Anthony DiBernardo had a long and distinguished culinary career that spanned cooking on submarines during his military service to working in fine dining in Charleston. Anthony eventually got to a point in his career where he wanted to make more approachable, affordable food. In 2013, he opened his first Swig & Swine BBQ location. At Swig & Swine BBQ, Anthony and his team cook traditional South Carolina items alongside influences from other BBQ regions like burnt ends and Texas style bris...
Apr 08, 2019•32 min•Ep. 101
Justin and Jonathan Fox grew up all over Texas and brought their love of Texas barbecue with them when they settled in Atlanta, Georgia. They began tinkering with cooking the familiar flavors of central Texas in their backyard near the turn of the century and soon began to contemplate how to take it to the masses. The Fox brothers began throwing large backyard parties and eventually started providing catering services in addition to serving at their friends and eventual business partners bar. Wh...
Apr 01, 2019•42 min•Ep. 100
John Lewis is one of the pioneers of the modern methods that have become so widely used in Texas BBQ over the last decade. From his innovations in pit design to seasoning and trimming methods and careful sourcing of meat, if you’ve enjoyed “new school barbecue” recently, there’s a high possibility it was prepared using methods Lewis popularized. With a long successful career in Texas under his belt, John saw an opportunity to spread his brand of barbecue in Charleston, South Carolina, and began ...
Mar 25, 2019•28 min•Ep. 99
Rodney Scott grew up cooking whole hogs at his family’s general store in the small town of Hemingway, South Carolina. The tradition of hogs cooked under the direct heat of coals burned down from wood splits was the way Rodney learned to cook and still utilizes today. As food media began to take notice of the whole hog traditions being carried on by Rodney, Hemingway would see an increase in tourists coming to try he and his family’s barbecue. Over the course of time Rodney would meet and become ...
Mar 18, 2019•32 min•Ep. 98
There are so many amazing events that take place during the five day Charleston Wine + Food (CHSWFF) festival and we were fortunate to be granted media access to many of them. From whiskey-centric experiences to barbecue excursions, we did our best to take in all of the sights and sounds of this incredible culinary opportunity. This episode will give you a rundown of all of the events we covered as well as some food and drink highlights from each. We were fortunate to get to spend time with some...
Mar 12, 2019•45 min•Ep. 97
The barbecue industry is full of kind, passionate folks. But like any profession, there are always going to be things that will annoy a person if they do it long enough. Tune in as we hear from Russell Roegels, John Brotherton, Nichole and Will Buckman, Jordan Jackson, John Mueller, Brett Jackson, and Esaul Ramos talk about some of their BBQ pet peeves. Make sure to follow us along on social media, and if you'd like to order one of our new "11 am in Texas" T-shirts, let us know! Instagram: @tale...
Mar 04, 2019•37 min•Ep. 96
West Texas "Cowboy Style" cooking may not be as known as Central Texas style, but it is an important part of Texas BBQ history. As cattle drives made their way west across Texas, pits would be dug in the ground as the crews would stop along the way and whatever meats were available on the chuck wagons would be cooked quickly over wood that had been burned down to hot coals. West Texas BBQ today is often mesquite cooked over live fire with signature "show pits" on display for the customer to look...
Feb 25, 2019•26 min•Ep. 95
Before large scale meat packers and fast transport allowed for meat products to be cut offsite and sold by the case, towns were served by local meat markets and butchers who broke down entire animals and large cuts, called primal cuts, into portions that the end customer purchased. Unsold meats and the left over trimmings weren't tossed away, they were utilized in sausage. The art of sausage making came to Texas via Czech and German immigrants and you can still experience these meat markets, hom...
Feb 18, 2019•34 min•Ep. 94
Smokin’ Z’s BBQ Smokin’ Z’s BBQ opened in Bayou Vista, TX less than a year ago, but young business owners Zaid and Mallory are already producing a menu of quality barbecue that is a welcome addition to the waterfront community of which they are a part. Zaid’s passion for barbecue grew from his love of cooking and his family’s background of hospitality. A high school teacher showed an interest in Zaid and offered him her old BBQ pit, and he soon began tinkering with smoking meats. When Zaid and M...
Feb 11, 2019•50 min•Ep. 93
Brett Jackson grew up in Katy, Texas eating at Nonmacher's BBQ, a long time institution in that community. After growing up and trying a few career paths, Brett went to culinary school in Austin and soon after answered a Craigslist ad to be a BBQ apprentice in Taylor, Texas. Upon walking into the famed Louie Mueller BBQ and interviewing with Wayne Mueller, Brett knew where he wanted to be. He got the job and over the course of the next two years would learn how to make sausage and cook brisket b...
Feb 04, 2019•39 min•Ep. 92
We recently received some exciting news we wanted to share. We do our best to bring exciting, unique, and wide ranging coverage of the barbecue world and have been so fortunate to have had some incredible experiences. We were just made aware of another fantastic event for which we will be in attendance. We'll be attending Charleston Wine + Food March 6-10 in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina. We'll be bringing you extended coverage of the event with of course a focus on the barbecue and live ...
Jan 22, 2019•31 min•Ep. 91
The road to opening Black Board Bar B Q was a winding one for chefs Jo Irizarry and Jake Gandolfo. Jo went to culinary school as a passion despite having a successful personal career. This eventually lead to being a personal chef for a professional football player, while Jake's passion for cooking earned him a spot on the popular cooking show MasterChef. Jake and Jo began dating and through the perfect alignment of circumstances began to consider opening their own restaurant. After successful po...
Jan 15, 2019•59 min•Ep. 90
Direct heat is one of the oldest forms of cooking known to man. While the offset style of BBQ cooking has taken the world by storm, we have recently seen a resurgence in the old ways of direct heat coal cooking. Top BBQ cooks like Evan LeRoy and his crew, John Brotherton, Brett Boren and others have begun utilizing direct heat pits to cook different proteins, while places like Cooper's BBQ and Snow's have been utilizing this method for years. Even high end restaurants have begun preparing differ...
Jan 08, 2019•26 min•Ep. 89
2018 was an incredible year for BBQ, and we were fortunate to be able to attend some great events and had many memorable experiences in the world of smoked meat. We traveled far and wide to help share some amazing barbecue stories in 2018. We ate BBQ in over 60 cities across a dozen states in 2018, and we have big plans for more great BBQ travel in the new year. A huge thanks goes out to the wonderful people in the barbecue world who were generous with their time in coming on our show and to all...
Dec 31, 2018•33 min•Ep. 88
We begin winding down 2018 with a fun talk with some of our friends in BBQ. Patrick Hernandez, Kristin Collins, and Joseph Quellar from JQ's TexMex BBQ join us to talk about some of their favorite barbecue experiences in 2018. After posing a list of question to our friends, we also take the time to look back at some of the more memorable moments of the year in BBQ for us and offer some predictions for what's to come in 2019. Have any plans for BBQ in 2019? Reach out to us on Twitter @BBQPodcast ...
Dec 24, 2018•55 min•Ep. 87
Todd and Kristin Ashmore started Opie's BBQ in 1999, a simpler time in the Texas barbecue world. The Ashmores had careers outside of the BBQ world, but decide to throw their hat in the ring after years of traveling around and eating at other places. They opened in Spicewood, Texas, a town 35 miles west of Austin. Opie's uses mesquite wood and takes some style hints from west Texas barbecue joints while bringing central Texas style cooking in as well as adding their own touches to provide an expe...
Dec 18, 2018•30 min•Ep. 86
The second annual Houston vs Austin BBQ Throwdown presented by HOUBBQ was full of creativity and tough competition. A dozen competitors from both cities as well as two wild card entries battled it out for this year's BBQ bragging rights. The People's Choice Champion for this year was Beaver's in Houston, and the Judge's Choice Champion was wild card entry Bodacious Bar-B-Q (original location on Mobberly Avenue in Longview, Texas). In our episode recapping the event we discuss the different dishe...
Dec 14, 2018•24 min•Ep. 85
As we continue to explore all aspects of the BBQ world, we once again took a crack at competition barbecue. We competed in a small, non-sanctioned cook-off recently and in this episode discussed our results and our thoughts on cook-offs. We also recorded live from the overnight hog cook at Reveille Barbecue Co. as they and Wade Elkins cooked a red wattle hog over live coals. We were joined by Austin Moore with Tejas Chocolate and Barbecue and talked about his role at the restaurant. Nick Rama fr...
Dec 11, 2018•44 min•Ep. 84
Brett Mckenzie Boren was bitten by the BBQ bug at an early, starting with the competition barbecue world. After years of competing in cookoffs and winning multiple awards, Brett began to contemplate a retail business. After building up his profile with a series of successful pop-ups and many large catering jobs, long-term plans for a permanent spot began to take shape. After searching for the right spot for a while, Brett found a location in the small town of Rockdale, Texas that would allow him...
Dec 04, 2018•45 min•Ep. 83
We've had the privilege to talk to many great people in the BBQ world, but the opportunity to talk to true BBQ trailblazers is rare. Roland Lindsey is one of those pioneers of Texas barbecue. A few months prior to his passing we were fortunate to be able to spend an afternoon with Roland at his original Bodacious Bar-B-Q location in Longview, opened in 1968. In this episode you'll hear about Roland's early days cooking at his dad's cafe in Duncanville, Texas as well as his cooking methods and th...
Nov 27, 2018•29 min•Ep. 82
In the midst of another BBQ road trip we recorded an episode to help our fellow BBQ friends with a bit of a Texas BBQ holiday guide. In the episode we go over some great options to take out of town friends and family for the holidays, including different options based on your crowd. We've got some BBQ travel and cooking plans we also discuss. And be on the lookout for some Black Friday giveaways from us! We'll be putting together another listener questions episode in the near future, so get thos...
Nov 20, 2018•32 min•Ep. 81
For Andrew's 100th recorded visit to Roegels we join Eric Sandler in a discussion of Houston Barbecue. CultureMap Houston Food Editor Eric Sandler has been plugged into the Houston dining scene for years, and his enthusiasm for barbecue rivals that of many of the BBQ hounds that travel Texas in search of great smoked meat. Being a born and raised Houstonian, Eric has had a firsthand glimpse at the changes in both Houston and across Texas over the years. In our chat with Eric we talk about how he...
Nov 13, 2018•31 min•Ep. 80
The husband and wife team of Patrick Feges (rhymes with Regis) and Erin Smith own and operate Feges BBQ in Houston, one of the city's excellent new barbecue establishments. Patrick sat down with us a few months ago to discuss his culinary career and new restaurant, but also chose to share with us a much more important story. Most people involved in the Houston dining scene are familiar with Patrick's history as a wounded war veteran, as were we prior to recording. But very few had heard the incr...
Nov 02, 2018•52 min•Ep. 79
John Brotherton has worked tirelessly for years to make his BBQ dreams a reality. With Brotheron's Black Iron Barbecue in Pflugerville, Texas a big success, John has been able to hire a pit crew to help alleviate a lot of his day to day cooking duties. On the heels of that success, John and his business partners have made plans to open Liberty Barbecue in downtown Round Rock. In our latest episode we talk with John and some of his pit crew including Dominic Colbert and Alanmykal Jackson to discu...
Oct 30, 2018•39 min•Ep. 78
We were fortunate to attend the third annual Butcher's Ball event in Brenham, Texas. This meat-centric, all encompassing event showcases responsibly raised high quality products prepared by talented chefs and pitmasters from all around Texas. The participants each prepare a dish to serve and the attendees vote on their favorite dish. The participant whose dish receives the most votes wins the coveted Golden Cleaver award for the year. In addition to the award, the stakes were raised this year wi...
Oct 23, 2018•31 min•Ep. 77
The tradition of West Tennessee style whole hog cooking is an endangered species, with only three known business owners staying true to the method of hogs cooked under beds of wood coals. Pat Martin of Martin's Bar-B-Que (multiple locations in Tennessee and beyond), Ramey's BBQ in Parsons, Tennessee, and B.E. Scott's Bar-B-Que in Lexington, Tennessee are still carrying on this tradition. We had the pleasure of dining at all three places on our recent whole hog road trip and were fortunate to be ...
Oct 16, 2018•25 min•Ep. 76
Wyatt McSpadden's love of Texas barbecue stretches back even further in time than his celebrated photography career which spans five decades. Growing up in a meat market family in Amarillo some of Wyatt's earliest memories involve barbecue. As a young man his hobby of photography began growing into a passion that evolved into a profession. In our interview with Wyatt we cover his early days photographing the construction of the famous Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, the beginnings of his BBQ photogr...
Oct 09, 2018•47 min•Ep. 75
Bryan Furman left a career as a welder with a goal in mind: to cook and serve whole hog barbecue. Whole hog cooking was a tradition Bryan grew up with, but when his father challenged him with the question of "What's going to make your barbecue better than others?", Bryan decided that serving the highest quality heritage pigs would set him apart from the competition. Bryan and his wife Nikki opened the original B's Cracklin' Barbeque in Savannah, Georgian 2014. The critical acclaim would come in ...
Oct 02, 2018•35 min•Ep. 74
Wayne Baker grew up in Luling, Texas eating classic central style barbecue. His youth was also spent competing in BBQ cookoffs with his dad Phil. Both of these experiences helped shape what would eventually become Baker Boys BBQ, opened in Gonzales, Texas in 2015. Serving traditional Texas BBQ staples like brisket, ribs, and housemade sausage combined with unique offerings like their acclaimed stuffed chicken leg, Baker Boys has been a welcome addition to the barbecue scene. Wayne and Phil Baker...
Sep 25, 2018•29 min•Ep. 73
We drove almost 3,000 miles to visit nearly twenty restaurants for our #hogtripping adventure. We recap the trip with our traveling band of BBQ friends Chris Wood, Eric Ulery, Andrew Stowell, Terry Osborn, and Jimmy Ho. Having traveled from east Texas through Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, we stopped at as many BBQ places as we could with the focus of the trip being whole hog cooking. Stay tuned to the end of the episode for a t-shirt giveaway! We were fortunate to recor...
Sep 18, 2018•59 min•Ep. 72
