- Hey everybody, I'm Joey with RedMeatLover.com and we're spending the weekend here at Q in the Lou. So follow me and let's turn up the tasty. We're working our way down the line and here we're gonna make a stop at Pappy's where Mike Emerson is the pit master, he's a true legend of barbecue, one of the Godfathers. Today, they're serving up some baby back ribs, some smoked turkey, and some pit beans. Let's go turn up the tasty, come on. How you doing today?

- Brother, life is good. We got all my buddies here in my home town and the weather's cooperating, the Cardinals are playing, and got lots of good red meat.

- Yeah absolutely. So what are you cooking up today for the masses?

- We're actually doing our rib that we kind of been known for, and then we got a little sleeper that we do. We do a smoked turkey breast that really surprises people, the way we started doing that at the store was, we're on a college campus and the girls were giving us a hard time about coming to Pappy's we needed something a little healthier for them-

- Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

- so that's where it came from yeah I didn't know what it means but the girls came in and said that we were personally responsible for the freshman 15 and I'd never heard what it was so I had to ask my son and, boy or girl, I don't wanna be responsible for that.

- You don't wanna be responsible for that, so I know you've been really successful in the business, kinda considered like a Godfather barbecue here in St Louis. Can you tell us a little about you know, something that really keeps you, I mean I know you've been doing it a while, but what keeps you in the business, what do you really love about what you do?

- You know, to this day, it doesn't matter where I drive, what country, whatever, if I got the window down on the car, and I smell barbecue smoke, I'm interested. And as long as I'm interested like that, then I'm probably gonna find a grill somewhere.

- Awesome, I love that. And speaking of finding a grill, a lot of our audience at home are just getting started in the backyard, just getting ready to fire up the grill, learn their way around the smoker, when you think back to when you got started in this, can you share a couple tips or tricks, one or two, for that guy who's just getting started that really helps them turn up the tasty on their next meal.

- Don't wear flip flops round a grill.

- Oh, that's a good one.

- That's always a good one. And you'll see that I'm wearing flip flops right now.

- Do as I say, right? Well that's awesome, I really appreciate you spending a few minutes here with us today.

- No, thank you. I appreciate you guys being here, this is what, you being able to spread the barbecue gospel helps all of us.

- Yeah well I also just wanna really acknowledge you for your success.

- Thank you.

- And wish you continued growth, not down here.

- No that's all right, that's part of the barbecue.

- But right back here in the pocket book, and success.

- Thank you.

- Thank you so much brother, I appreciate ya. Let's check out Memphis Barbecue Company which despite the name is actually from Mississippi. They're cooking up thousands of pounds of ribs, and some pit beans. Let's go check 'em out. Can you tell us how many slabs of ribs, or how many pounds are you guys smoking today?

- We're doing about, let's see, 450 pounds of ribs right now.

- Wow.

- And over the whole event we'll do about 2,500 pounds.

- Woo, 2,500 pounds of ribs. That sounds like heaven. I saw you guys got quite the operation going on earlier, you got a well-oiled machine. How many of these events do you do every year?

- We do three of these type events, plus we're always doing something for the community or catering or whatever, you know, we're always moving so we've done it a few times.

- Absolutely man. Well I see you have a hell of a smoker right here behind you. Can you give us a peek inside?

- This is our Ole Hickory Pit, I'm telling ya it is a machine. It takes all the guesswork out of it. Everything's perfect every time.

- All right.

- Let's have a look inside here.

- Get on in there and take a look, everybody at home. That looks absolutely amazing John.

- You can put 131 in here without rib racks, you can put 250 with rib racks.

- 250 rib racks, that's a hell of a party right there.

- That is a big party.

- All right, so how long are you cooking these for? Let's hear a bit about the process.

- We started off with a Mustard, we put on a light coat of that, then we put our dry rub on and then we go straight from there to the smoker. And we put her in there with our smoke component, we use kiln-dried hickory and we put it in there for about four and a half to five hours, just at the end you've just gotta test them see where they are. Make sure they're perfect, we'll put 'em in these big coolers and let 'em steep. Kinda like, you ever eaten Crawfish before?

- I used to live in New Orleans, I've eaten a lot of Crawfish.

- You know what steep means, so it lets the flavor get back into the meat come outta the bone into the meat. The term sweet to the bone, well there's flavor in the bone and it gets into the meat and the sweetness is there.

- That's a hell of a tip. So I know you've been doing this a long time, can you share like maybe a tip or trick for that backyard griller, someone who's just getting started, smoking or grilling, can you share a couple tips or tricks?

- Couple of things. Know your pit, know your hotspots, know how it cooks, know what temp it is, just because that thermometer on the top of that barrel says 250 degrees, that grate may be 200 degrees. So get another thermometer and check your temps, and the next thing is temp related also, hit your temps. If you're cooking a Boston butt, you'll want 190 degrees, make sure it's 190 degrees inside, pull it, wrap it in foil, let it rest. Or you can foil it before it's done, but hit your temps, and know your temps.

- Okay, right on. Well I appreciate you taking a few minutes with us today, I'm gonna get in line, I'm gonna order up some of these amazing ribs, one more thing before we go, can you tell us how we can find you offline and online?

- Offline, we're at Memphis Barbecue Company in Horn Lake Mississippi. I also have one in Dunwoody, Georgia. Online, we're Memphis Barbecue, we have our own Facebook, you can hit us on Facebook, and our website is memphisbbqco.com.

- Awesome man, well once again thanks for spending a few minutes with us.

- Yep, you bet.

- We really appreciate it. All right, thanks a lot John. Now we're gonna check out Gque Championship BBQ. They're based outta Denver. Today, they're serving up brisket, slaw, and some jumbo chicken wings. Let's see how it tastes. Now look at that amazing smoke ring right there on the outside, and check out that bark right there at the exterior. That's one of my favorite parts, that's where all the tasty hides. Let's check it out. That is solid. I love that part. Absolutely tremendous flavor, light smoky notes all the way throughout. If you're ever here at Q in the Lou, or in Denver, pay 'em a visit, you'll be glad you did. Everybody I'm here with Jason Ganahl of Gque BBQ, out of Denver, Colorado, how you doing today?

- Great, what more could you possibly ask for? We've got a beautiful setting, we've got the gateway arch, the Cardinals are about to win the Central Division of the National League, we got all this awesome barbecue down here, what more do you want Joe?

- Absolutely, not much. I mean this is kind of like meat heaven for me, right? So tell us a bit more about what you're cooking today.

- So we made brisket, I think it's, well I don't know if they gave us prime or not, but in our restaurant in Denver we serve prime every single day, I think they got us some Angus this weekend, which we're cooking some Angus brisket, some chicken wings, and then some of our apple slaw.

- Awesome, now I know chicken wing videos, chicken wings are some of our most popular videos. Can you tell us a little bit more about your technique?

- Yes. So I like a smoker fried chicken wing, so I like the best of both worlds. You smoke the wing to about 170, 175 degrees, then you flash fry it for about 30 seconds, so you get the best of both worlds, smoky, juicy, meat, with crispy skin.

- And that's exactly what it was, we bit into that, we tried some of the brisket and it was truly tremendous, so you look pretty young, can you tell us a little bit about how you got into this world of barbecue?

- So I'm 43, so that's nice of you to say that You look young.

- My hair line is only like 65, come on JD you're being too kind.

- So I'm 43, I'm from St. Louis, I lived here till I was about 30 years old, I tease Mike Emerson and Mike Johnson that I never would have moved away had they opened up their restaurants while I lived here. So when I lived here there was no Sugar Fire, there was no Pappys. I moved away to California, I used to eat Bandanas all the time here, I loved Bandanas, I thought Bandanas was great. So I moved to California, I found a place I like a lot then, I was there for about a year and a half, moved out to Denver, Colorado and I would go to all different places, and I would find a place that was great the first time, I go back the second time, and I'd drive 30, 45 minutes for a place, and it would miss the mark, it was inconsistent, it wasn't horrible, it was just inconsistent. Now, fast forward eight years later that's not the case. We have eight or nine places out in Denver that are absolutely fantastic and I would put 'em up against eight or nine places in any city in the United States. But back then, that wasn't the case. So I stumbled across the Kansas City Barbecue Society and became a certified barbecue judge, started judging professional contests, after doing that for a year or two I got in a contest, started competing, we did really well the last couple of years at doing it after five or six years. I got to meet a lot of these really successful competition cooks that had these highly successful restaurants, we got to talking about the business side of it, and I thought if they could do it, I could do it too, and so that gave me the courage to actually do it out in Denver.

- This is truly a carnival for carnivores, and the smells are truly delicious. Joe's Kansas City is also here too, this is an icon in Kansas City that opened it's first location from a gas station. They're doing some pork belly burnt ends, and turning up the tasty with some pork rinds. Let's go see what they're cooking. I'm here with Jeff Stehney from Joe's Kansas City Bar-b-que this place is a Kansas City icon that opened it's first location inside a gas station. Jeff is making up some pork belly burnt ends today. Jeff, can you tell us a little about what you're doing here?

- Yeah, this is the final stage what we're seeing right now. What we do is we take the pork belly and we cut it into strips like this, and then we season it, so what that does it gives us a lot of surface area so we season 'em and smoke 'em for about two hours, and I'm gonna get him a pan so we can sell some of these.

- [Presenter] Sure, absolutely. It looks phenomenal.

- We season 'em, and then we smoke 'em for about two hours, and then we put 'em into a braising liquid for about an hour and a half, and then we let 'em sit, and then when we go to sell 'em, we pop 'em in the deep fryer so they're nice and crispy. What I like about 'em is, we've got four crispy edges, and then we've got soft edges on the inside. So you get crunch and you get uncinus goodness right there.

- Absolutely, now when-

- And then we season 'em again a little bit, and then we toss 'em in our, we've got a sweet hot barbecue glaze, it's sort of a competition glaze that we do.

- This is truly meat candy right here.

- It really is meat candy, nice and fatty, it's got a lot of really good flavor, and when we get done smoking, braising, and frying, it's a wonderful product.

- It looks it, and smells it for those of you at home. So can you tell us, how many pounds of pork belly burnt ends are you cooking and serving this weekend?

- I think we're gonna do about 2,000 pounds, I think we did about 500 pounds last night, probably about 1,200 pounds today, and about 700 pounds tomorrow. Maybe about 2,500 pounds.

- Oh my goodness.

- It's a great crowd, it's a great venue, we're having a ball.

- Yeah, absolutely. I know you're really busy but I have one final question. A lot of our viewers at home are first time barbecuers, smokers, grillers, you name it, can you share with us one or two tips or tricks for that guy who's just starting out in his backyard getting ready to fire up the grill for the first, second time.

- Yeah, I think one of the most important things you can do in barbecue, I think the dry rubs and the spices are the most important thing. I think you don't wanna use too much smoke on your food, and you wanna have a really good dry rub. So dry rubs to me are what makes, and I think it really makes Kansas City barbecue unique, or maybe different a little bit from Texas and the Texans they like to just, they'll brag that they put salt and pepper on it.

- Salt and pepper, right.

- I think we've got a little more culinary ability here in Kansas City so we're actually not challenged by those other spices. So we put the right blends on all of our different meats, and I think that's the most important thing. And don't over smoke your food. Don't over smoke it, the smokiest food doesn't win, the smokiest food doesn't taste best.

- Now we're gonna check out The Shed Barbecue and Blues Joint, they've got whole hog sliders which are aptly named because they have a whole hog in the smoker. They're also serving up some loaded potato salad. Let's go check 'em out. Brad can you tell us what you're doing today.

- Well today, we are looking at what is one of the six whole hogs that we're cooking for Q in the Lou, this year, 2019.

- Yeah, looks absolutely fantastic. So can you tell our folks at home a little bit more about how you cook and prepare this thing.

- So this started out as a 167 pound hog, we cooked it about 260 degrees overnight, we had a good night last night, so I don't know what time we put it on.

- Okay, all right.

- I'm just kidding. So we got it on about 9:30, and then right before we left we put hickory wood and a little bit of cherry, little bit of apple, cause we're really cooking for color, so we want it to be nice and colorful, but today we're actually gonna torch this hog and see if you can do a whole hog chicharron

- [Presenter] Wow, man that sounds fantastic.

- So when we're at an event like this, we kinda push it to the limit and say all right, well what can we do. So we figured if we torch the hog, I've never seen a whole hog chicharron, we're either gonna really ruin it, or it's gonna be awesome.

- There's only one way to find out, and that's to give it a shot.

- Yeah so we're gonna find out later.

- Grab a fine brown spirit-

- And a torch.

- Maybe a couple beers, a torch. And that sounds really safe.

- We're taking a page outta the BBQ Ninjas book, we're gonna invite him over to help us do it.

- Awesome man.

- So wish us luck.

- So when you cook this like this, because it has so much fat under the skin it does not dry it, is that correct? Like we can keep it on here for a good long time and it stays nice and moist, right?

- It does, it does. We call this the Robo Hog or the contraption that we actually cook it on.

- Got it.

- But you know, it looks good like during competitions when I would present to a judge, I would actually take a knife and make a little window here, cut open the tenderloin, cut here, today we're just gonna see if we can make the skin crispy and just tear big parts of it apart.

- Hey everybody at home, Brad certainly knows how to turn up the tasty here.

- That's right.

- So we have a lot of first time grillers, a lot of first time barbecuers, people who are just getting started. Can you give our audience at home some tips and tricks you know for those guys just starting out in their own backyard?

- The best way to start out is find somebody else in the neighborhood or one of your friends that likes to barbecue, and you all get together and you know find somebody that you're like, oh I tried this with the chicken thighs, or I tried this with the steak, cause there's always people out there that have a different type of grill, but the best thing is to get out there and get started, and every time you throw another handful of charcoal on the grill, you always get another beer.

- We have not heard that tip yet.

- That's a good tip.

- Thank you for that.

- I'm telling you that right now, that is a solid tip. The other one is a clean grill, somewhere to sit, some music, and usually some family or friends.

- Man I wanna hang out with you offline.

- Hey, it happens.

- Speaking of offline, can you tell our audience how to find you offline and online?

- Online, we're at The Shed BBQ on Instagram, Facebook, pay attention to what we're doing. We got a saucery where we make seasonings and spices for other people. We're always doing something fun, and we're at all the Q events

- Awesome man, well I look forward to seeing you around.

- Big time man.

- Thanks for spending some time with us today, we really appreciate it man. We hope you've learned some things, enjoyed our interviews with some of these great and talented pitmasters. If you liked this video, please give us a thumbs up like, or even better subscribe to our channel for future updates. You can find us on the web at redmeatlover.com, I'm gonna get back to trying some ribs, some pork, and bottom line, turn up the tasty, I'll see ya next time.