I thought it would be fun to discuss Myron Mixon's cooking methods as shown on "BBQ Pitmasters" the TV show. BTW - If it comes out on DVD, I'd recommend you get it. While it isn't geared towards teaching BBQ cooking, you can glean some interesting tid bits, though you can't always get the full picture or the context.
Either way, I think Myron Mixon has shown that you don't have to "fit the mold" to win BBQ competitions and has certainly shown that conventional wisdom may not be what we have been told it is.
Here is Myron Mixon's BBQ in his own words, mostly.
Myron Mixon is the BBQ King. He is the “winningest” man in BBQ. He is a three time world BBQ champion. If he doesn’t bother you, you don’t bother him. It’s about @#$%&*@ winning. Jack’s Old South is like a well oiled #$@%$&* machine. The only thing that rattles him at a comp is when he gets a @#$# check and it ain’t good. If you are upset and you are really emotional, you ain’t got a shot in @#%$ of winning. Do what you gotta @#$% do.
Myron doesn’t know how to take meditation because they don’t do that kind @#$% down in Georgia. If someone is using meditation to get in sync with their environment to beat Myron’s @#$ or whatever they are wasting their meditating time.
Myron uses horizontal cookers with the fire box at the lowest point under a large water pan filled with water and then apple juice is added to the water pan about half way through the cook. Food sits over the water pan. The water boils creating moisture and the pan diffuses the heat with vents in the front and the back that allows the smoke to surround the meat. His main hog cooker is double insulated and can hold three 200 pound hogs. As far as Myron is concerned, it’s the best @#$% thing out there you can cook on. Looks like Myron likes a lot of smoke too. Here are some pics of his portable rig that he uses when not cooking whole hog.
It’s all about flavor profile and wood choice is a big part of that. Peach wood is the wood of choice for Jack’s Old South. Some of the peach wood he uses is green and hasn’t been seasoned. That’s how he gets all of that smoke which is needed as he is cooking hot and fast so there is less time for the meat to sit in the smoke.
The key, he says, is the sap. The flavor is in the @#$*&% sap!
If you want that Jack’s Old South flavor you better use lighter fluid to start your fire. While he cooks with peach wood, Myron starts his fires with a lot of lighter fluid and charcoal. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks about the lighter fluid as long as it wins.
Myron cooks one waygu brisket when he competes. He knows he’s not going to @#$% it up so why should he cook two? The difference in the quality of the meat is the difference between losing and winning. Nickel and diming yourself over a piece of meat and not getting the best you can buy is stupid. He buys his briskets from Snake River Farms.
Myron says that the rub is one of the intricate parts of adding flavor to any meat because it’s the first part that hits your tongue and it also provides the bark. Myron says that rub will not stick to a membrane or fat so he trims all the fat and any membrane off his briskets before adding the rub. He is careful not to gouge the lean meat.
He injects the brisket to add more of a beef flavor to the inside of it. One ingredient in the injection is beef broth. You can find out the rest of the ingredients when you attend his @#$%# cooking class.
Myron is a power cooker meaning he cooks hot and fast. Myron ain’t watching no @#$% brisket for 18 friggin hours. He ain’t got to do that. If he maintains his temp at 350 to 375 the brisket will be done in four hours. He starts his fire at 4:00 AM, meat goes on at 5:00 AM and he gets his sleep.
Myron cuts his brisket slices about the width of a pencil. Some cut it thinner because it’s tough. Some cut it thicker because it’s over cooked and crumbles if it’s not thick. Before he turns in his brisket he dips it in the drippings. He doesn’t use any sauce on his brisket.
Cooking a whole hog is the ultimate challenge in BBQ. And when it comes to Myron Mixon cooking a whole hog, for him, is just like spitting off a @#$% train. Myron likes to cook big hogs in the 180 to 210 pound range. He likes big hogs because of the fat content. The whole hog is what he first started cooking. Getting it even done and moist and tender all the way through is hard to do. Not many people can do it right.
Myron trims the fat out of the hog and cuts the ribs for easy access to them and the loin for serving.
Myron uses white vinegar, apple juice, salt, sugar, and some secrets to inject the hog. He uses 8 to 10 gallons of injection per hog. There are seven injection points on a ham, eight points on a shoulder, twelve points on the loin, about five points in the bacon that are very important to inject. Those are the most important places.
He then puts rub on the hog, wraps it in foil and puts it in the pit. If Myron doesn’t win a whole hog comp it’s because he has some sorry @#$ judges.
Myron cooks baby back ribs. There was no indication in the show that he wraps them in foil. He does glaze his ribs. His rub has white sugar, dried basil, and dehydrated honey among other things. He goes with seasonings that compliment the flavor of the meat. Don’t try to make the $#%@ meat something it’s not, he says. He always rubs the pork after injecting and right before putting the meat in the pit because the injection will wash all of the rub off the meat if you rub the meat first. Myron sprays his ribs with apple juice every 15 minutes to help keep them moist.
The average weight of the whole shoulders Myron cooks is about 23 pounds. He cooks about 190 pounds of shoulder meat for a comp. The money muscle is probably the “most tender” meat on the shoulder. He cooks them for about 3 hours and then wraps them in foil to finish cooking and prevent the smoke from making them too dark in color. When not cooking whole shoulders, Myron cooks butts because, unlike the picnic shoulder, they have the money muscle. Like his brisket, he cooks butts hot and fast.
He likes cooking multiple categories because, at the end of the day, it’s all about getting your @#$ paid and the more categories you have the more chances you have of winning. A lot of people come to the comps looking to party and have a good time but Myron is there to win. He wants to get the hog on, get the judges @#$#@ in there, let them taste it, let him get his money and get his @#$ out of there.
Myron sauces his pork before turning it in. When he builds his pork box, first he puts chopped in the bottom, then he lays pulled pork on top, and puts money muscle down the middle. He cuts his sauce with water and puts some on the meat. Then, he lines the edges of the box with parsley.
When Myron does his presentation for the judges he always mentions several key points: time, temp, and fuel source. After that, it’s all filler. You never want a dull moment going on during the presentation and you don’t want a lot of quiet time because you don’t want the judge thinking; you want them eating. The key is the food. The presentation is just the floor show during the meal.
Chicken is one of the toughest categories. Myron cooks chicken thighs, trimmed and placed in a muffin pan. He does it to give the chicken thighs a uniform appearance. He calls it cupcake chicken. It’s a big deal with judges to have everything uniform in size. He may not be in the top five but likes to be in the top ten in chicken.
The “Bell of Doom” rings every time Myron makes the finals. It just brings a sucking @#$ feeling in everybody else that’s out there. They can’t stand it!
Either way, I think Myron Mixon has shown that you don't have to "fit the mold" to win BBQ competitions and has certainly shown that conventional wisdom may not be what we have been told it is.
Here is Myron Mixon's BBQ in his own words, mostly.
Myron Mixon is the BBQ King. He is the “winningest” man in BBQ. He is a three time world BBQ champion. If he doesn’t bother you, you don’t bother him. It’s about @#$%&*@ winning. Jack’s Old South is like a well oiled #$@%$&* machine. The only thing that rattles him at a comp is when he gets a @#$# check and it ain’t good. If you are upset and you are really emotional, you ain’t got a shot in @#%$ of winning. Do what you gotta @#$% do.
Myron doesn’t know how to take meditation because they don’t do that kind @#$% down in Georgia. If someone is using meditation to get in sync with their environment to beat Myron’s @#$ or whatever they are wasting their meditating time.
Myron uses horizontal cookers with the fire box at the lowest point under a large water pan filled with water and then apple juice is added to the water pan about half way through the cook. Food sits over the water pan. The water boils creating moisture and the pan diffuses the heat with vents in the front and the back that allows the smoke to surround the meat. His main hog cooker is double insulated and can hold three 200 pound hogs. As far as Myron is concerned, it’s the best @#$% thing out there you can cook on. Looks like Myron likes a lot of smoke too. Here are some pics of his portable rig that he uses when not cooking whole hog.
It’s all about flavor profile and wood choice is a big part of that. Peach wood is the wood of choice for Jack’s Old South. Some of the peach wood he uses is green and hasn’t been seasoned. That’s how he gets all of that smoke which is needed as he is cooking hot and fast so there is less time for the meat to sit in the smoke.
The key, he says, is the sap. The flavor is in the @#$*&% sap!
If you want that Jack’s Old South flavor you better use lighter fluid to start your fire. While he cooks with peach wood, Myron starts his fires with a lot of lighter fluid and charcoal. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks about the lighter fluid as long as it wins.
Myron cooks one waygu brisket when he competes. He knows he’s not going to @#$% it up so why should he cook two? The difference in the quality of the meat is the difference between losing and winning. Nickel and diming yourself over a piece of meat and not getting the best you can buy is stupid. He buys his briskets from Snake River Farms.
Myron says that the rub is one of the intricate parts of adding flavor to any meat because it’s the first part that hits your tongue and it also provides the bark. Myron says that rub will not stick to a membrane or fat so he trims all the fat and any membrane off his briskets before adding the rub. He is careful not to gouge the lean meat.
He injects the brisket to add more of a beef flavor to the inside of it. One ingredient in the injection is beef broth. You can find out the rest of the ingredients when you attend his @#$%# cooking class.
Myron is a power cooker meaning he cooks hot and fast. Myron ain’t watching no @#$% brisket for 18 friggin hours. He ain’t got to do that. If he maintains his temp at 350 to 375 the brisket will be done in four hours. He starts his fire at 4:00 AM, meat goes on at 5:00 AM and he gets his sleep.
Myron cuts his brisket slices about the width of a pencil. Some cut it thinner because it’s tough. Some cut it thicker because it’s over cooked and crumbles if it’s not thick. Before he turns in his brisket he dips it in the drippings. He doesn’t use any sauce on his brisket.
Cooking a whole hog is the ultimate challenge in BBQ. And when it comes to Myron Mixon cooking a whole hog, for him, is just like spitting off a @#$% train. Myron likes to cook big hogs in the 180 to 210 pound range. He likes big hogs because of the fat content. The whole hog is what he first started cooking. Getting it even done and moist and tender all the way through is hard to do. Not many people can do it right.
Myron trims the fat out of the hog and cuts the ribs for easy access to them and the loin for serving.
Myron uses white vinegar, apple juice, salt, sugar, and some secrets to inject the hog. He uses 8 to 10 gallons of injection per hog. There are seven injection points on a ham, eight points on a shoulder, twelve points on the loin, about five points in the bacon that are very important to inject. Those are the most important places.
He then puts rub on the hog, wraps it in foil and puts it in the pit. If Myron doesn’t win a whole hog comp it’s because he has some sorry @#$ judges.
Myron cooks baby back ribs. There was no indication in the show that he wraps them in foil. He does glaze his ribs. His rub has white sugar, dried basil, and dehydrated honey among other things. He goes with seasonings that compliment the flavor of the meat. Don’t try to make the $#%@ meat something it’s not, he says. He always rubs the pork after injecting and right before putting the meat in the pit because the injection will wash all of the rub off the meat if you rub the meat first. Myron sprays his ribs with apple juice every 15 minutes to help keep them moist.
The average weight of the whole shoulders Myron cooks is about 23 pounds. He cooks about 190 pounds of shoulder meat for a comp. The money muscle is probably the “most tender” meat on the shoulder. He cooks them for about 3 hours and then wraps them in foil to finish cooking and prevent the smoke from making them too dark in color. When not cooking whole shoulders, Myron cooks butts because, unlike the picnic shoulder, they have the money muscle. Like his brisket, he cooks butts hot and fast.
He likes cooking multiple categories because, at the end of the day, it’s all about getting your @#$ paid and the more categories you have the more chances you have of winning. A lot of people come to the comps looking to party and have a good time but Myron is there to win. He wants to get the hog on, get the judges @#$#@ in there, let them taste it, let him get his money and get his @#$ out of there.
Myron sauces his pork before turning it in. When he builds his pork box, first he puts chopped in the bottom, then he lays pulled pork on top, and puts money muscle down the middle. He cuts his sauce with water and puts some on the meat. Then, he lines the edges of the box with parsley.
When Myron does his presentation for the judges he always mentions several key points: time, temp, and fuel source. After that, it’s all filler. You never want a dull moment going on during the presentation and you don’t want a lot of quiet time because you don’t want the judge thinking; you want them eating. The key is the food. The presentation is just the floor show during the meal.
Chicken is one of the toughest categories. Myron cooks chicken thighs, trimmed and placed in a muffin pan. He does it to give the chicken thighs a uniform appearance. He calls it cupcake chicken. It’s a big deal with judges to have everything uniform in size. He may not be in the top five but likes to be in the top ten in chicken.
The “Bell of Doom” rings every time Myron makes the finals. It just brings a sucking @#$ feeling in everybody else that’s out there. They can’t stand it!
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