Shownotes
The discourse in this episode of Barbecue Nation After Hours predominantly centers around the nuances of barbecue equipment and the various levels of culinary engagement within the barbecue community. Our esteemed guests, Leanne Whippen and David Knight from Old Hickory Pits, delve into the significance of selecting appropriate cooking apparatus tailored to an individual’s commitment to barbecue. We explore the diverse types of grills and smokers, emphasizing the transition from basic models, such as the Weber kettle, to more sophisticated options that cater to serious barbecue enthusiasts. Furthermore, the dialogue touches upon the importance of seasoning and the creative liberties afforded to cooks in enhancing their meats, underscoring the evolution of barbecue culture over the years. Ultimately, this episode serves to illuminate the myriad ways one can engage with barbecue, whether in a casual setting or through competitive endeavors, while fostering a deeper appreciation for the craft and its community.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Painted Hills Natural Beef
- Old Hickory Pits
- Weber
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcripts
This is Barbecue Nation After Hours.
Speaker A:The conversation that took place after the show ended.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody, it's JT and this is a special version of Barbecue Nation.
Speaker A:It is brought to you in part by Painted Hills Natural Beef, Beef you can be proud to serve your family and friends.
Speaker A:That's Painted Hills Natural Beef, everybody.
Speaker A:Welcome to After Hours here on Barbecue Nation.
Speaker A:I'm JT along with Ms. Leanne Whippen and David Knight from Old Hickory Pits here.
Speaker A:David, what do you cook on at home?
Speaker A:We didn't cover that in the regular show.
Speaker A:And don't tell me a Weber kettle.
Speaker B:Well, I certainly do have a Weber kettle, and I have nothing against them.
Speaker B:It's a wonderful thing that I consider all the other pits as gateway drugs to Old Hickory Pit.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker B:If you really think about it and think about your friends that are barbecue people, if you get a chance to look inside their garage, if they don't have more than one barbecue pit, I'll pay for lion.
Speaker A:Just come to my back porch, let alone the shop.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker B:You bet.
Speaker A:They're everywhere.
Speaker A:And I know Leanne's got her stashed all around the country.
Speaker C:My kids, they used to get angry with me because I had so many pits in the backyard.
Speaker C:They said there was no room for a jungle gym.
Speaker C:That was like.
Speaker A:They just.
Speaker B:Bless their hearts.
Speaker A:So what's your favorite thing to cook, David?
Speaker A:Is it ribs?
Speaker A:Is it butts?
Speaker A:Is it chicken?
Speaker A:Is it.
Speaker A:What is it?
Speaker B:Yes, yes.
Speaker A:All the above.
Speaker B:All the above.
Speaker B:You know, I love to cook ribs.
Speaker B:Of course, that's always a crowd plate.
Speaker B:Well, anything.
Speaker B:Brisket.
Speaker B:You can't hardly beat that in the world.
Speaker B:Beef.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:Well, there's all kinds of beef products as you can.
Speaker B:Dang that.
Speaker B:I guess I'm gonna have to say that.
Speaker B:That I don't really just have a favorite.
Speaker B:It's kind of like one of those things you.
Speaker B:You realize it when you know it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, if you're at the grocery store and you walk through there.
Speaker B:Oh, that looks good.
Speaker B:Yeah, because it's all good.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And poultry.
Speaker B:Chickens, turkeys, you know, the whole thing when.
Speaker A:When somebody was just, you know, they've kind of grown out of Weber kettles, and again, I have a Weber kettle, so I'm not picking on them, but let's say they've moved their level of participation in barbecue up a little bit.
Speaker A:How do you explain to them that you think one of your hickory pits.
Speaker A:Old hickory pits.
Speaker A:Excuse me.
Speaker A:Is.
Speaker A:Is the right thing for them?
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:The first thing before I would tell them what the right thing for them is.
Speaker B:I would want to talk to them and just see what level of interest that they have in barbecue, because for some people, that Weber cattle is just fine.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But for ours is more for people that.
Speaker B:That are really serious about barbecue and.
Speaker B:And reaching for.
Speaker B:To get the best that you can do.
Speaker B:That's why our motto is that we want to help you barbecue at your best in that.
Speaker B:And so find out what level of interest that they have, and then we can help them figure out what size these things come in different sizes, and.
Speaker B:And also budget.
Speaker B:It's a practical matter.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Well, budget's always a big thing for people.
Speaker A:I had a. I'll tell you a quick story here.
Speaker A:A couple years ago, a friend of mine called me, and he said, hey, I want you to call this guy, if you would, and talk to him, because he.
Speaker A:He wants to get into competition barbecue.
Speaker A:And I said, well, Steve, that's great, but, you know, I don't compete.
Speaker A:I've judged, and I had a catering company and, you know, obviously different things, but I can.
Speaker A:I've talked to hundreds of the competitor guys and at the highest level, so I can.
Speaker A:Well, I talked to this guy, and he had never competed.
Speaker A:He had barely cooked anything, but he wanted, you know, a $20,000 trailer.
Speaker A:And I. I kind of said, maybe you should hone your skills a little bit more.
Speaker A:Not telling you not to.
Speaker A:I can't tell you what to do, but I think maybe you're kind of getting over your skis on this, buddy, a little bit, because it's a.
Speaker A:You know, if you got 20 grand laying around, go for it.
Speaker A:I guess if.
Speaker A:If you want to do that.
Speaker A:I don't think he.
Speaker A:I think he went to, like, two different little competitions and then never did anything more.
Speaker A:I don't know what the hell he did with the trailer.
Speaker A:So I just find that.
Speaker A:That I know where people can get excited, you know, and they get all fired up.
Speaker A:But also, there's a bit of a practical matter.
Speaker A:And like you were saying, budget.
Speaker A:I think that that's.
Speaker A:We don't want to damper anybody's enthusiasm,
Speaker B:but the beauty of barbecue is that it has so many ways to get involved in it.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:In different levels.
Speaker B:You don't have to come in as a competition person.
Speaker B:You can do it in your backyard.
Speaker B:Or if you want to take it to the Zen level, you can go to all the competitions and try to be a superstar, but you don't have to do that.
Speaker B:It's easy access.
Speaker B:You can build your Own barbecue pit.
Speaker B:You can do all kinds of cheaper ways to do things and still have a great time.
Speaker A: I can tell you this, that in: Speaker A:And guy was selling it.
Speaker A:He needed some money, so I bought it for him.
Speaker A:We were doing some catering at the time and stuff.
Speaker A:But he also.
Speaker A:My folks had a retail business and so every year I would smoke somewhere between 19.
Speaker A:For some reason, I remember that number and 25 turkeys for them for either Christmas or Thanksgiving as gifts to the employees.
Speaker A:That pit is still in use up in Montana.
Speaker A:To a friend of mine who I sold it to, he does a couple of fairs up there.
Speaker A:He did a bunch when he still lived here in Oregon.
Speaker A:And then he moved, get out of the tax structure here.
Speaker A:Went to Montana.
Speaker A:Montana.
Speaker A:But he told me about, oh, six months ago, and I hadn't talked to him in a long time, but he said, yeah, your, your pit on wheels is still up there in whatever it is, Tyler Forks, Montana or someplace like that and still going.
Speaker A:And I thought.
Speaker A:And that was a homemade deal.
Speaker A:You know, it worked great.
Speaker A:But it was a big bugger to haul around back then.
Speaker A:You know, my car used to go like that when I.
Speaker A:It was all good.
Speaker A:Give us your thoughts on seasoning, rub, spices, etc.
Speaker A:Sauces versus the basics of correct cooking of the meat.
Speaker A:I think a lot of people, I still run into them.
Speaker A:I'm sure Leanne does too.
Speaker A:Maybe you do.
Speaker A:David of, you know, they haven't quite got it down that if you're going to glaze them or sauce them or do something, you do it at the end.
Speaker A:You know, the basics aren't quite there, but we've also gone leaps and bounds ahead of where we were even 10 years ago in those products.
Speaker A:What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker B:Well, my thoughts on seasoning, I'm going to have to agree with the Emeril Lagasse.
Speaker B:He always said that the meat he buys doesn't come seasoned, so you need to season the meat.
Speaker B:So basically, and generally the point of departure would be to begin with salt and pepper.
Speaker B:And then from then on, all bets are off.
Speaker B:You can do your own blends.
Speaker B:There's really an entire industry of people that manufacture and sell seasonings.
Speaker B:We have our house brands on our Internet store.
Speaker B:The All Purpose is a real popular one and pepperoll is another one.
Speaker B:But it's up to the taste of the.
Speaker B:The user as to what rings their bell.
Speaker B:And then sauces have a lot of regional Eccentricities to them.
Speaker B:If you really dig back way back where in North.
Speaker B:The Carolinas, what started in Texas, Tennessee, Kansas City, all these things that makes it just that much more interesting by having these counterbalanced flavor profiles and everybody picked what they like.
Speaker A:You know, my co pilot here has got a pretty good pig rub out there.
Speaker A:Pink powder.
Speaker C:Powder, yes.
Speaker C:So I'm in agreement with you, and I know back.
Speaker C:My philosophy when I first started the restaurants in OH2 was to give a taste of all those different regional flavors.
Speaker C:The South Carolina mustard, the eastern North Carolina vinegar.
Speaker C:And I see that happening a lot more, and it kind of rounds out the whole barbecue experience so that you don't have to actually live in that neck of the woods to be able to experience, you know, the history of the sauce.
Speaker C:And it makes it fun, sure enough.
Speaker B:And I see a lot of cross pollination throughout the country.
Speaker B:You see beef brisket in Tennessee now and pork down in Texas and so on.
Speaker B:What is it?
Speaker B:1/5 of the population moves every year and that.
Speaker B:And they take their taste buds with them.
Speaker B:And so you see this mixing of flavors and that and regional eccentricities.
Speaker A:So, David, I don't have any background music today, but I'm gonna throw you to the fire pit here for a second.
Speaker B:Wait, now, this is.
Speaker B:We're on overtime, right?
Speaker A:We're on overtime.
Speaker B:I heard that there's supposed to be drinks involved, but yeah, there.
Speaker A:I'll get doordash to your office here in just a second.
Speaker B:Okay,
Speaker A:so we do this thing on the show called the Lightning Round.
Speaker B:The Lightning Round.
Speaker A:Lightning Round.
Speaker A:And they're just some very abstract questions.
Speaker A:If you don't want to answer one, just blame Leanne.
Speaker A:So here we go.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker A:Okay, What.
Speaker A:What barbecue skill took David the longest to master personally?
Speaker B:Patience.
Speaker A:Patience.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:If you could work with one of your barbecue heroes, who would it be?
Speaker B:Well, first of all, Leanne.
Speaker C:Oh, that's it.
Speaker C:Well, thank you.
Speaker B:And then I've got a whole host of great barbecue friends, male and female, and they're all great people.
Speaker A:Well, there you go.
Speaker A:So what does the best day for David Knight consist of?
Speaker A:Your absolute best day.
Speaker B:I'm not sure I understand that.
Speaker B:My best day to do.
Speaker A:To do whatever you want to do.
Speaker A:If I say, david, this is your day, what do you want to do?
Speaker A:What does the day contain for you?
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Now, see, some days that it's not always the same.
Speaker B:Same idea, right?
Speaker B:Sometimes I like to just dream.
Speaker B:And then some days I like to break a sweat and work.
Speaker B:And I think life needs to be A variety of things.
Speaker B:And I can't just, like, put my finger on this, like, one thing and that.
Speaker A:Well, like, for Leanne, it's going fishing.
Speaker A:Fishing, yeah.
Speaker A:She loves to fish.
Speaker A:For me, it's golf.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, people have different ideas about that, and I think that's great because.
Speaker A:And I like the part where you say, some days I just like to dream, because I actually kind of do that, too.
Speaker A:I will turn off everything, so to speak, and I go sit in a chair.
Speaker A:I go sit down on the porch.
Speaker A:Sometimes it's at the golf course, and I just let my mind wander about creating things or why things are this way and not that way.
Speaker B:So, yeah, one.
Speaker B:One thing that could happen on my favorite day would be things like pecan pie.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah, I go on and on.
Speaker A:I got it.
Speaker B:I got it on my keto diet.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:At a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the absolute max, how much barbecue do you eat on a regular basis?
Speaker B:Seven and three quarters.
Speaker C:I love that.
Speaker A:All right, if.
Speaker A:If we declared you supreme ruler of barbecue for a week.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:What would you, as supreme ruler, decree?
Speaker B:That everyone partake.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker B:If they choose to.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:What's the dumbest thing you've ever seen done with a grill?
Speaker A:Now?
Speaker A:It's not the dumbest thing you ever did.
Speaker A:It's the dumbest thing you've seen somebody do with a grill or a smoker.
Speaker B:Let me think a minute.
Speaker B:I've seen some stupid stuff.
Speaker B:I'm trying to.
Speaker B:Well, let me just go ahead and tell you what stupid thing I did.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:And that.
Speaker B:That was with the.
Speaker B:Our ctos, the small ctos.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker B:In the beginning, I wanted it to be all these.
Speaker B:All that and a bag of tricks.
Speaker B:So I had it where you could have sliding shelves and you could have rotisserie in it.
Speaker B:Now, these are very small units, so the rotisserie was very compact.
Speaker B:And so in trying to do all of these things in one design like that, what happened is.
Speaker B:But it was a clever idea, but it just didn't pan out.
Speaker B:When we put the rotisserie in there, I had it where you could take it out easy and then put it back in.
Speaker B:And without getting all the mechanics of how I did that, the problem was if you left it unattended, then it would just crawl right out and out the front door.
Speaker B:And my real nemesis with that, at that time, the popular thing was beer can chicken.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:So now you have these little skinny racks with these birds in there with a beer stuck up there, a cavity There.
Speaker B:And about the first one drop would knock the next one down and next.
Speaker B:And now you've got all this steel twangled in a big knot.
Speaker B:So that was my stupid thing.
Speaker B:So now you just get them in sliding shelves.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:Where's the worst place you've ever had to cook?
Speaker A:Whether it was for a demo or a competition or just family outing, whatever.
Speaker B:I'm going to say the worst place I ever had to cook was in mess hall at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Were you on KP duty or something?
Speaker B:Yes, yes.
Speaker B:And I was in the timeout chair, too.
Speaker A:I had this vision of you sitting there like they always used to do in the movies, with this pile of potatoes that's about 8ft high and 12ft wide and a little tiny paring knife and, you know, peeling the potato skins into a bucket or something.
Speaker B:I'll tell you, when I was.
Speaker B:It was.
Speaker B:It wasn't my gig.
Speaker B:It was some caterers down in Louisiana, and I was visiting with them and they were getting ready to serve like a bazillion people.
Speaker B:And they were making this big salad and that, and they were literally getting in there.
Speaker B:And we all have to do this now and then get in there with our hands and really shaking it up and mixing it up and so forth.
Speaker B:It was a father and son team.
Speaker B:And so then when they finally got.
Speaker B:Got ready to package it in the.
Speaker B:In the metal pans that they were going to carry it with, the son looked at the dad and he says, dad, where's that big band aid you had on your hand?
Speaker C:Oh, no.
Speaker B:So I don't.
Speaker B:Those kind of dilemmas, if you're a caterer, you can.
Speaker B:You can identify with that.
Speaker A:Yeah, I did.
Speaker A:I was doing a show up in Seattle, big catering gig for about, I don't know, 400 people or something.
Speaker A:And we had some potato salad in the bowls.
Speaker A:And I was trying to.
Speaker A:I didn't bring the little slicer, but I was trying to put some boiled eggs on top, you know, as a decoration around.
Speaker A:And a little red pepper or whatever we were doing.
Speaker A:And I cut myself.
Speaker A:And right on the top of this one bowl of potato salad, there were these three perfect drops of my blood.
Speaker A:And I just looked at it horrified.
Speaker A:And the guy who he was helping me had no idea about anything to do with food.
Speaker A:He comes by with just that fast.
Speaker A:And he grabs a spoon and he goes.
Speaker A:But he goes, there you go.
Speaker A:And he runs away.
Speaker A:And I went, okay, but I'm not sure we can even serve that.
Speaker A:So anyway, it was.
Speaker A:It Was.
Speaker A:It was scary to say.
Speaker A:Okay, here's some of the fun stuff.
Speaker A:David, have you ever cooked in a thunderstorm in your underwear?
Speaker B:Let me put it like this.
Speaker B:I don't recall.
Speaker B:I'm not saying no, but.
Speaker B:Okay, be honest.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Boxers or briefs?
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:Would you describe yourself as corn fed and grass fed?
Speaker A:I wrote that question a long time ago because it perfectly describes me.
Speaker A:At least the first part, Corn fed.
Speaker B:I. I think it would be a kind of in between.
Speaker B:They're going overfed.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Captain and Neil or the Allman Brothers?
Speaker B:Captain to Neil.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Ford or Chevy?
Speaker A:Ford.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:What's your favorite movie of all time?
Speaker B:Dr. Zhivago.
Speaker A:I think that's the first person that's ever said that.
Speaker A:That's a great movie.
Speaker C:It is.
Speaker A:That's a great movie.
Speaker B:I will.
Speaker A:When we stop recording, I'll tell you a little story about how I relate to Dr. Zhivago.
Speaker A:But, David, it's been great to have you on here, folks.
Speaker A:David Knight from Old Hickory Pits.
Speaker A:How can people find you if they don't?
Speaker A:I can't imagine they haven't found you yet.
Speaker B:The easiest way to find us is on the Internet.
Speaker B:And you go to Old Hickory pits.com O L E H I C K o r y bits.com There you go.
Speaker C:You know, one thing I do want to say to you, David, that I admire you for starting a family business and keeping it in the family.
Speaker C:Because a lot of people don't do this for as many years as you have, because usually, especially when you have a premier product, somebody wants to buy you out.
Speaker C:So I admire you for keeping it in the family.
Speaker C:And if you sell it tomorrow, I understand.
Speaker B:No, ma'.
Speaker B:Am.
Speaker B:I look forward to.
Speaker B:To go into work every day.
Speaker A:Oh, very good.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Warren Buffett said, the happiest man in the world is one of the dances to work.
Speaker B:So I can do a tap dance.
Speaker C:That's awesome.
Speaker A:Well, I've danced out of a few bars.
Speaker A:I don't know if I've ever danced Dance to work, but that's happened.
Speaker A:David Knight, thank you very much.
Speaker B:Well, thank you so much.
Speaker B:And you, too, Leanne.
Speaker A:We'll be back next week with another edition of Barbecue Nation after hours.
Speaker A:Until then, like I said before, our motto, turn it, don't burn it.
Speaker A:And be nice to people out there, folks.
Speaker A:Take care.
