BBQ school recommendations?

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qposner

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Ive been talking to some friends and we are interested in a high end school to up our game. We are not competitors but are back yard cooks who take our Q seriously. Of course Im aware of Myron Mixon and Johnny Trigg's schools, but we are coming from the Pacific NW and wondering if there are any quality schools anyone might recommend on the west coast. If not, we're happy to fly east. I also welcome recommendations for school in the mid west and east coast. Thanks!
 
I took a class with Dylan Taylor a couple weeks ago. Being from the PNW I'm sure you have no idea who he is. Hes a young kid who has been pitmaster at Truth BBQ and LaBarbecue and worked at Terry Blacks, 2M Smokehouse and some others. These are some of Texas best BBQ joints with lines out the door. He does not teach competition BBQ, he teaches Texas style backyard BBQ.

Best part is it's not a "class". It's 1 on 1 instruction in his backyard. Just you and him in his backyard cooking and talking about BBQ all day. Cool kid, super nice and being he has cooked 10,000+ briskets....he knows his stuff.

If I wanted to learn competition style, I'd probably go to Harry Soo. If I wanted to learn Texas backyard I'd go Dylan Taylor.

https://www.taylorbbqcatering.com/about/

https://www.instagram.com/dylan_taylorbbq/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPnU3xU5R3g
 
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Rockinar said:
I took a class with Dylan Taylor a couple weeks ago. Being from the PNW I'm sure you have no idea who he is. Hes a young kid who has been pitmaster at Truth BBQ and LaBarbecue and worked at Terry Blacks, 2M Smokehouse and some others. These are some of Texas best BBQ joints with lines out the door. He does not teach competition BBQ, he teaches Texas style backyard BBQ.

Best part is it's not a "class". It's 1 on 1 instruction in his backyard. Just you and him in his backyard cooking and talking about BBQ all day. Cool kid, super nice and being he has cooked 10,000+ briskets....he knows his stuff.

If I wanted to learn competition style, I'd probably go to Harry Soo. If I wanted to learn Texas backyard I'd go Dylan Taylor.

https://www.taylorbbqcatering.com/about/

https://www.instagram.com/dylan_taylorbbq/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPnU3xU5R3g
Click to expand...

Funny you should mention him. On an unrelated web search for something, his BBQ 'school' came up. I wasn't real familiar with him myself but, his class 'google search results' looked interesting.
 
Understand what you really want out of the class. Competition and backyard family BBQ are really different. Are you looking for classic Texas brisket, Carolina whole hog, chicken, etc.? Then there are classic sides to consider along with rubs and sauces.

For a tougher 'cut' of meat like brisket or whole hog, the tutelage of a pit master who knows what they are doing is important to get over the 'hurdles' of classic problems. However, a BBQ 'tour' might be more enlightening about the different styles of BBQ and what different people can do with the same cut of meat.

For myself, I stumbled into a little place on the side of the road North of Jacksonville, FL in Georgia and had some classic 'southern' food for lunch. The simple rice dish, as a side, was unbelievably good. Now I know what I am 'really' striving for when I fire up my rice cooker!
 
I would highly recommend www.lottabullbbq.com
I don't do competition and got a lot out of their class.
They do classes in a lot of different areas and also charge much less than most.
Mike and Debbie are a class act.
 
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I would also look for a class with someone who cooks on your kind of smoker. I took a class last year from David Bouska of Butcher BBQ, and it was very informative because he uses an FEC-100 in competition, and I was able to pick his brain on placement, timing, etc.
 
I have taken several classes that Chris Marks teaches and have learned a lot. He travels all over and does his classes. He teaches mostly back yard cooking but he used to compete and did quite well.
 
Thanks everyone! Some great advice and questions to ask myself.
 
70monte said:
I have taken several classes that Chris Marks teaches and have learned a lot. He travels all over and does his classes. He teaches mostly back yard cooking but he used to compete and did quite well.
Click to expand...


+1 on Chris Marks. Chris is pretty good at teaching on how to cook on different style cookers. I agree w/ the other post about finding somebody that runs the same cooker as you. It does help a lot.

Chris bases everything on the cooker that he designed. However, I've learned that what he taught me has held true on my offset as well. He's a good dude.
 
Youtube, it's free, and you get to choose what you learn.
 
I checked the year on Wikipedia. It was her, Rod Gray and Butcher Bbq in the final.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
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