, I have water. I was drenched from head to toe. I mean, and I was pretty sure that box was filling up with water too. I thought it was in my mind.

[00:16:21] It was, and then not many people saw it, but I know I saw, I did see a few folks chuckling in the back cause I got to that tent. They had some tents and I turned in my box and you know how to collect water at the top. Well, it just gave way right when I was there and it just stretched me. Uh, so, you know, it's kind of hard. I mean, don't get me wrong, man. We stayed positive.

[00:16:48] Uh, but when you got stuff like that going on, you got some, you got some bad thoughts going on in your head, you know, but, uh, you know, we, we, but we, you know, we pulled together, you know, came back, did pork. And then, uh, we, we ended up walking brisket up there, felt good about our turn ins, you know?

[00:17:13] Um, and that's all I get asked for, you know, I don't know too many people, you know, every night, but something's going to go wrong. Yeah. For my, for my team, something's definitely going to go wrong. You just, it's, man, that's what it's all about, man. It's figuring it out and, you know, rising above it. I mean, really. Yeah.

[00:17:38] And this year you guys rose above all the other folks in the competition for that grand championship. I want to take kind of a step back now here first, Cody. Um, we're probably connecting with you in one of the most unusual interview locations of the history of the podcast. So why don't you just let folks know where you are, where you're calling in from, and maybe give us a history of, of what is, what is Kokomoke Smoke and how did it get started?

[00:18:05] Uh, so I'm, I'm not going to disclose the company, but I am, uh, out in the Gulf of America and a block called Mississippi Canyon 736, um, uh, on a production facility. I work offshore as a 9e technician. Um, and that's currently where I am. I work a 14 to 14 rotation. Mm-hmm.

[00:18:28] So, uh, whenever I'm not doing this, I am, uh, usually trying to hunt down some barbecue competition somewhere at the house if my wife allows me to do stuff. Yeah. Um, uh, as far as Kokomoke Smoke, um, that you asked how I got the name. Is that? Yeah. Well, how did you get started? And definitely part of the story has got to be where did the name come from? Yeah.

[00:18:56] Uh, so, um, really Kokomoke Smoke, we got started in 2021. Um, the idea was really to, to start catering and, uh, doing pop-ups and, uh, around that same time, uh, you know, we were kind of, uh, we're all on that Malcolm Reed train, man.

[00:19:22] You know, uh, watching him, uh, you know, doing competition stuff and, and we just kind of took that and made picked, piqued our interest, you know? And, uh, so I guess it was around 2021 of July. We did a little contest in, um, Huntsville, Alabama. It was a backyard event.

[00:19:48] Uh, we, we, we, we got online and signed up for KCPS and found this event just to kind of see if we wanted to compete. Mm-hmm. A lot of, a lot of folks have these, these similar stories, but, uh, so we signed up for reeling and smoking that ditto landing, uh, in Huntsville. Mm-hmm. And, uh, we went on RV share and rented a, rented a camper. I'd never even pulled a camper.

[00:20:17] Didn't know nothing about campers, but man, we were going. I grabbed my, uh, we grabbed my, uh, my gateway drum and, uh, an old Weber, old Weber, uh, kettle, you know, and rolled up there. Um, and, yeah, I mean, it was, it was another one of those that poured down rain, you know? Soaking wet. Yeah.

[00:20:46] Man, I loved it. And, uh, we didn't suck, you know? We, uh, we were middle of the pack. We didn't win anything. We even did a popcorn ancillary that was, you know, didn't do too well, but it was, uh, we got the hook in us to, you know, we, we decided that we wanted to, if we were going to do it, we're going to do it right.

[00:21:09] So, uh, pulled back, uh, the next year, I guess it was around March and we, uh, signed up for barbecue blues and bought it. I bought a trailer and I, and then I jumped in dude. Yeah. So final question, going to close. Like we like to close every time again, a lot of work, a lot of effort goes into it, a lot of enjoyment, but what keeps your fire burning at the end of the day? Why do you keep doing it, man?

[00:21:38] Like I said, uh, you know, I'm a, I'm really competitive and I, uh, I'm a troubleshooter. You know, I'm a money technician offshore, man. I like things really to me. Um, cooking is a big troubleshoot, man. You know, you got so many different factors in there that you're trying to figure out, trying to, you know, trying to tweak, you know, you got the meat, you've got your, your

[00:22:07] pit, you've got your fire, you know, you've got all these different elements that you're trying to troubleshoot and, and to get a good result at the end of the day. And I think that's really what just, um, what drives me. I really like doing that kind of stuff. Um, and you know, uh, like I said, the competitive side of things. I like, you know, I always consider myself an underdog.

[00:22:36] I probably always will, you know, I like being, I like the fact, you know, especially KCBS. I like being able to do, you know, go out there. I don't know too many other, you know, hobbies or sports, if you want to call it.

[00:22:54] Uh, you can go out there and you can play with, you know, your top, uh, pit masters, you know, or, you know, that's why I like the fact that I can go out there and I can compete with your Brad Moniker's, your Tim Shears, you know, Jordan Kirkpatrick's, those guys. Um, and you know, and have a chance at, you know, getting the best stuff. Yeah. I'm sure they feel the same. You know, that's why I do it.

[00:23:23] And that's, and it's, I believe that's why a lot of us do it. It's fun. You know, you get a little bit of bragging rights, you know what I mean? All that good stuff. And that my friends is a final word from Cody Turner, pit master for Kokomoke Smoke barbecue based in Pensacola, Florida. Cody, thank you so much for joining us. Thank y'all for having me. The local, local barbecue summer season is sponsored by Carolina Barbecue Festival.

[00:23:52] Whether you head to the beach, the lake, the mountains, or the city, be sure to visit your local barbecue businesses this summer. Go to CarolinaBBQFest.org for a list of local pit masters who will help you get started today. While you're there, sign up to stay connected. You'll be the first to know the dates for the 2027 Carolina Barbecue Festival. And of course, you can find more local barbecue people at our website. Folks just like Cody Turner, low, slow BBQ show.com. We got a whole library of podcasts, more than 100.

[00:24:21] Many of them with local pit masters telling their stories. Give them a listen, then make plans to visit their business this summer. You'll also find our blog, barbecue news, festival event details, and at LowSlowBBQShow.com. Sign up for our weekly newsletter. We'll deliver the latest Carolina barbecue news to your email inbox. To our audience, thank you for listening to the The Low & Slow Barbecue Show. If you like what you hear, share our podcast with your food-loving friends. Please subscribe and give us a five-star rating on your favorite stream.

[00:24:50] The Low and Slow BBQ Show is part of the Mesh.TV network of podcasts. That's where Andrew Moose is the producer of our podcast and others on the Mesh network. Visit the Mesh.TV for the full catalog of shows. That's where you always find the The Low & Slow Barbecue Show, where I'm your host, Sugar Willard, reminding you that for the best barbecue and the best barbecue podcast, make it low and slow.

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