What hooked you on BBQ?

[ChiefOsceola]

I'm a total noob to the art of the smoke (though Admin says I'm a full member on here :biggrin:). Only joined up here at the beginning of this month. Got to wondering what brought y'all to BBQ. Was it the taste of the food? The satisfaction of spending a Saturday with family & friends out by the smoker? Was it going to a local BBQ festival? What was it?

For me, the obsession started when I first heard about the UDS on another forum, then followed a link here (I lurked until I got my drum this year). Seeing tons of pictures of pure tastiness cooked on something I could build was just too cool. Now that I've built it, each time I cook on it and read more of your threads, the more hooked on BBQ I become. Though perfectly content with my drum at the moment, I can already fill the itch for an offset.

What hooked you?

[rw02kr43]

I'm not really sure. I haven't eaten much bbq in my life. Just had my first ribs last year. and it's been about 14 yrs since any type of beef. But now I have 2 smokers and am building 2 new UDS when it warms up a bit. I love cooking bbq and the flavors are amazing. I have made quite a few chickens and ribs and abts and people seem to love them. Maybe there actually is something I'm somewhat good at. So I guess it's many things that hooked me on it.

Jason

[EatRBBQ]

For me it was all the hot women.
I smoke in the driveway for a day then go hit the local grocery stores, the hungry women can't leave me alone.
IMHO it works better than a pork chop necklace.

(Dodging thrown household objects coming from the wife's direction)

OK, being silly, not unusual.

Seriously? In my early 20s I picked up a Brinkman vertical smoker. Cheap, inefficient, burned itself out in one or two seasons, don't even get me started on the crappy charcoal and water pans!
But the first time I cooked on it I got praised for the results.
I enjoyed the praise as much as I enjoyed the challenge of cooking good food on the thing.

Part of the fun was taking a drill to the old Brinkman and trying to improve on it. I think BBQ and grilling brought out the do-it-yourselfer in me and has just evolved.

[CmdCtrl]

Love to eat!
Blame it on Alton Brown and his terracotta smoker.

[Rover24]

I think college did it for me. First time out of my parents house and I had to cook my own food, so I settled on the cooking style that allowed me to drink a lot of beer and check out the girls at the pool accross from my apartment building.

I don't think that I really got hooked on the art of BBQ until I picked up the Bar-B-Que Bible by Steven Raichlen, and then I don't think that I became truly obsessed until I found this site.

[Roger_M]

I did a ton of cooking on my gas grill then i happened upon a char griller offset for $60 on clearance. Loved the food. Something satisfying about cooking with fire.

[keale]

KNEE SURGERY!

2 weeks bedrest...just so happens BBQ week was on Food Network, I said to myself, damn, that looks good. Built my own smoker, didn't know what I was doing!!!

[Smokin'Ron]

My wife purchased my first offset for a fathers day gift and learning how to use it was a challenge. I'm a Systems Admin by trade and if any of you know us, a challenge creates a demonic person. Up all night until it's right, etc...

Well, my first smoke on this new toy was on a dreary evening in early summer and I just could not get the temps to level. I realized the nice storm breeze was the issue, so being me, @ 3 AM (lightning and all) I was in the back yard moving stuff around to shelter specific wind direction and so on. Well, I was hooked, I knew if smoking 1 dang chiken for tomorrows meal was going to be that difficult, I had plenty of challenges ahead 8).

Oh and the smell of smokey Ron wasn't appealing at first to the wife, but, well you know...

[NateOwsley]

I had an unfair advantage, I was born in Owensboro, KY, the self proclaimed bbq capitol of the world. So you could say it was in my blood. Then when we one first place in chicken at our first ever cookoff I was hooked.

[bruno]

Beer. Goes great with ribs.

[Smokin'Ron]

For me it was all the hot women.
I smoke in the driveway for a day then go hit the local grocery stores, the hungry women can't leave me alone.
IMHO it works better than a pork chop necklace.



Ain't that the truth. I tooks some food in for a pot luck to my wife's office and I had 2 ladies ask me what cologne I was wearing... I don't wear cologne so I assume it was the smoked pork 8).

[bigabyte]

I grew up here in KC, so I was pretty familiar with BBQ. When I was a kid, my dad picked up a new-fangled Brinkmann smoker (now known as an ECB) and learned to fight it to make briskets. I ate tons of brisket growing up, it was his favorite to prepare. As soon as he saw the WSM's come out, he switched to get the better control.

After I moved out, I did a lot of grilling, but not real BBQ. When I bought my house in 2003, that Spring my wife and I were at Wally World and she pointed out a Brinkmann Smoke-N-Pit Deluxe offset and suggested I buy it. So I did.

I consulted with my dad about how he did briskets, and started learning to cook on that offset using his methods. Then one day I got an urge to find a BBQ cookbook to learn how to make other things, so I went to the library and found Paul Kirk's Championship BBQ book.

That is probably when I officially became "hooked" on BBQ. That book gave me so many ideas it made my head spin. I had no idea there was so much to learn.

I was interested in more info on the "Mustard Slather" Paul so highly recommended, so I did a Google search, and that was how I found my first online BBQ Forum. After a couple years on that site, I heard about this site and came to check it out. Eventually, this place became the ONLY forum I went to.

[dudz]

The food, the praise, the fire, the beer and the UDS got me hooked

[1FUNVET]

Beer. Goes great with ribs.


Yep. I gotta agree. :biggrin:

[Skidder]

Me it was Daytona Bike Week 1981. I went to a place called Hog Heaven or Hog Haven not to sure cause of the condition I was probably in (not driving) and had my first of many pulled pork sandwiches and I was hooked. And now that I look back it was probably crappy but I didn't know any better. Then it was Brinkman, a Bar-b-Chef, a WSM and a few UDS's, a few contest ect.

[BBQ Grail]

I remember it well. At least this part I do...

There was a young, 18 year old boy, born and raised in Southern California who found himself stationed at Fort Hood, Texas in August of 1976. He fell in love with the Outlaw Country Music scene. Particularly Waylon, Willie and the boys.

It was about this time Waylon released the song Luckenbach, Texas. The next Spring a group of 6 young and stupid GIs crowded into a rundown Volkswagon bug and headed out to attend the Mud Dauber Festival in Luckenbach. It was an interesting trip to say the least.

Several of the soldiers entered the "Getting Drunk and Falling Down" contest. A couple of them may have entered by accident. A good time was had by all.

But it was during this trip that I partook of a couple slices of brisket. Cooked in a strange way. I fell in love with brisket right then and there and have been searching for the perfect brisket since then.

A couple more Mud Dauber Festivals, two Willie's Picnics, a Kerrville Music Festival and several of the first Texxas World Music Festivals (Texas Jam) allowed me to continue learning about eating brisket.

And that's how it started.

[Lake Dogs]

I remember the moment quite well...

It was the summer of 1985. I was at a strip joint, and this one particular young
woman, while undulating her body and swinging around the pole, seductively drissled
bbq sauce upon her heaving bosom. Then, while looking me
directly in the eye, she slowly, seductively, licked it off . . .

I almost died right there.

I was hooked. I've been a BBQ type-o-guy ever since. Brings a tear to my eye
when I think back on it.

My daughter likes to say: That's how mom and dad met.....

[Moose]

This is a great topic.

I started grilling on a gas grill over ten years ago. Food was very good, but not GREAT. Then, about 4 years after that started on a Weber Smoky Joe using smoking chips. I did steaks, tri-tips, and pork tenderloins just about every weekend. I was cranking out better BBQ on that little thing than I ever had in restaurants. THAT's when I was hooked. After that, I graduated to my Kingsford Oval, then it was all over.

For me, sipping an ice cold beer and creating fire and smoke is one of the finest things in life! There's also the fun of experimenting and refining...like mixing different smoking woods, using reverse sears, putting bricks in my friend's Weber Kettle and getting a 4 hour long cook without ever having to open the lid, building my first UDS...stuff like that.

BBQ is like breathing to me. I couldn't live without it.

[Bacon_99]

Love to eat!
Blame it on Alton Brown and his terracotta smoker.

Nice - god bless the food network....

As for me - I love meat - had done tons of grilling with charcoal briquettes and had a gasser - but always wanted an egg..... After getting an egg, I'm even more addicted.... Believe it or not though, I got a fair amount of compliments on my chicken that I smoked on a gasser using indirect with chips and foil... Just wanted a real smoker/q for even better results....

Now if only this global warming would kick in and make it warm up here all year round then I could drink my beer outside by the food rather than watching form inside while it snows...lol

[cdollar]

Being raised in Fort Worth, I grew up with BBQ. You couldn't throw a rock without hitting a BBQ joint. It was just a part of life. I'm still amazed when I hear adults say they have never bad the stuff. I found early on that for the most part, I liked what I cooked better than what someone else cooked, because I could make it to my taste, so I started trying my hand at BBQ about 45 years ago, and I'm still working on it.

I guess that's what makes it so much fun for me, always trying to get it just a little better, or different.
Kinda like golf, you can learn the basics in a short time, then spend a lifetime trying to perfect it.


Chuck

[landarc]

I do not remember, and it has nothing to do with alcohol. What I do know is that we were pretty poor at times, and often there wasn't enough food for everyone, so big hunks of meat were not all that common. My mom, who put herself through college as a domestic, would show us cuts of meat at the store and tell us about them. Somewhere along the line, things like ribs, brisket and pork shoulder were covered. At times, money was a little easier and we would get to try these things. I learned to cook BBQ from my mom's understanding that tough cuts of meat want low and slow to get tasty and tender.

Now, my first encounter with understanding traditional BBQ was around 16, when I was told by some fellow ball players about Wally's BBQ in San Pablo, CA. Wally was an old man by then, having spent half his life in OK and half in CA. He taught me about OK and TX style BBQ, that remains some of the best brisket I can remember.

[EatRBBQ]

Me it was Daytona Bike Week 1981. I went to a place called Hog Heaven or Hog Haven not to sure cause of the condition I was probably in (not driving) and had my first of many pulled pork sandwiches and I was hooked. And now that I look back it was probably crappy but I didn't know any better. Then it was Brinkman, a Bar-b-Chef, a WSM and a few UDS's, a few contest ect.


Hog Heaven I think!!!

I was in Daytona, Bike Week, circa 1986
I remember beer, other intoxicants, a variety of beautiful (and some not so beautiful) women in wet string, and smokey, juicy pulled pork on a bun!

Your post put a taste in my mouth, got the juices flowing with a refreshed memory. I believe that was the first time I ever had pulled pork that wasn't swimming in sauce, just naked smoked pulled pork. Drool.

I ate roadside boiled peanuts (in the shell, onions and peppers) that trip for the first time too, no one does that up north.

Anyone know if Hog Heaven still exists in Daytona?

[Bogus Chezz Hawg]

After cooking on Weber kettles for about 20 years I saw a cheap offset at Home Depot. I bought it and got addicted to every aspect of BBQ. That was 16 years and 3 pits ago. Cooking delicious meat with logs brings out the primal instincts in me. I love building a fire, hanging out by the cooker with friends, and drinking beer & whiskey on a sunny day. What could be better than that? Oh yeah, eating the great Q! I love cooking BBQ as much as I love eating it!

[Phubar]

Almost a year ago I decided I had to have a BBQ grill.
All I wanted was some grilled chickenwings made above a bed of charcoal.
Now I have 3 homemade drum smokers,a Weber Go Anywhere and been smoking almost every weekend since the first smoke session.
Honestly...I blame my Brethren for getting me hooked!

[watertowerbbq]

For me it really started in 2003. Memorial day weekend that year, I got sick and layed in bed the whole weekend watching a show on the Food Network where they went around to different festivals and talked to the people at the festival. It was a really great show and they showed a BBQ contest. I think the show was "Road Trip" or something like that.

Anyway, a co-worker of mine asked me if I wanted to go with him and his FIL to the BarbeQlossal contest at the World Pork Expo which was in mid-June of the same year. We didn't have any kids at the time and sampling free food sounded like a good time so I said ok. We went down there and had some really good food and it looked like everyone was having a really good time. I remember Fast Eddy was there and I believe that Quau won the contest. A couple of days later I was reading the local paper and they had an interview with Quau and he said that if you really wanted to be a good contest cook, you should become a BBQ judge. Sounded like a good idea. That summer I bought an ECB and struggled with it for most of the summer, but then it happened....the moment where you cook that first perfect specimen. For me it was a pork loin sirloin roast. I didn't have a thermometer in the meat, I just guessed. I was the best thing I had ever tasted. It was the FIRST time I had BBQ where the sauce actually brought down the flavor of the meat. I was in heaven and I was hooked.

In the Spring of 2004, I took the KCBS judging class in Des Moines with Mike Lake and bought my first WSM in August of the same year. I still have it today. I began cooking on it and decided my first contest would be State Center, IA in 2005. We entered only pork and chicken and had a great time. The chicken almost cracked the top 10 (finished 11th). We cooked across from BBQ Mayor and Shotgun. They were really nice to us.

In 2006, we cooked at the Ankeny, IA contest and met Boondoggle and they were also really nice.

In 2007, I was on the Backwoods Smokers website and KC Bobby posted a link to some strange, magical place called the BBQ Brethren. I clicked the link and have been here ever since.

And that's the rest of the story......................

[Skidder]

EatRBBQ yeah it's still there I just checked the website. I remember being at Sharky's strip joint then going to Hog Heaven. Hey maybe the food was good I just don't remember. I do remember the little blonde across the street going into that t-shirt shop that I yelled to........and the big............oh never mind. Hey I was in my twenties.

[Skidder]

This is going to be a big thread I can tell already. Thanks for the memories.

[armor]

We lived in NC about 25 years ago and were invited to a "pig pickin". What the fark is a pig pickin. We went and OMG the food was unreal. I was hooked and the rest is history. I enjoyed everyone else's Q until I came across this site.

[devious]

for me its about hangin in the driveway drinking some beers with my buds and i really hated going to a BBQ joint and getting bad food.

[Alan in Ga]

For me it started about 20yrs ago when my mother gave me a cheap kettle smoker for x-mas. I did alot of chicken smoked with hickory that's all I knew at the time. My second smoker came some 15 years later (had to sew some wild oats) when I was the garden center manager at Wal-Mart. Thats when we carried the NB line and I picked up my black diamond on clearance for $125. I have always loved grilling and smoking but I expanded my menu about 5 years ago. I started doing butts and brisket still smoked with hickory or mesquite. Don't ask me when it happened but one day I woke up told the wife I wanted to cook comp BBQ and have been obsessed with everything BBQ eversince. I built 2 UDS and am looking at buying a 250R offset rig next month. My wife and I joined the Georgia BBQ Association last year and at the advice of some seasoned vets I spent my first year judging. I will start cooking in May as we are already signed up to judge the first two comps this season.



www.57smokehouse.blogspot.com/

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

Hooked? I am not hooked. I can stop eating barbecue anytime i want. :biggrin:

Edit: Just read my wife my wise ass reply and she shot back "Yeah, but can you stop talking about it?" LOL

[ChiefOsceola]

This is going to be a big thread I can tell already. Thanks for the memories.

I think you're right Skid...I hit a nerve. :biggrin:

Awesome responses so far. I'm seeing a trend (other than the beer part :biggrin:) in realizing that the BBQ joint down the street that always seemed good doesn't compare to what you can make @ home. My first smoked ribs blew my mind. I just THOUGHT I'd tasted ribs before Saturday! Like watertower said, sauce would've actually brought down the flavor.

Keep em comin folks! :-P

[BRBBQ]

Food channel!

[deathamphetamine]

chillin with my favorite people :)

[BobBrisket]

Early on, it was the challenge. My dad had bought himself a ECB and didn't have much luck with it. I was determined to learn how to use it. It really started as an offshoot from all the grilling my dad and I would do and still do.
Now it really is about the family, the process, the friends, tending the pit, and beer! :)

[QNDAVE]

Been cooking backyard for a long time. Then some friends ask me to join a new comp team they started, 13 years later still enjoy cooking BBQ.

David

[SCRedneckBBQ]

When did it all begin for me? Wow, good question. I remember helping my best friend and his dad cooking whole hogs back when I was a kid (around age 9 or 10, My job was to keep the burn barrel going), graduated to placing the coals in the cooker, and so on from there. By the time I graduated High school, my buddy and I were cooking them on our own. Fast forward 20 years and a lot of grilling, I came back home and retired from the USAF. Started cooking hogs with my buddy again, along with ribs and boston butts. Tried my first brisket over this past New Years (The second will be this weekend!) Already planning another whole hog over Easter! God I love the smell of smoke!

[BBQ Bandit]

Started off with a gas grill when I was a single man ... had fun with whole birds, porkloins, and roasts (on a spit).

When I married Mrs. Bandit... found a restaurant (during the honeymoon) in Annapolis, Maryland called "Red, Hot, and Blue" restaurant... and that woke-up my tastebuds. She also grew the foundness of real BBQ at that time.

Went thru 2 ECB's struggling to master BBQ until I bought my first offset/BSKD. Googled about the capacities about the BSKD... and found this forum.

Enuff said...:mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:

[cbagby64]

Grew up in KC and always ate tons of BBQ. When I moved to IA, at the time, there wasn't much for BBQ. I bought a cheapo brinkmann and then eventually upgraded to 2 wsm's and a xl BGE. I'm fully addicted now. I like the comraderie and friendliness at the contests.

[sdb25]

IMHO it works better than a pork chop necklace.

Dude, try a pork chop belt buckle. Even better results.

[Lake Dogs]

Alright, I'll be serious... It's not quite as tear jerking as my other story (the one we
use when at comps), however:

I grew up eating restaurant and home cooked BBQ. Frankly, none of it was very
good. My fathers idea of great bbq could be cardboard (seriously) slathered in
a good sauce. That's it. I thought I didnt care for BBQ.

When I was in my mid 30's, a friend convinced me to try some of the ribs at one
particular restaurant. For the first time in my life, I tried fall off the bone ribs with
a nice rub and very little sauce. Wow, this was good. Not great, but very good.
So, I'm thinking: maybe I should try BBQ a little more often. So, I did. Nothing
really amazing, until:

In 2005 the local town hosted a MIM BBQ cookoff. They had 45 teams and needed
more judges. I was drafted, and quickly was sent to judge certification class.
However, my *moment* was at that very MIM contest. I'd drawn 2 categories,
blind pork shoulder (which is still one of my favorites to this date), and on-site
ribs.

My second team to judge was Gwatney, out of Memphis. We're taught to be
stoic (although I didnt see any of that in BBQ PitMasters; dumb ass judges). I
watched the very rehearsed presentation; these guys were good. Then, we
finally sat for the Q. That first bite was, to this date, the best single bite of
BBQ I've ever had in my life. They'd hit BBQ Mana. The holy grail of BBQ. This
was it. Nice spicy rub, but not too spicy. Moist, pulled cleanly from the bone,
and tasted like I cannot describe. Sheer heaven in a rib. No sauce. I've actually
eaten BBQ Mana. They won GC that day with those very ribs.

I've eaten plenty of great Q since that time; made some myself a time or two.
Last summer I had 30 or 40 people seek me out, veteran BBQ eaters, lifetime BBQ eaters, just
to tell me that this was without any doubt the best BBQ that's ever met their
lips (was pulled pork). I was honored. It was VERY good, but it wasn't Gwatney's ribs.

That fall day in late October 2005, that's my defining moment in BBQ. Those ribs
will forever be in my mind.

Seriously.

If there are any of the Gwatney team guys around, y'all tell 'em I'm a HUGE fan.
Maybe one day I'll actually beat 'em (now that I compete).

[deguerre]

I've loved pulled pork all my life. One day last July I saw this site posted from a Yahoo link and was curious. I was hooked at that point and had my smoker within 2 1/2 months.
Yes, it's the Brethren's fault. Or gift. ;)

[Melrod59]

I had previously owned a couple of ECB's but I never really thought my ribs were all that good. Then, for my birthday I got a Char-Griller Super Pro. Then I bought Paul Kirk's Championship Barbecue. Next came the Side Fire box for the Char-Griller. Then my uncle and built our first UDS. My second UDS will arrive this spring.

And I love this site!

Thanks guys!

[sdb25]

Seriously. Grew up poor, raised by a single mom. Took care of myself from an early age, and had to cook for myself from the age of 8. Summertime was always bbq time, and I was the grill master. Sure, just burgers but I was doing the cooking and I loved it. Growing up, I would bbq with my friends at the beach. Still just grilling, but certainly became the focal point of memories spending time around the fire. Eventually went to college, and grilled on a smokey joe on the balcony of my apartment. Roommates loved it and it went well with beer (in large amounts). Then it happened, I moved away from southern california to the chilly winters of philadelphia for medical school. No grilling for the first 2 years. But, I discovered soul food, and real bbq. I was hooked. One day my neighbor gave me an old gas grill he was throwing out. It was a junker, but I fixed it up and started learning to q. And no more grilling... I wrapped that cheapo gasser up with foil and smoked picnics as much as I could. Really found a nice routine, but never followed temps or anything. Just turned it to the lowest setting and cooked til the bone fell out. Then, moved back to southern california for residency. So little time, I still just worked with a gasser for convenience. Mastered ribs. Mastered chicken (the toughest to learn, initially). Got really into mesquite tri-tip. Garlic and rosmary crusted pork loins. Finished residency, and started fellowship (way more free time). Went back to my roots with strictly charcoal, and have been loving it ever since.

So, after a long story... got into bbq out of necessity. discovered how great it could be. mastered my skills. spend everyday learning more and more!

thanks to everyone here, I love this community!

[chopshop]

the sexy women and the amounts of tanqueray consumed during a cook!

[merob]

First and foremost GOOD FOOD, good beer,good friends and HORSESHOES!!!

[MattCom]

I owe that to my Pop, he always was an exceptional grill master. A butterflied leg of lamb was always our favorite. I started with a Hibachi in college and became decent at grilling. The first time I slow cooked ribs on my kettle they were incredible (or I thought they were). The the next few times they weren't so good, hammy and way over smoked. I found it fun to experiment and kept at it.

[JD McGee]

The lack of it...yep...there are no decent Q-joints around my neck of the woods so my wife got tired of me b!tchin' about and told me to do my own...:cool:

[CaptGrumpy]

Family tradition. My Granfather was an exec for Lucky's/Gemco and was the manager of their meat packing facility in San Leandro , CA. We always had the best meat and aways loved being around him when the BBQing was about to begin. That started over 40 years ago. I was raised on Farmer John pork!

[smoken don]

Best friend of 24 years died 3 years ago.He always smoked and grilled.I loved his cookin but was interested in fishing,hunting,and ridin my scooter.Started with a Hondo in the back yard.Really liked it.Bought a Gator Entertainer and started comp.cookin.Love the people,and to compete.Best people I have ever met cook.Ya gotta love it!

[Moose]

Family tradition. My Granfather was an exec for Lucky's/Gemco and was the manager of their meat packing facility in San Leandro , CA. We always had the best meat and aways loved being around him when the BBQing was about to begin. That started over 40 years ago. I was raised on Farmer John pork!

Gemco! There's a name I haven't heard in forever! There were a few in my neck of the woods in LA where I grew up in the late 70's. Farmer John Pork rules!

[CmdCtrl]

Gemco -> Fedco... I remember grubbing on the pizza wrapped hot dogs - highlight of the shopping experience.

hmm, gotta throw some in the uds tomorrow...

[snoqualmiesmoker]

Mine journey to Q started watching my father tame a Weber kettle, which gave up the ghost a few years back after 30 + years. He was the king of the grill. Chicken, Steak, the occasional salmon. I will always picture him leaning over that kettle, with a cup of melted butter, garlic, and salt, basting away. I miss my dad.

I met my wife in 2000, and she promptly complained about the lack of Q in Seattle, as she was born and raised a Texan. She took me home to meet her Momma, and my first taste of Texas Q was Pappas BBQ in South Houston a few miles outside of Sugarland off Bissonette (can you tell I remember?). That was the very first taste of Texas Q. I ate a rack of spares by myself, much to the chagrin of my wife's family. I hear now, Pappas isn't very good, but growing up with Tony Romas, it was eye-opening. Next was Goode's, then off to Joe Cotton's in the Valley, on the way to Corpus. There, I had several. Upon arriving home, I waited a few years, and looked for a Texas offset, settling on the Bandera. I had to have an Ace Hardware order it up (West Seattle Ace) and it arrived, and so be it began. That is how I arrived to Q and here, to this board.


The lack of it...yep...there are no decent Q-joints around my neck of the woods so my wife got tired of me b!tchin' about and told me to do my own...:cool:

Sadly, this is the truest statement about the state of BBQ where JD and I live. We can smoke the hell out of a fish, but BBQ is a whole nuther monster. There are a few that are OK, doing one thing good, but compared to the stuff I've eaten elsewhere, nah. Over the years it has improved, but it is marginal at best. My wife is the toughest critic. She claims there is no good Mexican or BBQ in this city. Tough to please the palate of a Texan. Heck, she even gets after me and my food! Makes me smile!

Love to eat!
Blame it on Alton Brown and his terracotta smoker.

And this is what led me to the Big Green Egg.

Everyday my obsession with Q grows. It has led me to different places and of all the people I meat (pun intended) the BBQ crowd is chock full of some of the best people.

[SmokinAussie]

BBQ in Australia is all about grilling. Tell you're average Aussie Bloke that you're doing a 12 hour Brisket. or a Pulled Pork, they look at you like you're crazy... I probably am.

Also, (while it's changed a bit now), we all used propane or wood. Pretty much no such thing as real Charcoal. I honestly don't know why, but you have to consider that while Australia is a bloody big place, there are only 22 million of us, and we are in fact the second most urbanised country in the world... behind the USA. We also are so over regulated in every damn thing, that every time I light up my COS, I think I COULD BE ARRESTED, for having a fire in my backyard.

It took me to move to Hong Kong for 4 years to discover real BBQ... go Figure. HONG KONG?????? Yes, Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, a propane BBQ is a rarity. You can buy Chinese charcoal everywhere. It's a tradition in HK to shoot of to the parks with thinly sliced meats, and sit around a charcoal pit with skewers and Q the meat, dip it in some Asian style sauce and chow down, get drunk and tell stories for the evening. When I got my own place in Hong Kong, I went to a market there and bought a Webber copy BBQ, where I taught myself how to Q Australian and NZ Lamb over charcoal for the next 2 years.

The funny thing was that when I did a really good Q, I got this AMAZING RED RING just under the surface of the meat crust on everything I did... and the flavour was just like nothing I'd ever had before. I thought that this was something that only I could do!!!!

When I got back to Australia, I couldn't Q the same way. I couldn't get charcoal, and I only had a propane BBQ.

Then I walked into BBQ's Galore 2 years ago and saw my COS... 1 of 5 they brought into Australia. My Wife said... we're getting THAT one... and that was it.

Then 6 months ago, I found the Brethren...

Thanks for reading...

Cheers!

Bill

[Carmichal]

Going to different BBQ joints in NC and wondering how they cook and prepare their food. I enjoyed eating before I enjoyed grilling.

[Rowdycue]

I grew up in the sandhills of South Carolina where cooking BBQ was almost expected. My family has cooked split hogs over wood coals for generations, for pig pickin's and fund raisers for churches, Boy Scout troops, and civic clubs. Pig pickin's are a popular way to party, and to me one of the most fun, even though it's a lot of work. I worked for a caterer who could cook BBQ so good it was hard to stop eating. My dad used to BBQ chickens in the back yard and take orders from friends and deliver them. I just made myself hungry.

[King]

I attempted various times learning to grill, then one time I under cooked some chicken for a group of friends. That was embarrassing. I lost interest for a while until I got How To Grill by Steven Raichlen one year for my birthday. That book taught me the fundamentals of grilling in a way that was easy to understand and it had tons of pictures. I grilled a lot up until my wife got me a ECB for another birthday over 2 years ago. Then I was hooked.

The food is a big reason why I BBQ. However, cooking outdoors has always been a challenge for me. I like using different techniques and styles, I treat it like a hobby. Sometimes I BBQ because I want to try something I haven't done before, not because I was hungry. I also get satisfaction from the compliments I get from friends and family when I have a BBQ party.

[Ribbin' Randy]

It took me to move to Hong Kong for 4 years to discover real BBQ... go Figure. HONG KONG?????? Yes, Hong Kong.

In 1980 I was an 18 year old airman on temporary duty in Darwin, Northern Territory Australia. Some guys form the RAAF base were having a cook out to welcome us. They barbied a whole lamb over an open pit. It was the first time I had lamb. After my first bite I hit gastro nirvana.:biggrin: The taste, the texture, the aroma!!! A humorous aside: Unbeknownst to me the word randy is slang for horny. I, (being the out going American) walked up to one of the cooks and introduced myself with, "Hi I'm Randy." The guy gives me a funny look and says, "Piss off bloke--don't tell me your bloody troubles!" :shock: For the rest of my stay I went by the name Randall. To this day, it is one of my fondest memories. New food, new country(to me) and most of all new friends.

[Smokey Al Gold]

I got into it about '04 when I started going for my bachelor's degree. I bought a chitty little 20 dollar propane grill from wally world and grilled everything under the sun with my friends at my apartment. I loved playing with fire all my life but I'd say it all changed in about '07 when I bought my first smokey joe and found this site. Honestly watching the food network peaked my interest into grilling alot. That was back when the channel didn't suck like it does now (except for Giada my love) It's just grown and grown since then and since joining this site. I've done things I never thought I could do :)

[SuperQue]

For me it was the challenge of managing the fire. Also knowing that with enough practice that I would be able to produce my own unique bbq that me and my friends and family will enjoy.

[GWA]

For me it was back in the mid-50's. My mother had a wealthy cousin and he had a rotisserie smoker at his home on some golf course property in central Jersey (tri-state area people say Jersey...all others say New Jersey :icon_wink)

I remember the motor turning and the aroma of the food, and then out came this stuff that didn't taste like any of mom or grandma's cooking. I was hooked.

[SMOKINBONES]

My Dad was the one who got me started as a kid I would help him out learning all the tricks, he could "Q" anything in a 55gal horizontal.. I also had an uncle who catered BBQ & as a teen that was my weekend/summer job helping him out. One day my brother came by told me he signed me up in the county fair BBQ cookoff. I was amazed by all the teams set ups, the sound off all the generators the smell of wood burning. I won my first trophy and some cash that Saturday for 1st place chicken and it was all over from there I was hooked! Growing up in a very small Texas town southwest of Houston BBQ is a way of life I owe it all to my Dad & Uncle, even with all the expensive equipment I own now I still jump back on the 55gal. barrel from time to time..its in my blood

[MemphisQ]

I don't even have to read this thread to answer this question.

Being from the South, especially Memphis.

BBQ has always been around. I was eating BBQ as long as I can remember. It has always been around. Now it was easy to determine Good BBQ from Great BBQ. Anytime I had Great BBQ it would get my attention immediately.

As I got older, when having Great BBQ, I would try to learn more about it. Then the years of trial and error. Having a "taste" I considered Great BBQ was an elusive target. I tried everything; for years. I finally hit on what I consider Great BBQ. You might not even like it. But my oldest son's Fiancee requested Ribs, Pulled pork sandwiches, hash-brown casserole, cole slaw, and a home made chocolate cake for her birthday ................ and she's not even southern .............. and never had ribs before she ate here.

My wife and I have perfected this meal and it is always a "go to" meal for family get togethers or having friends over. We get requests all spring and summer "when you going to have another BBQ?" "Make sure you invite me!".

Also, it helps being from Memphis; because even if I couldn't cook I can throw one hell of a party! lol

[BBQ Bandit]

Almost forgot about a childhood memory... thanx from my Pop!

He was an Engineer and rigged-up a (small engine) powered rotisserie for a whole hog pit for a gathering. Dad attached a bicycle wheel (without tire) to the end of the spit, and wrapped a drivebelt to a gear reducer that was attached to the engine.

Long story short, and tired musles later...

The engine broke down (permantly) before the pig was done. Had to weld a handle to edge of the wheel... and I was volunteered to hand-crank hog (150 lbs) for the last two hours.

Was be first and best pork I sweated my a$$ for!

[keale]

The lack of it...yep...there are no decent Q-joints around my neck of the woods so my wife got tired of me b!tchin' about and told me to do my own...:cool:



Smart Wife! :twisted::-P

[Cuelio]

My wife got me Smoke and Spice (great book, BTW) for my birthday back in January of '04. By February I was shopping for a pit. I had no idea what I was getting into.

Several smoke sessions later, and with the wisdom and humor found in these pages, I was able to produce BBQ that made me the talk of the hood, and has made my family CRAVE it. I especially enjoy the fact that my mother in law, who's very critical about food, loves the stuff. I also love the fact that for my dad's 70th birthday (3 weeks ago) I was asked by my family to be the chef for the big family gathering in TX. See the irony? The Minnesotan was asked by the Texans to cook briskets, queso, beans, ribs and pulled pork!

In short: The learning of the craft, the accolades, the time and work that goes into it, the many different foods and flavors, and the pleasure that it brings to family and friends is what hooked me.

Oh yeah, and the asylum that is the BBQ brethren also!

[Harbormaster]

I got hooked because I needed an excuse to drink Makers.

Seriously.

Actually, I had been lusting after a Brinkman Cimmaron, and about the same time I noticed hickory trees across the street started to die. I got permission to cut them down and harvest them. Started using the hickory and lump in my kettle, then I came home from work one day to find the Cimmaron in my driveway with a big red bow on it, compliments of my dad. So I progressed to full blown BBQ.

Then I found the Worlds Oldest WSM(TM) at a neighbors garage sale for $10. Then another, and another, and another....

And I found this site. Life has never been the same.

[Bacchus]

For me it's just natural. It's like asking "why do you like to drink water?" :-P

[Westexbbq]

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away I was a 8 or 9 year old kid in Houston and one Saturday my Dad had to go into his office downtown for a 1/2 day. He took me with him so I could see what all goes on in a big 8 acct firm way back then. After he was done, it was time for lunch so we went across the street to a small, hole in the wall, bbq joint.
(wish I could recall the name but it was quite a while back.) We each got a chopped bbq beef sandwich wrapped in butcher paper in one of those plastic baskets that were popular back then, a small bag of potato chips, a Dr. Pepper for me, and a fried apricot pie/turnover for dessert.
This bbq sandwich was the best thing I had ever had in the world up to that point in my life! It was freaking delicious and I never, never forgot how good the whole experience was.
I was hooked then and years later finally got around to figuring out how to cook stuff like that myself.
And that's the way it was/is.

[ajmcedar]

Always loved BBQ, started on my gasser, found this site and the UDS thread. Made one and have been in heaven ever since.
Best thing though, is to see the joy on family and friends faces when they take a bite.

Many here have said, "It is an addiction", I believe that could be an understatement.

[lcbateman3]

My Dad always was grilling growing up so when I moved out I decided to try it on my own. Started off with a regular weber grill, charcoal, and gasoline. (Wow...they were the days). Burned plenty of food, wife not happy.

Few years down the line, started get serious about it. Started reading, watching, asking questions, and expermenting. There have been success, and their has been failure. Over the past four years though the success has been up. It is addictive. I rather do it for a living the controls work like I do now. Maybe one day I will be able to.

[MemphisQ]

This is a Great Thread!

[JDV]

My girlfriend bought me a smoker for my last birthday. I've just really enjoyed the food, tending the fires, and drinking beer and relaxing.

[Cuelio]

This is a Great Thread!

Agreed!

[Cast Iron Chef]

BBQ growing up was some hamburgers, hot dogs and the occasional steak. My dad's idea of a grilled steak was throw it on the grill and when it stops mooing it's done. I always had an interest in cooking from a young age. Nobody at home cooked very well. I was not home very much in High School so I was left to fend for myself. I started experimenting with spices. After moving out I had a Smokey Joe. I guess beer had a lot to do with it but me and my roommate would sit on the balcony, Smokey Joe between us, drank beer and cooked whatever. Later I moved within 2 blocks of Lake Michigan so every night we'd carry the SJ and a cooler full of beer down to the lake. After getting married we needed to save for a house so we ate chicken for 2 years. I needed to find different ways to cook the same thing. Started marinating and spicing. Finally purchased an offset and used it for grilling mostly and trying an occasional smoke. Thought I was doing pretty well. Every one always loved my food. Connected to the Brethren through Yahoo and found out how much I never new. My cooking is at a whole new level never before achieved. I still like to consider BBQ as one of my tools for cooking. Like to mix it up with Chinese, Italian, German and any other crazy thing I can dream up.

[Rick's Tropical Delight]

buying a medium big green egg in sep 2006

[salmonclubber]

I started smoking salmon did that for about 20 years and in 2004 i bought a GOSM from Costco i also built a electric smoker for making sausage and i was off and running i now have a homemade electric smoker that is much bigger then the first one and the old GOSM and a UDS I have at least one of them going every weekend

[deguerre]

Bump.

[Kevin Garceau]

Eating at Rudys when I travelled to San Antonio. Was the first real Q I had ever had. Being in Wisconsin, not many choices.

[thomasjurisd]

Love to eat!
Blame it on Alton Brown and his terracotta smoker.

Dude, I loved that episode....that and the one where he made egg nog!

[thomasjurisd]

It's July of 1982,middle of a heat wave, I'm 5 years old at the Hunt County Fair in East Texas with my grandparents and they buy me a chopped brisket sandwhich. Meat-Bun-Sliced in Half and Wrapped in Butcher Paper. On the way out that night, they bought me another one.

Fifteen years later I smoke my first brisket. Chopped up the point with the electric knife,put it on a bun and sliced it in half. The first bite took me back to that sandwhich at the Hunt County Fair. It was then that I realized a good smoked brisket doesn't need any sauce.

[K-Barbecue]

I blame the barbecue contests shown on Food Network

[bendosia]

Simple. I moved to Austin, Texas, bbq capital of the world!!! Just kidding. Actually, I love the bbq here, and wanted to recreate it. Through exhaustive research, I bought a large big green egg. Best purchase I ever made!

[Southern Home Boy]

When I was a kid, my stepfather was a huge BBQ fanatic. I grew up with James Beard all over the house, Justin Wilson on the tube and Brinkman vertical spewing out smoke every weekend. He'd do these ridiculously long cooks on brisket (24 hours or more) and always made his own sauce and rubs.

He was a good guy, but he couldn't cook for s**t.

My mother, on the other hand, is a classically trained French Chef. Now SHE can cook. But she can't (or won't) light a fire to save her life. ("I mean ewww.. all that dirt and smoke and dust... just... EWWWW.")

So, I became the product of my environment. I took my stepdad's love of the ACT of BBQ and my mother's knowledge of HOW to cook and have been doing it since I was 18.

Bottled and marketed my first sauces and seasonings when I was 38 and entered my first comp a few months later.

[Preb]

My wife bought me a bradley smoker in the fall of 2007. Used it religiously for about 1 1/2 years (at least 1-2 times a month). ALso have used my weber kettle, but that is alot of work to have to keep turning the meat, nevermind keeping the temp steady on long cooks. Really enjoy cooking anything, but there is nothing like having the boys over for NFL sunday "meatfests". Still learning to hone my skills and have just invested in a pellet grill (CS-680) and cant wait until it comes. Hopefully the higher temps I can achieve with the pellet pooper will help my chicken.

[MamaQ]

Simple. I moved to Austin, Texas, bbq capital of the world!!! Just kidding. Actually, I love the bbq here, and wanted to recreate it. Through exhaustive research, I bought a large big green egg. Best purchase I ever made!

Hi Bendosia. I just joined the forum, but I also live in Austin. I've been grillin' all my life, but I just started smoking. Bought a MES (smoker with training wheels) about a month ago and have smoked every weekend. My hubs says I have a Smoking Monkey on my back, but he enjoys the results of my addiction.

[MamaQ]

When I was growing up, we raised Angus cattle and grew cotton. I may be a city girl now, but grillin' meats has always been sweet perfume to me.

[cardiac_cadet002]

I never did like grilled foods growing up because I always associated the taste of lighter fluid or the taste of gas with it. We had this BBQ joint up the road from us that we would eat at occasionally that had awesome food, no lighter or gas taste. My love for grilling and BBQing has grown over the last 4 years trying to replicate that bbq joint. Plus, I'm cheap and hate paying the high prices some places want for good bbq. So those 2 things have fueled my desire to BBQ.




P.S..............Its an addiction:-P

[Chef Jim]

I moved to Texas in 91 and my wife told me about this place. Her co-workers were a little afraid to take her there at first. Here is what I wrote in a previous post.

Can you believe I lived in Austin for three years and never went to the Salt Lick? Is that dumb or what? But my wife found a place in Elgin on the wrong side of the tracks. Sort of a small anex on the side of an abandoned wherehouse. The big improvement was a sneeze guard. Paper plates, help yourself to white bread. To die for "Q" Oh yeah, BEEF RIBS!

Went back a few years ago, he moved, sold out to a bigger guy that wanted a restaurant. So much for a good thing.

Been cookin it the hard way on my gas grill for years until I got the bandera 4 weeks ago.

[jason]

My Dad was an avid griller, but he would only smoke one or two times a year for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. He'd always smoke a turkey and/or a ham. He'd also load up the smoker with sausage and any other meats he could find in the freezer, because there was no sense in letting all that smoke and heat go to waste. It was always great eats, but I didn't really get involved with the process.

Well, in 2007, my wife and I had moved into our house, and we had volunteered to do Thanksgiving. She wanted to do the turkey in the oven like her Mom used to do it. I wanted to smoke the turkey, like my Dad used to do it. So, we decided to have a little friendly competition. I'd smoke a turkey and she would do one in the oven. I got my Brinkmann SnP out of the deal. I called Dad to get the low down on how to do it. And like Dad, I made sure to load that puppy up with more than just Turkey. I had a Butt, a Brisket flat, a couple of hamburgers, and some sausage in there with the Turkey. The family loved it all and I don't know if it was the praise or what, but I was hooked.

[Mark]

the meat

[Diver]

Growing up in Eastern NC, pig-pick'ns were a regular occurrence. We would cook them to raise money for the school, church, community groups etc. We also camped a lot and I learned to love campfire cooking. I was still mainly a griller.

Until June 2007... I had the opportunity to spend a few days with some friends at the lake of the Ozarks. We stayed with my buddy's father in law. Turns out he is a vet of the vietnam war, a real man's man, an all around great guy and loves smoking some great Q.

Well, we talked bbq and he said...I paraphrase..."I can tell you love bbq but you don't know your head from your *ss. Ditch these bozo's tomorrow, and I will teach you how to cook real BBQ." I took him up on the offer and went to school the next morning. We drank Makers Mark, talked fire mgt, slathers, membranes, rubs, smoker styles, cuts of meat, smoke woods etc. and then smoked the best ribs I had ever had. I have built or bought 4 smokers since then, joined KCBS, became a CBJ and started competing last year.

On a side note...After a full day of bbq class, smoking, sun and drinks, I fell over the pier rail and had to be pulled out of the lake. I don't remeber a lot after eating the ribs... :redface:

[Bigmista]

Love to eat!
Blame it on Alton Brown and his terracotta smoker.

Same here. Then Willkat98 sent me an email about the Brethren. The rest is history.

[PimpSmoke]

I was cooking with smoke for about eight years before I found the Brethren. Before this place it was just cooking. After this place it became about the friendships and camaraderie.

So, the Brethren is what got me hooked beyond the usual BYC.

[ZILLA]

What got me hooked was the desire to keep a Texas and family tradition going. That, and I wanted to be able to make my own better than any other BBQ I could find.

[cheez]

Visited my parents a few times after they "retired"and moved to Austin TX. Had BBQ a few times, first at County Line (thought it was great at first, on later visits went to the likes of Louie Mueller's, found out what good BBQ was). Once dad got a smoker, think it was a New Braunfels Black Diamond or similar and I was there to watch him cook, I got the desire. Of course, as I usually do, I started to do some research and again, as usual, a little knowledge is a dangerous/expensive thing. I couldn't be happy with a horizontal like his, so I settled on a Bandera. I know it's not expensive compared to what is available now, but it was a lot for my current income level at the time. The best part, and maybe the biggest hook, is that I discovered a Yahoo group devoted to the Bandera, and then a group of guys who couldn't resist the off-topic posts when the Q-ing was slow, and here we are! Still hooked, though I travel a lot for work, so my home time is sometimes limited, which restricts my BBQ chances. But I pop in here for a fix when I can, and if I can't Q a lot, I can certainly grill, and you guys sure come up with great ideas there too. And when I can Q, I have enough friends who don't Q that they compliment me too much, which gives that feel -good thing and makes me keep doing it! I know I'm not as good as they think, but it makes it fun. Yup, I'm still hooked!

[Kevin_Texas]

My family and friends circle around for BBQ and fun. Everytime I fire up the pit everyone comes around for a great time and BBQ. Thats whats its all about... Family and Friends..

[Ye Olde Party Palace]

I think that the thing that does it for me is making my friends smile when they eat things I cook.

[Diva Q]

I had just had my son he was 5 months old and I was a little housebound bored with having 3 kids at home and having left my job as an HR Operations Manager for 10 years. So being a foodie for life a friend of mine Jim told me about the Canadian Open. Said I should judge. So I signed up for judging and 3 days later I bought what I called then a "smoker" thingy. (My first WSM) I have been hooked ever since. At the competition I had some amazing BBQ. Some good BBQ and some not so great BBQ. In my noobishness I had no clue what I was doing but I competed in my first amateur contest that year and came in 5th. It has been quite the ride since then and only in a few years. So many great people so much good food. Worth every minute to experience it.

[ozlites]

Moving to Texas from from Quebec 6 years ago, smelling mesquite smoke for the first time...