The Low & Slow Barbecue Show

Pitmasters: Ronald Simmons, Keith Henning, Michael Letchworth

North Carolina barbecue comes in all shapes, sizes, and flavors. Sure, there’s always debate over Eastern Whole Hog and vinegar versus Western Pork Shoulder, red slaw, and barbecue dip with ketchup. But in the great barbecue state of North Carolina in the year 2023, people like a lot of other barbecue angles, too. The barbecue menu is diversifying even if the barbecue joint isn’t changing too much.On this Low and Slow Barbecue Show episode, we meet pig masters AND pitmasters who stoke the flames of tradition and challenge expectations. We talk to Ronald Simmons from Master Blend Family Farms, a third-generation family farming business specializing in pasture-raised pork. Keith Henning is the Pitmaster at Black Powder Smokehouse in Jamestown and Asheboro – and he isn’t afraid to step outside the traditional North Carolina barbecue box.Finally, Michael Letchworth joins us from Sam Jones BBQ in Winterville and Raleigh. He’s spent a lifetime working in and around the same barbecue traditions that date back to Pete Jones and the Skylight Inn’s whole hog barbecue, cornbread, and slaw.Listen to hear all about North Carolina barbecue traditions – and innovations.Visit The Low & Slow Barbeque Show website here!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Celebrating Independence with Hanna Raskin

To mark Independence Day on the Low & Slow Barbecue Show, we talk to 2023 James Beard Foundation Award Winner Hanna Raskin. And because she is absolutely an independent voice in food journalism (and a 2015 Pulitzer Prize winner), you know Hanna is preaching the gospel. Hanna Raskin is the founder and editor of The Food Section, a newsletter about food and food culture in the South. In this episode, we talk with her about American Barbecue traditions on July 4th, her favorite plate of food for Independence Day, and the traditional recipe she wants to bring to the holiday potluck. We get Hanna’s insight on the importance of barbecue in the Carolinas, the best barbecue restaurant around, and of course, she answers all the questions in the Low and Slow showdown – including which barbecue is best, the East or the West. Listen today, and you’ll also hear about her exit-by-exit guide for food along I-95, a project that helped her win a second James Beard Foundation Award.Visit The Low & Slow Barbeque Show website here!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pitmasters: Ken & Jess Hess from County Smoak

The Carolinas hold no monopoly on great barbecue. There’s plenty of really good food being cooked low and slow all around the barbecue world. Lynchburg, Virginia is one of those places. That’s home for Ken and Jess Hess and their barbecue business County Smoak. The husband and wife duo of classically trained chefs have rekindled Virginia barbecue traditions while crafting their own important barbecue story. Ken and Jess and County Smoak are why the Low and Slow Barbecue Show partnered with the Carolina BBQ Festival to create this Pitmaster Series of podcasts. We want to share the stories of the best pitmasters around the Carolinas – and Virginia!Listen now to hear all about County Smoak and the Hess Family’s barbecue tradition.Visit The Low & Slow Barbecue Show website here!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pitmasters: Holy City Hogs, Tank Jackson

To make the best barbecue you’ve got to take it low and slow. If you’re making that barbecue in the Carolinas, chances are pretty good you’re cooking a pig low and slow. And if you want the best pigs for traditional whole hog barbecue, you can’t miss with Holy City Hogs.The Low & Slow Barbecue Show partnered with the Carolina BBQ Festival for the Pitmasters Series because I want you to hear the stories from the pitmasters – and some of the other people who bring flavor to the Carolinas barbecue community. Tank Jackson most certainly brings some flavor.Farmer Tank travels the country sharing his passion for his hogs and barbecue. Listen to our conversation at Carolina BBQ Festival at Camp North End. You’ll find out quickly. Tank has a passion – and that’s putting it mildly.Visit The Low & Slow Barbecue Show website here!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pitmasters: Lewis Donald, Garren Kirkman, and Matthew Register

If you want the best Carolina BBQ you need a low slow cooking heat source, the best quality meat… and a seasoned pitmaster.The Low & Slow Barbecue Show partnered with the Carolina BBQ Festival for this Pitmasters Series of Podcasts. We want you to hear the Pitmasters’ stories. From managing the fire and seasoning the meat to seeing it through to a perfect finish. We know the person serving a show-stopper for the mouth is the one at the pit, the ringmaster of the Carolina Barbecue main event.In this episode, we talk with Carolina BBQ Festival Founder Lewis Donald, the pitmaster of Sweet Lew’s BBQ in the Belmont neighborhood of Charlotte. We also talk to Garren Kirkman the pitmaster at Jon G’s Barbecue in Peachland, NC. Finally, stay tuned to the end of our conversation with Matthew Register from Southern Smoke BBQ in Garland. You’ll want to hear how he went from backyard barbecue to successful restaurant runner and cookbook author featured in Southern Living and Our State.Visit The Low & Slow Barbeque Show website here!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

3 Beers Down and JD’s Smokehouse

JD’s Smokehouse is on the menu and 3 Beers Down is in TheMesh.tv studios for a review of beer and BBQ pairings. Host Chigger Willard welcomes Josh Elder, Matt Everley, and Luke Sears who share their advice for the best beer and BBQ combinations with smoked chicken, pulled pork, and beef brisket.While Chigger’s “surprise beer” wins the award for Best Beer and BBQ Match with Everything, listen to this podcast mash-up for a review of What’s Up Bro from Lost Province Brewing Co., Saison de Lis from Perennial Artisan Ales, and Willettized from Lagunitas Brewing Company. Get the Low & Slow-3 Beers Down opinion on the main meats from JD’s Smokehouse and their best sides (spoiler alert: the brisket and jalapeño cheese grits are worth a drive to Rutherford College.)If you’ve spent hours getting your meat ready to go in the smoker, you know when it is time to crack a cold beer, sit back and let the smoke do its thing. Maybe you enjoy that Carolina craft beer at the END of a day spent serving barbecue to family and friends. A meal of cold beer and BBQ? Maybe …. if that’s your thing. And it is gonna be our thing on this episode of the Low & Slow Barbecue Show featuring 3 Beers Down and JD’s Smokehouse.Visit The Low & Slow Barbecue Show website here!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Carolina BBQ Festival Founder Lewis Donald

On this episode of the Low & Slow Barbecue Show, we welcome the barbecue pitmaster at Sweet Lew’s Barbecue in Charlotte and the founder of the Carolina BBQ Festival. Find out about Charlotte’s newest BBQ Fest from Lewis “Sweet Lew” Donald and celebrate the heritage of whole hog barbecue. One of the best things about cooking barbecue low and slow in the Carolinas is watching family, friends, and customers when they take that first savory bite of what you prepared. Spend countless hours preparing, cooking, and serving up your best barbecue. For a barbecue pitmaster, it is hard to beat the feeling when someone says, “Ooh, that’s so good.”Of course, the experience only gets even better if you are among a community of your barbecue peers all working together for a good cause. Wow all those tastebuds, see sauce spill on fingers and shirt fronts, your work is done. That’s why spring bbq festivals fill the calendar when the weather starts to warm. From Memphis in May to the Lexington Barbecue Festival in October. If you try, you can spend most weekends competing, serving, judging, tasting, or enjoying the best barbecue cooked low and slow.Join Chigger Willard to learn more about:Barbecue for a Cause and the Carolina BBQ Festival. Sweet Lew’s barbecue specialty and his favorite recipes.Secrets of preparing great barbecueThe Pitmaster’s take on the best sauce, best wood, and best barbecue cooking methods.And naturally, the best of that barbecue is right here in North Carolina. Visit The Low & Slow Barbecue Show website here!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Low & Slow Goes Indoor

Low & Slow barbecue tips for the indoor oven master. Shutdown Fullcast’s Ryan Nanni shares his recipe for Bo Ssam pork shoulder. Some people are limited to preparing their favorite barbecue … inside. If you’re one of those folks in an apartment, or heaven forbid you don’t have an outdoor smoker, or even a place to get outside, this episode of the Low & Slow Barbecue Show is for you.Let there be no doubt that the low & slow barbecue traditions of the Carolinas are best performed outdoors for the at-home pitmaster. Whether you’ve got a cinder block pit, a pull-behind trailer smoker, or more modern technology like one of those fancy pellet things, to do it right, you’re gonna be producing a lot of heat and a lot of smoke. You’re probably going to be doing it for a long time, too. Combine all those factors, and you have a cooking equation that belongs outside. Plus, it is just nice to be out of the house, especially as the weather warms in the spring. But what if you don’t have the luxury of an outdoor kitchen, or a carport parking spot for your Weber Smoky Mountain? Plenty of unfortunate people in this world don’t have a patio space to prepare a barbecue delight.Chigger Willard talks with culinary enthusiast and college sports aficionado Ryan Nanni from Shutdown Fullcast. Listen to get advice for preparing Bo Ssam, as well tips for serving the Korean barbecue delight of low & slow cooked pork shoulder. And because Ryan Nanni is a familiar voice in the world of college sports media, we also talk about his favorite tailgating venues for barbecue – and the overrated college football pre-game parties. Visit The Low & Slow Barbecue Show website here!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tailgating Time for The Low & Slow Barbecue Show!

Finally, the cool temperatures greet us on the Carolina mornings of fall. The days are getting shorter as the calendar ticks toward the tenth month. The fall weekend schedule is filling up. And if you’re a fan and follower of North America’s favorite football pastime, it is time to dust off your favorite tailgate chili recipe. That’s because if you are a fan of football, chances are pretty good, you’re also a fan of food cooked for hours in advance of kickoff. After all, football is best enjoyed as one part of a weekend tailgate party. You can’t have a tailgate party without food. If we’re prepping food, especially a tailgate chili recipe, we’re doing it low and slow.So we’re tailgating on this Low and Slow Barbecue Show episode. Listen as we meet two long-time tailgaters, Marcus Miller and Randy Abernathy. If the Carolina Panthers play in Charlotte, you’ll find Marcus and Randy tailgating around their favorite food menu with friends and family.Marcus shares his tailgate chili recipe. Randy offers insight into his smoked pork foundation for a Brunswick Stew crowd pleaser. Both provide tips and takeaways that are good for your next tailgate – or your next low and slow cook. Don’t miss the tailgaters’ low and slow BBQ side hustle that supports raised awareness of agriculture and sustainability.Check out The Low & Slow Barbeque Show website for episodes, Chigger's Blog, and more!The Low and Slow Barbecue Show serves up barbecue recipes, advice for smoking barbecue, and cooking barbecue stories of success - and failure! Home smokers and BBQ Pitmasters share advice - all steeped in Carolina barbecue flavor. Listen and learn how to smoke meat, the best meat to smoke, how to make Carolina barbecue sauce, and the best barbecue restaurants we love to visit - the best barbecue in North Carolina! (And maybe a few other “barbecue” places, too!) Every episode promises to share a few experiments for the next time you fire up the barbecue smoker.Barbecue meat smoking enthusiast, news journalist, and sports radio broadcaster Chigger Willard walks through the barbecue basics with guests who bring a wide variety of experiences to the barbecue world. Competitors. Restauranteurs. Fund-Raisers. Tailgaters. Moms and Dads. ALL the people who make the best barbecue share all their barbecue best.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

BBQ Food Truck Shares Secrets

Every day a wave of food trucks rolls out across the blacktops of the Carolinas, bringing with them a variety of flavors to festivals, breweries, construction sites, and busy street corners. Convenient to find, affordable for food, and easy to eat right on the street, these food trucks serve everything from tacos and crab rolls to pizza and frozen treats. Of course, our favorite is the BBQ food truck.Ultimately, the BBQ food truck is a smokehouse on wheels. Pitmasters pack their wagons with pork and chicken, then serve up sandwiches, ribs, sliced brisket … just about anything else you’d find at your favorite brick-and-mortar barbecue restaurant. Only this is a food truck. There are no bricks. There is no mortar, so that means there is no pit. And yet there’s still smoke, sauce, and meat cooked low and slow. So how exactly does the food truck pitmaster produce such a perfect combination of barbecue flavors inside a big metal box?In this episode of the Low & Slow Barbecue Show, the one and only Big Byrd of Big Byrd’s Smoke House Barbecue shares his story of barbecue life. Big Byrd’s Smokehouse is a family-run food truck serving barbecue brisket and pulled pork for catering and events in the Hickory Metro and all around western North Carolina from Winston-Salem, down to Gastonia, and up to Blowing Rock. Find out more about Big Byrd’s Smokehouse and what it takes to operate a BBQ food truck. Listen to this episode and get the lowdown on low and slow food truck barbecue from Richard Byrd. Check out The Low & Slow Barbeque Show website for episodes, Chigger's Blog, and more!The Low and Slow Barbecue Show serves up barbecue recipes, advice for smoking barbecue, and cooking barbecue stories of success - and failure! Home smokers and BBQ Pitmasters share advice - all steeped in Carolina barbecue flavor. Listen and learn how to smoke meat, the best meat to smoke, how to make Carolina barbecue sauce, and the best barbecue restaurants we love to visit - the best barbecue in North Carolina! (And maybe a few other “barbecue” places, too!) Every episode promises to share a few experiments for the next time you fire up the barbecue smoker.Barbecue meat smoking enthusiast, news journalist, and sports radio broadcaster Chigger Willard walks through the barbecue basics with guests who bring a wide variety of experiences to the barbecue world. Competitors. Restauranteurs. Fund-Raisers. Tailgaters. Moms and Dads. ALL the people who make the best barbecue share all their barbecue best.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.