Vicious Pig Barbecue & Lori’s Ace BBQ Battle

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

[00:00:09] In the world of barbecue there's people who smoke meat for fun, there's people who smoke meat for money,

[00:00:15] and then there's some people who do it for fun AND money, plus a heavy dose of competition.

[00:00:21] Today our guests are a big part of the BBQ Competition Circuit in the Carolinas

[00:00:26] and they'll be involved in an event coming up a little bit later on this month of May.

[00:00:31] Before we get started I'm excited to announce the launch of the low and slow BBQ show newsletter, The Low Down.

[00:00:38] Visit LowSlowBBQShow.com and you'll get the latest podcasts, blogs, recipes,

[00:00:44] and Carolina barbecue events mailed to your inbox every Tuesday morning.

[00:00:49] Subscribe today, you'll get all the premium content for free.

[00:00:53] Now let's get cooking on today's Competition Barbecue Conversation.

[00:00:57] Today we welcome Lori Tracy Stoby from Lori's Ace Hardware in Fayetteville.

[00:01:02] That's the site of a big barbecue battle coming up May 18th.

[00:01:07] You'll also get to meet one of the competition cookers participating in the battle, Bobby Brinson

[00:01:12] from Vicious Pig Barbecue. He's a professional competitor turned food truck.

[00:01:16] Welcome to The Low and Slow BBQ Show you guys.

[00:01:20] Thank you.

[00:01:21] Yeah, so I want to get started with Lori first.

[00:01:24] So Lori tell me all about this big event, the barbecue battle that's happening on May 17th

[00:01:30] and 18th in your neck of the woods.

[00:01:33] Yeah, thank you. We're very excited and it's almost here.

[00:01:37] We've been planning this for months with the help of Bobby and the Southern Barbecue Network.

[00:01:42] So what people can expect is on Saturday May 18th they're going to see up to

[00:01:50] 20 competitive pit masters in our parking lot.

[00:01:54] Fortunately we have a pretty big parking lot and while they're competing,

[00:01:59] they're going to be turning in their mates to the judges and then afterwards

[00:02:04] the public gets to come and they can go around and they get to taste all of the

[00:02:09] competition barbecue and they buy a ticket and all the proceeds go to the

[00:02:15] Cumberland County Autism Society.

[00:02:17] So it's going to be a really fun day.

[00:02:20] Yeah, wow that's fantastic.

[00:02:21] So we get to come out there, we can buy tickets, we can taste the competition

[00:02:25] barbecue and a lot of activities going on there.

[00:02:28] So if I'm a visitor, that's what I expect.

[00:02:30] What do I expect if I'm a competitor coming out to Lori's ace hardware?

[00:02:35] Yeah, if you're a competitor, you're going to get to be with many of your

[00:02:39] peers which is always fun and since they're all competitors,

[00:02:43] they will definitely have a lot to do.

[00:02:46] They'll be coming the day before and getting ready and then they're going

[00:02:50] to be starting their cooking probably the morning of or the night before.

[00:02:55] So they'll get to interact with all their peers but they also get to

[00:02:58] interact with the public which I think will be a really fun addition to

[00:03:03] this event is it's serious in the morning and then the afternoon

[00:03:07] can be a little more laid back when the public is there and then

[00:03:11] they can have some great conversations and build those relationships.

[00:03:15] Yeah, fantastic and that's always a favorite part of mine of going to

[00:03:18] these festivals and events like that and you don't always get to see

[00:03:21] that at the competitions, right?

[00:03:23] Right.

[00:03:24] Yeah, so tell me a little bit more about the charity that the

[00:03:27] event is going to support.

[00:03:28] You mentioned the Cumberland County Autism Society, is that right?

[00:03:32] That is correct.

[00:03:33] So autism is near and dear to my heart because I've raised

[00:03:38] a child with autism.

[00:03:39] He's now a full functioning adult thankfully but you know,

[00:03:44] autism is something that has been increasing for so long in the

[00:03:50] whole country and the whole world and so it's a cause that

[00:03:55] definitely needs our support and the Cumberland County Autism

[00:04:00] Society provides a lot of resources and connections to people who

[00:04:05] have children on the autism spectrum and from personal

[00:04:09] experience, I know it is extremely important to have those

[00:04:13] resources and connections so you have people you can talk to,

[00:04:17] people you can throw ideas off of, know who the best doctors

[00:04:20] are, know where you can go for therapy.

[00:04:24] So it's a great cause and we're very proud to be able

[00:04:28] to partner with them.

[00:04:30] Right.

[00:04:31] Thanks so much for sharing that information.

[00:04:33] So you shared a link with me a little bit earlier today from

[00:04:36] Up and Coming Weekly.

[00:04:37] It's Fayetteville's local community newspaper and that's what

[00:04:40] I want to ask you a little bit about Lori's Ace Hardware.

[00:04:43] You got an unique story so maybe give me just a couple of

[00:04:45] minutes about your backstory and how you and your partner

[00:04:49] came along to open up this business in Fayetteville.

[00:04:53] Yeah, it is an interesting story.

[00:04:55] So Nate and I are the owners and neither of us come

[00:04:59] from retail but we come from, I have a marketing background

[00:05:03] and he has a construction and custom home building background

[00:05:07] but we are a COVID love story.

[00:05:09] So we met in 2020 when COVID was maybe three months in.

[00:05:16] So if you remember those days, we all kind of thought

[00:05:18] it'll be over soon and things will be back to normal

[00:05:22] but of course that did not happen.

[00:05:25] So we met when still everything was shut down

[00:05:27] and you couldn't go anywhere.

[00:05:29] There was no movies open, restaurants were closed.

[00:05:31] So we just did a lot of walking and talking

[00:05:34] and that's how our relationship grew

[00:05:37] and we got married a year later

[00:05:40] and then we decided shortly after that

[00:05:44] that we'd really like to move to a warmer climate.

[00:05:47] So we were living in Minneapolis, St. Paul

[00:05:49] which is a beautiful area but very chilly,

[00:05:52] six months of the year.

[00:05:54] So we thought well let's move to a warmer climate

[00:05:58] and let's find something that we can do together

[00:06:01] that we will enjoy

[00:06:03] and also be able to give back to the community.

[00:06:06] So that's how we landed on ACE

[00:06:08] which is a brand that this year turns 100.

[00:06:13] So it's really fun to hear customers come in

[00:06:16] and tell us their stories of ACE hardware.

[00:06:19] Oh I had one as a child or I've been to one

[00:06:22] and it's a big beach and it's a well-loved

[00:06:25] and well trusted brand.

[00:06:27] Yeah so celebrating a century with ACE hardware

[00:06:30] and now you guys I guess are coming up

[00:06:32] or just past your first anniversary there in Fayetteville

[00:06:35] right you opened in March 23 thereabouts

[00:06:38] and now here we are in May of 24

[00:06:40] and you're getting ready to host

[00:06:42] your first big barbecue battle.

[00:06:44] Tell me how did you get connected

[00:06:46] and why'd you decide to host this this year?

[00:06:49] Well we are all in on grilling and barbecue.

[00:06:52] We love it personally and everyone on the team

[00:06:54] that works here loves barbecue as well

[00:06:57] but we decided early on we wanted to go all in on grilling

[00:07:01] so we have a very large selection of not only grills

[00:07:06] but everything that goes along with grilling

[00:07:09] to make it the full experience.

[00:07:11] So whether you need patio furniture

[00:07:13] whether you want outdoor lighting

[00:07:15] you need accessories

[00:07:17] so what we do is we train our staff

[00:07:20] to have barbecue experts

[00:07:23] so that we can educate the consumer

[00:07:26] about what types of grills might be the best fit for them

[00:07:29] you know get them into the right fit

[00:07:32] so they are confident in making that purchase

[00:07:35] and we do grill outs ourselves

[00:07:38] several times throughout the year

[00:07:40] right out front we will grill out

[00:07:42] we'll let people sample different sauces

[00:07:44] and different meats off the different grills

[00:07:47] and then we partnered with Vicious Pig

[00:07:49] and Bobby Brinson

[00:07:51] so that we can really build that relationship further

[00:07:55] so Bobby helps us with those efforts

[00:07:57] he introduced us to Southern Barbecue Network

[00:08:00] he's been helping us plan this upcoming event as well.

[00:08:03] Yeah fantastic and I'm going to talk to Bobby here in just a minute

[00:08:07] but I want to ask you just one quick question

[00:08:09] you come from Minnesota

[00:08:11] and down in the south we do things a little bit differently

[00:08:15] right so how does the barbecue of Minnesota

[00:08:18] and the Twin Cities compare to what you're finding

[00:08:21] in Fayetteville and here in the Carolinas?

[00:08:24] It is much more popular down here

[00:08:27] I mean down here it is a culture

[00:08:30] yeah it's really fun

[00:08:33] so yeah there's differences

[00:08:35] and sometimes the taste of different

[00:08:38] you know there's the Carolina barbecue sauce

[00:08:40] which is more vinegar based

[00:08:42] and up in the Midwest it's oftentimes

[00:08:44] more of a robust or Kansas City style

[00:08:47] but it's a lifestyle and culture down here

[00:08:51] the barbecue scene

[00:08:53] and it's so much fun and having all these competitors

[00:08:56] that can go around and do the competitions

[00:08:59] and they have food trucks

[00:09:01] and it's just a really fun

[00:09:04] it's a fun group to be a part of

[00:09:07] so that's a great segue for me to come on over here

[00:09:10] to Bobby Brinson and talk with you about

[00:09:13] Vicious Pig Barbecue so again welcome Bobby

[00:09:15] and tell me what is Vicious Pig Barbecue

[00:09:18] and how long have you been cooking meat low and slow?

[00:09:21] Woo!

[00:09:23] So just a little history of me

[00:09:26] and who I am so I'm a retired firefighter

[00:09:29] I worked for the City of Fayetteville here

[00:09:31] I worked there all my adult life

[00:09:33] I retired a couple years ago got out of the fire service

[00:09:36] and my wife asked me you know she

[00:09:38] I'm still young I'm fixing to turn 49

[00:09:40] I've got a four year old so my wife

[00:09:42] asked me she said you know what are you going to do

[00:09:44] when you retire and I told her I plan on trying

[00:09:46] to figure out a way to sleep through my naps

[00:09:48] that didn't work out too good

[00:09:50] so I said well really the only thing

[00:09:52] I've got to fall back on that I think

[00:09:54] there's a market for is the food truck

[00:09:57] and so we took my competition trailer

[00:10:00] and we turned it into a food truck

[00:10:03] I got all the health regulations completely stripped it out

[00:10:05] rebuilt it and that's how we started it

[00:10:08] we had to come up with a cool name

[00:10:11] I bounce around with names through the past

[00:10:13] I've been competing professionally since around 2011

[00:10:16] was featured on a couple of TV shows

[00:10:19] barbecue pit masters and all that with my brother

[00:10:22] different things like that

[00:10:24] were really successful in the KCBS circuit

[00:10:26] so I had to come up with a unique name

[00:10:29] that fit me and I say you know what

[00:10:32] why not the vicious pig you know

[00:10:34] if you're in the barbecue world and hopefully

[00:10:36] most of us listening are

[00:10:38] all the names you can think of are probably taken

[00:10:40] everybody's got every cool name you can think of

[00:10:43] so I was like man vicious pig how cool is that

[00:10:46] looking back on it was a

[00:10:49] quick little name guest but it turned out to be

[00:10:52] a really cool vibe for us

[00:10:54] it actually states who we are and we're very well known around here

[00:10:59] with that like I say the food truck deal has been going well

[00:11:02] we took the food truck we hit the ground running with it

[00:11:05] still trying to balance out the food truck

[00:11:08] versus competitions and we do a lot less

[00:11:11] than we did before but that's kind of

[00:11:14] the cliff-nosed version of who I am

[00:11:17] definitely came along

[00:11:19] we partnered up with Lori and Nate with Ace Hardware

[00:11:23] really the first time I sat down and met them

[00:11:26] I knew it was going to be good because

[00:11:29] I'm not going to be a fan of people but I do want to clarify one thing

[00:11:32] just so we're clear where she's from

[00:11:35] out in the Midwest, barbecue is a verb

[00:11:38] where we're at down here, barbecue is a noun

[00:11:41] so there's a difference and of course

[00:11:44] in the Carolinas maybe you mentioned barbecue it's mainly

[00:11:47] the pork you know we have the hog farms

[00:11:50] we raise pork that's kind of what everybody's used to

[00:11:53] so barbecue around here is the pool pork

[00:11:56] so if you're going to get a pork sandwich

[00:11:59] you know you guys have been to Texas all that

[00:12:02] Texas beef out here it's pork

[00:12:05] so we partnered up with Lori and we've come a long way

[00:12:08] we've done really good things we have cooked

[00:12:11] we promote a lot of their brands a lot of their products

[00:12:14] I really feel like we've grown a strong relationship

[00:12:17] with what we have but we started out with this competition

[00:12:20] I host one every year at my house also

[00:12:23] and it's a pretty robust competition but I felt like

[00:12:26] there's a need to pull one into Fayetteville

[00:12:29] with that being said

[00:12:32] like you say the segue off this competition

[00:12:35] that we're having at Lori's is the Southern Barbecue Network

[00:12:38] I'm a team liaison so I'm North Carolina team liaison

[00:12:41] for the Southern Barbecue Network so I'm actually

[00:12:44] the first contact teams have with that

[00:12:47] which is good that we got this to be a sanctioned event

[00:12:50] so what we have is we have all the certified judges

[00:12:53] it's a sanctioned event the teams that are in

[00:12:56] are members of the Southern Barbecue Network they're chasing points

[00:12:59] they're chasing points for team of the year they're trying to win

[00:13:02] that grand championship it's going to get them to go to the

[00:13:05] imitational to cook in the imitational which is the top

[00:13:08] 20 teams in the year and

[00:13:11] so that's kind of a big thing for us to be able to have it here

[00:13:14] so like I say would that be a sanctioned event not a backyard event

[00:13:17] we're encouraging everyone to come out

[00:13:20] with this event because although it is a professional

[00:13:23] event we'll have a lot of first timers there or some first timers

[00:13:26] you know we'll have a lot of the proteins that are chasing the points so

[00:13:29] it's up in the air but the good thing

[00:13:32] is the ones that are listening on your podcasts

[00:13:35] and they're thinking maybe they want to swing this way and try it out

[00:13:38] Lori and Nate are doing a really good job

[00:13:41] they got a lot of good space they're very thorough with what they have

[00:13:44] for the competition so it's going to be a really good day for us

[00:13:47] yeah fantastic and I want to come back to the Barbecue Network

[00:13:50] tell me what is the Southern Barbecue Network

[00:13:53] and you mentioned there's judges

[00:13:56] and it's a sanctioned event

[00:13:59] tell me more about the network and how does it compare to some of the stuff you did

[00:14:02] in the KC Barbecue Society

[00:14:05] okay yeah so Southern Barbecue Network

[00:14:08] it's a group they were designed

[00:14:11] they're a non-profit and they're designed to

[00:14:14] they offer like strategic help for planning of events

[00:14:17] such as what Lori's doing

[00:14:20] and what they offer is they offer

[00:14:23] judging, they offer the certified judges that come in

[00:14:26] and do the blind judging for the meat so keep it all in the up and up

[00:14:29] they offer the computerized scoring

[00:14:32] they offer hands and try to guide the

[00:14:35] organizer in the right direction with the competition

[00:14:38] try to make it the best it can

[00:14:41] like I said Southern Barbecue they're a non-profit

[00:14:44] and they only do things to

[00:14:47] help out non-profits so what they do is

[00:14:50] if you have a non-profit or you're doing a charity it has to go to

[00:14:53] a non-profit you have to list that on your application

[00:14:56] to be able to be sanctioned

[00:14:59] but what it does like I say it allows it to be on the

[00:15:02] all the up and up there's no up it takes the personalization

[00:15:05] of it and allows them blind judging certified judges

[00:15:08] come in that they've been to class they've

[00:15:11] eaten the food they've got some experience in judging

[00:15:14] so it just keeps everything on the up and up

[00:15:17] it's kind of the Southern Barbecue Network in a nutshell

[00:15:20] we cover a lot of Eastern Seaboard

[00:15:23] North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia

[00:15:26] some into Tennessee in the past

[00:15:29] we're branching out and growing and compared to other

[00:15:32] organizations not that it's better or worse by no means

[00:15:35] but for it fits

[00:15:38] if you're a barbecue person and you like to do this

[00:15:41] event the good thing I'll say

[00:15:44] I'll tell you the pros for the Southern Barbecue Network

[00:15:46] it's kind of drawn me to it is that you don't have

[00:15:49] whenever you have most of your other sanctioned bodies

[00:15:52] you have garnish inside your box which can be

[00:15:55] some sort of like a green leaf lettuce

[00:15:58] or kale or parsley

[00:16:01] the Southern Barbecue Network they only judge you on the meat

[00:16:04] so there's a no-garnish box that you put your meat in there

[00:16:07] because they're really focusing on how well you cook

[00:16:10] the meat that you turn in and that's a good thing

[00:16:13] another positive note for them is

[00:16:16] there's an hour between turning times usually

[00:16:19] and that's up to the organizer to set their times

[00:16:22] but for the most part the way the Southern Barbecue Network guides

[00:16:25] the organizer is to say hey there's an hour between your turning

[00:16:28] and time so if you're cooking a four meat comp

[00:16:31] you have an hour before you got to turn in your next meat

[00:16:34] where a lot of your other sanctioned bodies there's a 30 minute

[00:16:37] time between your meat so

[00:16:40] and that's tough for somebody of course like myself

[00:16:43] I compete by myself usually

[00:16:46] my wife may show up sometimes and I joke whether I call her blister

[00:16:49] because you know blisters they show up after all the work is done

[00:16:52] so I tell my wife at all the time we joke about that

[00:16:55] so I'm usually about myself but when you got a

[00:16:58] some competition if you got a four minute walk

[00:17:01] to your turn in and you got to turn your box

[00:17:04] that's four minutes to get back to your site so now that 30 minutes

[00:17:07] turns into 22 minutes you've got to prepare well actually it's less than that

[00:17:10] because you got another four minutes to walk it back in your next box

[00:17:13] so you're getting back to your site you're rushing you're trying to get your product in your box

[00:17:16] and I think with the Southern Barbecue Network I really feel like

[00:17:19] with what these teams are bringing to the table

[00:17:22] and what they're turning in is a better product

[00:17:25] I just feel like they have more time to focus on getting the best

[00:17:28] meat that they've cooked they're not rushed I don't feel

[00:17:31] like they're rushed I feel like they can really get in there

[00:17:34] and get the best meat they've got and turn into the judges

[00:17:37] okay and like I said that's the Southern Barbecue Network in a nutshell

[00:17:40] yeah and you mentioned they've got events obviously

[00:17:43] Lori's Ace barbecue battles one of those and then they've got other

[00:17:46] events coming up in June August September October and

[00:17:49] then the big finale in November you can get more details

[00:17:52] at SBBQN.com

[00:17:55] and you'll be hearing more about the Southern Barbecue Network here on the low and slow

[00:17:58] barbecue show here in the weeks ahead again Lori's

[00:18:01] big barbecue battles going to be coming up May 17th and 18th

[00:18:04] and a lot of competitors like you Lori said about 20

[00:18:07] or hopefully more will be showing up out there so I want to talk

[00:18:10] to you Bobby a little bit about the competition piece you said

[00:18:13] you got started in 2011 what drew you into doing

[00:18:17] competition and what do you enjoy about that

[00:18:21] so I gotta say I've been a fireman my whole life doing a lot of cooking

[00:18:25] at the fire station doing different things I've always

[00:18:28] felt comfortable in a grill versus in the kitchen doing different

[00:18:32] things so that's kind of I'll say that's where it kind of got started

[00:18:36] my brother was a mentor to me he had a restaurant here in town

[00:18:40] and he competed professionally with him and I was kind of like

[00:18:44] the tag along with the guy in the background with him and it

[00:18:47] which it was kind of you know and I liked it sometimes and we went

[00:18:51] to a lot of competitions and we won a lot and we lost a lot but

[00:18:54] I tell people all the time you know it's when you're winning it's fun

[00:18:57] when you're not winning it sucks and I don't mean it sucks because

[00:19:00] you're just you're tired you're run down you spend a lot of money

[00:19:04] that you don't get back and you know and you feel like you turn in

[00:19:07] sometimes the best product you ever cooked and then it's just not

[00:19:10] what they wanted you know but how I continually how I got started

[00:19:14] you know and I just started that my brother got out of the barbecue scene

[00:19:17] and got away from it and I say you know what I want to keep it going

[00:19:20] I learned a lot from him I learned a lot from some of the places

[00:19:24] that I've been some of the events I've been involved with

[00:19:26] and then I wanted to branch out and do it on my own

[00:19:29] and so we did start Vicious Pig and we've done some really good

[00:19:34] things with it with the Southern Barbecue Network

[00:19:37] we've done a lot of good things this year was a really good year for us

[00:19:40] my goal was to my goal last year just a little history on the Southern Barbecue Network

[00:19:45] also if you win a grand championship you're invited to go to their

[00:19:49] internet or their invitational every year which is in November

[00:19:52] and my goal last year was to more to prove a point in anything

[00:19:57] I wanted to show that you know I wanted to enter one competition

[00:20:00] and I wanted to win it which would give me my invite to go to the

[00:20:03] invitational and then I wanted to go to the invitational

[00:20:06] and I wanted to win the whole thing so I went to an event

[00:20:09] I won it one one event I did one event last year I want it went

[00:20:12] the invitation I won the invitation this year so it was kind of it was kind of like

[00:20:15] it was kind of like a really good moment for me to be able to just

[00:20:19] to prove that hey it can be done you know you don't you don't have to be

[00:20:22] the best cook out there you just got to be be have your best days

[00:20:26] and land on a good table so so that's kind of what we did but

[00:20:30] that's what we do with the Southern Marriott Network that's what

[00:20:33] Vicious Pig does we are a food truck here in Fayetteville

[00:20:37] the competition scene is now a secondary to what we do

[00:20:42] but we still compete a lot professionally and looking forward

[00:20:46] to the teammates and other teams that are coming in I mean

[00:20:49] there's some really strong competition based off some of the teams that

[00:20:52] Lori and Nate have told me they're coming some of these guys

[00:20:56] that are coming and they're coming to win it and you know I'm

[00:20:59] going to be in the parking lot representing Lori's ace

[00:21:02] and I got to make sure it's right you know I got to cook my best product

[00:21:05] but one thing in barbecue if you've been around it long enough

[00:21:09] and the people that are listening probably know you know there's

[00:21:11] I tell people all the time when you're doing blind judging

[00:21:14] there's three there's three sets of tables there's a table

[00:21:17] that scores low a table that scores high and a table that scores

[00:21:20] right I want to be on the high table I don't want to be on the one

[00:21:23] that's scoring right I want to be on the one that's giving the high scores

[00:21:25] and fortunately you know that's the that's the that's the

[00:21:28] that's competition barbecue in a nutshell.

[00:21:30] Yeah so what do you feel like is your specialty in the competition room?

[00:21:36] Well for us a vicious pig you know we've been voted our best ribs

[00:21:39] in Fayetteville here through our food truck through a kill

[00:21:42] we're nominated again this year we're a finalist in the best ribs category

[00:21:45] I'll say that our ribs are probably

[00:21:49] they're really good unfortunately when you eat when you eat

[00:21:52] competition barbecue that you're packing so much flavor into one bite

[00:21:57] that that is so rich that sometimes the judges don't like it that rich

[00:22:01] they like it to be more mellowed out but that's just not my style

[00:22:05] but I've been hitting higher score wise in pork

[00:22:08] but I feel like ribs are probably my specialty

[00:22:11] so and we're and the good thing is that Lori's were doing ribs and pork

[00:22:14] so hopefully I'll hopefully I'll hit a home run but not sure.

[00:22:17] Yeah great and so anybody that comes out to the festival

[00:22:20] they can taste it is what people are going to taste the same as what you're serving up to the judges

[00:22:25] or is the audience palette different from what those guys are bringing?

[00:22:29] So a lot of the teams will um because the butts are provided to the teams

[00:22:35] from Lori's a lot of the teams will come out and they'll use all the butts

[00:22:40] to prepare it and like I say they'll pick they'll pick enough food to put in their turn in box

[00:22:45] and they'll all out of those the food is given to them

[00:22:49] and then um so I will say that the majority of the teams will have their competition quality food

[00:22:54] that are serving to the public out there.

[00:22:56] Okay now you mentioned when you lose it's not as much fun

[00:23:01] apart from that what do you think is the hardest part of coming out and competing

[00:23:05] and participating in some of these events and maybe throw the food truck aspect in there too

[00:23:10] what's hard about all that?

[00:23:12] So the competition in the competition world the hardest thing for anyone probably

[00:23:17] is a lot of the backyard guys and a lot of the guys are just getting into it

[00:23:22] is the setup and breakdown that the physical part of that trying to get everything set up

[00:23:26] with your pop-up tent your tables trying to get everything that you've got

[00:23:30] that you've got packed in the Tupperware containers or Tupperware boxes

[00:23:33] and unload everything and load everything back up

[00:23:36] that's I would say that's probably the most physically demanding part of it

[00:23:39] unfortunately for us and other teams that have been in it

[00:23:42] we've got trailers that are cookers are mounted inside so there's not a lot of cleanup for us

[00:23:46] the mental stress of being out there will wear you down

[00:23:50] being up all night you know cooking the product because that's how people

[00:23:54] you know pork butts are not a product you're gonna cook in two hours

[00:23:57] you know most of the people are going to take eight nine hours

[00:24:00] some of them cook on drums and they'll cook them in four or five hours

[00:24:03] but you still have to with the turning times being early in the morning

[00:24:07] sometimes nine and ten o'clock in the morning you've got to get that food on

[00:24:10] you know sometimes around midnight one two o'clock in the morning

[00:24:13] and it's not something just set it on a walk away and forget about it

[00:24:17] you know you've got you've got to maintain it your all these all these teams

[00:24:20] are chasing temperatures are trying to get you know they're pulling at a certain temperature

[00:24:24] they're putting it on a certain temperature that it's just like us at the vicious pig

[00:24:28] you know we or me we I go in it's everything's on a timeline man

[00:24:33] it's like it's like if it I've got I've got timer set on my phone that goes off

[00:24:37] like every 12 minutes it seems like you know I got I got a rat ribs I got a base ribs

[00:24:41] I gotta do this I gotta inject just whatever you do off it's all on a timeline

[00:24:45] so you feel like if you miss if you miss one of them and you feel like your whole night screwed

[00:24:49] and that's kind of the mental part of it and that's that's the mental part of

[00:24:53] barbecue is trying to stay focused and trying to be on your game throughout the entire thing

[00:24:58] but in the wee hours of the morning I laugh I jokingly tell my wife all the time

[00:25:04] you know I said man I love competing barbecue I love them until about four in the morning

[00:25:08] four in the morning I get out and sit in my trailer that's about a long time

[00:25:12] where where you're sitting there the sun's not up you're dead tired and you're like man

[00:25:16] you know what I could be at home my warm bed not worried about this stuff at all

[00:25:20] and then about the sun will come up and you're rejuvenating get a cup of coffee or whatever

[00:25:24] and you're like ready to go again and you get that high again you know you get everything

[00:25:28] racing and racing and getting everything turned in and then you get everything turned in

[00:25:32] it's just a mental dump man wow you're running on adrenaline and then you get everything turned in

[00:25:38] it's just like man I want to just sit down you know sit in the corner somewhere like Eric

[00:25:40] can you blow on me but uh yeah it's really a good time really a good time

[00:25:46] Yeah so that's a great kind of glimpse into what people can expect around the environment

[00:25:50] and then I'm going to ask you about the first festival

[00:25:54] and then you're like what are you enjoying most about being a part of the barbecue

[00:25:58] and the grilling community around Fayetteville

[00:26:02] what are you enjoying about that so much

[00:26:06] um really it's meeting all the really great people

[00:26:10] um and honestly that's one of the things about moving down to the south

[00:26:14] that we've really enjoyed is the hospitality

[00:26:18] it truly does exist to the southern hospitality

[00:26:22] everyone has been so gracious and welcoming to us

[00:26:26] and they're so happy that the store is here

[00:26:30] and being able to be part of the barbecue community these are generally nice people

[00:26:34] I mean we are humbled and honored to be able to work with

[00:26:38] Bobby Brinson because he not only is a winner but he's a

[00:26:42] great guy and he's honest and he cares about

[00:26:46] people and that's important to us so we like to align ourselves

[00:26:50] with great people and the barbecue

[00:26:54] network down here is a community of great people

[00:26:58] Well said, well said and so glad to hear that about the south now if people want to find out more

[00:27:02] they want to get involved with the festival it's coming up again May 17th and 18th

[00:27:06] what do they need to do Lori? They can stop in the store

[00:27:10] and talk to any one of us so they can call us on the phone or they can even go to our

[00:27:14] Facebook page and message us there. Yeah and I saw your Facebook page it looks great

[00:27:18] you got a nice logo there all the details about the event are there

[00:27:22] and they can log in email you there and reach out and connect with you there

[00:27:26] Lori, Bobby thanks so much for joining the Low and Slow Barbecue Show today

[00:27:30] Thank you. Thank you for having us. Yeah

[00:27:34] you've been listening to the Low and Slow Barbecue Show on the mesh.tv network of podcasts

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[00:28:14] special thanks to Lori Tracy Stoby from Lori's Ace Hardware and Fayetteville

[00:28:18] as well as Barbie Brinson from Bish's Pig Barbecue

[00:28:22] thank you for joining the skies and thanks as well to our producer Andrew Moose

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