BBQ and Who I Am

A lot of people ask me where I come from when it comes to BBQ.  They seem to want to know what drives me to constantly cook for hours on end, research and test recipes and flavor profiles until the early morn, watch temps and the fire like a hawk, and baby BBQ meat like it is my first born…Well the answer is I like it and I’m good at it.  Now that may sound arrogant, but let me explain.  First you need to look at who inspires me in the BBQ world…Myron Mixon, Johnny Trigg, and “The Baron of BBQ” Paul Kirk.  These guys are many times considered cocky, sometimes aggressive, but always confident.  Second I have lived my life with people telling me I couldn't do it.  I've been told it’s a waste of time and it’ll never make me money.  The worst however is when people think they are better than me…Most of these people don’t put in the work I do, and most of them don’t have a fraction of the talent I do.  This may sound arrogant to you but it’s true.  I’ll have someone tell me “oh so you make sauce huh, I make sauce and people say it’s like crack.”  I usually smile and say “That’s cool.”  But in my mind I’m thinking “they only think your sauce is good because they have never had mine and they have no basis to judge it on.”  Don’t get me wrong I have years of learning and perfecting my craft to go.  I am by-no-means  ready to hit the KCBS or MIM circuits and start waxing veterans, but I’m getting better and I’m on the verge of breaking out on the BBQ scene soon…and in a BIG way!

My passion runs deep and my goals are set high.  I will have a killer sauce sold in grocery stores across the US.  I will own a restaurant slinging cue’ for Denver…and it’ll be the best.  I will be a world champion pit master on a world champion BBQ competition team.  I will put Denver on the BBQ map.  How do I know this?  I know this because I believe.  I know this because I work hard on this craft.  I know this because I taste the options in my area and I’m better than them (even better than some of the big chains).  I know this because this is all I really want to do.

BBQ means a lot to me.  There is something very primal about cooking naturally, no gas, no electricity, just wood and coals.  It’s the truth in Americana, being born from necessity in an evil past and evolving into a way of life that is really only American.  BBQ brings people together.  It bridges cultural gaps.  Rarely do I hear that BBQ is disgusting if it’s done right.  BBQ is in my soul.  It is a way to express myself in a very intimate way.  I pour my heart and soul into my cue’ and many times my finished product represents the way I am feeling that day.

So maybe next time you read a post you can better understand if I boast or even if I trash myself.  This is who I am and who I am becoming.