Brian Leigh from B.T. Leighs - Afterhours Encore
The central theme of this podcast episode revolves around the nuanced intricacies of barbecue and the culinary expertise that drives its appreciation. We engage in a profound dialogue with Brian Leigh of BT Leigh's, who shares his insights into the art of barbecuing, including the evolution of his skills over the years and the significance of quality ingredients. The conversation delves into personal anecdotes, such as the challenges faced during early cooking endeavors, notably the tribulations of smoking a brisket, which serves as a metaphor for the learning process inherent in culinary pursuits. Additionally, we explore the preferences and philosophies surrounding barbecue sauces, revealing a divergence in taste that reflects broader culinary trends. As we conclude, we express gratitude for the enlightening exchange, underscoring our commitment to the profound world of barbecue and its cultural implications.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Painted Hills Natural Beef
- Brian Leigh BT Leigh
Links referenced in this episode:
Mentioned in this episode:
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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcript
This is Barbecue Nation After Hours.
Speaker A:The conversation that took place after the show ended.
Speaker B:Hey, everybody, it's jt and this is a special version of Barbecue Nation.
Speaker B:It is brought to you in part by Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Speaker B:Beef you can be proud to serve your family and friends.
Speaker B:That's Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Speaker B:Hey, everybody.
Speaker B:Welcome to After Hours here on Barbecue Nation.
Speaker B:I'm JT along with hall of Famer Ms. Leanne Whippen, who's heading out big judging assignment tomorrow.
Speaker B:And we've got Brian Lee from Brian Lee BT Lee.
Speaker B:Spices and rubs.
Speaker B:And Brian was kind enough to sit through the first hour of us picking at him.
Speaker B:So now we get to do the lightning round in the after hours, and we'll have fun with this.
Speaker A:How's that?
Speaker A:Sounds like a great time.
Speaker A:Okay, rack them up.
Speaker B:Okay, here we go.
Speaker B:If you could cook and then dine with a historical figure, who would it be, and what would the menu be?
Speaker A:I would love, love to sit at a table with Julia Child and Jacques Pepin at the same time.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker A:Like, I know.
Speaker A:I know one's still alive, but the other one isn't.
Speaker A:But I would love to.
Speaker A:I would love to just take that dynamic and honestly, whatever.
Speaker A:They could serve me cereal, and I'd be happy.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:Julia's on.
Speaker C:On my list as well.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:Also, I have signed cookbooks from them too.
Speaker C:Oh, very nice.
Speaker A:Very nice.
Speaker A:Secondary.
Speaker A:Secondary choice.
Speaker A:Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart.
Speaker C:Oh, there you go.
Speaker B:That would be fun.
Speaker C:Dynamic duo.
Speaker A:It'd be fun.
Speaker A:It'd just be fun.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You guys might be zipped and eating corn dogs.
Speaker B:You wouldn't care.
Speaker C:Probably right.
Speaker A:I'd be okay with that.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's fine.
Speaker B:How long did it take you, do you think, to hone your skills on what you're doing?
Speaker B:Technical stuff Aside, not your 20 years in tech or, you know, your wife doing the labeling, but I'm talking about the food process.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:I don't know if I'm actually fully honed, truthfully.
Speaker A:Every day is another slide against that iron is what it feels like.
Speaker A:So I'd like to say 40.
Speaker A:43 years.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:There you go.
Speaker B:That's sleep.
Speaker A:I think that's my number right now.
Speaker B:43.
Speaker A:43 years old.
Speaker B:If you could work with one of your barbecue heroes.
Speaker B:Doesn't have to be current hall of Famers, but it certainly can be.
Speaker B:Who would it be?
Speaker A:Oh, man, that's a.
Speaker A:That's a tough question, too.
Speaker A:So, Leanna side.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:Thank you, though.
Speaker A:Let's.
Speaker A:Let's say I would probably.
Speaker A:I would love to pick the brain of Steven Racklin, you know, and work and work alongside him.
Speaker A:I also think that Erica Blair Robi is fun.
Speaker A:Super fun.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:That's such a tough question.
Speaker A:My dad, I'd love to just roll that for a weekend and see how that works out.
Speaker A:Know, I grew up, I grew up in his shadow.
Speaker A:More than.
Speaker A:More than anything.
Speaker A:That man was a legend up there.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:On a scale of 1 to 10, how much barbecue do you eat on a regular basis?
Speaker A:Truth be told, probably a two at this point.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So my, my wife and I both had bariatric surgery.
Speaker B:Oh.
Speaker A:I had bariatric surgery five years ago.
Speaker A:Prior to that, I was barbecuing like crazy.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And I was like £550 and, you know, barreling towards the grave and ended up with bariatric surgery.
Speaker A:Dropped down to, to a cool like 280.
Speaker A:And then, and then she ended up with surgery.
Speaker A:And so our household, we eat like birds.
Speaker A:So cooking a brisket is now a feed the neighborhood affair.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, like, I feed the whole village.
Speaker A:We end up like, when I do these videos for, for anything, for any of my content, it's like, okay, we're shooting videos today.
Speaker A:Brother in law, sister in law, family, friends, swoop on through with your Tupperware because you're going to get it all.
Speaker A:And we'll eat off of the remains for three or four days.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker C:Oh, interesting.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's wild.
Speaker A:So I've gone from quantity to quality on that.
Speaker A:So I try to focus on, like, the really choicest cuts and that kind of stuff versus going to Walmart, getting myself a select packer brisket and.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, I get it, I get it.
Speaker B:If you could erase one mistake from your past, what would it be and why?
Speaker A:I don't think I would do anything different.
Speaker B:Good answer.
Speaker A:I don't think I do anything different because everything that I've done has forged me into what I am today.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:If I were to extract something stupid, you know, I don't.
Speaker A:I don't think I would be the same person.
Speaker A:I am, and I'm pretty comfortable with who I am.
Speaker B:Hang on a second.
Speaker B:Sorry about that.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:If Leanne declared you supreme ruler of barbecue for a week, what would you, Brian Lee, as Supreme leader, decree?
Speaker A:I would decree that all ketchup based sauces must cease to exist.
Speaker A:Let's get rid of ketchup and barbecue for a month or two and see what happens.
Speaker A:Give me, give me the mustard give me the vinegar.
Speaker C:Western Kentuckians that like that, or I.
Speaker A:Mean, Western Kentucky, like Owensboro style is heavy.
Speaker A:Worcestershire.
Speaker C:Huh.
Speaker A:They tend to do a lot of mutton right there.
Speaker A:The Litchfield Hodgenville area is a lot of vinegar.
Speaker A:You know, I personally am a mustard barbecue fan.
Speaker C:I love mustard base.
Speaker A:I'm a vinegar evangelist.
Speaker A:Yeah, I evangelist.
Speaker A:I think you've got vinegar goes on everything.
Speaker B:You've got a follower for your flock right there with that hall of fame lady.
Speaker B:As soon as you said bad banned ketchup, she saw this smile on her face.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, I feel.
Speaker A:I feel like there's a place for ketchup in the various things.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:But I like that ketchup is a method and not.
Speaker A:And the Heinz Corporation kind of like, made it a thing where ketchup is synonymous with tomato instead of, like the OG where it was bananas.
Speaker A:You ever had banana ketchup?
Speaker B:I don't think I have.
Speaker B:I don't think I have.
Speaker A:Huge in the Philippines.
Speaker A:Huge in the Philippines.
Speaker A:But that was the original ketchup.
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker A:It was a process for preserving things that went bad.
Speaker A:And there was a tomato bloom, and they had to figure out what to do with all these rotting tomatoes.
Speaker A:And the Heinz and Hunt's corporation turned ketchup into a staple in America.
Speaker A:Oh, tomato ketchup.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So we give you a fantasy day.
Speaker B:Pooh.
Speaker B:You got one.
Speaker B:What for, Brian, would you like to see in your activities for your fantasy day?
Speaker A:I would probably like to wake up at about 10 o' clock in the morning, have.
Speaker A:Have a nice coffee because I'm addicted to the bean.
Speaker A:I would probably go to a farmer's market, talk to all the farmers and producers there for a little while, have a nice lunch with my wife.
Speaker A:We would then go shopping for a meal that I was going to create for my friends and family later that evening.
Speaker A:And that friends and family affair would probably turn into a game night where we're playing anything, just laughing.
Speaker A:Probably a bottle of bourbon is gone at this point.
Speaker A:I would like to end that off by watching the Cleveland Browns win the Super Bowl.
Speaker B:That is a fantasy day, buddy.
Speaker A:Absolutely is.
Speaker A:100%.
Speaker A:But you know what?
Speaker B:I like it.
Speaker B:I like it.
Speaker B:I like it.
Speaker C:I like it, too.
Speaker B:If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?
Speaker A:I always thought I would be a.
Speaker A:Like a bull elephant, but I realized that I'm probably more of a bulldog.
Speaker B:How'd you come up with that?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I've always.
Speaker A:I've always felt drawn to bull elephants.
Speaker A:But as it gets older and older, I'm just, I'm more of a, you know, you know.
Speaker B:I get a dog.
Speaker B:Well, you know, bull elephants can live a very long time.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah, they can.
Speaker B:If we decided to put all your skills and talents to music, what would the music be?
Speaker A:Oh, man, that's a hard one.
Speaker C:It is a hard one.
Speaker A:I would, I would probably end up.
Speaker A:Ah, so this is hard.
Speaker A:This is hard because I'm, I am, I am a musician as well.
Speaker A:So I'm like thinking of all these weird bands and stuff like that.
Speaker A:I would probably end up in some prog rock funk fusion jazz quartet.
Speaker A:Like I, I know I know a lot about.
Speaker A:No, I know a little about a lot and I know enough to get me in trouble.
Speaker B:Yeah, I get it.
Speaker A:And then I know a lot about a bunch.
Speaker A:Does that make sense?
Speaker A:Yeah, Yeah.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker A:That's not, that's not a very good answer.
Speaker A:But like, I can't, I can't give you, like I can't be like Led Zeppelin, you know?
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, where's Brian is the worst place you've ever had to cook.
Speaker A:The worst place I've ever had to cook.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Let me give you an example.
Speaker B:When Chris, Chris Lilly was on the show, he was talking about.
Speaker B:Because there's another follow up question to this, but he was talking about, I think it was actually at the Jack and it was out in the middle of field and they had a storm and his tent was flying away, yada, yada yada.
Speaker B:And then other people have said, well, I helped out at something, an event and we were in this greasy kitchen or whatever.
Speaker A:I would probably say that it's probably grilling outdoors in the northeast Ohio winters.
Speaker A:That's what it is.
Speaker A:I love that area, but I do not like the cold anymore and I don't want to be in 3ft of snow trying to keep a fire going.
Speaker B:Yeah, I get it.
Speaker B:Boxers or briefs?
Speaker A:Boxer briefs.
Speaker B:Okay, now here's the follow up.
Speaker B:Have you ever had to cook in the snow in just your underwear?
Speaker A:In just my underwear?
Speaker A:No, I've never been blessed having to do that.
Speaker A:Do I have shoes in this scenario?
Speaker B:Yeah, you can throw some slippers on or whatever.
Speaker A:Throw some slippers on?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:No, I've never, I've never had to cook in the snow in my underwear.
Speaker A:Although I would, I would say that back when I lived in Ohio it was not unheard of for me to wear sandals and shorts in 30 degree weather.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Although now that just Makes me cold thinking about it.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Sweatshirts or formal wear?
Speaker B:I think I know the answer.
Speaker A:Forever formal.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:Sweatshirts.
Speaker A:Come on.
Speaker A:If I could wear.
Speaker A:If I could live my life in my hoodie, I would do it.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:This.
Speaker B:This is kind of a personal question, but it's.
Speaker B:You'll see.
Speaker B:Would you describe yourself as corn fed or grass fed?
Speaker A:I would describe myself as fed.
Speaker A:No, I. I mean, I. I love it all.
Speaker A:I appreciate.
Speaker A:I appreciate the corn fed.
Speaker A:I appreciate the grass fed.
Speaker B:You know, I get it.
Speaker B:I get it.
Speaker A:Different applications, different strokes for different folks.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:You're on death row.
Speaker B:What would your last meal be?
Speaker A:Man, that's a tough one, too.
Speaker A:I wasn't prepared for that, honestly.
Speaker A:It would probably be a day of cooking with my grandmother and my mother.
Speaker C:Yeah, but what would you be making?
Speaker C:Like, what do you.
Speaker A:So it would start with.
Speaker A:It'd be a lot of breakfast food, first and foremost, I feel like breakfast.
Speaker A:So we would have crepes with the Hungarian sweet cheese filling.
Speaker A:I'd have what we call the.
Speaker A:The Bonner special in our family, which is a pancake with two eggs over easy on top of it, doused with maple syrup.
Speaker A:French toast, you know, and then I'd probably.
Speaker A:I'd probably have a really good quiche on top of that.
Speaker A:And we'd.
Speaker A:We'd end it with probably rib eyes or skirt steaks.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker A:The chain.
Speaker B:No bake.
Speaker B:No bacon or ham.
Speaker A:I mean, there's bacon everywhere.
Speaker B:I got it.
Speaker A:That meal is all bacon.
Speaker B:I got it.
Speaker A:All bacon.
Speaker B:I got it.
Speaker C:I got it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And pork belly.
Speaker A:Pork belly be up there, too.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:What's the worst concert you ever attended?
Speaker B:Not one that.
Speaker B:Not one that you performed in.
Speaker B:One that you want to listen to.
Speaker A:There were a couple of those.
Speaker A:The worst concert is simultaneously one of the worst and the best shows I've ever been to.
Speaker A:We went and saw the Counting Crows at the Bridgestone arena in Nashville a couple of years ago with Matchbox 20.
Speaker A:And I went in thinking, oh, I love the Counting Crows, but I don't give a shit about Matchbox 20.
Speaker C:Right, right.
Speaker A:And I left thinking, wow, the Counting Crow sucked really bad.
Speaker A:And matchbox 20 was amazing.
Speaker A:And after that, because the amount of, like, love and energy they had on stage completely transmitted to the crowd.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Whereas the Counting Crows just didn't want to be there.
Speaker B:They were just.
Speaker B:They were just doing another show.
Speaker A:They were just doing another show.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I've seen them since, and it's been great.
Speaker A:So I don't Know what happened that day?
Speaker C:They were just not a bad night.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Do you remember, Brian, the first thing you ever grilled or smoked?
Speaker A:Well, the first thing that I ever.
Speaker A:I ever smoked was a brisket flat, actually.
Speaker C:Ah, that's.
Speaker A:And that was a terrible start to do this career.
Speaker C:I was gonna say that can pretty much turn you off and not wanna.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:Well, so I completely destroyed this thing.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:It was shoe leather at the end, but I soaked it in, I reconstituted it in beef stock and shredded it up and I served it on bagels with cream cheese.
Speaker C:Oh, that would be good.
Speaker A:And it was fine after that.
Speaker A:It wasn't over smoked.
Speaker A:It was just overdone.
Speaker A:Like drastically overdone.
Speaker B:I will tell you that you are not the first person on this show to ever say that you trashed a brisket the first time that they.
Speaker B:They cooked it.
Speaker C:But I've never heard of anyone saying brisket as their first thing that they ever yeped or grilled.
Speaker A:Swing for the fences.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well.
Speaker B:And I like the fact that Brian had the.
Speaker B:The chispa, if you will, to.
Speaker C:Okay, wait, what did you say?
Speaker C:The what?
Speaker B:Chutzpah.
Speaker C:I thought it was chutzpah.
Speaker B:Well, chutzpah.
Speaker B:Okay, okay.
Speaker A:Chutzpah.
Speaker C:I was like, did I. I've been saying it wrong all these years.
Speaker C:Chutzpah or whatever it is.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Brian had the stones to actually.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker B:To reconstitute that.
Speaker B:Put it on a bagel with some cheese, cream cheese, and get something out of it.
Speaker B:That to me, shows you're on your toes, buddy.
Speaker C:That's right.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:That is really good.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Favorite movie of all time.
Speaker A:So it's probably gonna be.
Speaker A:It's probably gonna be the Lord of the Rings trilogy is.
Speaker A:Is up there.
Speaker A:But also Tombstone.
Speaker A:Tombstone is also up there.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:I know a lot of the guys that were in that movie, they were.
Speaker B:They're good guys, so.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Lord of the Rings.
Speaker A:Lord of the Rings.
Speaker B:Oh, that's great.
Speaker A:That's a good one.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I'm a sucker for those old spaghetti westerns.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah, they're fun.
Speaker B:Two mules for Sister Sarah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I always remember Shirley McCain in the Nun's outfit, smoking a stogie.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, and I'm like, that's.
Speaker A:That's perfect.
Speaker B:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker B:And let's see.
Speaker B:Dire Straits, acdc or Billy Ray Cyrus.
Speaker B:Billy Ray's from Kentucky, if you didn't know that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:But that's not.
Speaker A:That's not where we're going with that, I would say that AC DC is probably it.
Speaker A:Although the Dire Straits are fantastic.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Pretty sure.
Speaker B:Pretty sure Mark Knopfler can play anything.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, like that.
Speaker B:What do you want to do when you retire?
Speaker B:If you retire.
Speaker A:There is no such thing.
Speaker A:The only way I'm going to retire is if I end up selling BT leaves to somebody and then buying a small island.
Speaker B:Like that's.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, there you go.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker A:No cruise ship circuit for real.
Speaker A:Forever.
Speaker B:Oh, man.
Speaker B:You know, if you buy that island, you can cook in your underwear because nobody will give a crap.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:No one will care.
Speaker B:No one will care.
Speaker B:Like that.
Speaker B:A couple last questions here.
Speaker B:Dumbest thing you've ever seen done with a smoker grill or barbecue.
Speaker B:Doesn't have to mean you did it, but just the dumbest thing you've ever seen done.
Speaker A:This is going to be really, really pretentious, but stop using lighter fluid.
Speaker B:Yeah, no, that's not pretentious.
Speaker A:That's it.
Speaker A:I swear, I can taste it.
Speaker A:Even if you use it, like five or six cooks before.
Speaker A:You know, like, especially if you're smoking, if you're putting something in that smoker that's been there forever, like, it's going to be there for 12 hours.
Speaker A:It's just going to absorb what was in it before.
Speaker A:And if you lit it with lighter fluid.
Speaker A:Come on.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:I'm not sure why anybody actually uses that, except maybe to start a campfire.
Speaker C:I want to know.
Speaker C:I've seen Myron use a ton of it.
Speaker C:Oh, I have.
Speaker A:It is not that hard to start a chimney or to get a butane torch.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Butane torch is much more fun.
Speaker B:Anyway, so Brian, Brian Lee from BT Lee's Sauces, Rubs, recipes, stuff.
Speaker B:Very successful young guy and I like.
Speaker C:All of his variations of his products and I'm excited to see see the new things.
Speaker C:And it's almost the holiday, so that's a perfect place to go to get your holiday gifts.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You got gift boxes.
Speaker C:Oh, that's even better yet.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:What was the website again?
Speaker A:Just so btlees.com B T L E I G H S.com Perfect.
Speaker C:Awesome.
Speaker A:Perfect.
Speaker B:Thank you, Brian.
Speaker B:We appreciate it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Thank you for your time.
Speaker B:Thank you so much, folks.
Speaker B:That's going to wrap up after hours this week and Ms. Leanne and I will be back next week after she finishes gadding around the East Coast.
Speaker B:And we appreciate you listening.
Speaker B:We thank Brian again for being with us on the show.
Speaker B:And remember our motto here at Barbecue Nation.
Speaker B:Turn it, don't burn it.
Speaker B:Take care.
Speaker B:We'll see you later.
