Ercole Chila - Grand Champion at The Jack - Encore Memorial
The podcast episode commemorates the legacy of Eric Olchila, the esteemed grand champion of the 2023 Jack Invitational, who tragically passed away due to an automobile accident. His contributions to the barbecue community, particularly through his award-winning Uncle Pig's Barbecue pit, are deeply acknowledged, and we reflect on the profound impact he had on those who knew him. To honor his memory, we revisit a previous episode featuring Eric, wherein he shared insights into his life, his passion for barbecue, and the significance of family and community in his journey. As we pay tribute to Eric, we also engage in discussions about competitive barbecue, exploring the nuances of cooking techniques and the camaraderie among pitmasters. This episode serves as both a memorial and a celebration of a remarkable individual whose spirit and talent will be sorely missed.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Uncle Pig's Barbecue
- Painted Hills Natural Beef
- Heritage Steel
- Hammerstahl
- Dungeness Crab
- Pig Powder
Mentioned in this episode:
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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcript
Hey, everybody, it's J.T.
Speaker A:here.
Speaker A:Got some bad news from the barbecue world.
Speaker A: was the grand champion at the: Speaker A:Erkel's Uncle Pig's barbecue pit was an award winner, and he was a great guy.
Speaker A:I talked to him several times off of the show, and he will be missed.
Speaker A:So with that in mind, we're going to play his show from a little over a year ago that he talked about his life and his work and his community and most importantly, his family.
Speaker A:So, Ercole, we're going to miss you, buddy.
Speaker A:And this is for you.
Speaker A: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 Don't Burnett studios in Portland, here's jt.
Speaker A:This is an encore.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody.
Speaker A:Welcome to the nation.
Speaker A:I'm JT along with Leanne Whippen, hall of famer, I might add.
Speaker A:And coming to you from our respective Turn It, Don't Burn it studios, we would like to thank the folks at Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Speaker A:Beef the way nature intended.
Speaker A:Don't forget, if you go to their website from now till the end of the year, and if you place an order, there'll be a little thing on the bottom left of your screen that says code or coupon.
Speaker A:Just type in BBQ Nation and you get 15% off.
Speaker A:So there you go.
Speaker A:As you know, the Jack just ended a very short time ago.
Speaker A:Ms. Whippen was one of the judges there.
Speaker A:And now we are very fortunate to have Ercole Chilla from Uncle Pig's Barbecue, who was the grand champion at the Jack with us today.
Speaker B:Yay.
Speaker C:Congratulations.
Speaker C:Probably heard it a million times.
Speaker B:Quite a few times so far.
Speaker C:Yeah, you deserve it.
Speaker A:They've already had him on Fox News in the Morning nationally, so that's awesome.
Speaker A:I think that's very cool.
Speaker A:So, Urkel, that was actually our second stand there, you say?
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:I'm sorry.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:That was our second time there.
Speaker A:Oh, good, good.
Speaker B:That first time was when we.
Speaker B:We did the state champion, New Jersey.
Speaker C:Great.
Speaker A:Did you know that for that?
Speaker B:So it was pretty cool.
Speaker A:Did you know that Leanne is a Jersey girl, too?
Speaker C:I am, yes.
Speaker B:I do.
Speaker B:I do know that.
Speaker B:Oh, good.
Speaker A:Well, good, good, good.
Speaker A:So, New Jersey, you were second in pork, first in the ribs, fifth in the brisket, ninth in the dessert, and fifth in Chef's Choice.
Speaker A:That's A lot of calls.
Speaker B:Yeah, it was busy.
Speaker A:It was busy.
Speaker C:It's a lot of money.
Speaker B:Pretty cool.
Speaker A:Was that your best?
Speaker A:I mean, I know you won grand champion and all that, but that too at any event.
Speaker A:Was that your best placings in, in the group like that?
Speaker A:I mean those are some pretty high marks with the competition you had.
Speaker B:No, we did a little bit better.
Speaker B:I think it was wise or Galaxy Virginia.
Speaker B:We had three first place calls and a third place check in and one 180.
Speaker B:So that was our highest finishes, but that was that.
Speaker B:This was the most important one.
Speaker A:Yeah, right now you'd been there.
Speaker A:Gosh, excuse me.
Speaker A:The weather's changing up here, so.
Speaker A:So is my voice.
Speaker A:You'd competed at the Jack what, five times prior?
Speaker B:Four.
Speaker B:This is my, this is my fourth time.
Speaker A:Okay, and when you went this time, did you have any, you know, gut feeling or anything like that that this was going to be the one?
Speaker B:Well, we actually, I started like four or five weeks prior to going to the Jack when I started making arrangements and changes to try to do the cook for the Jack.
Speaker B:And I was tweaking and tweaking and, and I told my wife, I said if we don't win, it won't be because of the food.
Speaker B:And that's, we really focused on making it tender and getting it, you know, a good taste out of it.
Speaker B:And I thought we would have a chance.
Speaker B:I mean just like I guess everybody would thinks that they have a chance at these things.
Speaker B:When it starts happening, you're like, what the hell's just happened?
Speaker B:Is I can't believe this is happening right now.
Speaker B:Yeah, it was crazy.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's all good.
Speaker A:You didn't start out your career in barbecue though, did you?
Speaker A:Or call?
Speaker B:No, I, I'm in a gas station repair shop.
Speaker B:I still, I still do that.
Speaker B:The barbecue's a part time deal.
Speaker A:But don't you all support.
Speaker C:He has to support his habit.
Speaker B:I get it.
Speaker B:That's, that's the water that floats on my boots.
Speaker A:What have you learned?
Speaker A:I'm starting with some basic questions here.
Speaker A:We'll get more in depth as we go along in the show.
Speaker A:But what have you learned over the last five trips?
Speaker A:This being your fourth or fifth trip to Lynchburg.
Speaker A:I mean, each time, even if you didn't win, it's got to be a big learning experience.
Speaker B:I guess.
Speaker B:The first time we did well too.
Speaker B:We became.
Speaker B:And then the next time I think it was.
Speaker B:And the Last time was 58.
Speaker B:So I, I learned to be, have my expectations, not be super High all the time.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because sometimes even though your food's good to you, it just doesn't really hit judges all the time.
Speaker B:So I guess patience in and being hard headed and quitting.
Speaker A:You gotta watch those judges though.
Speaker A:They're.
Speaker A:They're a slippery lot, I can tell you that.
Speaker C:Well, obviously we did an excellent job this time.
Speaker C:As far as he's concern.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's all good.
Speaker B:You did a great viewers in my.
Speaker B:If I was on your table.
Speaker B:You did a great job.
Speaker C:Well, thank you so much.
Speaker C:If I was, I don't know.
Speaker A:So well, I'll tell you how you can figure it out.
Speaker A:So Urkel, what kind of dessert did you make?
Speaker A:Leanne's a big dessert fan, so I am.
Speaker B:We made a pumpkin cheesecake with a pumpkin caramel drizzle with.
Speaker B:We actually made pumpkin chocolate.
Speaker B:We cooked it and we cooked it.
Speaker B:We made refrigerator got it like for little, little chocolate piece on top of it.
Speaker B:It was pretty cool.
Speaker C:I did not have that.
Speaker C:But it sounds delicious and it sounds like something you can have for the holidays coming up.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah, it was pretty good.
Speaker B:It was really good.
Speaker A:What separates your.
Speaker A:Well just say your ribs from somebody else's.
Speaker A:What, what are your thoughts on that?
Speaker B:When we actually go for we push to the very verge of over tender.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:So sometimes we get be getting myself in a pickle by going a little too tender.
Speaker B:But 8 of the time where we cook them at, where we get them done at is pretty good for the judges.
Speaker B:The ones at the jack were converge of being over.
Speaker A:What did you use?
Speaker C:You should say that when you're taking the class on how to judge and get certified by kcbs.
Speaker C:They tell you that you should take a bite in the rib and it should not fall off the bone.
Speaker C:And you should see the little moisture bubbles on the bone and they say that's the perfect bite.
Speaker C:But I remember going to a contest and I was doing a video right before and I said, you don't want to have your ribs like this.
Speaker C:And they were overcooked in my opinion.
Speaker C:And I did the same thing for turn ins and I ended up winning first.
Speaker C:And I was kind of blown away by that, you know, because the judges are taught one thing.
Speaker C:And then I knew they were overcooked and I was like, I don't have a chance.
Speaker C:And then I took a first and I was like, whoa.
Speaker C:So I kind of agree with what you're saying.
Speaker C:It might be a little bit of a crapshoot, but people like them really tender.
Speaker B:But I realized ribs or Any addition, like, for 10 for me.
Speaker B:That's why I push them farther.
Speaker B:Does.
Speaker A:Does that include your.
Speaker A:Your taste profile?
Speaker B:Yeah, it does make it to me.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:To me, it does make it taste not completely.
Speaker B:Like my ribs.
Speaker B:They weren't fall off the bone.
Speaker B:They were.
Speaker B:They were close.
Speaker B:I mean, they were.
Speaker B:They were.
Speaker B:They were close, but you could still bite both sides and still have a piece left in the middle.
Speaker B:They were still there like that.
Speaker A:When you.
Speaker A:We were talking about the ribs and the.
Speaker A:The flavor profile a little bit.
Speaker A:Is there anything special you use in the flavor profile?
Speaker B:Not really.
Speaker B:I mean, I. I make a. I use a slurry.
Speaker B:I make a slurry up for my.
Speaker B:Like everybody else's.
Speaker B:You.
Speaker B:There's brown sugar on there and.
Speaker B:And, you know, maple syrup and stuff.
Speaker B:I make a slurry up that I use on it.
Speaker B:Instead of having to put everything individually on it, I make a whole batch of stuff up.
Speaker B:Yeah, I use a squirt bottle.
Speaker B:That's probably the only thing different I would do.
Speaker B:I mean, other than the rubs and stuff.
Speaker B:I don't know if what everybody else is using, but I use commercial rubs.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You ever try pig powder?
Speaker B:Yes, I do have that.
Speaker C:Oh, good.
Speaker B:Your dad stuff.
Speaker B:I do have one bottle at my girl in my trailer all the time.
Speaker C:See, there you go.
Speaker A:It's a winning combination.
Speaker A:What can I tell you?
Speaker B:Proof.
Speaker A:Yeah, it is.
Speaker A:So let's talk about, like, your pork.
Speaker A:Anything special about that?
Speaker B:Right on the verge of over tender.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker B:That's also on the verge of over tender.
Speaker B:But I mean, I really take a lot of pride in.
Speaker B:Into my box.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:I do like rows of money muscle on an angle, and.
Speaker B:And I put chunks in the middle, and then I have pooled somewhere else.
Speaker B:I mean, it's.
Speaker B:A box is heavy and it's full and it's.
Speaker B:You know, I.
Speaker B:It looks really good.
Speaker B:But, you know, still, on that particular day, I did get even though I had a 180 in ribs.
Speaker B:I had.
Speaker B:I had an A4 appearance in one, and I had two or three eights for appearance and pork.
Speaker B:I had three eighths for appearance and brisket.
Speaker B:Is this.
Speaker B:That appearance score really gets me.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's the thing that gets me the most.
Speaker A:Do you.
Speaker A:What do you use for your.
Speaker A:For your garnish, for your green?
Speaker A:Do you use kale?
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Oh, another kale guy.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, I like parsley.
Speaker B:Looks better.
Speaker B:I. I seem to be able to do that faster, but when I get done with the kale, Box.
Speaker B:I actually I, I spray it with Pam so it doesn't stick onto the food, doesn't stick on and looks really shiny.
Speaker B:So I've been using that for the last couple years.
Speaker A:See, I made the comment, I was there, of course Leanne was there.
Speaker A:And when I was walking around on Friday, I ran into some guys from Texas and they must have had four or five cases of kale and they were very methodically, there was four of them sitting at the table, pulling it apart, kind of measuring it, putting it in boxes and doing all that.
Speaker A:My comment was finally somebody found a good use for kale.
Speaker B:I agree with that.
Speaker B:I agree with that.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, it was tough.
Speaker B:Does your wife go with you sometimes?
Speaker B:Once.
Speaker B:Once in a while.
Speaker B:She went this with us to the Jack and a couple other wild woods.
Speaker B:She went with us.
Speaker B:My kids and all, they plays a lot of softball.
Speaker B:They travel a lot for softball.
Speaker B:Yeah, I have twin, I have twin girls and my twin.
Speaker B:I have a 21 year old daughter too.
Speaker B:She's just finished in college, so I have all girls.
Speaker B:The twins are pretty heavy in the softball, so is my oldest, but good for you.
Speaker C:No, I want to know what, what, what'd you do with the 25 grand you won and then some?
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:He's only seen it yet.
Speaker B:I have to be checking the garage.
Speaker B:It's about as far as I go with it now.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:I bought another trailer.
Speaker B:I bought a like a 35 foot southern dimension trailer and that's going to pay for some of it.
Speaker B:I already paid for most of it, but that was just a good finished payment, I guess you can say.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Did you get to keep the big check?
Speaker B:I get the big check, yeah.
Speaker B:They could probably kept a little check if they wanted.
Speaker B:I wanted the big check.
Speaker A:You got to have that.
Speaker A:All right, we're going to take a break.
Speaker A:We're going to come back with ercotilla from Uncle Pig's Barbecue who is the grand champion at this year's Jack.
Speaker A:And funny thing is all three of us were there and didn't know it.
Speaker A:Okay, we'll be right back.
Speaker A:Don't go away.
Speaker A:Hey everybody, it's Jeff here.
Speaker A:I want to tell you about something really cool.
Speaker A:Heritage steel cookware.
Speaker A:I just got mine.
Speaker A:I do a lot of cooking and it's got five ply construction.
Speaker A:Stay cool handles.
Speaker A:It's titanium strengthened.
Speaker A:It's got all the great stuff.
Speaker A:Just go to Heritage Steel and find out more.
Speaker A:You'll love it.
Speaker A:I guarantee it.
Speaker A:This is an encore.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Welcome back to Barbecue Nation.
Speaker A:I'm JT along with Leanne Whippett.
Speaker A:We are on all the social media platforms.
Speaker A:Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, all that.
Speaker A:If you want to just go to our website, which is BBQ Nation, jt.com There's a way to reach out to us there, or you can send us a message through the social media platforms.
Speaker A:And that's all good.
Speaker A:Today we're very fortunate to have Urkel Sheila with us from Uncle Pigs Barbecue, the grand champion at the Jack.
Speaker A:How'd you get the name Uncle Pigs, by the way?
Speaker B:Well, I guess probably about 20 years ago, we, me and my wife were coming home from picking up some parts for my, my.
Speaker B:When I, at the time I worked for a gas station a guy.
Speaker B:We were coming home and my.
Speaker B:One of my brothers was in the back door grilling and, and my other brother used to call him Uncle Pig.
Speaker B:So as we, we got into the KCBS stuff, you know, the same thing I told the doctor in the news, you walk in my front door, you walk out the back door, you have a nickname.
Speaker B:So his name, his nickname was Uncle Pig.
Speaker B:So when we got to do our first KCBS competition, they said, yeah, I needed to get a name.
Speaker B:So I'm like, what about Uncle Pigs Barbecue Pit?
Speaker B:And it kind of stuck.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's what it came from.
Speaker B:And it was kind of named after my brother.
Speaker A:It's a good name, though.
Speaker A:I actually, I really like it.
Speaker A:It makes you smile when you, when you say it.
Speaker A:You know, when you started.
Speaker A:We'll get more back to the Jack results in a little bit here.
Speaker A:But when you started, did you just start out in the backyard or did you have a family tradition of barbecue and grilling in the backyard?
Speaker B:Growing up, when I started out, we, we started right out in pro.
Speaker B:So I had a cousin that was.
Speaker B:I have a cousin, rather, that was a judge and he owned a restaurant, and I was just messing around with some ribs in the backyard, and he's like, hey, you know, you oughta, you ought to compete with that kind of stuff.
Speaker B:I'm like, compete?
Speaker B:What do you mean compete?
Speaker B:He's like, you can do a barbecue competition.
Speaker B:I'm like, they have a barbecue competition.
Speaker B:So I went and I went and found one and, and he helped me and.
Speaker B:Well, needless to say, we did lousy, you know, competition world and, and backyard world is two different places, right?
Speaker B:And that started it off.
Speaker B:I mean, the second one we did, we got like a second place chicken, a fourth place brisket.
Speaker B:I'm like, this is easy.
Speaker B:I got this you know, I. I understand.
Speaker B:I know I got to do now.
Speaker B:So we decided to find a third one.
Speaker B:Now, that was in Delaware.
Speaker B:And that made me realize I really don't know nothing about this barbecue thing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, kind of sneaks up on people, I think, Erica.
Speaker A:You know, it really does.
Speaker A:It.
Speaker A:I tell the story on the show once in a while when I went to a contest here locally.
Speaker A:Are you having trouble with your earphones?
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm trying.
Speaker B:It's not really.
Speaker B:Not really playing right now.
Speaker B:I can hear without them.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Anyway, I went to a.
Speaker A:Kind of a local contest, and there was an older gentleman there with his grand.
Speaker A:And he had just a Weber kettle, and he had never been to one before.
Speaker A:He just showed up with this Weber kettle in the back of his pickup, and he really didn't have anything prepped or anything like that.
Speaker A:So he stopped me and asked if I could help him.
Speaker A:And I said, well, the biggest help I could do is introduce you to a couple of these guys that are competing that.
Speaker A:I knew I wasn't in any position right then with a group of people walking around with me to help him.
Speaker A:But anyway, I don't know whatever happened to him, but I know those guys took good care of him and got him started down the right road so that, you know, you can always ask for help if you don't know what you're.
Speaker A:What you're up against out there.
Speaker B:That's true.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Okay, so let's get back to what you did there.
Speaker A:Knife and brisket.
Speaker A:You know, when people.
Speaker A:When I.
Speaker A:We call them civilians, listen to this show, they're not competitive barbecue people.
Speaker A:They're just, you know, backyard cooks and like to tailgate or whatever.
Speaker A:Why don't you tell us your process of how you prep and then how you cook your brisket?
Speaker A:Are you low and slow?
Speaker A:Hot, fast.
Speaker A:Somewhere in between.
Speaker A:What's your process?
Speaker A:There's.
Speaker B:Well, basically, I trim, I take out it.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:My brisket's usually in the freezer.
Speaker B:I usually get, like, six or eight briskets a month.
Speaker B:When I'm doing competition, I'll take one out on, like, Monday.
Speaker B:Monday night, I go get chicken, and by Tuesday, it's ready to be trimmed.
Speaker B:I trim it down to, you know, small size.
Speaker B:I really don't go with a crazy, huge brisket.
Speaker B:When we cook it, we're actually hot and fast on a drum.
Speaker B:You know, just a typical.
Speaker B:You know, we have.
Speaker B:We make our aiju.
Speaker B:We wrap it and cut it up and serve it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I don't know how much more you Want me to get into detail?
Speaker B:I could waste a whole hour on that.
Speaker A:Well, no, but I mean, but it's always interesting to people is like, how much do you trim off?
Speaker A:How.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, it's down.
Speaker B:There's no fat on it.
Speaker A:No fat.
Speaker B:I go.
Speaker B:I go pretty naked on both sides.
Speaker A:And do you take.
Speaker A:Are you just using the flat or what are you.
Speaker B:Well, unfortunately, it seems like the.
Speaker B:The judges don't like burn ends anymore.
Speaker B:You know, when I turn them in, they're usually pretty good, but you'll get three good ones and three bad ones.
Speaker B:So I just leave it out of the box.
Speaker B:I don't even.
Speaker B:I don't even bring it with me because I'm always tempted to cook it and always tempted to turn it in.
Speaker B:And most this year I did it like six times and it was pretty much a 50, 50 split.
Speaker B:You know, we've won the category one three times and came in 27th, the other three with three bad scores.
Speaker A:Huh?
Speaker A:Have you seen that, Leanne?
Speaker A:We were talking about that yesterday.
Speaker C:We talked about this.
Speaker C:I told you why they're staying away from it.
Speaker C:Burn ends are not the thing anymore.
Speaker C:It's all sliced.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's all slices.
Speaker B:As much as I want to turn them in because I feel that are good, I just, I can't.
Speaker C:The judges are too wishy washy on what their opinion of a burn end is, and it's not worth the risk.
Speaker B:You know, we had a judge one time come up to us at a contest three or four years ago, and he asked if we had brisket and brisket left there.
Speaker B:We gave him some brisket in the burn in.
Speaker B:He said, what tastes that seems like it has a little bit of fat?
Speaker B:And I'm like, well, a burn in is like, it's like 65, 70 fat.
Speaker B:It's going to have some fat in it.
Speaker B:And it was like milk kind of fat.
Speaker B:But they.
Speaker B:He didn't have to eat it.
Speaker B:He just didn't.
Speaker B:He didn't notice.
Speaker B:It's like supposed to dissolve, you know, I.
Speaker B:So I don't even take a chance doing it anymore.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:I really.
Speaker A:I'm sorry.
Speaker A:I don't understand why the judges wouldn't like them.
Speaker A:I know you said they're wishy washy, Leanne, and I'm not a judge, but I don't understand because to me, burn ends are.
Speaker C:Some of them like them.
Speaker C:It's just that people have different opinions of what a definition of a burn in is.
Speaker C:Some people expect it to be.
Speaker C:And there, there is a true burn in, you know, it's kind of crunchy and then whatever.
Speaker C:And then there's the ones that, you know, people are soaking in pans and it, like, is mushy in your mouth, that kind of thing.
Speaker C:So it's, it's, as he said, it's not worth the risk.
Speaker A:Well, on that, I like.
Speaker B:It's definitely a broad scope on how it, how they're judged.
Speaker B:There's not a certain criteria that's, that's for everyone.
Speaker B:And you really, you really.
Speaker B:It's really hard to, to put them in it with, with.
Speaker B:Com.
Speaker B:With comfort and confidence.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:We're gonna take another break.
Speaker A:We're going to be back with Air Cold Chilla from Uncle Pig's Barbecue Grand Champion at the Jack right after this.
Speaker A:Please stay with us.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody, it's JT and I have eaten.
Speaker A:If you've ever looked at me, you know that.
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Speaker A:This is an encore.
Speaker A:Welcome back to the nation.
Speaker A:That's Barbecue Nation again.
Speaker A:We'd like to thank the folks at Painter Hills Natural beef.
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Speaker A:Just go to pigpowder.com.
Speaker A:it's good stuff.
Speaker A:I have a few bottles sitting right over here, but I'm not sure I'm going to share those with anybody.
Speaker A:I think I'm probably going to.
Speaker C:The holidays are coming up.
Speaker C:Great stocking stuffer.
Speaker A:True, true.
Speaker A:But I might get carried away.
Speaker A:I know that's hard to believe with me, but I might get carried away and have to get some more from you.
Speaker A:Anyway, we're talking with Urkel Chilla from Uncle Pig's Barbecue in New Jersey.
Speaker A:You know, Urkel, I don't know if people actually think of New Jersey and barbecue.
Speaker B:Nope.
Speaker A:I mean, it's just, you know, when you think barbecue, you think Tennessee or Missouri or Kansas or Texas or Georgia or someplace.
Speaker B:It's really funny, when we were at the Jack, we were, you know, we were next to chicken fried rice, chicken fried barbecue.
Speaker B:I think heavy smoke.
Speaker B:And a couple of Texas teams were in line there, and some lady walked by.
Speaker B:Oh, my God, I'm from Texas.
Speaker B:You're from New Jersey.
Speaker B:You don't got a chance, buddy.
Speaker B:She tells me, oh, my God.
Speaker B:Like, oh, thank you.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:Showed her.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, we've had.
Speaker A:Who is it?
Speaker A:Ray Sheehan is from New Jersey too, I think.
Speaker A:And Ray's, you know, written books.
Speaker A:He's competed now.
Speaker A:He's a restaurateur.
Speaker A:We'll have him back on the show after the first of the year.
Speaker A:And so, you know, barbecue's growing, I think.
Speaker A:Do you have.
Speaker A:Are there barbecue restaurants around where you live?
Speaker B:Not.
Speaker B:Nothing.
Speaker B:We had.
Speaker B:I had a restaurant for like five or six years, and then I owned a strip mall, and I just.
Speaker B:I had to sell the strip mall because the people that were running from me didn't.
Speaker B:Weren't very on time with the rent.
Speaker A:I got it.
Speaker B:It was either selling or do something bad, so I just decided to sell it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so that's why I closed that down.
Speaker B:That was like.
Speaker B:We had that for like six years.
Speaker B:Other than that, there's like your mission barbecue that nobody really goes to and stuff like that.
Speaker A:Yeah, more little.
Speaker B:Little chains and little chain deals.
Speaker B:There's nobody.
Speaker B:There's a couple, I think, places opening up, but I haven't.
Speaker B:I haven't been to them yet.
Speaker B:They're one in maybe about a half hour away from my house, which we'll try.
Speaker B:I mean, we have.
Speaker B:I have no problem trying them.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Just haven't yet.
Speaker B:Every weekend is a competition for me.
Speaker B:And right now, actually, I.
Speaker B:We since.
Speaker B:Since the Jack.
Speaker B:We did the Rook Invitational.
Speaker B:Day one at.
Speaker B:Day two in New Jersey.
Speaker B:A double in Virginia this weekend just passed.
Speaker B:We GC'd that one.
Speaker B:And third place finished the day two.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, then I got one in North Carolina at Kerotuck this weekend.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, we're still.
Speaker B:Still at it.
Speaker C:They're Rolling.
Speaker A:Yeah, I know.
Speaker A:When I talked to you on the phone, you were laughing because you were like, well, I'm on my way to Virginia to do a.
Speaker A:It's like, don't you break, man?
Speaker A:No, we're.
Speaker A:We're on the road.
Speaker A:We're doing it.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker B:A lot of.
Speaker B:Lot of windshield time.
Speaker A:A lot of windshield time.
Speaker A:What do you think?
Speaker A:Besides your grand champion at the jack or goal?
Speaker A:What.
Speaker A:What brings you the most joy out of doing this?
Speaker A:Is it the competition side?
Speaker A:Is it meeting the people?
Speaker A:Is it, you know, getting away from your mechanic shop?
Speaker A:I mean, what is it?
Speaker B:So for me, what's going on right now is some of the best things of it.
Speaker B:I never would have met you.
Speaker B:I really only would have known Leanne through tv.
Speaker B:I wouldn't have met all the people that I met in the barbecue world that I would meet.
Speaker B:I mean, there's just so many people that are out there that are friends now.
Speaker B:It's crazy.
Speaker B:I mean, it's unbelievable.
Speaker B:And you never know who, really you're talking to.
Speaker B:You know, some of these people that barbecue could be a lawyer or doctor or whatever.
Speaker B:I mean, they're just.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker C:That is the truth.
Speaker C:That is the truth.
Speaker C:It is everybody.
Speaker C:So you can't predict what they do in life.
Speaker C:You know, it's just, you know, everybody has the love of barbecue in common, but.
Speaker C:Yeah, all walks of life.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, I do.
Speaker B:I enjoy cooking.
Speaker B:The cooking aspect of it, of course.
Speaker B:You know, it's.
Speaker B:It's never.
Speaker B:It's never been for money for me, because, you know, you could win.
Speaker B:I could win the next 50 contests and still be broke and still be behind as far as money put in.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's definitely the.
Speaker B:The thrill of getting calls and the chance of getting calls.
Speaker B:It's just.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:It's just all that in one big ball is what does it for me.
Speaker A:Yeah, I can understand that.
Speaker A:I know that Leanne and I are working on a TV show together and.
Speaker A:What.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker A:And I have another radio show.
Speaker A:It's a golf show.
Speaker A:And when I kind of started doing some research a few years ago and found out how many of, like, the pro golfers are very much into barbecue, a couple of them are into competing.
Speaker A:They live in Georgia.
Speaker A:Like, Stuart Sink, he's got his own barbecue team down there.
Speaker A:I don't know if he does KCBS or what he.
Speaker A:But I know they've got a team.
Speaker A:Him and the head pro at the.
Speaker A:At the club he belongs to and to.
Speaker A:To find that out, you know, and these aren't people that are just going out to their Weber gas grill and throwing a steak on it, you know, these are people that are really getting into it, and it's.
Speaker A:It's really so spread out, as you were both saying, across every walk of life, that I find that very fascinating because that is very much a common ground.
Speaker A:They don't care who you are.
Speaker A:If you want to talk barbecue with them, come on in.
Speaker A:You know.
Speaker A:Do you think that what you've turned in so far is absolutely your best work?
Speaker B:No, I feel that there's still a little bit more finishing flavors that I have to.
Speaker B:I have to master a little bit, you know, and sometimes it's.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's area as much as it is anything else.
Speaker B:You know, you don't want to give something really sweet to this area, really, you know, vinegar that area.
Speaker B:So I kind of keep everything the same, and sometimes that helps, and sometimes it probably does a little bit of a damage to my scores, but I. I'd like to think that I.
Speaker B:The finishing part of it is.
Speaker B:Is where I got to get as far as finishing dusts and stuff like that.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think I need to be a little bit more stronger on that.
Speaker B:Once I get to that point, hopefully it'll.
Speaker B:It'll.
Speaker B:It'll be better than it was in the past.
Speaker A:My worst own enemy.
Speaker A:Sometimes I think, well, that's.
Speaker B:That's not your enemy.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That keeps you going.
Speaker B:That keeps you.
Speaker B:That keeps you moving forward.
Speaker B:I mean, if you lay still, you're going to get caught and passed.
Speaker B:I mean, you just can't.
Speaker B:For me, I. I don't.
Speaker B:I. I don't like saving necessarily change a lot of stuff, but I do tweak things, you know, after a little bit of time, you know, if it doesn't really hit like I want, like this year, towards the middle of the year, I was stuck in either a no call or bottom five.
Speaker B:So that's when.
Speaker B:Right before the jack, the first, like the last six, eight weeks before the jack is when I said, I have to change something.
Speaker B:I have to change something to try to get this to be better.
Speaker B:And I, you know, after winning team of the year the year before, I kind of was like, staying with.
Speaker B:With it and staying with it.
Speaker B:I'm like, well, it's not doing what it's supposed to do, so now it's time to change the channel.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And that's me.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:You can't change it after one contest.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:And so after like, like six, eight weeks of not really doing it.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Wasn't like you want it to be.
Speaker B:I decided to change things one meat at a time.
Speaker B:And finally I, I got to the point where I'm like, okay, this is, all this stuff right now.
Speaker B:The way it's going, the way it's cooking is good enough to win.
Speaker B:So now we're gonna.
Speaker B:We're gonna put it to test to a couple contests.
Speaker B:And on day.
Speaker B:We did a contest in New Jersey.
Speaker B:And on day one, I. I made a horrible mistake and I used tenderizer in all my meets and let it go for way too long.
Speaker B:And I, I just destroyed everything.
Speaker B:I still came in 11 somehow.
Speaker B:I don't know how, but the next day we.
Speaker B:We scored a 708 and we reserved to Brad.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:And so I figured at that point, I said, this is the stuff we're going to go with the rest of the way.
Speaker B:And that's where we.
Speaker B:That's where we were at.
Speaker B:And that's where we did use it to Jack.
Speaker B:And I really started writing a lot, a lot of things down in my book because sometimes you make changes.
Speaker B:I don't even know you're making changes.
Speaker B:Why did I stop doing that?
Speaker B:It's just crazy.
Speaker A:Do you go back and reference your book and your notes and say, that worked really well there, then it didn't work, but now it seems to be working again.
Speaker A:Or I did X, Y and Z to that, and now it's getting close to where I want it.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So every contest for me has a.
Speaker B:Has a page.
Speaker B:You know, the Jack has its own page.
Speaker B:The, The New Jersey, Day One has its own page.
Speaker B:The Virginia Galaxy, they all have its own page.
Speaker B:And, and it's what I've done and what was successful and what not.
Speaker B:It wasn't successful.
Speaker B:And I, I reference it all the time.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:That's good.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:That's better than I do it.
Speaker A:I just try to do stuff off.
Speaker B:Top of my head and usually my name sometimes.
Speaker A:Yeah, I was gonna say you get older.
Speaker C:That happens.
Speaker C:I have a lot of.
Speaker C:I have a lot of those pages, Jeff.
Speaker C:But the problem is you can't understand the writing.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker C:But I have the pages.
Speaker B:I was the same way.
Speaker B:What the hell was I writing right there?
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, I do.
Speaker C:And then, like, I'd run out of paper, end of the paper, and I'd go up the side.
Speaker C:I'm like, was that for the ribs or was that for the chicken?
Speaker C:Yeah, I start off really good and I put the name of the contest and the date, you know, and the brand of meats that I used, and da, da, da, da.
Speaker C:And then as it goes on, it gets messier and messier, and then it goes sideways around.
Speaker A:Looks like it's written in Swahili or something.
Speaker C:I kept all of them.
Speaker C:I have all of them.
Speaker B:So I most definitely, either before I start making my injections or after I'm done, I write everything out slowly because I was like that I would write so fast.
Speaker B:And I'm like, I'll remember that.
Speaker B:And the other day, a couple months ago, I'm like, what the hell did I write there?
Speaker B:Was I Madison?
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's me every day.
Speaker A:Unfortunately, we're gonna take another break.
Speaker A:We're gonna be back with Ericochilla from Uncle Pig's Barbecue in New Jersey, the grand champion at the Jack this year, and got more fun stuff to talk about, so please stay with us.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody, it's jt.
Speaker A:You know, I talk about painted hills all the time, and we always say beef the way nature intended.
Speaker A:But it's more than that because each bite of painted hills will make your taste buds explode.
Speaker A:Put a big, bright smile on your face, and whoever is at your dinner table will have a big, bright smile on their face.
Speaker A:And you can thank me for that later.
Speaker A:Just go to paintedhillsbeef.com and find out more.
Speaker A:You won't regret it.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody, J.T.
Speaker A:here.
Speaker A:I want to tell you about Hammerstahl knives.
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Speaker A:If you're really into cooking, I think you're really gonna like them.
Speaker A:This is an encore.
Speaker A:Welcome back to Barbecue Nation on USA Radio Networks and all the podcast platforms you could possibly dream of.
Speaker A:I'm JT along with hall of Famer Ms. Leanne Whippen.
Speaker A:We've got Ercol Chilla with us today from Uncle Pig's Barbecue in New Jersey.
Speaker A:What part of Jersey do you live in?
Speaker B:It's South Jersey.
Speaker B:South Jersey, actually, you can see my.
Speaker B:From my house.
Speaker B:I can see the Philadelphia airports.
Speaker B:Like, it's my house.
Speaker B:A road, then the river, then the airport.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:So are you a Steelers fan or are you a Jets fan, or what are you?
Speaker B:I'm as far as Miami.
Speaker B:As far as barbecue goes in New Jersey, I'm a Miami Dolphins fan.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:Oh, there we go.
Speaker B:A completely different thing.
Speaker A:I got it.
Speaker C:They're doing pretty good.
Speaker A:Well, yeah, you know, you got.
Speaker A:Leanne's living in Florida, so she's got the bucks, which are in her backyard.
Speaker C:Yeah, but I'm a. I'm a Giants.
Speaker A:You're a Giants fan.
Speaker A:And when they're Giants.
Speaker C:Oh, you can laugh.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:When they take it on the chin, I gotta tell you, I text her and say, your Giants look like crap today.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I don't get a good response though, I'll tell you that.
Speaker A:It's like that.
Speaker A:Where do you think you go from here, Nicole?
Speaker A:I mean, you won the Jack.
Speaker A:You were team.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Are you stay.
Speaker C:Are you chasing team of the year every year?
Speaker C:Is that like a thing for you?
Speaker B:No, I mean, so at the beginning of last year, I, when we finished, we were finishing off last year, just like I was in the middle of this year.
Speaker B:I said, you know what?
Speaker B:And I told the guy was cooks with me.
Speaker B:I'm like, I think we're going to be able to make a run for a team of the year next year.
Speaker B:He goes, you think?
Speaker B:I'm like, that's all it takes is one or two wins in the beginning.
Speaker B:And then we know we're at.
Speaker B:And we'll just, we'll just run with it, see what happens.
Speaker B:And sure enough, it started, you know, we started winning a lot.
Speaker B:And so this year we started off at Lakeland.
Speaker B:We won Lakeland.
Speaker B:I'm like, oh, well, I mean, are.
Speaker C:You gonna be at Lakeland this year?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker B:Gotta be.
Speaker B:Yeah, I gotta defend.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, maybe I'll see you there.
Speaker B:Yeah, my.
Speaker B:So, yeah, so I don't, I don't plan on it.
Speaker B:When you ever.
Speaker B:Anybody says they, they want to run for team of the year, you really can't say that because you don't even know if you're going to win.
Speaker B:So if you don't win a little bit in the beginning, you're just wasting money.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker B:Run that hard.
Speaker B:But we're going to try to.
Speaker B:We're going to, we're going to try to.
Speaker B:To put some wins together in the beginning.
Speaker B:So we put some miles on that new trailer.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:Do you still have a catering company too?
Speaker B:Yeah, we still, we still, we still do that.
Speaker B:Also.
Speaker B:My wife does that for us.
Speaker C:I was gonna say, how do you travel every weekend and cater?
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker C:So, yeah, your wife does it.
Speaker B:So we.
Speaker C:She has to help support your habit too.
Speaker B:She's like my pusher.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, that's good.
Speaker A:Yeah, we've all had experience in catering and it can be.
Speaker A:It can be very fruitful and it can also be very frustrating was my experience with it.
Speaker A:I had a catering company for about six years and always enjoyed it, meaning most of the time I enjoyed it.
Speaker A:Let me clarify that.
Speaker A:And most of the time I met some really great people.
Speaker A:There were a few, and I have them in my book back here, right under my desk.
Speaker A:Is there anything you.
Speaker A:You'd like to do in barbecue that you really haven't done yet?
Speaker A:And I don't mean just winning like winning the jack, but is there an event or someplace you'd like to bring barbecue to that would mean something to you?
Speaker B:You know, unfortunately for the American royal and me, we had a disagreement two years ago.
Speaker B:I'd like to.
Speaker B:I would have liked to went back there, but I probably never will.
Speaker B:I mean, because I'm waiting for two things.
Speaker B:Waiting for my dessert tray to get back to me or an apology for how they handled it.
Speaker B:And I don't think I'm get either one.
Speaker B:So I feel that I'm missing that part of the barbecue in my life.
Speaker B:Not for winning.
Speaker B:It's just actually being there because it was nice to be there.
Speaker B:But, you know, that's up.
Speaker B:Like I said, I don't know if that's ever going to happen again.
Speaker B:As much as I would like it to happen, I don't think it's going to happen again.
Speaker A:Somebody walked off with your dessert tray?
Speaker B:Well, yeah, so my brother, before he passed away, made me a dessert tray.
Speaker B:He was only 49.
Speaker B:He had tongue cancer.
Speaker B:So I returned to dessert.
Speaker B:In.
Speaker B:I went to go get my tray.
Speaker B:They told me I can't get it after awards.
Speaker B:I went to get it after the awards and it was missing.
Speaker B:Now.
Speaker B:He said, well, maybe got thrown away.
Speaker B:I'm like I said, I.
Speaker B:All due respect, sir, them plastic ones on the table, I could see being thrown away.
Speaker B:This was made of wood.
Speaker B:It had glass cups, metal spoons.
Speaker B:It didn't get thrown away.
Speaker B:I said, is it possible you can actually put this picture of this on your jumbotron to say that it's missing and I don't care how it shows up, where it shows up, because what we can't do that.
Speaker B:You know, you're accused of somebody of stealing.
Speaker B:I'm like, forget it, you can keep it.
Speaker B:I'm not even crazy with this anymore.
Speaker B:And we had a couple exchanges of words and said, I won't be back no more.
Speaker B:And so I haven't been back.
Speaker A:Well, I'm sorry to hear that.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker B:And then this year, they had a whirlwind of dessert trays being stolen, from what I understand.
Speaker C:Oh, really?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I will say I noticed at the Jack that the trays were specifically designed for the specific dessert they were making.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:And also specifically for the Jack.
Speaker C:And you could tell that so much thought and time went into just the vessel to deliver their dessert that it should be taken more seriously.
Speaker B:So ours was a barrel head.
Speaker B:It has a Jack Daniels distillery on it, or Jack Daniels Old Number seven on it, rather.
Speaker B:And it has eight cup holders.
Speaker B:And we made the cup holders indented into the.
Speaker A:To.
Speaker B:The cup.
Speaker B:Didn't move out of there.
Speaker B:Then we had little.
Speaker B:Little hole holders where the drink went to.
Speaker B:It was just the shot glass, but it was just a lot.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:That was something different.
Speaker B:We got that one back.
Speaker B:But the one in the American world had a lot more meaning to me than that one.
Speaker A:But I'm sure it did.
Speaker A:If it was made by your brother.
Speaker A:Well, that's unfortunate.
Speaker A:I always hate to hear stories like that, especially when I try.
Speaker B:And I tried everything I could to get him to.
Speaker B:To.
Speaker B:To.
Speaker B:To help a little bit.
Speaker B:And they.
Speaker B:They might have tried a little bit.
Speaker B:They said they would help me look for it, but it.
Speaker B:It really wasn't.
Speaker B:It really wasn't a good effort.
Speaker B:You know, what the hell are you.
Speaker A:Gonna do, go through everybody's trailer?
Speaker B:I mean, they couldn't.
Speaker B:They could have, like my said, if they could have just posted a picture.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker B:That's all.
Speaker B:That's all I asked them to do.
Speaker B:I mean, after that, if nobody had conscious enough to give it back, that's not their fault.
Speaker B:But when they said they wouldn't post a picture, I'm like, okay, that just tells me you don't care about what's going on right here.
Speaker A:Oh, that's unfortunate.
Speaker B:But that was then, this is now.
Speaker A:I like your attitude a lot, Urkel.
Speaker A:I really do.
Speaker A:I mean, you're, like, on to the next thing, and that's refreshing, really.
Speaker A:Very much so.
Speaker A:At least for me, because, you know, I'm Mr. Smiley all the time and watch Leanne laugh.
Speaker C:Bend over deep down inside yeah, yeah, there's a.
Speaker A:There's something going on in there.
Speaker A:I'm not sure what it is.
Speaker A:Urkel, how can people find you?
Speaker A:Do you have Facebook or website or.
Speaker B:We have Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat.
Speaker B:I think they're there.
Speaker A:So, Urkel, you're gonna stick around for after hours.
Speaker A:That's gonna wrap it up for the regular radio show.
Speaker A:We thank you Urkelchilla from Uncle Pig's Barbecue.
Speaker A:Grand champion at the Jack.
Speaker A:Good Guy.
Speaker A:Someday I'm going to get to try some of your barbecue.
Speaker B:Well, if I knew you were at the Jack.
Speaker A:Yeah, I was kind of undercover.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Next year, I'm sure you'll be there.
Speaker A:Yeah, we probably will be.
Speaker A:Anyway, we're going to get out of here.
Speaker A:Have a good week.
Speaker A:Thank you, Leanne.
Speaker A:And remember our motto here.
Speaker A:Turn it, don't burn it.
Speaker A:Take care, everybody.
Speaker A:Barbecue Nation is produced by JTSD LLC Productions in association with Salem Media Group.
Speaker A:All rights reserved.
