Easton Barbecue Co. Pitmaster Joel Easton

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

[00:00:08] If you were given the chance to leave a comfortable professional career, say working in the

[00:00:13] front of the house or doing something else, in a chance to enter the world of smoke and

[00:00:18] fire in barbecue, would you do it? There's plenty of people in our low and slow podcast

[00:00:24] history who've left the corporate frying pan for a life in the meat smoke and fire. And

[00:00:29] our guest today is done just that. We're talking with Joel Easton, the founder of East

[00:00:34] and Barbecue Company, is part of our Carolina Pit Master series in conjunction with the

[00:00:39] Carolina Barbecue Festival April 5th and 6th in Charlottes, Victoria Yards. Based in

[00:00:44] Nashville, East and Barbecue serves wood-smoked meats and seafood across the carolanas. And

[00:00:50] we talked with Joel about how he got his start and around the fire and we'll find out

[00:00:54] about his experience at the late, great bucks in Hall of Barbecue and learn about some

[00:00:59] of his mentors and what they've taught him. You can meet Joel and some of those mentors

[00:01:04] among the 15 pit masters, they'll be at this year's Carolina Barbecue Festival. But

[00:01:08] if you want to do that, make sure you've got your tickets. Complete festival details are

[00:01:13] available at CarolinaBarbecueFest.org. When you buy tickets, be sure to use our special

[00:01:19] promo code LowSlowBBQ for a discount. Until then, enjoy your conversation with Joel

[00:01:25] Easton from East and Barbecue Company. As right, we're very excited to have with us Joel

[00:01:33] Easton from East and Barbecue Company. Joel, welcome to the Low and Slow Barbecue Show!

[00:01:38] Yeah, thank you so much for having me. This is a new experience. I'm a little nervous

[00:01:44] so if I stutter a little bit, we'll just keep going. But now this is a lot of fun. I

[00:01:51] really appreciate you having me on. Yeah, no worries at all. Nothing to be nervous

[00:01:55] about. There's literally tens of listeners out there in the world listening to us once

[00:01:59] we go on. So, but I do want to just kind of jump right into it and talk about things that

[00:02:03] will be comfortable with you. Who is Joel? Where are you from? And how did you get into

[00:02:07] smoke and meet Low and Slow? Man, so I grew up in the Midlands of South Carolina. Those are

[00:02:14] where my roots are and that's where I started, you know, cooking and eating barbecue. That's

[00:02:20] where I get a lot of inspiration from. But at one point, I decided to move up to Asheville

[00:02:26] and work at Buffston Hall Barbecue. I wanted to really jump in the deep end and learn

[00:02:35] learn the basics about running a barbecue restaurant doing whole hall barbecue with Elliott Moss.

[00:02:41] You know, he's been a mentor of mine for a long time and a really good friend. So, yeah, that's

[00:02:47] where I am today. Yeah, well, tell me what were you doing and what really kind of prompted you to

[00:02:53] make that jump to, I mean, Buffston Hall, that's big time in Asheville or at least it was. What prompted

[00:02:58] you to make that jump? And what were you doing before then? Before then, so I spent a lot of time

[00:03:03] in the restaurant industry, mostly from the house. Man, I was a bartender for close to 14 years

[00:03:11] and got a little burnt out in my early 30s. I had a lot of outside influence telling me to,

[00:03:18] yeah, you need to go get a real job, you know, you can't be in this restaurant. You gotta get a

[00:03:24] 9-5. And so I went into healthcare and I was an x-ray tech for about 4 and a half years

[00:03:31] and decided that wasn't for me. And all along the way, I was, you know, a backyard barbecueer,

[00:03:38] passionate about it and decided just to make a change, just pull the trigger. And I moved up to

[00:03:45] Asheville just to work at Buffston Hall and learn as much as I could. So that's where I am today.

[00:03:54] Fortunately, Buffston Hall closed late last November. So that's where East and Barbecue Company

[00:04:02] was born. Yeah, right on so we'll talk a little bit more about that Buffston Hall experience

[00:04:07] in just a moment but before you get into that and into the Eastern barbecue company,

[00:04:12] what do you feel like your specialty is in the world of barbecue?

[00:04:16] Oh my specialty? You know, I don't know if it's any one particular item,

[00:04:23] you know, I've spent so much time studying barbecue, watching videos, reading about it.

[00:04:29] I feel like across the board, I do everything pretty damn good. You know, I've gotten such great

[00:04:36] positive reactions from the events that I've worked. My brisket is second to none. You know,

[00:04:44] I'm not trying to height myself up or you know, I'm not one guy that has this big ego but I know

[00:04:52] I put my time and experience into researching how to do it right. So I feel like everything

[00:05:00] across the board is really solid and I'm proud, super proud of the barbecue that I put out.

[00:05:09] Yeah, fantastic. It gets great to be well balanced across everything that you're doing. You can

[00:05:13] really meet all those taste buds, all those preferences for folks across the barbecue world.

[00:05:18] So let's talk about Eastern barbecue, Bustin Hall closes and you kind of got out onto your own

[00:05:24] road. Tell me how you got started with doing your own thing and what are you trying to do?

[00:05:28] What's your mission? What's your strategy there with the company?

[00:05:31] Yeah so you know, starting my own company had always been an idea that I had

[00:05:39] flown around back in my mind for months. And then we found out that Boston would be closing

[00:05:46] their doors in late November. So I just that was the chance, you know, that was the moment that I had

[00:05:52] to just go get my own smoker, get my LLC, get business accounts started, try to do things on my own

[00:06:00] but I'd still need to work a full full-time job. You know, Bill's keep coming and I'm trying

[00:06:09] to start very small but yeah, that's kind of where it all started. I went and got a cooker from

[00:06:17] Blang down in Southeast Georgia and just started cooking man and all the food off that smoker has

[00:06:26] been absolutely phenomenal and the few events that I've already worked have already gotten

[00:06:31] like huge positive reception from the food that I've cooked for people. So it's been a little

[00:06:38] bit of a slow process. I'm trying to take it really easy going into starting this business

[00:06:45] because I always stand working full-time as well and it's only me. I don't have any employees

[00:06:53] or anything so just trying to start really small and build it from there. Yeah, well so tell me about

[00:07:00] some of the first events that you've done. I know that your deliverance smoke meets all across the

[00:07:05] Carolinas where have you been so far and how can folks find you? Well, I've got some social media

[00:07:12] accounts. There isn't a whole lot of content on there right now but I'm working on that

[00:07:18] and I have a wedding party then I'm coming up in a couple weeks that I'm going to be cooking

[00:07:24] forward. It'll be about 70 people but in the past I cooked for a pretty sizable Halloween party

[00:07:33] down at Estelle Island. It was a lot of fun. They got a huge reception. The guy that organized the

[00:07:43] party came to me and he said everybody was coming up to him saying like where in the hell did you

[00:07:49] find this guy? Who is he? And unfortunately at that time I didn't have any business cards made

[00:07:55] up. I did have some stickers that I was passing out things like that but before that I cooked for

[00:08:01] a tailgate down for South Carolina football. It was the Florida game back in November and really

[00:08:10] other than that they're having been too much going on you know with with Luxton closing down

[00:08:15] I was changing jobs and there was just a lot going on so I was trying to focus on getting a new job

[00:08:24] and you know I couldn't really put too much energy into the business but now that 2024 has started

[00:08:33] up and we're lining up a lot of events so we got a lot going on a lot going on this year.

[00:08:40] Yeah fantastic. It really starts stoking the flames there at the business port.

[00:08:43] I don't pour gas on the fire but the fan the flames you don't want gas when the barbecue.

[00:08:47] Yeah it's just me so I've got to take it easy. I can't take on too much at one time you know

[00:08:54] working the full-time job it's got to find that balance right now so that's what I've been doing

[00:09:01] for the past couple of months. Yeah well so when you're at one of these events where there's a tailgate

[00:09:07] or the big deal down at Estelle or your upcoming wedding you know what do you want somebody to

[00:09:11] experience? How do you want them to experience an Eastern barbecue event? What can I expect if I show

[00:09:17] up and you're there making the meat? Man just a damn good barbecue. Yeah well I've really poured my life

[00:09:26] into just continuing learning yeah just techniques. I hate to use the term pit master. I don't think

[00:09:35] I'm some kind of pit master. I'm kind of the I'm the newbie you know I haven't been doing it for

[00:09:41] as long as some of these guys like Ronnie Scott, Sam Jones all these people but I have learned

[00:09:48] from the best that I worked for Elliott Moss for a long time but it's just it's a constant learning

[00:09:55] experience and I just want people to know that if you hire me I'm going to bring everything I

[00:10:03] have to the table and I've got a great response from the barbecue that I've cooked for people already.

[00:10:09] So it's you're going to see me, you'll see a smile on my face, they're going to see me working hard

[00:10:16] to do a lot of people don't have the capacity to cook barbecue on a large scale for some of these

[00:10:23] parties so yeah that's what I hope people will come to me for you know or whatever. Whatever

[00:10:30] weddings parties it doesn't matter I'll show up you know if they want me to cook for 15-20 people

[00:10:36] it doesn't matter to me dude I just love cooking for people so yeah so I can tell you what meat I

[00:10:41] want or you bring in your preferences and what about sides and those types of things. Well you know

[00:10:46] I've been working on different sides I grew up eating a side called backbone and rice there was

[00:10:54] a small meat in three place in South Carolina where I grew up and I'm doing my own version of that

[00:11:02] I want my size to be unique I want to take a salad and you know beans probably pinto beans with

[00:11:08] some chorizo probably call it pork and beans something like that but yeah I just want

[00:11:16] I just want to bring my flavors and everything that is nostalgic to me

[00:11:22] huh everybody and uh you know like Elliott Miles always told me when I work for him he's like

[00:11:29] dude just make it taste good you know right it's everything seasoned properly it doesn't have to be

[00:11:37] some sheppy stuff you know just make it all taste good so that's kind of my philosophy when it comes

[00:11:46] to barbecue yeah make it taste good and people are gonna remember you for that so you talked about

[00:11:52] your lane smoker they're from the Georgia southeast Georgia part of the world what kind of wood are

[00:11:56] you using there when you smoke um so in this region um we've had mostly oak you know white oak I'll

[00:12:04] get some hickory makes then not not a whole lot of fruit wood even though I would love to work

[00:12:10] with some apple and pecane um you know but mostly mostly oak I like the the way it burns you

[00:12:19] know not too not too fast I don't like kiln dried wood I like my wood to be a little bit green

[00:12:25] get a lot better smoke flavor off of wood it's like I have some wood a curing right now outside

[00:12:33] there's only down there for about three or four weeks so if I have an event coming up I'll make

[00:12:37] sure I buy wood about a month in advance um and thankfully I have a tree servers that's

[00:12:44] I mean I could walk there from where I am now so right then I just load up the wood in the back of

[00:12:50] my truck and and they tell me how much it cost and for 40 50 bucks man I got enough wood for about

[00:12:57] five or six cooks yeah it's a really good deal it's really called quality wood and um yeah

[00:13:04] I just let it sit outside for three to four weeks and it's it's perfect as far as I'm concerned you

[00:13:09] know the kiln dried wood and I've worked with all that before and it just burns a little too hot

[00:13:14] and too fast you don't really get much smoke flavor especially on the shorter cooks when it comes

[00:13:21] to chicken wings and or whole chickens you know you don't get the color or the flavor on it so uh

[00:13:27] I feel like you need to have like would that's a little bit green of course not cut the day before

[00:13:34] but it's still outside for about a month or so yeah for me it's it's perfect

[00:13:40] yeah let it season down a little bit there when I want to shift into the Carolina Barbecue Festival

[00:13:45] I know you've been involved with that they caught a glimpse of you there last year and I know

[00:13:48] you're gonna be on the on the schedule of pit masters this year tell me how did you get hooked up

[00:13:53] with Lewis Donald and in the festival man uh so I've cooked the festival the first two years

[00:13:59] okay yeah Elliott Moss I worked for him for a while and gained a lot of trust with him

[00:14:08] and he had me come out with him the the first year and I was cooking three hogs on a huge

[00:14:15] center block pit it was such a great experience man Lewis Donald and his whole family was there

[00:14:21] watching me cook and I had Tay Nelson from Bobby's Barbecue there he had never cooked whole hogs

[00:14:27] before so I was kind of training him but he was really giving me a lot of help

[00:14:32] along the way at least through maybe the first half of the cook um yeah it all started from there

[00:14:39] I guess they liked me I guess like they respected me for all the hard work I put in

[00:14:46] and um I started a good relationship with Lewis Donald and you know they had Elliott had me

[00:14:54] back for the second year he did the overnight cook for the hogs but he had me in act for the

[00:14:59] service portion and I just got to caught up get caught up with Brandon Shepherd and Brian Furman

[00:15:11] and all those guys and and um it was kind of crazy like when they posted the uh the pit master

[00:15:19] line up for the 2024 festival I had no idea that I was going to be a part of it so I was you know

[00:15:26] it was flipping through Brian Furman Elliott Moss this is and Taint Jackson and then all the

[00:15:33] Sunday picture of me shows up I'm like what yeah I totally unexpected but it was awesome of course

[00:15:41] I'm gonna come back and be a part of it but this time around it's gonna be uh under my own brand

[00:15:47] I'll have my own tent I'll be cooking my own hog and have my own composed dish yeah so I owe it all

[00:15:54] to Elliott for for making the connections and then for Lewis Donald who these guys believe in me

[00:16:02] you know they've they've seen my work ethic they've they've tasted the food that I cooked so

[00:16:08] you know they signed me right back up really without giving me any heads up which is cool

[00:16:14] yeah yeah that's great well hey everybody's got to start somewhere again and and definitely good

[00:16:18] to get you that experience and in a chance to get your name out there in front of a great audience

[00:16:22] at the Carolina barbecue festival it's gonna be again April 5th and 6th at the Victoria Yards and

[00:16:27] of course you know it supports barbecue for a cause and in that operation barbecue relief as well

[00:16:32] as folds of honor and hungry heroes and what is it mean to you to be supporting those charities with

[00:16:37] some work that you enjoy doing man I love that that's what it's all about you know it's not

[00:16:44] I love feeding people I love the reactions I get when people taste my food but when it's for

[00:16:52] you know when it's for supporting causes like that it makes it even more meaningful so

[00:16:58] you know when I'm out there cooking hogs overnight you know shoveling coals like covered in ashes

[00:17:06] and you know you just gotta love it you know it's it's for something bigger than me

[00:17:13] and just to be a part of it it's such a privilege and I enjoy every second of it

[00:17:19] yeah fantastic what barbecue delight you're gonna be bringing to the festival this year I'll be

[00:17:25] cooking ho hog man right next to Elliot Moss and Sam Jones and I believe Tank Jackson will be

[00:17:33] there next to probably cooking a ho hog yeah I want to do something a little bit different I know

[00:17:39] Sam Jones will probably bring his traditional slaw and ho hog maybe in spider form something like

[00:17:45] that I'm not exactly sure what Elliot's gonna be doing but you know it's brainstorming the other day

[00:17:50] so I think I'm gonna do some kind of tufstata oh use it tortilla is a vessel and then

[00:17:58] pepper vinegar mopped ho hog with a drizzle of a chipotle mustard sauce and

[00:18:05] use a different kind of slaw with some poblano peppers and I've got a cold smoke and then pickle

[00:18:13] and then add a little bit of pineapple some cilantro a little squeeze a lime you know I know

[00:18:19] all the festival goers are gonna be eating a lot of food yeah so the bites they get for me I wanted

[00:18:25] to count I wanted to be life you know not too heavy but it's just packed full of flavor so uh

[00:18:32] I brainstormed this dish just just a couple days ago and I think it's gonna work out pretty well

[00:18:38] yeah wow that sounds fantastic something that the folks can bite into really remember you get a good

[00:18:44] fly or something that's really gonna strike them that's great so for we shift into kind of our

[00:18:48] family jewels and our secret time I just want to ask you know if there's a secret technique or

[00:18:53] something you know about what you do that maybe other folks don't know you know how would you

[00:18:58] uh you know what kind of advice would you offer what kind of secret would you offer to our audience

[00:19:02] out there whether it's starting a business or just trying to cook for the back yard oh man um

[00:19:09] you know it's been pretty crazy trying to navigate how to start this small business you know

[00:19:15] I can cook recipes but the business side of things it's always been something I'm unfamiliar with

[00:19:22] so I got the LLC going and the business accounts and all that stuff but um

[00:19:28] god as far as starting the business uh you just gotta be relentless I guess you know

[00:19:33] and and as far as backyard cooking man I started cooking on a Weber kettle yeah you know

[00:19:44] it just really have to embrace your mistakes it's a learning process and there's so many variables

[00:19:51] that come into cooking barbecue that's um not everything it turns out the way you want it to

[00:20:00] you just learn from those mistakes you know that's really been the main thing for me is I cooked some

[00:20:05] really bad stuff over the years but some really incredible stuff on that Weber kettle it's such a

[00:20:14] versatile cooker yeah really until I got this laying that's that's what I was smoking on

[00:20:20] for many many years I've had this Weber for about 20 years and it's still in great shape I mean

[00:20:28] yeah they definitely run forever if you can get them and you figure out how to set your vents

[00:20:33] and you know what you want to do they definitely go forever so yeah I keep telling you

[00:20:37] to be on it man it's in great shape I've replaced the grate on it I have one of the slow and

[00:20:44] sear components I'm not sure if you've heard of that oh yeah I have a slow and sear on it which has

[00:20:52] a little water reservoir so kind of up my game as far as cooking low and slow on that thing but

[00:20:59] hey everybody John Repair and I'm with Lauren Weaver of the Hickory Smokehouse and we have partnered

[00:21:06] up and we have come up with what we think is the best barbecue sauce in the world it's called

[00:21:13] John Reap's Hickory Smokehouse South in your mouth barbecue sauce but don't just take our word for

[00:21:20] listen to what other chefs are saying

[00:21:36] so

[00:21:49] so this holiday season reap the benefits sopping up let your taste buds rise again

[00:21:57] put a little south in your mouth we got it hot yeah thanks Lauren

[00:22:06] man it's there's a learning curve but I love cooking on it man once you learn how to cook on a

[00:22:17] Weber I think he can probably cook on just about anything yeah that's cool so you know let me ask

[00:22:24] you this Joel what do you enjoy most about being a pet pit master and you know I'm sure the

[00:22:29] business is a little bit of a difference but what are you enjoying in all this man oh god

[00:22:35] it's just it's rewarding you know once you put so much time and effort in the cooking these meats

[00:22:46] not only the coconut but of research and read and watch videos and it's it once it becomes a passion

[00:22:56] and it's just the look on people's faces you know when they eat your food and it's damn good yeah I

[00:23:06] worked that that event down in Edestoe and I had a few Texas guys come through the line

[00:23:14] and there they looked at me seriously they're like all right we're gonna see how this

[00:23:18] brisket is but so I was kind of freaking out on the inside sweating was pretty confident at the same

[00:23:28] time because I know my brisket is fire but yeah within a minute I look back and I mean they had

[00:23:35] the full cowboy hats on and all yeah look back at me man just like nice job dude nice love I was

[00:23:42] pat myself on the back like if you got Texas guys telling your brisket is solid and you know you

[00:23:49] could do something well because that's as you know it's a pretty finicky piece of meat that takes a lot

[00:23:55] and that's to cook it's not easy really really well yeah fantastic you've got the thumbs up of approval

[00:24:02] from the the lone star state and again I want to kind of go back a little bit to your your

[00:24:07] bucks and haul experience and in working with Ellie at mall center I've had a chance to talk with

[00:24:10] them a little bit but I hope to have him on the show here real soon what was it like working at

[00:24:15] bucks and haul especially kind of shifting from you know one bartender you know from the house

[00:24:21] type position into really kind of literally being thrown into the fire tell me a little bit about

[00:24:25] that experience yeah it was um incredibly tough and stressful and uh you know so I heard about

[00:24:36] bucks and haul in a podcast where uh can you remember it might have been uh the pit show or I'm

[00:24:45] not sure which podcast but the interviewer was was talking a day of roll you know the drummer

[00:24:52] from nirvana and lead man for food fighters yeah in the barbecue and then he had asked him who

[00:24:59] were some of the pit masters that he had a lot of respect for looked up to and he named Ellie

[00:25:04] at monster bucks and haul bar with you and that's how I discovered the place because I had been

[00:25:08] coming up to ash bull from fly fishing and hiking and and whatnot over the years so I made sure

[00:25:16] the next time I was in ash bull I stopped through there to try it out and never when I walked in

[00:25:21] there it was an atmosphere that I had never experienced in any other restaurant so I knew

[00:25:28] that I wanted to be a part of it so I sat at the bar applied for a job right there

[00:25:34] as I was eating their food didn't really think I would get hired but sure enough a week later

[00:25:41] they uh Nick bar who was the kitchen manager there and eventually the head chef there after

[00:25:46] a very hard of ways um Nick bar was emailing me like come on in so I stodged on a Saturday like a

[00:25:54] busy busy Saturday during the summer months and apparently I held my own well with no kitchen

[00:26:02] experience yeah I was one of the house experiences um and uh little did I know how much work would go

[00:26:11] into running a barbecue restaurant that was open seven days a week um once and dinner doing whole

[00:26:18] hog barbecue on top of everything else so it it times I was questioning everything I'm not gonna lie

[00:26:27] yeah I was just there I was just there learn learn the ropes but I was learning everything learning how to

[00:26:35] deal with exhaustion learning how to deal with levels of burnout um this learning how to cook whole

[00:26:44] hog I mean it was it was constant and um uh constant level of exhaustion but it was also very

[00:26:53] rewarding you know at the every night I was just trying to look at it as a learning experience you know

[00:27:00] so um I miss busting hog I miss the people that I worked with there but when it was over there is

[00:27:09] a certain level of like of relief right yeah definitely understand but you mentioned uh yeah

[00:27:16] obviously Elliott Moss with somebody they got called out by Dave Grohl and you know and then

[00:27:19] you get a chance to work with him and and when sage your eye it certainly sounds like he's somebody

[00:27:23] that you looked up to oh was it like just finally being able to work with him and learn from him and

[00:27:28] and now have a little bit of relationship as you've continued on no we certainly have a relationship

[00:27:34] we're both we're pretty good friends like I don't really hang out with him um very often but

[00:27:40] we we kept in touch like I worked at one of his concepts called little Louise um and uh

[00:27:48] fortunately I don't want to get into yeah you don't need to personal business too much but

[00:27:53] unfortunately things didn't work out between him and the investors but um I still kept in contact

[00:28:00] with him you know we chat every once in a while and um I can't say too much but there's some

[00:28:07] projects we may be working on together in the future and um yeah he's just like a lot of

[00:28:13] arms in the far well he's got a pop up on um on St. Patty's Day coming up real soon and

[00:28:20] yeah he called me as like man bring your cooker down we can team up and yeah we're going to be

[00:28:26] cooking together finally once again very soon yeah thankfully uh you know my plan was to get in

[00:28:34] there and work my ass off and prove myself and trust from somebody like Elliott that's been

[00:28:39] in the business for a very long time and and that's the way it worked out you know he he

[00:28:45] he loves working with me he sees my work ethic and my passion for barbecue so um we're going

[00:28:52] to continue to work together in the future yeah that's fantastic great news so you know apart

[00:28:58] from Elliott when you're looking for advice who do you turn to advice oh man um

[00:29:07] probably either Elliott or uh some of the youtube channels that I've learned so much from you know

[00:29:15] Bradley Robinson and Chud's Chud's barbecue of meat church uh Joe Yew Jeremy Joder mad scientist

[00:29:25] barbecue you know I guess there isn't any one real person is just uh or all these books that you

[00:29:34] can't see off the my side I've got a lot of lot of lot of lot of cookbooks and it's more just self-guided

[00:29:41] learning and and trying to figure things out on my own I kind of get in my own head and think about

[00:29:48] recipes and think about different textures and balance and flavors and you know it's not any real

[00:29:55] one person it's just me kind of putting it all on myself which which could be stressful of course

[00:30:00] but um that's just the way I've always done it even from my bartending days and constructing cocktails

[00:30:07] um yeah it's yeah it's just uh it's just me yeah well hey you research from a lot of different

[00:30:15] sources get the information you need and then turn out something that's specific and unique to

[00:30:19] Joe East and I'll give you another plug for some advice check out my my friend main cave meals

[00:30:24] John Setsler he's been on the show before he does a great job with all kinds of stuff

[00:30:29] and so check out main cave meals does really cool thing let me ask you this as we kind of get

[00:30:33] down into our low and slow showdown I want to ask you you know anywhere in the US what is your

[00:30:39] favorite barbecue restaurant oh it's always been hard for me to choose favorites it's uh

[00:30:49] mmm that's that's really a tough one unfortunately since I've lived in North Carolina I haven't

[00:30:56] I've been working so hard that I have had the opportunity to travel around and

[00:31:02] visit all the all the iconic barbecue places around North Carolina um but I but I still have my

[00:31:10] eyes on what these guys are doing it you know sweet loos and Brandon Shepherd I love that guy um

[00:31:22] I I gotta say Rodney Scots man okay it's just traditional and it's all done so well

[00:31:32] it may not be uh anything that's you know out of the box but everything he does is done so well

[00:31:42] as the best bite of whole hog barbecue I've ever had and his potato salad it's absolutely killer

[00:31:49] yeah hey well I'll go also in throwing a vote for his Alabama white sauce on his smoked wings

[00:31:55] yeah fantastic stuff there and I know that that Rodney Scots definitely expanding his empire around

[00:32:00] the south I've been able to check him out down and Birmingham Alabama and does a great great job

[00:32:04] in the home wouldn't I know he's got a new location and trustfully just continues to grow and grow

[00:32:08] and grow great stuff there you don't don't have success if you're not putting something good out

[00:32:13] that's right that's right now there's some spots I can't wait to try out there's kings barbecue and

[00:32:18] Charleston is doing some cool stuff yeah you know there's been an evolution in barbecue recently

[00:32:23] that I'm really loving people are and choosing their heritage like down in Palmyra and Hector Garate

[00:32:31] just opened up a new spot and this food looks absolutely killer kind of Puerto Rican influence

[00:32:38] which I love and then there's you know KG barbecue over in Austin is doing like kind of the

[00:32:43] Egyptian thing and I'll be making a trip to Austin pretty soon so hopefully I'll be able to stop

[00:32:49] through there and try some of his barbecue but there's something to be said about just the old

[00:32:56] school the OG guys doing traditional barbecue and doing it so well you know that's why love this

[00:33:04] style food yeah yeah definitely so we're going to take it into the low and slow show down just

[00:33:10] some quick hitters here one word answers maybe a little bit of explanation is needed

[00:33:15] okay just gonna start with you know when you're cooking do you want gas charcoal pellets or wood

[00:33:21] no wood all wood all the time I mean at least in the in the lang you know when it comes to the

[00:33:30] the weather it's always charcoal of course and wood chunks sometimes but yeah never really

[00:33:36] worked too much with gas or I don't have a pellet smoker so yeah that's just what I learned on

[00:33:42] it and I can get the best flavor out of that lang with all wood so yeah and you mentioned

[00:33:48] you're using out there in the in the line but tell me for using charcoal what's your charcoal

[00:33:53] choice it kind of depends on what I'm cooking um yeah I'm not a hater on Kingsford dude I love it

[00:34:03] you know it burns nice and evenly and and it low and slow I've always done the snake method if

[00:34:10] I'm was gonna smoke something on the on the weather um but I do love hardwood love charcoal if I

[00:34:17] want to see a steak or some cook something hot and fast because yeah you know they burn hot but

[00:34:23] they don't last very long right on so you want pork beef chicken or something else oh man

[00:34:33] that's a tough one like I said I'm not always wanting to choose favorites it always kind of well

[00:34:38] I'm in the mood for but oh I have to lean towards pork even though beef is a very very close

[00:34:47] second beef rib is god one of my favorite bites in barbecue yeah it's hard to beat so what is

[00:34:55] the best state in these United States for barbecue oh god um I'm probably biased well I definitely

[00:35:07] biased but I have to say South Carolina very good there's such a variety I mean the low

[00:35:13] country you've got your pepper vinegar the midlands you've got your mustard base and then

[00:35:19] towards the upstate you've got more of a tomato based sauce and I don't know you don't think

[00:35:24] there's another state has such a variety of different regions and styles but um Texas

[00:35:31] pad I've really grown the love Texas barbecue recently and North Carolina of course yeah it's

[00:35:38] definitely hard for hard to pick a favorite I can tell but that's a nice segue into you know your

[00:35:44] favorite Carolina barbecue style do you want it Eastern Western like Lexington style or do you

[00:35:50] prefer the South Carolina mustard um no I'm an Eastern Eastern I love the pepper vinegar I grew up

[00:35:58] eating mustard and um I've made a mustard style sauce that is a little different from what

[00:36:10] I grew up eating it has a little more zip I have some secret ingredients in there

[00:36:16] it's never been my absolute favorite but I've grown to love it more and more over the years but

[00:36:21] this pepper vinegar all the way for me all right so do you want your meat with or without the sauce

[00:36:29] um oh man that's a tough one it shouldn't need it you know I I use the pepper vinegar just as a very

[00:36:39] light seasoning um god no I I'd say without well depending on what it is I guess pull pork without

[00:36:51] yeah ribs I like a little drizzle sauce brisket without uh yeah it's kind of situational for me

[00:37:01] fair enough so this is the last one and it's a tough one I know it's barbecue of verb or is it a noun

[00:37:09] barbecue is a noun and that my friends is the lowdown from the pitmaster at Eastern barbecue

[00:37:18] company Joel Eastern Joel thanks so much for joining the low and slow barbecue show all right thank you

[00:37:24] so much my god I really appreciate you having me on I want to give a shout out real quick

[00:37:29] to people that have helped me along the way and inspire me uh not only Elliott Moss, Nick Bar

[00:37:35] but my friends from back home Mike Buckner uh Larry Donnelly I wouldn't be here doing this if it wasn't

[00:37:42] for the inspiration and the conversations that we've had over the years about barbecue uh we're all

[00:37:48] really passionate about it and I just I love those guys and they've they've helped me be you know

[00:37:56] they've helped me get to where I am today so I really appreciate those guys and loving the death

[00:38:01] and once again thank you so much for having me on this is really this is a new experience for me

[00:38:07] uh I'm the little guy just trying to get started and um I've never been on a podcast or

[00:38:14] never been interviewed about barbecue like this before so this has really been a treat and

[00:38:19] I really appreciate it Michael yep we're glad to give you that platform and wish you the best

[00:38:23] of the success in future thank you you've been listening to the low and slow barbecue show on the

[00:38:30] mesh.tv network of podcasts be sure to visit us online at lowslowbbqshow.com you can learn more

[00:38:38] about the Carolina barbecue festival and other pit masters participating in this year's event

[00:38:43] at lowslowbqshow.com you can also hear from Operation Barbecue Relief CEO Stan Hayes as well as

[00:38:50] pit masters like Dylan Cook from Fort Grove Barbecue and Ronald Simmons from Master One Family

[00:38:56] Farms remember these great Carolina pit masters will be at the Carolina Barbecue Festival April

[00:39:02] 5th and 6th at Victoria Yards in Charlotte visit lowslowbqshow.com for all the details or get your

[00:39:09] tickets at CarolinaBBQFest.org if you like what you hear in the low and slow barbecue show

[00:39:16] follow us and subscribe in your favorite podcast stream please consider giving our show a five-star

[00:39:21] rating and a review that really helps other people find us you can help people find us too just share

[00:39:27] the show with your friends special thanks to Joel Easton from Eastern Barbecue Company thanks as

[00:39:32] well to our producer Andrew Moose and the whole team at the mesh.tv network of podcasts most

[00:39:38] especially thank you for listening to the low and slow barbecue show remember for the best barbecue

[00:39:44] and the best barbecue podcast make it low and slow.

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