Shownotes
The episode features a compelling discussion with Bill Wheeler, a member of Myron Mixon's esteemed barbecue competition team, Jack's Old South. We delve into Bill's remarkable journey from an amateur cook with limited experience to a seasoned competitor, reflecting on how a Christmas gift in 2010 transformed his culinary path. Throughout our conversation, we explore the intricate dynamics of competitive barbecue, emphasizing the importance of consistency and simplicity in mastering this art form. Bill shares valuable insights gleaned from his extensive training and competitions, including his approach to cooking brisket and pork butts. As we navigate the nuances of barbecue preparation, we also highlight the camaraderie and shared experiences that characterize life on the competition circuit.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Myron Mixon
- Painted Hills Natural Beef
- Weston Kia
- Heritage Steel
- DoorDash
- Domino's
- Chipotle
- Dunkin' Donuts
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcripts
It's time for Barbecue Nation with jt so fire up your grill, light the charcoal, and get your smoker cooking.
Speaker A:Now from the Turn It, Go Burn it studios in Portland.
Speaker A:Here's jt.
Speaker B:This is an encore.
Speaker B:Hey, everybody.
Speaker B:Welcome to the nation.
Speaker B:That's the Barbecue Nation.
Speaker B:I'm JT along with Camaro Dave and Commander Chris.
Speaker B:Coming to you from the Turn It, Don't Burn it studios in beautiful Portland, Oregon.
Speaker B:Today, we've got a new guest.
Speaker B:Not that we always have old guests, but we have a new guest today, Bill Wheeler, who is one of Myron Mixon's compatriots from the Old Jack south competition team.
Speaker B:So we're going to be talking to Bill in a little bit.
Speaker B:He's got an interesting story.
Speaker B:We got a little music from.
Speaker B:Oh, who do we got today?
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Waylon Jennings.
Speaker B:How about that?
Speaker B:Dukes of Hazzard.
Speaker B:Being that Bill's kind of a Southern guy and I've spent a lot of time in the South, I thought maybe that was appropriate, so he'll do that.
Speaker B:Also, we'd like to thank the folks at Painted Hills Natural Beef Beef the way nature intended.
Speaker B:You can check them out online@painted hillsnatural beef.com welcome, Bill Wheeler.
Speaker C:Well, it's good to be with you.
Speaker C:I know we've had some issues getting our schedules together, so it's good to finally be on here and be able to chat with you.
Speaker B:No worries.
Speaker B:We're always.
Speaker B:We're always trying to be accommodating.
Speaker B:Well, here's your backstory.
Speaker B:I'll just kind of start it, and then you can take it from there.
Speaker B: ived a Christmas gift back in: Speaker B:And it was a chance to attend the cooking school of Myron Mixins, as Bill calls him the Richard Petty of barbecue.
Speaker B:And now he's hooked.
Speaker B:Now he's made a name for himself.
Speaker B:And by the way, if you.
Speaker B:If you follow Bill on Twitter, which I do, every morning, he sends out a little message to you that says, it's National Raccoon Day.
Speaker B:It's National Salted Butter Day.
Speaker B:He comes out with all these kind of facts that are kind of fun, and he's always wishing you to have a good day, and I think that's very cool.
Speaker B:So what?
Speaker B:First of all, let's take it from the top.
Speaker B:Bill, what prompted your wife to give you the certificate to the school?
Speaker C:We were watching an episode of Barbecue Pitmasters and saw Myron on There, which I, I didn't have a clue who he was or anything about competitive barbecue, but I wanted to learn to cook a brisket.
Speaker C:He seemed to be a good man to learn that from.
Speaker C:And my wife always likes to try to come up with a surprise for Christmas.
Speaker C:And I'm definitely one hard to surprise.
Speaker C:So she gave me the class attendance for Christmas gift and that's, that's how that ended up happening.
Speaker C: April when I went to class in: Speaker C:So she attended with me and enjoyed the class and she met Myron.
Speaker C:And then like I said, the only reason I went was to learn how to cook a brisket.
Speaker C:Didn't pay any attention to any of the other stuff, to be honest with you, in class until we got to brisket and I focused on that.
Speaker C:Gave a gentleman there my card, my business card, and he called me on Monday after cook school and wanted to know if I would be interested in cooking a competition with him in Sevierville, Tennessee, which I told him I'd never cooked.
Speaker C:Competition.
Speaker C:He said he never had either.
Speaker C:So I started cooking with Kuhn Stewing and Bruin Scott Smith and of course he was another JOS alumni and we were grinding and that's how I sort of got started in it.
Speaker C:But I never went with the intention of doing any barbecue competition.
Speaker B:That's interesting because most people would be a bit terrified, to put it mildly, to step into the role of a pit master or helping with a pit master, or especially if you, neither of you really had any experience to do it and yet you're going to be judged in the categories and you got to, you know, turn in your boxes and all that different stuff.
Speaker B:Did you have any clue of how they worked?
Speaker C:Just from what I saw in class was the only thing that I knew and I really didn't understand it was it was a KCBS Kansas City Barbecue Society event in Sevierville.
Speaker C:And you know, I don't even remember how we scored.
Speaker C:We didn't win that particular competition, but from that point on, I was gone about 45, 47 weekends a year for several years competing.
Speaker C:We were gone every weekend.
Speaker B:Wow, that's the traveling salesman, literally.
Speaker B:You have another business though, that you do on a Monday through Friday type schedule, don't you?
Speaker B:You have an alarm system or a security system business?
Speaker C:Yes, Wheeler Technologies.
Speaker C:My wife owns the company and I run the day to day operations and we do everything low voltage.
Speaker C:We do Fire security, access and cameras, telephone systems, pretty much anything to do with the low voltage aspect of technology.
Speaker C:And this will be my 45th year to be doing technology, but it's evolved a lot in 45 years.
Speaker B:Well, you went from low voltage to high voltage when you hooked up with Myron, I'll tell you that.
Speaker C:Well, that was the dark side.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C: In: Speaker C:That's when I met Johnny Trigg for the first time and spent quality time with him.
Speaker C:And we were coming back through Unadilla, Georgia, and we stopped by to see Myron.
Speaker C:And I didn't the truck to leave.
Speaker C:And Myron told me when I got ready to leave Scott, I could come and cook with him.
Speaker C:And I laughed and shut the door.
Speaker C:And I told Scott, I said, scott, we know that was a big compliment for the winningest man in barbecue history.
Speaker C:Offer you a place on his team.
Speaker C:I said, well, he wasn't serious.
Speaker C:He was just.
Speaker C:Just kidding.
Speaker C:He said, no, he.
Speaker C:He was serious.
Speaker C:And he just said, you just need to come on over to the dark side.
Speaker C: point on, and it took me till: Speaker B:Was it a big change for you when you went to Myron's team?
Speaker B:I mean, obviously, you and Scott had your own ways of doing things.
Speaker B:Not talking about perhaps the cook, but the prep, the timing, everything like that.
Speaker B:How did that change when you went over to Myron?
Speaker C:Well, a lot of the things that we did, Scott and I learned at Myron's class, so we were.
Speaker C:We were pretty much in tune to that.
Speaker C:But it was usually just me and Scott, and it's a big difference whenever you go with Myron.
Speaker C:And I mean, a norm for us is about five people at a competition.
Speaker C:I mean, we've had.
Speaker C:We have had as little as three, and we've had as many as nine.
Speaker C:But everybody has their niche and they know what to do and where to fit in, so it works out very well.
Speaker C:But that was one of the biggest changes, is that, you know, we had a tj.
Speaker C:We hunt, usually run the pit, and if he was there, which he's there 99.9% of the time, and just everybody fitting into their own particular spot was the biggest challenge, rather than just two of us being at a competition.
Speaker B:Well, that's a big change, though.
Speaker B:I mean, you got to get used to everybody's moves.
Speaker B:You know, if you're working in the trailer or around the pit or whatever.
Speaker B:People have things that they do on a consistent basis, the way they organize their knives, for example.
Speaker B:And you got to get used to that.
Speaker C:Oh, definitely.
Speaker C:I mean it.
Speaker C:And you know, we've always on, on the Jack Soul Styles team, we always close, everything falls into place and I mean there's never any confusion on our parts.
Speaker C:We all know what we need to do and we do it.
Speaker C:It's amazing.
Speaker C:Like I said, you know, one week you may be with three different people on the team than you were the week before, but we've worked together so long now that many times that we make it happen.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Before we head out to break, I'm trying to bring you some fresh news this week.
Speaker B:No pun intended.
Speaker B:Amazon opened its first fresh supermarket last Thursday, giving select customers in California a taste of what's to come.
Speaker B:The e commerce giant, which in recent years has been taking a bite out of the multi billion dollar grocery industry, invited a select group of customers in the Los Angeles area to shop in the store before opening up to the public in the next couple weeks.
Speaker B:The company touted that the new store offers seamless and convenience and experiences both online and in store.
Speaker B:At the new location, the company implemented the Amazon Dash cart going to hear more about Dash in the next segment, allowing its customers to skip the checkout line as well as Alexa features that help customers manage their shopping lists and navigate the aisles.
Speaker B:The store also offers same day delivery and pickup.
Speaker B:However, safety remains at the forefront of the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaker B:As that continues, Amazon says it's put in place comprehensive safety measures to help protect team members and customers against the virus as the store welcomes shoppers for the first time.
Speaker B:This includes requiring daily temperature checks for all its employees, requiring face mask coverings for all employees and customers entering the store, offering free disposable masks for any customer who wants one, and operating the store at 50% of the capacity.
Speaker B:Now, prior to the opening, hundreds of Amazon Fresh Store associates helped with online grocery delivery out of the Amazon Fresh store while adhering to Amazon safety measures.
Speaker B:That's according to the company now, not me.
Speaker B:This is kind of interesting here.
Speaker B:As soon as I get the rest of my script out here, the store will be open from 7am to 10pm that's on the Pacific time.
Speaker B:Amazon did not offer specific date when the store would open, but they're kind of saying a couple of weeks.
Speaker B:Amazon confirmed to the news source here, which was Fox, that it will open three other stores in Illinois in Oaklawn, Schaumburg and Naperville as well as one in each in Irvine and North Hollywood, California.
Speaker B:However, Amazon did not specify when those locations would open, but they will be open.
Speaker B:That's according to Amazon.
Speaker B:So there you go.
Speaker B:Amazon's going to turn into the one stop shopping thing for everything in the world.
Speaker B:I think that's the plan.
Speaker B:We're going to take a break.
Speaker B:We're going to be back with Bill Wheeler right after this a long time.
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Speaker B:Hey everybody, it's Jeff here.
Speaker B:I want to tell you about something really cool.
Speaker B:Heritage steel cookware.
Speaker B:I just got mine.
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Speaker B:Just go to HeritageSteel us and find out more.
Speaker B:You'll love it, I guarantee it.
Speaker E:Just a good old boy never meaning no harm be told you never saw been in trouble with the law since the day they was born.
Speaker B:This is an encore.
Speaker B:Hey, welcome back to Barbecue Nation.
Speaker B:I'm JT and the Nation here on the Envision Radio networks.
Speaker B:If you'd like to email us, it's BBQ SalemPDX.com that's BBQ@salempb.
Speaker B:PDX.com.
Speaker B:also if you want to check it out on SoundCloud, we're making some new records there.
Speaker B:It's just Barbecue Nation, JT.
Speaker B:Facebook is the same thing.
Speaker B:Barbecue Nation, JT.
Speaker B:My Twitter account is Count Cook57.
Speaker B:That's how I met Bill.
Speaker B:And we'd like to say hi to all of our affiliates down the line here out on the west coast and in the Midwest and down in Texas.
Speaker B:We're talking with Bill Wheeler here who's on Myron's competition team Jack's Old South.
Speaker B:When you first started.
Speaker B:Let's go back to that for a minute, Bill.
Speaker B:When you first started, had you ever like even tried to cook a brisket?
Speaker B:Had you ever tried to trim a brisket?
Speaker B:Had you ever tried to, you know, do battle with pork ribs, anything like that?
Speaker C:Most of the, the things that I did was grilling.
Speaker C:I didn't even have a smoker, but I bought a, an inexpensive electric smoker and I Did buy brisket, and I tried my hand at it.
Speaker C:Of course, I didn't watch YouTube videos.
Speaker C:I just read some things online and tried it, and I threw it in the garbage.
Speaker C:I was the only one that tasted it.
Speaker C:Nobody even knew I cooked it, because when I got back home from cook school, I did a brisket.
Speaker C:My wife said, this is.
Speaker C:This is very good for your first brisket.
Speaker C:And I said, well, actually, that's my second.
Speaker C:And I had to explain to her that the other one went in the garbage and no one even knew I did it.
Speaker C:But most of all I did was just grilling steaks and chicken and.
Speaker C:And even, you know, I even learned a lot about that as far as saucing chicken, you know, eight minutes before you're done with it, right?
Speaker C:Starting it and letting burn up and caramelize.
Speaker C:But it was.
Speaker C:It was a good thing.
Speaker C:Learning experience, for sure.
Speaker B:It takes a while to learn that stuff.
Speaker B:I mean, what you just mentioned something about, you know, the saucing and that.
Speaker B:I mean, when I was a young guy and out on the ranch and my folks would cook and we had this kind of funky charcoal barbecue thing and had a rotisserie that kind of went.
Speaker B:The chicken would slip, you know, so I'm never sure if the.
Speaker B:I don't remember if the chicken actually made it all the way around one rotation, but they would start saucing it about 20 minutes into the cook.
Speaker B:And so it was always pretty crunchy, pretty chewy, and not very good.
Speaker B:So, like, you threw your brisket in the garbage, sometimes those chickens would go flying over the fence into the back pasture.
Speaker B:You know, it was pretty tough.
Speaker B:What do you think is the most important thing you've learned about, just in general, about barbecue from hanging around with Myron?
Speaker C:Well, I think you need to keep it simple a lot of times.
Speaker C:And that's something Myron's always said, too.
Speaker C:We.
Speaker C:We try to over complicate it, and we.
Speaker C:We do it.
Speaker C:You know, I think you need to be consistent.
Speaker C:That's one thing I've seen in competitions.
Speaker C:And, you know, I back down from the 45 comps a year.
Speaker C:I enjoyed being gone, but it was just wearing me down.
Speaker C:So I. I think last year I was going 15 weekends, but I would see a lot of competitors, and they would go this week and they would do this and score well.
Speaker C:The next competition, they didn't score well.
Speaker C:Then they changed all the recipes and went back again.
Speaker C:I think you need to stay consistent.
Speaker C:Consistent.
Speaker C:I think you need to tweak things every now and then that you don't need to be doing a lot of drastic changes.
Speaker C:And I think simple is a good thing when it comes to barbecue.
Speaker B:I think you're right.
Speaker B:Um, I've interviewed a lot of folks on this show.
Speaker B:I've obviously like, you have seen a lot of things online.
Speaker B:And sometimes I gotta tell you, Bill, sometimes it's like, man, they just added eight extra steps there that I don't think was necessary.
Speaker B:That's just my opinion, but I, I don't think it's necessary.
Speaker B:You know, I've, I've.
Speaker B:You don't know that much about me, but I've cooked on television for 20 years and I can tell you this.
Speaker B:You will lose a television audience if you have more than about four steps in your recipe.
Speaker B:They, they, they can't follow it.
Speaker B:They won't follow.
Speaker B:Becomes too complicated.
Speaker B:And an eighth of a teaspoon of cumin isn't going to do anything for you.
Speaker B:And so I agree with you.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's true.
Speaker C:I mean, I, I go back, of course, probably one of the worst people in the world to change things at a conference, Myers.
Speaker C:And, you know, we'll go in the competition and something we've done this way for X number of years, and I think we're going to try this today and see how this works out.
Speaker C:And he doesn't have a lot of time at home anymore to experiment, but we do a lot of experimenting at comps, which, you know, I think that probably hurts us some when we're playing around with recipes there.
Speaker C:Sometimes it, you know, sometimes we win and sometimes we don't.
Speaker C:But.
Speaker C:But the simple things seem to be good.
Speaker C:And if you see people, you know, it's been humorous over the years.
Speaker C:You see folks that, that watch somebody on barbecue Pitmasters and they see how they do their rib.
Speaker C:So the next thing you know, you go look and everybody's doing the same thing at a comp to try to copy that to winning ribs and, or any other categories as far as that goes.
Speaker C:But, but I think the simple is the key.
Speaker C:And if you find something and it works for you, then stick with it.
Speaker C:The flavor profiles with your wood and your sauces and your rubs is an important thing.
Speaker C:And once you find that niche, then that's where you need to be.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:We're talking with Bill Wheeler, who's part of Myron Mixon's Jackson south barbecue team.
Speaker B:Ten years ago, Bill didn't know much about this, and now he's one of the world all stars out there, which is impressive.
Speaker B:When we come back, we're going to ask Bill about some of his own personal preferences and how he does things at home.
Speaker B:Maybe he'll share, maybe he won't.
Speaker B:But I think he probably will.
Speaker B:You're listening to Barbecue Nation here on the Envision Radio Network.
Speaker E:Just a good old boy never meaning no harm be told you never saw.
Speaker E:Been in trouble with a law since the day they was born.
Speaker E:Straightening the curve, yeah.
Speaker E:Flattening the hills.
Speaker B:Hey, everybody, it's JT And I have eaten.
Speaker B:If you've ever looked at me, you know that.
Speaker B:But I have eaten seafood all over the world, and I can tell you there's no place better than here in Oregon and our Dungeness crab.
Speaker B:If you want to learn more about Oregon Dungeness crab, just go to oregondungeness.org and click find out how to cook it, how to catch it, where to buy it, and the sustainability of what they're doing there in the Oregon Crab Commission.
Speaker B:Check it out.
Speaker E:Cowboys ain't easy to love, and they're hard to.
Speaker B:This is an encore.
Speaker B:Welcome back to Barbecue Nation, here on the Envision Radio Network.
Speaker B:I'm jt Or Jeff Tracy, as you might call me.
Speaker B:We'd like to thank the folks at Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Speaker B:That is beef the way nature intended.
Speaker B:Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Speaker B:We've got Bill Wheeler with us today.
Speaker B:He's with Myron's Jack's Old South Barbecue Team.
Speaker B:How much Jack do you guys actually go through?
Speaker B:That's a question I was asked about you guys.
Speaker B:I said I have no idea.
Speaker C:You mean as far as Jack Daniels?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:We don't.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:That's funny.
Speaker C:But now Tracy mix.
Speaker C:And that's Myron's brother.
Speaker C:He.
Speaker C:He likes Jack and Coke.
Speaker C:Ed and I prefer margaritas.
Speaker C:Several don't drink.
Speaker C:And Myron's a Crown Royal person.
Speaker C:Just the Blaino crown.
Speaker C:Definitely not the peach.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker C:He had a bad experience with peach one night.
Speaker C:I just.
Speaker C:Him and Ed did.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:But there's very seldom.
Speaker C:If you were to look on the cook rig right now, you might find some Cabo tequila.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker C:And crayon.
Speaker C:But.
Speaker C:But you wouldn't find any Jack on it.
Speaker C:I don't think.
Speaker B:I know what happens when you get bad ice.
Speaker B:It's terrible.
Speaker B:It can really hurt you the next day.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's tough.
Speaker B:It's very tough.
Speaker B:And I know from your tweets that you're also a big fan of Mexican food.
Speaker C:I love Mexican food.
Speaker C:And, I mean, we could probably eat there four or Five nights a week.
Speaker C:They do have good margaritas too.
Speaker C:A friend of mine is the manager and he's one of my customers.
Speaker C:And it's convenient.
Speaker C:I mean it's not far from the house and usually we can get in and get out in a hurry.
Speaker C:And that's one of my favorite places.
Speaker B:So Bill, when you were doing something at home and you're prepping at home, walk us through how Bill Wheeler would like prep a rack of ribs.
Speaker B:Or even if you're not doing the whole brisket, maybe you're just doing a flat.
Speaker B:How do you do it for when you're doing it at home?
Speaker C:I've never cooked but one flat of a brisket.
Speaker C:I've always cooked whole briskets.
Speaker C:And that the only reason it was by chance, not by choice on the flat because that's all I could get to serve during a holiday.
Speaker C:But I, I mean pretty much Myron's got a book that's Smoking by Myron Mix and I'll put a plug in here for him.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker C:And that's the go to book.
Speaker C:That's where I get my pork injections.
Speaker C:And I do inject my pork butt and that brisket injection in there.
Speaker C:I do inject my brisket, but I'll go through and, and trim the, the brisket.
Speaker C:I'll get all the silver skin and the fat off the top.
Speaker C:I flip it over and I remove the fat gap from the point.
Speaker C:Only that way I can.
Speaker C:If I'm going to make burnt ends, I do and go ahead and I put Myron's rub, his hickory rub, the Myron mix and hickory rub is what we use on brisket.
Speaker C:You can put that on there.
Speaker C:He's got a new hot rub with the hickory first and put some hot rub on it and let it, let it soak in.
Speaker C:That's after I inject it with miner's beef base and all you and like that's in his, his book, the recipe for that.
Speaker C:And then I'll put it on the pit.
Speaker C:I cook my brisket and but the big meat at 300 or if it's a pellet, smoker, stick burner, whatever.
Speaker C:I smoke them at 300 for two hours.
Speaker C:I place them in a pan, a full pan, tightly full them, put it back on the smoker and when my point gets to 203, 205.
Speaker C:When it feels like butter, I pull it, let it rest for a minimum of two hours, separate it, do my burn ends.
Speaker C:If folks don't know how to do burn ends, there's Some good videos on there.
Speaker C:Myron's got two.
Speaker C:One of them with me when we were in California.
Speaker C:And do the burn end.
Speaker C:If you ever do burn ins for your family, you pretty much ruined it.
Speaker C:So you're gonna have to do it every time.
Speaker C:So you need to make your mind up.
Speaker C:Would you want to take time to do it all the time.
Speaker C:But I mean, that's the way that I do the brisket, which is the same way we do in competition and the same way we teach in our cook school.
Speaker B:So how do you cook your.
Speaker B:Your pork butts?
Speaker C:The pork.
Speaker C:But trim, trim them very little.
Speaker C:Now, I'm talking about for home, not for competition.
Speaker B:Right, right.
Speaker C:I don't.
Speaker C:I mean, I take the loose fat off and one thing I've learned to do on the pork butts, and I'll tell you about it in a second, but I make sure there's no bone fragments on it and I inject them with our pork injection that's in the book.
Speaker C:One of the main things in that pork injection is apple juice.
Speaker C:And then I use the mind mix and original rub on those and let it sweat in pretty much the same ordeal.
Speaker C:I mean, I put them on the smoker at 300.
Speaker C:I put them in a.
Speaker C:In a pan with some apple juice in the bottom after two hours.
Speaker C:And the two hours will vary depending on your smoker.
Speaker C:I mean, I want them to have a good color before I pan them.
Speaker C:And then I'll go ahead and tightly foil them.
Speaker C:And when they reach 203, 205.
Speaker C:Now if I'm on a pulled pork, if that's all I want to do, I'll take them to 210 because it sure is easy to pull at 2:10.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker C:Now, if I'm.
Speaker C:My son sometimes will wrangle me into these things that.
Speaker C:Oh yeah, dad will cook you six fort bucks for your wedding rehearsal dinner or something like that.
Speaker B:Yeah, go figure.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:So I'll pull them about 195, catch money muscles.
Speaker C:I'll put them aside, then I'll go ahead and take them on up to 210 and pull the port and I keep the money muscle.
Speaker B:Well, at least you get something out of it then.
Speaker C:That's true.
Speaker B:Yeah, I get.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Go ahead.
Speaker B:Sorry.
Speaker C:I was just gonna say nobody knows the difference where those money muscles were there.
Speaker C:Not in full pork.
Speaker C:So no, you might as well take them off and slice them at hands and enjoy them.
Speaker B:You know, it's funny because when you have you develop these types of skills, you get volunteered for a lot I've found.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:And, you know, I. I did catering for a while, and.
Speaker B:But I was really never set up for a commercial catering business.
Speaker B:It was all because I was kind of the tv, radio guy, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker B:And that worked.
Speaker B:It was fine.
Speaker B:People enjoyed it.
Speaker B:But, you know, same type of thing, though.
Speaker B:It's like, hey, could.
Speaker B:Could you cook us a.
Speaker B:We've got a charity thing here.
Speaker B:Could you knock out, you know, five prime ribs for us, you know, or something?
Speaker B:It's like, yeah, okay.
Speaker B:But what they don't know doesn't hurt them, just like you said, you know.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Out of all the.
Speaker B:Out of the different categories of ribs, you know, brisket, pulled and chicken, which one was the toughest for you to kind of get your arms around?
Speaker C:Well, my.
Speaker C:I guess my favorite category is brisket.
Speaker C:My most hated category is chicken, and it's mainly just prepping the chicken and the.
Speaker C:The.
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker C:I'm.
Speaker C:I'm a real.
Speaker C:I'm particular about myself being right.
Speaker C:And the chicken, getting the bite through skin and everything is probably the most difficult thing for me.
Speaker C:The ribs, I mean, I think I do pretty well in those.
Speaker C:The pork butt, too.
Speaker C:But the brisket's always been my best category, and the chicken has been where I've struggled.
Speaker B:I think chicken is where a lot of people struggle, honestly, because it can go.
Speaker B:No pun intended, but it can go south on you really quickly.
Speaker B:Chicken can.
Speaker C:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker B:You know, when you're working with the bigger cuts of meat or the racks, you know.
Speaker B:Yeah, you can kind of.
Speaker B:You know, they're not as delicate.
Speaker B:It's the way I look at it, Bill.
Speaker B:They're just not as delicate as when you got thighs up there or something.
Speaker B:Or even if you're at home and you're doing whole chickens or whatever, that those funky birds can just fly the coop on you.
Speaker B:No pun intended.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:And you know what I do.
Speaker C:One of my favorite things to do at home is chicken wings, and I don't do a lot.
Speaker C:It's very surprising to people that I don't do a lot of cooking at home.
Speaker C:As far as barbecue goes, it just doesn't happen.
Speaker C:I did 27 turkeys at Thanksgiving, and I've probably done wing three or four times.
Speaker C:But when you.
Speaker C:I mean, used to, when I was doing it 45 weekends a year, I didn't want to do barbecue when I was at home.
Speaker B:Mm.
Speaker C:So I don't do a whole lot of cooking at home.
Speaker C:I did minster pot, tortilla, chicken tortillas.
Speaker C:This last night that was good, but nothing to do with barbecue.
Speaker B:I'm a big fan of.
Speaker B:Trader Joe's fried rice, chicken fried rice with some sweet and hot sauce on it and stuff and then something else like that that I can kind of when I do have to cook, I can whip it up in one pan and be done with it.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker B:I'm cheating, but I understand completely.
Speaker B:Before we go to break and Bill's hanging on the line there, I want to tell you something new here.
Speaker B:DoorDash has launched a grocery delivery service restaurant delivery platform.
Speaker B:DoorDash is partnering, I should say with Regional Grocer Regional Grocers to offer on demand grocery delivery.
Speaker B:Partner grocers currently include Smart and Final Major and Fresh Time.
Speaker B:In the next few weeks, D', Agostino, excuse me, Gurstige and Hy Vee will join DoorDash as well.
Speaker B:Other grocery chains including Wedgman's and Gelson's will give DoorDash customers access to their apps, which customers can use to order prepared foods.
Speaker B:Prior to the pandemic, the market for online grocery shopping was growing, but kind of slowly.
Speaker B:Delivery demand has since shot through the roof in all sectors.
Speaker B:During a recent call to discuss second quarter results, Amazon Whole Foods CFO Brian Olvaski reported that online grocery sales tripled year over year.
Speaker B:Other players in the grocery delivery market are capitalizing on changing consumer habits, including market leaders Instacart, which announced a partnership with Walmart that allows customers same day delivery service from Walmart locations in la, San Francisco, San Diego and Tulsa.
Speaker B:There you go, Tulsa.
Speaker B:Not to be outdone, Doordash pledged that groceries from its providers will be ready for Dasher pickup within the hour.
Speaker B:DoorDash charges about four bucks as a delivery fee on each of the orders unless the customers are a member of its Dash pass which is 9.99amonth.
Speaker B:We'll be back with more Barbecue Nation Bill Wheeler right after this.
Speaker B:Don't go away.
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Speaker B:Hey everybody, J.T.
Speaker B:here.
Speaker B:I want to tell you about the Hammerstahl knives.
Speaker B:Hammer Stahl combines German steel with beautiful and functioning designs.
Speaker B:They're part of the Heritage Steel group with which also does their pots and Pans.
Speaker B:So go to heritagesteel us.
Speaker B:Check out the Hammer Stall knives.
Speaker B:If you're really into cooking, I think you're really gonna like them.
Speaker E:I've held it all in.
Speaker E:God knows I've tried.
Speaker B:This is an encore.
Speaker B:Welcome back to Barbecue Nation.
Speaker B:I'm JT from the Turn It Don't Burn it studios here in Port Portland, Oregon.
Speaker B:We've got Bill Wheeler with us.
Speaker B:Bill is kind of a country boy.
Speaker B:Done.
Speaker B:Good story, if you will.
Speaker B:Kind of like a lot of people I know.
Speaker B:Ten years ago he didn't know much about barbecue, and now he's competing with Myron out there on his team.
Speaker B:Let me ask you a couple of real quick personal questions because we've only got about five minutes in this segment.
Speaker B:Bill, what's the biggest misconception about Myron, if there is one?
Speaker C:Well, I guess his attitude, you know, and, and I'll be honest, in his early episode of Barbecue Pit Masters, he's, he's become a quite polished man.
Speaker C:Some might think he's still a little crude.
Speaker C:This.
Speaker C:We had a real good time laughing and cutting up with his class over the weekend.
Speaker C:And you can come to barbecue cook school.
Speaker C:And Myron, it's, it's not only you not only learn competition in backyard barbecue, but you also have a comedy show.
Speaker C:He is so funny.
Speaker C:Anybody that was in the class last weekend could tell you that they last all the time.
Speaker C:He's got a tender heart.
Speaker C:He's.
Speaker C:He's a good businessman.
Speaker C:He's the mayor of Unadilla, Georgia.
Speaker C:He took the leadership of Unadilla last term.
Speaker C:He just got reelected and he's turned that place around.
Speaker C:But he's, he's all around a good guy.
Speaker C:He's my best friend and I love him dearly, as good as any of my kin, folks.
Speaker C:But he is, he has got a good heart.
Speaker C:And I think everybody that comes to Cook's once they leave, they have a different opinion Myron Mixon, than they do when they get there.
Speaker B:Well, I'll tell you, I've interviewed him two or three times now, and I've always had a great time doing the interviews with him.
Speaker B:Some of this stuff we have to edit out as far as the over the air stuff, and we put that in the after hours show.
Speaker B:But other than that, I found him to be quite charming and quite, quite funny.
Speaker B:And he did invite me down to shoot squirrels in the pecan orchards with his four tens and his golf cart.
Speaker B:So, you know, I can do that.
Speaker B:I have no aversion to hunting varmints so to speak.
Speaker B:What's been your biggest joy so far in working with the.
Speaker B:The crew?
Speaker C:Well, I've enjoyed the fellowship, and we've.
Speaker C:A lot of us have bonded very close together.
Speaker C: ount, was being in Memphis in: Speaker C:I was ecstatic.
Speaker C:And the ring that Myron bought all the team members.
Speaker C:There's a picture of the World Championship ring that he gave me, and mine's personalized.
Speaker C:It's mine.
Speaker C:That's something I've never expected to accomplish in my life.
Speaker C:And, you know, I've been able to travel a lot.
Speaker C:I mean, I. I was just.
Speaker C:I was born here in Cleveland, Tennessee.
Speaker C:Lived here all my life and didn't travel a whole lot.
Speaker C:And I've been just about all over the country, and Myron's been good to me and the rest of the team members.
Speaker C: But the: Speaker B:You make it down to Sammy Hagar's deal with him.
Speaker C:For some reason, I've never got to go down there, but I've had a lot of people tell me I need to be making tequila commercials.
Speaker B:Well, that you could.
Speaker B:I vouch for you on that one, bud.
Speaker B:I vouch for you on that.
Speaker B:Just make sure you take some aspirin or whatever you want with you so you got it in your pocket at all times.
Speaker B:You'll be good.
Speaker B:I saw a film clip of Myron down there when the boys were setting up one of the smokers for him, and he had his little coffee cup full of whatever it was in there, and it was kind of funny.
Speaker B:They were hustling for him.
Speaker B:It was really cute.
Speaker C:Yeah, they did a good job setting that smoker up, because there's no telling how much that weighed.
Speaker B:Well, one guy wasn't going to move it, that's for sure.
Speaker B:Bill.
Speaker C:Well, and you saw one guy that wasn't moving it too smart while he was supervising.
Speaker B:Yeah, he was.
Speaker B:He looked good in that position.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:It fit him.
Speaker B:It fit the profile.
Speaker B:It fit the real profile.
Speaker C:Delegating responsibilities.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:We're going to wrap up this show.
Speaker B:Thank you, Bill Wheeler, for being with us.
Speaker B:Bill's a Tennessee boy who made it good in Georgia with Myron Mixon on the Jackson south barbecue team.
Speaker B:Ten years ago, he was a raw novice, and now he's in there with the champ.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Congratulations, Bill.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:I always enjoy hearing stories like this.
Speaker C:Been a real blessing to be a part of it.
Speaker B:Yeah, it has.
Speaker B:I bet it has.
Speaker B:Before we round out the show today and I want to give you a little more insight on a couple of things that are happening out there.
Speaker B:So Bill's been very patient with us today.
Speaker B:Restaurant Change are seizing the moment by buying some shuttered independent Restaurants Although a large restaurant chains have lost some business during the pandemic, severely low sales and closures are not nearly as widespread as those among smaller independent restaurants.
Speaker B:Now that more restaurant real estate has become available at reasonable costs, several chains are investing in infrastructure.
Speaker B:CEO of Domino's Rich Allison stated that the chain anticipates an expansion, crediting real estate opportunities that weren't available in the past.
Speaker B:And according to to Restaurant Business Magazine, Chipotle has reportedly been seeking out restaurants that have not shuttered, offering to buy their leases whenever they are looking for relief.
Speaker B:Chipotle's chief Corporate affairs and Food safety officer Lori Shallow stated that Chipotle will proceed to open new restaurants and sign new leases to satisfy customer demands for Chipotle.
Speaker B:Steve Rafferty of Dunkin's Donuts, senior director of Franchising, also said in a statement that franchisees who are small independent business owners are always looking for new development opportunities in the communities where they live and they work.
Speaker B:One report from bank of America in early July showed that spending at large chains decreased by 4% year over year, compared to a 25% plummet for independent restaurants and very small chains.
Speaker B:A survey by James Beard foundation and the Independent Restaurant Coalition reports that only 66% of independent restaurant owners felt confident that they would remain open going into this October.
Speaker B:The IRC predicts that as many as 85% of independent restaurants may shutter for good by the end of the pandemic.
Speaker B:Restaurant consultancy Aaron Allen and Associates anticipated that one in three may shutter by the end of the year, freeing up a significant amount of real estate.
Speaker B:Blah, blah, blah.
Speaker B:Can't talk real estate.
Speaker B:For chains looking to expand, that actually makes me very sad.
Speaker B:It really does.
Speaker B:I read another stat the other day that they expect 26,000 restaurants to close by the end of the year.
Speaker B:So we're going to get out of here and I want to thank Bill Wheeler for being with us again today.
Speaker B:And we'll be back next week with another edition of Barbecue Nation.
Speaker B:Take care, everybody.
Speaker A:Barbecue Nation is produced by JTSV LLC Productions in association with Salem Media Group.
Speaker A:All rights reserved.
