Tailgate Guys BBQ Show, Episode 16: Sterling Smith
Release Date: 05/08/2019
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 212: John David Wheeler, Larry Krauck
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
Those of us who love BBQ can agree there are few things in life better than a perfectly cooked baby back rib. But outstanding Ribs haven’t been good enough - compared to Pork Shoulder and Whole Hog - to win a Memphis in May World Championship since 2002. Until last weekend, that is. On Episode 212 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, we visit with John David Wheeler, pitmaster of the Ribdiculous Bar-B-Krewe team that broke the Memphis in May Ribs hex by capturing the overall title last weekend on the banks of the Mississippi at Tom Lee Park in Memphis. Wheeler, a former Memphis in May world...
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 211: Richard Fergola, John Zervoulakos
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
It’s National BBQ Month and there’s a ton going on to celebrate the occasion at Proud Souls Barbecue and Provisions Kansas City. Richard Fergola, Marketing and Public Relations Director for Proud Souls, stops by Episode 211 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast to give us a rundown starting off with Demo Days the next two Sundays, where folks can learn all about Ribs on May 21st and how to cook on a Gateway Drum Smoker on May 28th. Richard’s Fergolicious BBQ competition team also has been busy and he gives a quick recap and preview of a busy summer on the trail. We also go back “Under...
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 210: Tim Scheer, Matt Moore
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
Team Blues Hog shocked the BBQ world in 2022 by winning what many consider the biggest prize in competition BBQ - Memphis in May’s Grand Championship - by cooking Whole Hog hot and fast on an oversized Gateway Drum Smoker. Next week, the Blues Hog team returns to Memphis with a target on its back, traditional low-and-slow pitmasters ready to take aim. That’s fine with Tim Scheer. The team captain and owner of Blues Hog joins us on Episode 210 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast for a Memphis in May preview. Tim explains that the preparation for 2023 Memphis in May began only a few days after...
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 209: Levi Stoakes, Bo Wheless
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
There’s a new No. 1 team in the KCBS Team of the Year standings this week and we learn more about Colorado Bulldawg BBQ from pitmaster Levi Stoakes on Episode 209 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast. Levi, wife Jessica and their mascot bulldog named Brisket have traveled the country, cooking 13 competition so far in 2023 and have been a top-five scoring machine with seven overall top-five finishes cooking primarily on their Jambo. Levi tells us about achieving consistency and recounts how he got into competition BBQ. We also have another Under the Radar segment, learning about an...
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 208: Mark Lambert, Rod Gray, Adam Wainwright
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
Buckle up because Episode 208 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast is one of the longest we’ve done, checking in at 72 minutes … but it’s packed full of big names with good and fun info. First up is Mark Lambert, a seven-time world BBQ champion who’s won the overall title at Memphis in May twice and is reigning world pork shoulder champion. Mark and his Sweet Swine O’ Mine team is ready for another title run in a few weeks on the banks of the Mississippi and he tells us about preparations for Memphis in May and what he envisions as the BBQ Major returns to Tom Lee Park. Next up is...
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 207: Craig Verhage, David Ellis
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
The open-fire cooking season officially is launching into high gear as we hit mid-April. For those backyard cooks wondering what type of charcoal - hardwood lump, briquette or pellets - are best for them, check out our conversation with Craig Verhage. Known as “The BBQ Ninja,” Craig offers some advice and also tells us what’s new in the world of Royal Oak Charcoal, where he is marketing director and lead brand ambassador. It looks like another strong year for Team Royal Oak, whose roster of pitmasters captured Team of the Year honors in seven sanctioning bodies in 2023. Craig also...
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 206: Corey Linton, Richard Fergola
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
What goes into organizing a great barbecue competition? If there’s a template for a KCBS event, Smoke in the Spring in Osage, Kansas, could be it. The 20th annual edition was held last weekend with 103 teams on hand and on Episode 206 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, we visit with Smoke in the Spring organizer Corey Linton. He’s been in charge of the comp the last 17 years and, while other good competitions have gone by the wayside, Corey talks about some keys in how Smoke in the Spring keeps thriving. What would he tell a new contest organizer? Corey tells us. Also a member of the KCBS...
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 205: Mitche Graf, Shawn McColligan
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
Everyone loves a great slider. Mitche Graf wants to find out who can cook the world’s best compact burger. Graf is putting together the first World’s Best Slider Championship, coming to Las Vegas in March of 2024. Modeled a bit after the Steak Cookoff Association model, Graf hopes that about 100 Best Slider qualifying competitions will be held this year - as ancillary events to KCBS or SCA competitions - with two “Golden Tickets” earned at each for a trip to the championships. Graf is quite the entrepreneur with a BBQ background, with his own syndicated BBQ Radio Show and BBQ Nation...
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 204: Ed Maurin
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
One of the iconic figures in BBQ joins us on Episode 204 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast. Ed Maurin was a member of the KCBS Board of Directors in the organization’s early days, when he battled the likes of Johnny Trigg, Ray Lampe and Jeff Stehney on the competition circuit. Honing his skills as a Kansas City firefighter, “Fast Eddy” would modify Traeger cookers to his liking, often raising eyebrows - and interest - from fellow competitors. By 1997, Maurin had developed his own line of FEC (Fast Eddy Cookers) that would revolutionize the pellet-cooking industry for restaurants and food...
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Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, Episode 203: Justin Bowman, Nick Owensby
Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast
Cooking in brutally cold weather can test the best pitmasters, physically and mentally. That was the case last weekend at the Qlathe BBQ Championship in Olathe, Kansas, where Justin Bowman of Bull Creek BBQ overcame temps in the teens and gusty winds to prevail in a 68-team field to earn the Grand Championship. On Episode 203 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast, the Paola, Kansas, cook talked about some improvising to meet the arctic-like challenges while reviewing his career in competition BBQ. We also go back “Under the Radar” and learn the story of another aspiring, up-and-coming...
info_outlineWelcome to Episode 16 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Show Podcast. We hope everyone is having a great week and getting outside to cook up some great ‘Q’ as National BBQ Month gets into full swing.
Our featured guest this week is Sterling Smith of Scottsdale, Arizona’s Loot’n Booty BBQ. Sterling not only is a world-class competition pitmaster, he teaches classes all over the world, has a great line of Loot’n Booty rubs and sauces and is simply an all-around great guy. On this week’s show, Sterling tells about how he went from serving in the United States Navy to working in the banking industry and into full-time BBQ.
This week’s “Under the Radar” segment takes us to Huntsville, Alabama and Rob Nelson of the backyard team Beer Pressure. You might have seen Rob - who’s a one-man team - and Stanley, his Great Dane, on the Destination America television show “Bama Q” which returns for season three this fall.
If you’re in mid-Missouri this Saturday, there’s an outstanding first-time benefit BBQ event in Columbia to help the Firefighter Cancer Support Network and the Missouri Firefighter's Museum. Firefighter and event organizer Jeff Strawn fills us in.
The guys also chat about invading the Memphis in May World BBQ Championship and horses changing lanes without signaling at the Kentucky Derby, along with Mother’s Day cooking plans.
Thanks for listening! Have a great BBQ Week!