BBQ love affair...where does it start?

[SoDakSmokerGolfer]

I think everyone here would agree that good BBQ is not just about the food. It's the whole experience... The sounds, the people, the smells, the memories, and places. My wife asked me last night why I love BBQ so much? My first answer was I just do... But after I thought about a bit I remembered where it began.

My grandfather was a farmer. I spent a fair amount of my summers working with him in the fields as a kid. A lot of hard work, even more so in the hot Alabama heat. At the end of a long week my grandparents always went to a local BBQ joint to meet up with friends . We would eat wonderful food, sit back relax, catch up on local gossip, and just bond with the community. I always thought some how the BBQ made this happen.

So my affair with BBQ started in a little road side spot called Top Hat BBQ in warrior AL.

Where did it star for you and why?

 

[Meat Man]

When I was a kid I worked in a butcher shop in Duarte, CA. They had a customer named AJ, he was one of my favorite people to help. Come to find out AJ was the champion rib cooker at the LA County Fair, three years running. He brought me a slab of ribs, and I was hooked. I had never tasted anything so delicious in my life. About 15 years ago I met a local pitmaster that had opened up a place in town. He brought me a slab of spares, it took me right back to AJs ribs. Hooked all over again, but this time, I wanted to learn how to do this myself. That's where my story starts. Thanks AJ, thanks T.

 

[Big Poppa]

I think it starts with being outside...starts usually in the summer and then you know you have a problem because it is year round. If Im just cooking for the wife (we are empty nesters) it's time to get away from my 4 jobs and it's my time. If my kids are here it is the joy o spending time with them and hopefully turning out bbq that they remember.

Its about weddings parties creativity expression...its satisfying and with the comp angle I have met a whole new batch of really great people and some really colorful characters...

 

[muebe]

My father was always grilling something on his old Weber charcoal grill. We did a lot of Death Valley camping so grilling was a standard in my childhood. Been grilling since I was 12 years old.

When I was around 20 years old I lived with roommates and we decided to buy gas smoker for the house. Through trial and error we learned how to produce some pretty good food. That is where my real love affair began

 

[Jables]

Hard for me to say how it started. I guess from watching pitmasters. When you're a meatitarian like me its hard not to like the low and slow process for coaxing big flavours out of inexpensive cuts of meat. Saw a traeger at my local lumberyard and thought it made sense. Love traegers or hate em, I'm sure I'm not the only one here that was introduced to this site after purchasing one.

 

[sparky]

hanging out w/ my dad out in the backyard smoking and grilling stuff. just the two of us. its the 1st time my dad let me have a beer w/ him (he drank oly from the can ). had alot of fun out there.

 

[Moomtaz]

I'm a little different from most of you. We never even owned a grill when I was a kid, didn't even use one until I was 23 after getting out of the army. I did, however, love the taste of BBQ. Back then that meant BBQ sauce, not our definition of barbecue, i.e. Low and slow. A couple of years ago I heard we were having a KCBS judging class in my hometown, I took it, and fell in love with the method. A couple of friends and I tried to smoke some meat at a memorial day get together, and it turned out ok. One of them said, I bet we can compete, as a joke. A few days later, Notorious P.I.G. was born and the rest was history. There was a learning curve but the process of learning has been fun. It took me 17 different sauce experiments before I found one that I was satisfied with. We make all our own rubs, mops, bastes, and sauces. Now, since moving on to the pellet smoker, I have been moving toward more non-traditional grilling and smoking. I love it, just as much as my family loves eating it.

 

[ACW3]

My Dad had a folding, rectangular charcoal grill that we used to take on fishing trips. Cooked a lot of meals on that old thing. Graduated to a Weber Kettle and enjoyed some really great meals at home. This was too big to travel. I remember the indirect cooked/smoked turkey at Thanksgiving. Oh, the flavor!!! He also did standing rib roasts and tenderloins on the old Weber. All good. After I got married I started with a small Habachi when I was stationed in Hawaii. this was fine for two people, but hard to cook much more than appetizers for a small group. A small group of us would each bring our Habachi if it was time for a party. After getting out of the Navy, my first grill was a Weber Kettle, just like Dad's. When my son got married, he inherited my old Weber and I got a "new and improved" version. He has since moved on to a newer model Weber (the old one rusted out sitting outside all the time). I still have my last Weber, which hasn't been used in a long time. My MAK is my main cooking tool now.

Art

Sparky,
Was that the beer we used to call "Oly Pop"? I drank my share while I was in Hawaii.

 

[sparky]

when I was stationed in Hawaii.
Sparky,
Was that the beer we used to call "Oly Pop"? I drank my share while I was in Hawaii.

you station at pearl harbor. me too. we got thrown in the brig for fighting in the "O" club there. i guess you not suppose to hit the MP's either. what do they expect after you been underway for 6 months. you have a little steam to let off. rules?

 

[ACW3]

Rules, Rules!! We don't need no stinkin' rules. MP's take a dim view of getting hit, I guess.

I was stationed on the sub base in Pearl from 1971 - 1973. Got out after that.

Art

 

[Moomtaz]

Sparky,
Was that the beer we used to call "Oly Pop"? I drank my share while I was in Hawaii.

I used to drink a beer called Olympia beer. Is that what you remember?

 

[Big Poppa]

oly wow we used to sneak oly

 

[sparky]

I was stationed on the sub base in Pearl from 1971 - 1973. Got out after that.

Art

i lived there from 72 -74 on the north shore and then station there from 75 - 77. loved it there. great surfing. its were i meet Lucile.

 

[sparky]

I used to drink a beer called Olympia beer. Is that what you remember?

ya, thats it. how cool. i've been up to the oly brewing plant in olympia, wa.

 

[ACW3]

Yep, that's the Oly I remember!!

Art

 

[Kite]

I used to drink a beer called Olympia beer. Is that what you remember?

Holy Cow! Oly, it's been a long time. Great (well, maybe not so great) memories. We always use to say the label should read "It is Water" instead of "It is *the* water". Anyone remember Rainier beer (we use to call it "Rain Dog"). It was what you drank when you were broke. BTW - the old Rainier brewery is just down the road from me. I actually did some work on the PLCs on their line some years back. When it closed they turned it into a coffee roasting plant and now I believe it is full of shops and such (not sure about the last part - I haven't been in there in quite a few years. That's just what it appears to be from the freeway).

Anyway, after that trip down memory lane.. back to the thread. Back when I was a youngster (just a couple of years ago..) my dad came home from a stint "over there" in the air force with this new fangled thing called a Kamado Pot. What the heck is that thing (actually the origin of the Big Green Egg - someone like my dad with a bit more business sense I guess)? Well, my uncle still has that thing and to my knowledge it is still cooking away. My dad loved a good steak and man could he pump 'em out on that thing. That really got me interested in BBQ. Today, it is all about family and friends. It is something to do while hanging out with loved ones that ends in a meal. Sometimes it turns out great and sometimes not so much.. but that is the fun of it. Everyone raves when it is great, and everyone laughs when it could be better. It is like playing cards with people - it is not about the game (food in BBQ), it is about the relationship. The game (BBQ) is just the catalyst to get people together.

 

[Jables]

Used to drink a lot of Canadian and blue. Found it funny how they took the flavours out of it when it crossed the border. Still pretty bland compared to most beers I like now.

 

[Moomtaz]

Holy Cow! Oly, it's been a long time. Great (well, maybe not so great) memories. We always use to say the label should read "It is Water" instead of "It is *the* water".

That's funny because that is the same thing we used to say in my circle of friends! In fact, that's the only reason I remember it...