BBQ Pitmasters Show

BGEChicago

BGEChicago

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Hey guys,

Just found this show, I am watching season 5 episode 2 and I just saw one of the contestants soaking her splits, she said it would produce more smoke.... I'm not a stick burner but I'm thinking this is BS right? I have never soaked any wood. Is this just another assisted reality show like the real housewives of who gives a sh!t? I think they have some reputable Judges like Tuffy Stone, Myron, Aaron Franklin but some of this seems staged.... It all seems like they are following a written script. What do you think?

Thanks,
Greg
 
I didn’t start watching that show until sometime last year and it had been on for a decade or so prior. From the beginning to the end of the series there was a difference in technique and method for sure, and I found that aspect of it interesting and entertaining. Just as I’m sure technique and method evolved here and the barbecue community in general over 10 years, so did it on the show.

And also.....”reality” TV often does not reflect reality. :thumb:

I don’t recall that episode specifically but I am sure that if she soaked wood splits, it did indeed smoke more (smolder), but that isn’t exactly the kind of smoke I want to be laying down on my food anyway.
 
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It's interesting to see the regional differences in BBQ, that aspect is pretty cool everything else I'm starting to suspect is staged.....

Thanks,
Greg
 
There's a lot of people out there who still tell other people to soak their wood chips, wood chunks, or even wood splits. Go back a few years on this forum and you'll see a lot of that advice.

I took Tuffy Stones class a couple years back, and I've met Myron, Sam Jones, Junior Urias, and a few others who were on the show, and nobody said it was staged or faked.

Tuffy did talk about the camera crew asking him to recreate a couple of scenes with some "extra oomph", but that's about it. One he did mention was in season 1 when he forgot to sauce his pork...he had a little melt down when he got back to his trailer and saw his sauce on the stove, and realized he forgot to sauce his pork. He said they asked him to recreate that incident for the cameras. So while not fake it's certainly "canned" in some instances.
 
There was an episode where a female contestant couldn’t get her Jambo fired because her wood was wet. Really? With Jamie Geer right there? I called BS when some one “dropped a panned brisket”. All they showed was a puddle of grease. No actual footage of brisket on the ground. But they must have a five second rule and turned it in anyway.
 
I have watched it over the years and got many good tips from it. In talking to Mike Mixon and Rub Bagley, they said the show was a fairly good representation of competition. They did want the individuals to be more "involved" and not closed off in their speaking and discussing what they do in their cooks. They both liked the fact that the show was getting more people in to smoking and BBQ.
As far as the "Wet Wood", I used an ECB for many years and found by wetting smaller chunks, the wood would not burn up but would smolder. If I used dry it would burn and give temp spikes in the cook. For that particular smoker, it was the only way to really get a smoother smoke flavor.
Now with the WSM 22, I use a larger chunk and do not wet it because of the way the smoker burns. I am much happier with this and the smoke flavor I get.
Again, it does come down to the type of smoker, at least it was in my case.
Lets face it, there are different ways to smoke and usually by the particular design of the pit / grill /unit being used, just as there are different styles of flavors across the country.
 
SlickRockStones said:
There was an episode where a female contestant couldn’t get her Jambo fired because her wood was wet. Really? With Jamie Geer right there? I called BS when some one “dropped a panned brisket”. All they showed was a puddle of grease. No actual footage of brisket on the ground. But they must have a five second rule and turned it in anyway.
Click to expand...

Saw one episode where Johnny Trig dropped a rack right in front of the Judges, good thing he had extras on the pit. He took first and Jamie Gier took second.
 
So within a 10 minute window you walk to the judges drop your entry, go back and slice one or two racks rebox and return to the judges and take the win????
Reality TV.
Ed
 
Ive always soaked smaller chunks, as someone else pointed out it seems to flatten out temp spikes
 
My son worked in L.A. doing video editing. While not doing BBQ Pitmasters he did work on several other reality shows. Was telling me that even though the shows are not scripted they are “prompted” on the direction they want to take an episode.
 
I saw Stump explain his GF smoker yesterday, said the smoke from the smoldering wood " was cleaned when it goes up through the super heated charcoal " or something like that. Made me wonder.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
I saw Stump explain his GF smoker yesterday, said the smoke from the smoldering wood " was cleaned when it goes up through the super heated charcoal " or something like that. Made me wonder.
Click to expand...
Ya. 'Cause he has no idea what he is talking about and you do.
 
Whumpa said:
My son worked in L.A. doing video editing. While not doing BBQ Pitmasters he did work on several other reality shows. Was telling me that even though the shows are not scripted they are “prompted” on the direction they want to take an episode.
Click to expand...


This hit the nail on the head... I should of said it like you just did, I don't think it's made up, just that things seem to be prompted. In the beginning it seamed more natural (conversations) than it does in the later episodes. I till like the show though....

Thanks,
Greg
 
BGEChicago said:
This hit the nail on the head... I should of said it like you just did, I don't think it's made up, just that things seem to be prompted. In the beginning it seamed more natural (conversations) than it does in the later episodes. I till like the show though....

Thanks,
Greg
Click to expand...

My wife said the same thing during certain episodes, especially with the judges. You can tell there is a loose script or prompting for some of those segments. The cookers less prompted I think, but it still happens. I remember an episode where one of the cooks were talking about their cooking going out of control hot, but they were telling the camera about it instead of freaking out and trying to do something haha.
 
BBQ Pitmasters created a large growth in comp barbecue.

Has that growth been sustained or is interest falling ? I happen to listen to Greg Rempe's podcast a couple weeks ago, he said something about the number of comp events in California declining. But that was bout all he said.

The show sparked my interest enough to want to learn more, but after I did, i found it was not for me.
 
CA comps definitely declining... BUT there is huge HUGE interest in BBQ here in LA.. so many 'craft' bbq spots have opened.. mostly central Texas style (thank you Franklin I suppose)... its really *the* thing right now.. so while the comp scene has slowed, the consumer/restaurant scene has exploded (with prices to match sadly)... all for the good. There is some seriously good Q here now; as good as I've had in other more BBQ centric parts of the country.

Now, the show.. its reality tv (edited for drama, but not rigged or such). I have learned a ton from watching all the people on that show...some fantastic cooks.
 
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