Do you like great BBQ? I do. I set out over a year ago now to create a show about barbecue. About tasting it, about the people who cook it and all the amazing places that serve delicious, wood fired, low and slow Texas BBQ.

Texas Barbecue is unique from many other states. It’s actually descended from the German’s who moved here almost a century ago. They had a simple recipe to cook cheaper cuts and all it took was time and some salt and pepper. Originally Barbecue wasn’t even the main event at most of these meat markets. It was a way to preserve meat that the butcher hadn’t sold yet, the way your local grocer cooks rotisserie chickens to get a few extra days out of their meat case

And now, The funny thing is Texans are going to Germany to teach them how to cook BBQ. In fact, Texans are flying all over the world to spread the gospel of Texas BBQ. There’s smoke houses in Tokyo, Toronto, Copenhagen, Adelaide and even London advertising Texas BBQ. I can’t tell you much about those restaurants, but they’re on my list for future episodes. As I’ve said before, @bestbarbecue in all your favorite posts, it’s how I’ve discovered half the Texas BBQ joints all over the world.

I didn’t realize when I began the show that I would be posed with a problem. A problem that is almost insurmountable for one person. A challenge that only a true meatman can handle.

Not the problem of places to cover, if know anything about BBQ you know there’s a new BBQ joint springing up every week. Now that the word is out, people are working their butts off to create barbecue that rivals the greats.

The problem isn’t quality either. In the last decade the amount of GOOD Barbecue, just in Texas, has probably quadrupled. Between youtube, amazingribs.com, and all the books coming out, the techniques of Texas BBQ are not a secret. In fact, the next undiscovered pit master could be listening to this show right now. Secretly cooking the best briskets none of us have ever tasted, just waiting for their moment to drop their perfect bark and masterfully rendered fat right in our laps. Whoever is out there researching for the Texas Monthly top 50 has their hands full in the next few years. Maybe they’ll round it up to a top 100.

I thought the problem would be access. I stressed about all these pit masters working hard might not be friendly. They may not want to share their story or worry about competition. If you listen to this show, you know we have all been happily surprised at the openness of my guests. The people who cook barbecue love talking about it. They welcome us to their pit rooms, their small offices, or their huge patios and we often talk for hours before and after the episode is recorded.

The problem is choosing what to cover! Who should I talk to this week? Do I talk to an amazing pitmaster or the famous owner of the same restaurant? Do I talk to an up and comer or do a take a left turn and hang out with a competition team at one of the loca rodeos? Do me a favor, send me the people you’d like to hear from. Tag me in their social media and say “Hey, interesting person! You need to be on the best bbq show!”

I’ll be at the Jack Daniel’s invitational this weekend hanging out with The Shed and a ton of other competition teams, so if you’re going to be there, send us an email or a message. If you know a team or a pit master who would like to be on the show, send them my way. Some of our best interviews happen from a comment on our instagram or twitter from a fan and I am grateful for all these connections. So don’t be shy

To give you a look behind the scenes, I talk to tons of BBQ people every week. I talk about what’s next and who’s cooking new and different things. The borders between Texas and the rest of the US are melting away. Honestly, the borders between Texas and the world are melting away. I’ve got a big fan cooking in the Philippines. His name is David Peralta and he cooks at a place called rubbed and smoked. They fly USDA choice black angus briskets from Star Ranch across the Pacific and put them into Barrel Pro’s which are, as you probably guessed, Texas style offset smokers. I’ll post a few pictures of them this week so you can see what they’re working with. ::: They cook their briskets with DRAGON FRUIT AND TAMARIND INDICA wood. I wonder if that tastes different from post oak… They even have their own line of BBQ sauces. If no one has told you yet, bbq is taking over the world…

Every week is a challenge. I look for the best news and the most interesting people. Having said that, I’ve got a few new ideas that you’ll start hearing about in the coming months. Steak cook offs are taking off and I might even start competing in them. I was first turned on to them at the NBBQA convention this year. It’s a simple contest, you get two steaks and you have to turn one in. It has to be perfectly medium and you usually need a few other things like nice grill marks. I’m excited about the simplicity of it.

In competition bbq you have tons of injections and sauces and additives that, I feel, have taken away from the true flavors of the meat. Also, the cost of competition and the equipment has priced out many home cooks and others that may want to dabble. The cool thing about steak competitions is you don’t need much to enter. Some people just cook on small grills. M Grills makes a ammo can looking grill called the C4 which is just big enough for a couple steaks. Go ahead and google it, it’s a pretty cool little travel grill.

I think the average person wants to be able to cook a perfect steak. What better practice than buying a week's worth of ribeyes and cooking them up every night until you’ve got your method down solid? I know I’m happy eating steak every night. Wouldn’t you like to know, down to the second, how long a perfect steak takes?

If you’re keeping up with us you’ll hear all about it. If you’ve heard the show before you know I’ve set out on an adventure that is just getting started. No matter where the barbecue world goes, we’ll be there. To talk about it, to taste it and maybe even try to cook it ourselves.

Before we go I wanted to talk to you about our awesome merchandise. I’ve got #meatman and #meatwoman gear available at bestbbqshow.com. Right now it’s shirts and sweet phone cases for all iPhones and also for most Samsung Galaxies. The sales from this site go directly into producing this show. They help us travel and keep our equipment running. Are you looking for other merchandise? What would you like to see next in the Best BBQ shop? If you’re thinking stickers, don’t worry, they’re already in the works.

Thank you again for listening and as always tag us in all of your meat posts and if you see people getting a little too friendly with their bbq, remind them #dontsqueezeyourmeat!