Show Notes
Making great BBQ is easy. You just need a little patience… right? This week on Smoke(less), Nick Pencis of Stanley’s Famous Pit Bar-B-Q, Wayne Mueller of Louie Mueller Barbecue, Justin Fourton of Pecan Lodge and Vic Barry respond to the claim that anyone with a cheap offset smoker and a little patience can make great barbecue.
The guys get into the huge difference between cooking a brisket in the backyard and producing consistently great BBQ for hundreds of customers every day then tackle another argument that refuses to go away: why has barbecue become so damn expensive? F rom rising beef prices and restaurant costs to tiny margins, fuel, labour and the pressures facing independent BBQ joints, they explain what customers rarely see behind the menu price.
Plus, they offer advice to a listener getting ready to launch his own BBQ operation, talk about protecting your sanity from online reviews, and finish with Plate or Hate, including a brisket cheesesteak and a brisket cooked on the other side of the Atlantic.
Think BBQ is easy? Grab a $200 Facebook Marketplace smoker and show us what you’ve got.
🔥 PLATE OR HATE: Cooking something you're proud of — or something you want the guys to tear apart? Post it on Instagram and tag @smokeless_podcast for a chance to be featured on the show. New episodes of Smoke(less) every week.
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What BBQ advice actually matters and what’s just hype? This week on the Smokeless Podcast, Nick Pencis of Stanley’s Famous Pit BBQ, Wayne Mueller of Louie Mueller Barbecue and Vic Barry get into the questions backyard cooks actually want answered. What should you buy if you want to start smoking brisket and ribs? Are expensive pits really worth the money? What’s the one meat that’s almost impossible to screw up? Which BBQ trick is completely overrated? And what happens when even experienced cooks get it spectacularly wrong? The guys talk Weber kettles, overpriced smokers, beef tallow, pork shoulder, BBQ sides, guilty pleasures and some of their worst cooking disasters, including a brisket that ended up being thrown into a river. Plus, a surprise call to Jordan Jackson for his backyard smoker recommendation, and a look ahead to our upcoming episode with Jess Pryles. Got a BBQ question for the guys? Send it our way and don’t forget to send us your best (or worst) cooks for Plate or Hate.