Stretch - from Grinders - Encore
This podcast episode centers on the intricate world of barbecue, featuring an engaging conversation with Stretch, a notable figure from Grinders in Kansas City. We delve into his unique journey from art school to the culinary realm, highlighting his experiences in the competitive barbecue scene and the challenges faced during the pandemic. Stretch shares insightful anecdotes about his transition into music and how his artistic background influences his culinary creations. Furthermore, we examine the evolving dynamics of the restaurant industry, particularly in light of recent economic shifts and societal expectations. This episode offers a profound exploration of the intersection between art, food, and personal passion, as Stretch candidly reflects on his experiences and aspirations within these interconnected domains.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Painted Hills Natural Beef
- Grinders
- Kia
- Heritage Steel
- Gunter Wilhelm
- Hammerstahl
- Original Juan's
- Guy Fieri
- Rod Gray
- Myron Mixon
- Tuffy Stone
- Travis Clark
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcript
It's time for Barbecue Nation with jt.
Speaker A:So fire up your grill, light the charcoal, and get your smoker cooking.
Speaker A:Now from the Turn It Go Burn it studios in Portland, here's jt.
Speaker A:This is an encore.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody.
Speaker A:Welcome to the nation.
Speaker A:The barbecue Nation.
Speaker A:I'm jt, along with my co host, co pilot, and hall of famer, Ms. Leanne Whippen.
Speaker A:Dave and Chris are wandering around like usual, looking for something to do.
Speaker A:We'd like to thank the folks at Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Speaker A:Beef the way nature intended.
Speaker A:You can check them out online@painted hillsnaturalbeef.com.
Speaker A:well, we've got a man for you today that if you don't know him, you should.
Speaker A:You might want to wear body armor around that.
Speaker B:Or earmuffs.
Speaker A:Or earmuffs.
Speaker A:And so we've got Stretch from Grinders World Galactic Headquarters.
Speaker A:But my first question, buddy, is this.
Speaker A:Are you?
Speaker B:It's gonna be, are you?
Speaker A:Are you a hairy thunderer or a cosmic muffin when you've got World Galactic Headquarters?
Speaker C:You know, I can't answer that due to making someone else, you know, they'll Whip out their P34 space modulator.
Speaker A:Oh, it's all good.
Speaker A:It's all good.
Speaker A:So how the heck are you, man?
Speaker C:I am slam jam, man.
Speaker C:It's all good, though.
Speaker C:Rolled into 23 with guns ablazing, if you will, you know.
Speaker B:Yeah, you're like guns and roses these days with your little music stuff.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:This is something that's completely new for me and kind of scary at the same time.
Speaker C:And I love trying new stuff.
Speaker C:And like I tell everybody, if it's not fun, I won't do it.
Speaker C:So far, recording music is fun.
Speaker C:And my last song, first Bite, that I did with Black Auction, charted for eight weeks, did a record deal and just cut a whole new album.
Speaker C:And it's, you know, it's going to chart.
Speaker C:I hope too, but if not, you know, they're talking about touring and having fun, you know.
Speaker B:Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker A:Did you write it?
Speaker C:So, yeah, I wrote a lot of the lyrics and concept wise and then the guys helped fill in the blanks.
Speaker C:And the music side, we kind of all worked together on it.
Speaker C:It was good collaboration.
Speaker A:That's great.
Speaker A:Were you able to walk upright out of the studio sessions when you went home?
Speaker C:I'll tell you what, the rock, I always.
Speaker C:I was a rock and roll guy my early years of art school.
Speaker C:I was with some rock and rollers and stuff and did touring and, you know, none of us slept back then.
Speaker C:But I'VE always gotten up early in the morning and recording.
Speaker C:I was down outside Nashville, recorded for three weeks in December.
Speaker C:And I'm not built for this rock and roll lifestyle.
Speaker C:I get up early in the morning, and then we work late.
Speaker C:So, you know, they don't start till the crack of noon.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:And so I'm already up for five, six hours.
Speaker C:But really not a lot going on when you're living on the tour bus, you know?
Speaker C:Yeah, but, you know, I can get through the night and party like everybody else, but it was.
Speaker C:It was rough.
Speaker C:That's five, six hours a day of.
Speaker C:You know, I don't do yoga, you know.
Speaker B:You don't eat vegetables.
Speaker C:Near my food.
Speaker C:It's osmosis.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So you're a sculptor, you're a musician.
Speaker A:Now you're doing that.
Speaker A:How did you get involved doing grinders?
Speaker A:And, I mean, that's a huge thing, actually.
Speaker A:And how did you get all this in the food world?
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker C:So how much time we got?
Speaker C:So I. I came out to Kansas City from Philadelphia.
Speaker C:I grew up in Philly.
Speaker C:I worked in a couple restaurants there.
Speaker C:I think you've probably heard of them.
Speaker C:That's called McDonald's.
Speaker C:There's a couple of them around now.
Speaker C:But I started eating when I was really young and found that there were other people that ate a lot, and they'd eat around brunch time and lunch, and in the afternoon, people would get together and eat.
Speaker C:So we kind of all came together, and it was kind of a unique situation.
Speaker C:We all like food, but my first job in a kitchen was I was at a Woolworth.
Speaker C:You guys know Woolworth?
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker C:Apartment store out East Philly area.
Speaker C:And I was a stock boy, and I got caught.
Speaker C:Probably shouldn't tell a story, but, you know, I was young.
Speaker C:I got caught behind the little deli counter there inhaling whipped cream canisters.
Speaker C:The.
Speaker C:The deli lady is like, what are you doing back here?
Speaker C:And I'm like, no, I was checking out your equipment, which, by the way, you should never tell another woman.
Speaker C:And Staggy Maggie, you know, at the Arms.
Speaker C:And so I dropped my first fry basket when I was in high school and then went to art school in Kansas City.
Speaker C:And I worked a little restaurant here and there with a guy named George.
Speaker C:He had a cheese shop.
Speaker C:And if you've seen my Triple D episode, he was on there.
Speaker C:And so in grad school, I worked in restaurants and just made my way so I could make artwork all day long and then work in rock and roll club at night.
Speaker C:And cook and bartend and make my money and get booze and food and you know, pick up chicks.
Speaker A:The essentials in life, man.
Speaker A:The essentials, you have to do that.
Speaker C:You know, so that's kind of how it all happened.
Speaker C:And then I moved into back Kansas City and worked at the Art Institute.
Speaker C:Then I got invited to New York.
Speaker C:And when I moved back right before 9 11, Kansas City was great.
Speaker C:And the only problem was the art scene was blunting, but there wasn't good pizza that was open seven days a week that had beer and there was no cheesesteaks and New York style.
Speaker C:So I missed that.
Speaker C:And I opened Grinders with another buddy of mine back then, oh, almost 20 years ago.
Speaker A:Good for you.
Speaker A:And you're still upright and breathing.
Speaker A:That's to be said for something positive for a restaurant guy, man, I'll tell.
Speaker C:You, Covid hit us hard.
Speaker C:We lost two places, but right now we still have two open.
Speaker C:We have Grinders out at baseball stadium.
Speaker C:The team didn't do so well this year.
Speaker C:And then we got our food truck.
Speaker C:And then, you know, we do barbecue too on the side.
Speaker A:Yeah, a little barbecue on the side.
Speaker B:That's where I'm sure that the Chiefs are bringing you some business.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker C:You know, we're not really a sports bar, but you know, the Chiefs people do bring, you know, people if they're hardcore Chiefs fans, they got their bars they go to or they're going to.
Speaker C:And I think smart people stay at home and watch the Chiefs because it's a lot less expensive.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, wow, that's.
Speaker A:That's incredible to hear that you, you survive.
Speaker A:We've talked to so many people stretch over the last couple of weeks, including myself.
Speaker A:Including yourself, that the COVID thing just kicked their ass in the restaurant business.
Speaker C:Yeah, the COVID kicked it ass.
Speaker C:The government doesn't help too much on anything.
Speaker C:They keep changing laws on everything, whether it's tip sharing or this other thing and you know, raising wages and taking wages away and what you can spend, I mean, it's, it's.
Speaker C:You need a full time group of people just handling that through the accountants.
Speaker C:They don't make it easy, you know, and that's.
Speaker C:I guess so.
Speaker C:Well, it's tough.
Speaker A:I'm glad I'm not in it anymore because the short time I was in it, it was very trying, I'll put it that way.
Speaker A:Even on the best of days, I couldn't imagine trying to run an outfit.
Speaker A:Now when you've got, you know, 80,000 bureaucrats in Washington or The state capitol, wherever, you know, conjuring up things just to make your life miserable.
Speaker A:That's what I always thought it was.
Speaker A:They just, maybe they didn't like to go out to dinner, I don't know.
Speaker A:But they sure as hell made your life miserable.
Speaker C:It's tough.
Speaker C:And I'll tell you, everybody came out of COVID kind of considerate, but they also thought since it was over that everything should be back to normal.
Speaker C:And they all know that everything at their house went up and gas has gone up and electric's gone up and cost of goods have gone up.
Speaker C:But for some reason they don't think it happens at a restaurant.
Speaker C:And so they bitch and whine.
Speaker C:I mean, any industry, again, it's like you don't have customers or employees.
Speaker C:It's a great business to be in.
Speaker C:But the government, I mean, they.
Speaker C:Let me say this, if I didn't get my funding from the government, I would not be here, right?
Speaker C:I would not have been able to make it.
Speaker C:But we went from closing two restaurants and the two that are open, we had 117 employees and we have like 65 now.
Speaker C:And we're only open six days a week, not seven days a week.
Speaker C:And we still can't get enough people to stay working.
Speaker C:Our music venue went from, you know, 20 plus shows down to 12 shows a year.
Speaker C:And you know, just the cost of goods, everything from rubber gloves at, you know, 60 bucks a case to 120 bucks a case or just the food supply chain, the normal five blend cheese we get comes and goes.
Speaker C:You can't be consistent with product.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:So, you know, it's tough.
Speaker A:That's, that's very difficult because people come in, they expect certain things, they expect certain flavors, you know, they, whatever it is, and then you can't provide that.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:I think that lends itself, excuse me, to some ears that are being bent either directly or indirectly on the chat boards or whatever because you, it's not your fault you can't deliver it, you know, because the products aren't there.
Speaker C:They, they.
Speaker C:I don't think everybody understands it.
Speaker C:And some people get real credible.
Speaker C:I think in the United States everybody should be a waiter or waitress or in the service industry for at least six months, kind of like they do in Europe where you got to be in the military for a year.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:Everybody would be a little more compassionate when they see, you know, an 18 year old kid or even a 25 trying to make their, you know, money, you know, serving people and demanding and it's rough I mean, I see him going through it, and, you know, I'm not an operator.
Speaker C:I'm not in there every day in the trenches like I used to be.
Speaker C:And the guys and girls.
Speaker C:I just had lunch down there.
Speaker C:I mean, it's.
Speaker C:It's a little light for, you know, Thursday down there, but there's still bitching and whining going on in the normal drama of a restaurant, and everybody wants to be busy to bring home the money.
Speaker C:And, you know, it's not like the old days where you left with a pocket full of cash.
Speaker C:Now everything's credit card, so they don't leave at the end of the day with cash.
Speaker C:They got to wait till their check comes.
Speaker C:And it's a.
Speaker C:It's a different world.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I was listening to what you said, that they should be waiters or waitresses or whatever.
Speaker B:I kind of feel that way about barbecue judging.
Speaker B:The judges should have to compete.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:They only make them do that when they want to be a master judge.
Speaker B:Right, right.
Speaker B:So, anyway, I'll get off that subject.
Speaker A:Oh, that's fine.
Speaker A:That's fine.
Speaker B:You know, you've done a lot of tv, and it's.
Speaker B:I guess you're like buddies with Guy Fieri.
Speaker B:Is that true?
Speaker C:So it's Guy Fieri Fieri.
Speaker C:I will actually be at his house next week for his birthday.
Speaker B:Oh, the big birthday bash.
Speaker C:55 guys turning 55.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Looks great.
Speaker C:Aren't you guys soul mates or something?
Speaker C:Because you guys are both in the.
Speaker B:Hall of fame together, sort of, I guess, by association and by trophies that you make.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, I'm looking at it right now.
Speaker C:You haven't cut yourself open on it yet.
Speaker B:We had Rod Gray on the other day, and he actually made the rack of ribs cast that trophy, so it's kind of cool.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker C:Rod is probably one of the main reasons why I got into barbecue.
Speaker C:And it's interesting because Rod came to me about two weeks before we were both asked to be on Pitmasters, and you're not supposed to talk to anybody, so he came to me as a sculptor.
Speaker C:And then two weeks later, we found out we were both going to be on Pitmasters together.
Speaker C:And that episode.
Speaker C:Well, that season, Rod won the entire season.
Speaker A:True.
Speaker C:Bud won team of the year, and I came in third.
Speaker C:I was lucky.
Speaker C:I didn't come in fifth or sixth.
Speaker B:Yeah, you still compete, too, which is amazing that you find time to do everything and you have rubs and sauces.
Speaker B:I'll stop now.
Speaker B:We'll have another segment on that.
Speaker A:Yeah, we're going to take a break.
Speaker A:We're going to be back with Stretch.
Speaker A:I know his real name, but we're going to call him Stretch right after this on Barbecue Nation.
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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 Heritage HeritageSteel us and find out more.
Speaker A:You'll love it, I guarantee it.
Speaker A:This is an encore.
Speaker A:Welcome back to Barbecue Nation.
Speaker A:I'm JT along with Ms. Leanne Whippin and Mr.
Speaker A:Stretch here from Grinders in Kansas City.
Speaker A:I like his world galactic headquarters.
Speaker A:Anytime they kind of get that, I don't know what you call it out there stuff, you're talking about the universe.
Speaker A:I'm in.
Speaker A:I'm in.
Speaker A:If you want to contact us, just call Leanne.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker C:I'm not taking.
Speaker C:Should we put her.
Speaker C:Should we put her mobile number private?
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, yeah, sure.
Speaker A:Yeah, we'll do that.
Speaker A:We'll post.
Speaker A:Post that on the website.
Speaker C:1-800-With-T. Yeah.
Speaker A:Now watch out.
Speaker A:You're going to get her all worked up.
Speaker A:You know, like I said in the email, Stretch, it doesn't take much.
Speaker A:No, no, it doesn't take much.
Speaker A:All right, let's talk about barbecue for a little bit.
Speaker A:Hence the name of the show, Barbecue Nation.
Speaker A:Had you ever done any barbecue before you moved to Kansas City?
Speaker C:I guess I kind of grew up watching my dad grill a little bit, but I didn't really start barbecuing, so till I was in art school and it was more of a survival tactic and it was more grilling.
Speaker C:Some of the studios we lived in, we weren't allowed to have kitchens, but you could have a grill.
Speaker C:And some of the early ways I cooked was like hamburgers on irons or soup and coffee makers or hot dogs on nails.
Speaker C:So we got kind of creative on how we had to cook stuff.
Speaker C:I could used to put a hot dog on the end of my welding electrode and cook those.
Speaker C:So it wasn't really barbecue.
Speaker C:For instance, you know, any wood.
Speaker C:I Had.
Speaker C:We'd burn it.
Speaker C:And food never tasted good if it had glue in the wood, like two by fours and stuff like that.
Speaker C:We cooked it.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Well, you know, it's.
Speaker A:It's kind of fun to.
Speaker A:To do that.
Speaker A:I mean, I've done that.
Speaker A:Have you ever done steaks on pitchforks?
Speaker C:No, but I've done something on a rake once.
Speaker C:I'm trying to think of what it was.
Speaker C:I'm sure there was food involved.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:A squirrel on a rake.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:I mean, I've cut shopping carts open and use the grid on that.
Speaker C:I've used metal racks, the stainless ones out of refrigerators as well as stoves to cook meat on and have fires underneath them.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker A:Did you put that.
Speaker A:Once you cut the bottom out of the shopping cart, did you put it back in the shopping cart storage.
Speaker A:So some fool came by and took.
Speaker B:It, and somebody probably wanted to buy it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:I think when we appropriated those shopping carts, we never went back to the location where they.
Speaker A:I got it.
Speaker A:I got.
Speaker C:That's.
Speaker A:That's a wise move, my friend.
Speaker A:Wise move.
Speaker C:I think we needed the cart for the wheels, and then there was just scraps around the studio.
Speaker A:How much time do you dedicate?
Speaker A:I mean, you're.
Speaker A:You're very busy, but how much time do you dedicate to food versus your artwork?
Speaker C:You know, it's.
Speaker C:I'd like to say it's 50.
Speaker C:50 this morning has all been fabricating the new barbecue store.
Speaker C:Proud Souls is moving in up north Kansas City.
Speaker C:So I've been fabricating some racks for those gu.
Speaker C:And, you know, I cooked a nice dinner last night.
Speaker C:I made a nice wagyu steak and some risotto.
Speaker C:So, you know, I wouldn't say I cook every day, but I'm processing food.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Well, you got that risotto down.
Speaker A:I know Leanne likes to cook risotto, so.
Speaker B:I do.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I was saying that you have sauces and rubs, and it's my understanding, was it your sauce or your rub that took a recent first place?
Speaker B:What was that?
Speaker C:Oh, probably.
Speaker C:I think it was the rub, actually.
Speaker C:I think rub took second this year with the National Barbecue Association.
Speaker C:We don't.
Speaker C:I think the sauce got a first earlier.
Speaker C:You know, last year.
Speaker C:We don't really apply out there very often anymore on that stuff.
Speaker C:We've won a lot of scovies.
Speaker C:We've won the awards, and it's just not necessarily worth submitting them anymore.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, if you win at some point, what's the point?
Speaker B:And it gets expensive and you Have a lot of products.
Speaker B:If you submit, you know, an entry for each one, it can cost some bucks.
Speaker C:It can.
Speaker C:And so we're working on getting my red sauce.
Speaker C:My rock and red sauce will be ready for retail soon.
Speaker C:And then my dough balls from the restaurant.
Speaker C:So we're always working on some products with.
Speaker C:There's another musician.
Speaker C:We might be doing a sauce with a hot sauce, which is going to be fun.
Speaker C:So, you know, I. I kind of.
Speaker C:Kind of a prostitute for making sauces.
Speaker A:How did you come up or how did you come by the name of Stretch?
Speaker C:Oh, wow, man.
Speaker C:I'll tell you, it's.
Speaker C:It goes back.
Speaker C:I did one porn.
Speaker C:It was, it was a short feature.
Speaker C:Yeah, I was in and out.
Speaker C:I. I had to fluff myself.
Speaker C:It was.
Speaker B:Yeah, I did.
Speaker B:Yeah, I have that.
Speaker C:You know, it's one of those downloaded, I think I got in junior high somewhere.
Speaker C:And it's.
Speaker C:There's been so many variations of where the story came from and how I got the name.
Speaker C:I don't even think I know anymore.
Speaker C:But probably around early 90s when I started hardcore into my artwork, I started signing the name Stretched instead of my real name.
Speaker C:And then.
Speaker C:Or my last name for that matter.
Speaker C:And then somewhere in mid the late 90s, I capitalized it and it is my trademark name.
Speaker C:Capitalized and my entertainment name.
Speaker C:I never changed it legally because when I travel overseas.
Speaker C:Oh yeah.
Speaker C:It doesn't transfer over some language.
Speaker C:It's not like, you know, nova meaning, you know, don't go fast or move.
Speaker C:It's just they don't understand the elasticity of it.
Speaker C:However, my Spanish name is Alexander.
Speaker A:Yeah, you can't lean.
Speaker C:Don't forget to breathe between the jokes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Can't you just show them your membership card to pornhub and let them let you go through like Jeff?
Speaker B:I'm not even going to ask you how you know that name or you're aware of that now.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker A:Now I told you, I do research on everybody.
Speaker C:Oh my God.
Speaker B:See this door behind me very close.
Speaker C:Doesn't that door swing both ways?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You should do stand up comedy.
Speaker B:I swear to God, you're so darn funny.
Speaker C:It.
Speaker A:It is so good, I'll tell you that.
Speaker A:What do you.
Speaker A:Did you actually work on the blends, your rubs and your sauces?
Speaker A:Do you do all that yourself or.
Speaker C:Do you have a crew that works with you?
Speaker C:So rub was all me.
Speaker C:When I first started my hot sauces.
Speaker C:I went in with flavor profiles and I worked with the guys that were at Original Wands originally at Original Juan's to make my first sauce, and then they were kind of hybrids off of that.
Speaker C:I knew the flavor profiles I wanted and moved in from there.
Speaker C:When we did the banging barbecue sauce, the black auction guy sauce, I asked them for their flavor profiles, and then I just tweaked them, and we worked together, collaborated, and we're kind of doing the same thing with this other band.
Speaker A:Oh, cool.
Speaker A:Cool.
Speaker A:And the rub's the same way?
Speaker C:Yes, same thing.
Speaker C:You know, I won't say that anything is new.
Speaker C:You know, you find your best flavor profiles, and you start combining flavor profiles for what you need.
Speaker C:And that's how I came across my rub.
Speaker C:Yeah, all the standard characters are in there.
Speaker A:We're gonna take another break.
Speaker A:We're gonna be back with Stretch, and we're gonna explore more about his movie business.
Speaker A:Like you said, they're all short features.
Speaker A:Anyway, we'll be back in just a couple minutes on Barbecue Nation.
Speaker A:Don't go away.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody, it's jt And I have eaten.
Speaker A:If you've ever looked at me, you know that.
Speaker A:But I have eaten seafood all over the world, and I can tell you there's no place better than here in Oregon and our Dungeness crab.
Speaker A:If you want to learn more about Oregon Dungeness crab, just go to oregondungeness.org and find out how to cook it, how to catch it, where to buy it, and the sustainability of what they're doing there in the Oregon Crab Commission.
Speaker A:Check it out.
Speaker A:This is an encore.
Speaker A:What are we doing?
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Welcome back to Barbecue Nation.
Speaker A:We'd like to thank the folks at Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Speaker A:Beef you can be proud to serve your family and friends.
Speaker A:You can check them out online@painted hillsnaturalbeef.com and also, Gunter Wilhelm knives.
Speaker A:See, I said Gunther, but I get corrected all the time.
Speaker A:Gunther.
Speaker C:Gunther.
Speaker A:Okay, so you got the name down now with Gunter, but great knives, great efficiency in your kitchen, and Leanne has them.
Speaker A:I have some.
Speaker A:I don't know if Stretch has any, but they're.
Speaker A:They're good knives.
Speaker A:Give them a shot, Gunter.
Speaker A:Wilhelmknives.com okay.
Speaker A:My God, here we go.
Speaker A:When you started messing around in barbecue, how did you make the leap to competitive barbecue?
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker C:First off, I'm glad, Andy Reid, you've taken your time out of your schedule to interview me over here.
Speaker C:I think you'd really be busy doing the old razzle dazzle plays you got going on with the Chiefs.
Speaker C:So, you know, I cook barbecue at the restaurant, and then I got invited, and I Have friends doing competition barbecue, but I'd go hang out at the parties.
Speaker C:And then I did this little show called Pitmasters, and there's this fellow named Myron Mixon and Tuffy and Franklin was under his judges, and Rod Gray was on the show, and True Bud and I literally.
Speaker C:That was literally the first time I ever did competition barbecue was on Pitmasters.
Speaker B:Oh, I didn't know that.
Speaker C:Everybody says, don't burn the burnt ends.
Speaker C:Well, I burned the hell out of him on the show, but I had so many fires going.
Speaker C:I had.
Speaker C:We got confused, but I had great burn ends.
Speaker C:And Myron came by after, and he's like, what are these burn ends here?
Speaker C:I said, those are for the crew.
Speaker C:He's like, God damn it.
Speaker C:Goddamn Batman barbecue.
Speaker C:You want to won a show?
Speaker C:But I fell in love with cooking competition right then and there.
Speaker C:And I said, wow, this is fun.
Speaker C:So I applied for, you know, to do a comp, and it was in somewhere out here just outside Kansas City.
Speaker C:And I got a second place call in chicken and like an eighth place in ribs.
Speaker C:I was like, wow, this is easy.
Speaker C:And then it went downhill from there.
Speaker C:My meat to alcohol ratio was way off.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker C:You know, it was fun, but, you know, you had to start getting serious about it.
Speaker C:So I think, like most people, your first three years were kind of throwaway years.
Speaker C:And I look back at some of the boxes I created back then, and, wow, they were rough.
Speaker C: the greenery looked like in a: Speaker B:Which is shocking because you're an artist, and you would think that you would absolutely, from the get go, pay attention to your box.
Speaker C:It was hard enough just getting the meat in the box.
Speaker C:Too many metaphors going on it.
Speaker C:But it was, you know, I didn't realize that I could prep before I got there.
Speaker C:And we were under a tent, and it was rough and wind blowing.
Speaker C:Little by little, you know, the food started looking better and better.
Speaker C:And as you learn how to manage fires and.
Speaker C:And be prepared with, you know, your cuts of meat, on how you had to cook my.
Speaker C:I cooked an entire brisket.
Speaker C:You know, I cooked, you know, whole pork butts.
Speaker C:I never really trimmed them down.
Speaker C:And so you're waiting.
Speaker C:You're cooking, you know, for 10, 12 hours rather than, you know, wrapping stuff directly.
Speaker C:And I didn't, you know, really pay attention any of the videos.
Speaker C:And then I took a Rod Gray class, and, you know, Andy Gronman was one of the guys, got me my first smoker through.
Speaker C:I had a Yoder and Then wrestling yoders and pellets and things getting unplugged and then burning stuff up.
Speaker C:And then I took a Travis Clark play.
Speaker C:I like taking classes and see how other people do it, and I'd probably excel a lot faster, but I don't want to copy people.
Speaker C:I want to do my own.
Speaker C:My own thing, right.
Speaker C:So I really enjoy it and that, you know, I think one of those first couple of years I maybe got five, six in.
Speaker C:Then I got.
Speaker C:I think the most I've ever done in one season is 15.
Speaker C:And I think I only quite a bit last year.
Speaker C:And I just really enjoyed it.
Speaker C:It was like a miniature vacation where you go out and when I moved from a tent to a trailer to an RV and then back to a trailer cooking rig made all the difference in the world.
Speaker C:But I still enjoy like the kosher queues.
Speaker C: by: Speaker C:And, you know, the rabbi start the fire.
Speaker C:It neutralizes the landfill and I really enjoy doing that.
Speaker C:But now it's.
Speaker C:If you don't have a forty thousand dollar rig and watch a bunch of videos and everyone's using the same ingredients, it's just, I mean, some of these guys are just, they're just machines.
Speaker C:I think they do it half in their sleep, you know, and they're winning.
Speaker C:So it's kind of taken a little bit of the fun.
Speaker C:After last season, I'm a little jaded with some of the judging that went on.
Speaker C:I had a real sour taste in my mouth after last season, I'll tell you that.
Speaker C:When I know my food was dialed in and I think a lot of the judges are, they need to take away the coolers.
Speaker C:Do not let people take the food home.
Speaker C:Make them eat it there.
Speaker C:Make them sample what we just spent a lot of money and time presenting and, you know, rather than one little nibble and throwing a Ziploc bag and taking home to their family.
Speaker B:I agree.
Speaker B:I agree.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:I didn't know you were feeding the masses.
Speaker C:Every cook now, I mean, they load up.
Speaker C:You know, these guys, gals are coming in with their coolers, they take one little nibble, you know, wow.
Speaker C:If they do that, I should be able to take a bite of my meat, put it in the box.
Speaker A:So you're.
Speaker A:You're telling me your garnish kind of look like a 70s shag rug.
Speaker A:Is that what you're telling?
Speaker B:I've seen his boxes recently and they're beautiful.
Speaker B:So he stepped.
Speaker A:I was talking about the original ones when he said they weren't.
Speaker A:They were rough.
Speaker C:They were rough.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, I never paid attention.
Speaker C:I tried doing the flips and stuff like that and making them at home, and that never worked.
Speaker C:And I tried freezing the parsley and thawing it out.
Speaker C:I mean, I was doing all sorts of stuff.
Speaker C:I was all over the place as an artist.
Speaker C:I was even, you know, you know, the Chinese have those purple ribs and I was, you know, trying to color the fat.
Speaker C:You know, stuff like that.
Speaker C:I was doing all sorts of fun stuff.
Speaker A:You ever do that, Leah?
Speaker A:Did you take any lessons from Stretch and try to like color?
Speaker B:No, but he was kind enough to loan me his jambo last year when I was doing a little rib cook off thing, which was very kind.
Speaker B:And I didn't even know he had one, so that was cool.
Speaker C:Is that what I tell you, that I went looking for something, I came back and my whole smoker was never cleaned out by you or Seth.
Speaker C:And it was all moldy.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:I recall Seth saying that he was going to clean it because I had to catch a flight.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker C:It was winter.
Speaker C:Remember how cold it was?
Speaker B:It was freezing.
Speaker B:It was snowing.
Speaker B:Yes, I recall.
Speaker A:Good times.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:We don't want to get anybody in any trouble here, but why the hell didn't you clean out a smoker?
Speaker C:Smoker out.
Speaker C:Now, it's funny because I'll let people that smoke every now.
Speaker C:And I have a couple jambos and they're great smokers.
Speaker C:And usually people with jambos, they, you know how to treat them.
Speaker C:But mine have logos on them.
Speaker C:So I let somebody borrowed a few years ago at the Royal and everybody kept going to their location and asking where I was.
Speaker C:They said real quick.
Speaker C:So they covered up my logos.
Speaker A:That's all good.
Speaker A:What's the.
Speaker A:What's the biggest thing that.
Speaker A:That you've learned?
Speaker A:And you just said you like to take classes and stuff, Stretch.
Speaker A:But since you started in, well, on Pitmasters, really.
Speaker A:And then today about your whole process there, we've got some folks that are die hard listeners that we got to get into the process a little bit for them.
Speaker A:So what have you learned the most or what the most important thing you think you learned?
Speaker C:Taking your time, patient and organization and just being as repetitive as possible.
Speaker C:I mean, you really have to have it dialed in, make the notes, keep the notes, have your schedule posted.
Speaker C:When I Show up at a contest.
Speaker C:I have a series of alarms on my phone, and I'm religious about it.
Speaker C:I mean, you're going out and you're doing shots and you're having food, and you're doing the raffles.
Speaker C:You got to get back and try and stay on schedule for your injection time period.
Speaker C:Don't make big, drastic moves if it doesn't work because the judges didn't like something.
Speaker C:Unless it's obvious.
Speaker C:I always like to say, do your practices at home, but no one has time to practice at home.
Speaker C:You know, no one's cooking whole briskets at home unless you really have to feed a bunch of people.
Speaker C:So, you know, my practice is always kind of on location.
Speaker C:Just keep good notes and be organized about it.
Speaker C:Try and be as consistent as possible.
Speaker C:There's already so many variables with just the meat that comes in.
Speaker C:It's always a different animal.
Speaker C:And just because you have six thighs in a box or you cook 24, what's the chances that they even came from the same bird or a slab of ribs came from the same animal?
Speaker C:So there's already those problems.
Speaker C:You know, start off with, I don't use bark on any of my wood.
Speaker C:You know, that takes the bark out of the element.
Speaker C:Because of all the different stuff that can be in a bark, you want to keep the same flavor profiles, try and stick with the same charcoal, so you're always getting that same flavor.
Speaker C:I don't think you need to be as anal as some of these guys and gals out there, you know, checking the moisture content in their wood.
Speaker C:I think that's ridiculous.
Speaker C:I don't want to ever be that analogy.
Speaker C:But, you know, as Toffee Stone says, it's about overcoming problems.
Speaker C:What happens when you have the wrong color smoke?
Speaker C:What happens when you can't get this fire hot enough or your meat's finished?
Speaker C:So have everything prepared, know what you got to do, and overcome it.
Speaker C:It's like being in the military.
Speaker C:I think overcome any obstacles is the key.
Speaker C:And if you have it all laid out and you go through it, you have your checklist that you have your Sprinter bottle and your hand sanitizer and your gloves, and you know where your spatulas and your tongs and your rubs and, you know, just go right down the line.
Speaker C:Every cook and that just comes with experience, because that one time you have to go do one overseas or in another location where you don't have your normal rig.
Speaker C:You got to know what to take, and, you know, whether it's the foil, don't be chintzy on thin foil, get the thicker stuff or learn how to double it up so you know, you don't drip it.
Speaker C:You know it doesn't poke through.
Speaker C:So there's a lot of little things that add up to that.
Speaker C:And know your timing, you know, know your timing.
Speaker C:If you want to cook for friends and have your friends there and drink and party, then that's what's going to happen.
Speaker C:You're going to drink and party.
Speaker C: ils, but try and be in bed by: Speaker A:Yeah, I know.
Speaker A:We had one guest on the show.
Speaker A:In fact, this was before Leanne joined me.
Speaker A:He told me what he did with his wood.
Speaker A:He would get his wood ready, he would peel the bark off of it and all that.
Speaker A:And then when his wife would go to bed at night, he would put it in the oven in the kitchen and dry it out.
Speaker A:He would put it at like, I don't know what he said, 150 or 175.
Speaker A:The biggest problem with that is he had to stay up later than his wife and he had to get up earlier than his wife every day the week before a competition because he would.
Speaker A:That's how he was drying his wood out.
Speaker A:So I thought, good God, you know.
Speaker C:You know you can buy pre kiln wood, dried wood.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, right.
Speaker A:I think he knows that.
Speaker A:I think he knows that now.
Speaker A:I'm pretty sure of that.
Speaker A:At least I hope so.
Speaker A:We're going to take another break and we're going to be back with Stretch here on Barbecue Nation right after this.
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Speaker A:Hey everybody, J.T.
Speaker A:here.
Speaker A:I want to tell you about the Hammerstahl knives.
Speaker A:Hammerstahl combines German steel with beautiful and functioning designs.
Speaker A:They're part of the Heritage Steel group which also does their pots and pans.
Speaker A:So go to heritagesteel us.
Speaker A:Check out the Hammer Stahl knives.
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 here on the USA Radio Network.
Speaker A:Ms. Leanne Whippen is my co host.
Speaker A:She's across the screen from me.
Speaker A:We've got Stretch from who is the world Galactic commander at Grinders in Kansas City.
Speaker A:And of course, you've got me sitting here babbling on as usual.
Speaker A:Did you think you would end up here where you're at?
Speaker C:Yeah, I pretty much have been riding that train for a long time.
Speaker C:That yeehaw.
Speaker C:Get up.
Speaker C:That's all I wanted to do is get up in the morning.
Speaker C:I never think I'm going to make it through the day.
Speaker C:Especially those early years of rock and roll and partying and sculpture where I lived in my studios around the clock and just made stuff.
Speaker C:We were.
Speaker C:You know, it wasn't until, I don't know, maybe eight years ago that I actually realized that I was actually a human.
Speaker C:And things can break in your body.
Speaker A:Yeah, that happens.
Speaker C:This thing called gravity and getting old, you know.
Speaker C:All of a sudden I'm on cholesterol medication.
Speaker C:But no, I've never really had any goals or plans.
Speaker C:It's kind of.
Speaker C: n't had a real job since like: Speaker C:You know, the restaurant gives me money, of course, but.
Speaker C:And I worked there, but I never really had a job.
Speaker C:I could come and go whenever I wanted.
Speaker C:So I didn't know what was going to happen.
Speaker C:Never really worried about money.
Speaker C:If I needed money, I'd make stuff or fabricate and keep on trucking.
Speaker C:But little by little, all of a sudden, you have to worry about all your employees and you can't live as crazy as I did.
Speaker C:And a family on top of it now.
Speaker C:But I never really, you know, I've always been the guy to take chances, you know, and you can't, you know, it's fun for me, you know, I don't put my family in jeopardy all the time.
Speaker C:That's right.
Speaker A:Is there a little stretch running around?
Speaker C:There's a couple of them.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker C:There'S a little stretch in his twin stuff.
Speaker C:Oh, sorry about that.
Speaker C:I gotta let the dogs out.
Speaker C:I have twin nine year olds, the Mugwumps.
Speaker C:Oh, they do some cooking with me.
Speaker C:Actually, Jax was making risotto last night with me and Charlie cooks, and they've gone to a couple of contests here and there.
Speaker C:They like running up on stage and getting trophies.
Speaker B:They worked in your food truck?
Speaker C:Oh, they work in the food truck.
Speaker C:Yeah, I make my kids work.
Speaker C:They're just nine.
Speaker C:So next summer, right after they turn 10, I'm gonna let them start living in the house.
Speaker C:So that'll be cool.
Speaker C:So they better keep something to look forward to, you know, we got the basement cleared out.
Speaker C:You know, they don't have to live in their drums anymore.
Speaker C:So then I Can make smokers.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker C:There you go.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:Well, as soon as they learn how to use a flush toilet, you'll.
Speaker C:You'll have it whipped, I'll tell you now.
Speaker C:Jax did the hamburger contest at the Royal a couple years last year.
Speaker C:The year before he had a blast doing that.
Speaker C:And they've gone out.
Speaker C:They were judges on a hot dog eating hot dog contest we did somewhere.
Speaker C:And then they were judges at a steak cook off somewhere.
Speaker C:Not an sca, but another one.
Speaker C:So they've had a lot of fun doing some TV with me and getting into the food side of things.
Speaker C:They're.
Speaker C:They were on my last video we did for First Bite that we cut last year that charted.
Speaker C:And then they're doing some vocals on the new album, too.
Speaker A:Oh, good for them.
Speaker C:It's great.
Speaker A:I was going to tell you, you know, when you're getting old, when you have more prescription bottles than friends, you.
Speaker C:Know what the prescription's for, I guess.
Speaker A:Well, yeah, you know, content is always important, you might say.
Speaker C:It's all good.
Speaker B:So do you think you're going to keep on with your restaurants?
Speaker C:So, you know, I actually talked about that today with one of my assistants down there.
Speaker C:I said, you know, we're pushing 20 years.
Speaker C:You know, we're the OGs in the area because we're very early on opened up and there's more and more restaurants coming in.
Speaker C:Will we ever do the numbers we used to?
Speaker C:Probably not, but I'd love to keep it going.
Speaker C:I mean, I just show up now and shake some babies and kiss some hands here and there.
Speaker C:But it could go another 10, 15 years.
Speaker C:It's just, do I want to deal with it, you know, or the kids want to get involved?
Speaker C:It'll be, you know, I have no want.
Speaker C:It's not as much fun as it used to be.
Speaker C:The climate of employees and all the different movements.
Speaker C:And I can get myself in real trouble if I don't use correct terminology.
Speaker C:So it's.
Speaker C:It's different now.
Speaker C:It's not as there's too many rules and regulations and insurances and being a semi celebrity, I can't speak my mind like I used to.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:Because the lawsuits and everything else, so it's just not as much fun.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's true.
Speaker A:Yeah, it is true.
Speaker A:Because you get jumped on.
Speaker A:We've got, you know, where we used to have to read books and magazines and newspapers.
Speaker A:Now you can just look at your phone or whatever, and people's responses to what you say can come in a flash, literally.
Speaker A:And you know, if you've offended somebody, God forbid, you know, that that stuff comes back to haunt you so perfectly.
Speaker A:Understand that.
Speaker B:What do you have coming up beside the music stuff?
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker C:So let's see.
Speaker C:I got a trophy I got to make.
Speaker C:I can't tell you what it's for for next week.
Speaker C:Then we got Guy's birthday.
Speaker C:Well, this weekend I'm recording and Guy's birthday.
Speaker C:I'm up for a TV show that could take me away for 10 weeks.
Speaker B:Whoa.
Speaker C:In another country.
Speaker C:And I should know about that in the next 10 days.
Speaker C:And that will decide where I am from February to maybe.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:That's a long time.
Speaker C:Yeah, it is.
Speaker C:So I'm on hold for.
Speaker C:You know, my Memphis in May is on hold right the second.
Speaker C:My application, because I don't know if I'll be back in time if I get the gig.
Speaker C:And, you know, if it happens, it happens.
Speaker C:I have plenty to do.
Speaker C:And then next month, we're filming a video, and then we have south beach food and wine, and that's.
Speaker C:I have everything cleared just in case I get this gig.
Speaker A:So is it a competition?
Speaker C:It is a competition show, but not food.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:And I'm not a competitor.
Speaker C:I'd be a builder.
Speaker A:Oh, cool.
Speaker B:Oh, I thought it was going to be like one of those housewives shows, but, you know, like, house hubby show, you know, that, you know, with your.
Speaker B:You know.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:So you refer to, like, the Extreme Home Makeovers, right?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Why are you.
Speaker A:Why are you blushing, Leanne?
Speaker C:That's a whole different point.
Speaker B:That's lighting.
Speaker C:It's lighting.
Speaker A:I see.
Speaker C:I did a half a dozen or so of those Extreme Home Makeovers.
Speaker C:Those were fun.
Speaker C:We did those.
Speaker C:We did the bar rescues.
Speaker C:We did all sorts of shows.
Speaker B:That's cool.
Speaker A:Yeah, those are a lot of fun.
Speaker A:Remember, people, reality shows?
Speaker A:Like Myron said the first time he was on my show years ago, he goes, there's not a damn thing real about a reality show.
Speaker A:And I agree.
Speaker A:And I cleaned up that language a lot.
Speaker B:And some of it's real.
Speaker B:I wouldn't.
Speaker A:Well, the camera guys are real.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:You know that Dill drill.
Speaker A:Dill.
Speaker C:Whatever.
Speaker B:Well, we know Stretch, so we know Stretch is real, so Stretch is very real.
Speaker A:It's all good.
Speaker A:We're gonna do after hours in a minute here, Stretch, and that's where we can say things that are only on the Internet that are not on radio so we don't get in trouble.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:So I want you to look forward to that because I got some great questions for you there and.
Speaker A:And so I have to be cautious.
Speaker C:How I answer them though.
Speaker C:That's all right.
Speaker A:Well, that's up to you.
Speaker B:It's free reign, right?
Speaker A:Yeah, Jeff.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's free reign.
Speaker B:I was getting a little nervous in the beginning of this whole interview that we were gonna have to plug it as an after hour show, but we made it through and now you can.
Speaker B:You're all in.
Speaker C:Now sometimes I have to beat myself like mother.
Speaker A:We're gonna get out of here.
Speaker A:And like I said, we'll be back in a little bit with after hours stretch.
Speaker A:Thank you, buddy.
Speaker A:I appreciate it.
Speaker B:Yeah, thanks.
Speaker C:Thanks, guys.
Speaker A:Like I said, we're getting out of here.
Speaker A:Remember our motto.
Speaker A:Turn it, don't burn it.
Speaker A:Barbecue Nation is produced by JTSD LLC Productions in association with Envision Networks and Salem Media Group.
Speaker A:All rights reserved.
