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May 17, 2025 42 mins

This podcast episode serves as a poignant tribute to the late Brent Huddleston, a cherished friend and esteemed professional in the culinary world. Brent, who passed away recently after a valiant battle with cancer, was not only a skilled meat cutter and food stylist but also the inaugural guest of our program a decade ago. In this episode, we honor his memory by revisiting one of those earlier conversations, reflecting on Brent's contributions to both the culinary arts and our personal lives. His legacy as a passionate food adventurer remains an enduring inspiration for us all. As we reminisce about his stories and insights, we invite listeners to celebrate his life and the joy he brought to the world of barbecue and beyond.

Links referenced in this episode:


Companies mentioned in this episode:

  • USDA
  • Barclays
  • Painted Hills
  • Heritage Steel
  • Oregon Dungeness Crab
  • Hammerstall

Mentioned in this episode:

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:12):
It's time for Barbecue Nationwith jt so fire up your grill, light
the.
Charcoal, and get your smoker cooking.
Now from the Turn It, Don't Burn.
It studios in Portland.
Here's jt.
This is an encore.
Hey, everybody, it's jt.
This week on Barbecue Nation,we're paying tribute to a friend
of mine, Brent Huddleston.
Brent was a professional meatcutter, a food adventurer.

(00:35):
He was my sous chef, at timesmy food stylist, but more importantly,
he was my friend.
Brent passed away from cancera couple of weeks ago.
He put up a good fight, but hedidn't win that one.
In honor of Brent, we'reairing one of the episodes where
he was my guest.
Actually, Brent was my veryfirst guest on the show 10 years

(00:55):
ago when we started.
So, Brent, boy, this one isfor you wherever you are.
I'm sure there's a grill goingand you're telling some great stories.
Mission buddy.
Hey, good afternoon, everybody.
Hope you had a great week.
I'm here.
Jt.
That's me with David the BeefShirtless, our master producer.
And welcome to BarbecueNation, where overeating and overheating

(01:19):
may just happen to you this afternoon.
Hey, did you ever leave themayo out in the sun for three days?
I know you've heard me tellthe story about some of my time in
Oklahoma, but I hope youhaven't done that.
Today on the Nation, we havetwo great guests that may just be
able to answer any questionsand all questions that I come up
with about food safety and howit relates to barbecue and grilling.

(01:40):
From Washington, D.C.
our nation's capital, we'redishing out.
Bull meat is a way of lifeback there.
We welcome Christina Bowe, whois a food specialist.
Food safety specialist.
Let me say it right from theusda, a great cook and a Louisiana
lady.
Hi, Christina.
How are you?
Good.
How are you doing?
I'm great.

(02:00):
And also we have in the studiotoday my buddy Brett Heddleston is
back.
He's a professional meatcutter, a caterer, a hockey fan,
and a good friend.
And I welcome both of you tothe show.
Thank you.
Yeah, you're welcome.
Oh, and our music today, whocan forget one of the first great
ladies of rock and roll, Linda Ronstadt.
I did that just for you, Christina.

(02:21):
I couldn't.
I recognized it.
Yeah.
I appreciate it.
Thank you.
It's not a problem.
So let's take it from the USDA perspective.
Give us a little overview onfood safety, especially when we're
cooking outdoors.
What is it we should all know?
So there's a lot to know, butI guess to get started.

(02:43):
So it's getting warmer outsideand people are really enjoying cooking
outside and doing a lot ofoutdoor activities.
So it's important to rememberthat bacteria also love that outdoor
weather, that warm, humid climate.
So rates of foodborne illnessactually increase.
So we want to stay food safeand remember to clean, separate,

(03:05):
cook and chill with everythingwe do.
Wash your hands, separate rawmeat from ready to eat foods, cook
your meat and poultry to asafe temperature and make sure you
keep those foods chilled.
Now, does that go forcarpaccio too?
You know, that's sliced raw meat.
Well, everything perishable.
Okay, that's a good thought.

(03:27):
Really.
How are these guidelines, ifyou will, developed?
I mean, do you guys have a bigbarbecue pad back there at USDA and
you get to hang out in theafternoon, cook stuff and say, no,
that went bad, so we can't doit anymore.
Tell us about that.
We have a whole team ofscientists here, epidemiology, biostatistics,

(03:50):
all these meat inspectors,veterinarians, and they're building
these databases of information.
We're serving consumers andwe're taking all of this science
and making our food safer foreveryday people.
Does anybody work there thatdoesn't have a title?
Everyone has a title.

(04:11):
Okay, just.
Just curious, you know, just curious.
How do you divide the, thetalent there to work on various areas?
Like you said, it's gettingwarmer now, but in different parts
of the country.
We're going to do a littlemeteorology here.
You know, we have morehumidity down south.
There's more humidity whereyou came from in Louisiana than there

(04:32):
is up here in the Northwest,where I'm at.
So how do they define that tomake a difference if they actually
do?
Well, we just give in ouroffice, we give the consumers all
the information they need toapply it at home.
So, for example, we havesomething called the two hour rule

(04:52):
where you're not supposed toleave food out at room temperature
for more than two hours.
And that's outside, too.
But if the temperature outsideis over 90 degrees, like it is most
of the year in Louisiana, youdon't want to leave that food out
for more than one hour.
But I know, like in Denverright now, I think they're supposed

(05:12):
to get snow and stuff, so it'sa little different.
But you just apply theinformation we give you at home.
But that excludes yourgrandma's potato salad.
You told me about that one time.
I remember that.
So, yeah, that was my aunt'spotato salad.
Okay.
Well, I was close, but yeah.
So if it's over 90 degrees,you definitely don't want, want that

(05:33):
potato salad or any otherperishable food like meat, those
ribs or burgers, anything likethat sitting out for more than an
hour if the temperature isabove 90.
So how does that apply to now,like the barbecue geniuses that we
are out here, you know, we mayput a rub on a, you know, pick a

(05:53):
piece of meat, a tri tip orbrisket or short ribs, whatever,
and we may let it sit at room temperature.
Now, I don't believe anybodyin their right mind would put it
out in the direct sunlight andlet it sit, but we do put it out
with the rubs on it or theseasonings, whatever, to let it absorb
because the heat, you know,will open up the tissue a little
bit versus putting it back inthe fridge.

(06:16):
So does that apply?
I mean, does that go into yourcalculations too?
Because after, you know, halfhour, hour, whatever you're comfortable
with, you're going to beputting it on your heat source after
that.
Well, if it's at roomtemperature and you're marinating
it or letting that dry rubsoak in, you don't want to let it
sit out for more than twohours because after that bacteria

(06:38):
starts to multiply pretty rapidly.
And even though you're goingto cook it and put it on a heat source,
a lot of that bacteria releasetoxins that aren't killed by heat
and those toxins are what makeyou really sick.
Is that what that was?
Okay, well, I always wanted toknow that, you know, that's another

(07:01):
joke there.
But we're going to stay awayfrom that.
So when you, when you, you'verubbed it, you've let it sit out
there for a while, you'regoing to cook it.
It's a slow cook process.
I would think that, you know,that the bacteria don't stand much
of a chance when you're inthere, say at 200 degrees or 250

(07:22):
degrees for four or fivehours, they, they probably don't
multiply very well.
But then when it comes out andif you got to let it rest before
you slice it and all, youknow, stuff we always talk about.
But how did you come up with,not you personally, but how did the
boys with the badges and thename, you know, the titles come up
with the two hour limit kindof out there on that after it's,

(07:45):
after it's been cooked andafter you've sliced it and you know,
maybe somebody didn't show up.
So there's extra Portions.
You know, a lot of science andchemistry and microbiology goes into
it.
They do various test ofmicrobiological test of meat that
has been left out, and they dodifferent tests to see what percentage

(08:08):
of bacteria, how many partsper million are present on the meat.
So it's a lot, a lot ofscience that I don't want to get
too deep into, but I have myundergrad in microbiology.
But I can't hold a flame tothese wonderful scientists we have
at usda.
No, but I bet you make bettergumbo than they do.

(08:28):
Maybe so.
We got to tell our listenerstoday, though, Christina's being
shadowed back there.
It's a job shadow Day, and shealso has a special guest.
Christina's mom is in thestudio with her back in D.C.
today.
So.
Hi, Mom.
Welcome to Barbecue Nation out here.
Hi.
How are you?

(08:48):
We're great.
Maybe someday we can meet, butfor your own safety and survival,
maybe not.
But anyway, we'll do good.
And you and Christina's got ajob shadower there that we met earlier.
And so that's kind of aninteresting thing to do.
Yeah, they're having a lot offun seeing what we do here at usda.

(09:10):
That's good.
When you.
You personally, when you're athome cooking or you're.
You're back home in Louisianacooking, and do you actually think
of those things to say, no,this has been out for an hour, or
do you just kind of put that aside?

(09:30):
I don't want.
I don't want to cost you yourjob or anything with your superiors.
No.
Before I worked here, I wasn't too.
I mean, I was aware of thingsbecause I studied microbiology, but
I didn't know the specifics.
And now I'm definitely.
I'm the worst dinner guest youcould ever have, because I'm always

(09:52):
constantly telling the host,like, this has been out for an hour
and 45 minutes.
I just want to let you knowthat it's almost time to pick it
up and put it in the fridge.
When I'm hosting a dinnerparty, I'm checking my watch all
the time to make sure that twohours does not pass.
So I always use my food thermometer.

(10:13):
And I mean, yes, I'm alwayswashing my hands throughout the cooking
process.
I'm a stickler for food safety now.
Okay, we've got to go to breakhere, but one really quick question.
Do you ever use your indexfinger to taste the sauce?
Okay.
A little.

(10:33):
Yeah.
I'm sure.
We're gonna be back withBarbecue Nation with Christina Bow
and our buddy, BrentHuddleston right after this.
And a little more from l.
Hey, everybody, it's jt.
This week on Barbecue Nation,we're paying tribute to a friend

(10:56):
of mine, Brent Huddleston.
Brent was a professional meatcutter, a food adventurer.
He was my sous chef, at times,my food stylist, but more importantly,
he was my friend.
Brent passed away from cancera couple of weeks ago.
He put up a good fight, but hedidn't win that one.
In honor of Brent, we'reairing one of the episodes where

(11:17):
he was my guest.
Actually, Brent was my veryfirst guest on the show 10 years
ago when we started.
So, Brent, boy, this one isfor you wherever you are.
I'm sure there's a grill goingand you're telling some great stories.
Miss you, buddy.

(12:11):
Hey, everybody, it's Jeff here.
I want to tell you aboutsomething really cool.
Heritage steel cookware.
I just got mine.
I do a lot of cooking, andit's got five ply construction.
Stay cool handles.
It's titanium strengthened.
It's got all the great stuff.
Just go to HeritageSteel usand find out more.
You'll love it.
I guarantee it.

(12:42):
This is an encore.
Hey, everybody, it's jt.
This week on Barbecue Nation,we're paying tribute to a friend
of mine, Brent Huddleston.
Brent was a professional meatcutter, a food adventurer.
He was my sous chef, at times,my food stylist, but more importantly,
he was my friend.
Brent passed away from cancera couple of weeks ago.

(13:03):
He put up a good fight, but hedidn't win that one.
In honor of Brent, we'reairing one of the episodes where
he was my guest.
Actually, Brent was my veryfirst guest on the show 10 years
ago when we started.
So, Brent, boy, this one isfor you wherever you are.
I'm sure there's a grill goingand you're telling some great stories.

(13:24):
Miss you, buddy.
We're going to.
We're going to do some stufffrom Christina there.
We didn't have it last fall orlast summer when she was on the show,
but we've advanced, we'veevolved here on the Nation.
I am so excited because now Ican give you all so many things and
we can share y' all things.
There you go.
We were talking when we wentto break there about David was talking

(13:48):
about his grandmother, I thinkhe was said that there was never
a food that went bad at her house.
Little quick story about yourhost JT here coming home.
This was probably in the earlymid-80s, I guess, and I was living
In a town called Lake Oswego,which is a suburb here of Portland.
And I was actually stayingwith one of my aunts.

(14:08):
I was kind of between gigs,you might say, and rented out her
whole basement.
And I came home at, you know,oh, dark 31 evening and had been
me and my friend Mr.
Dewar's had been out on thetown all night.
And so I roll in, and for somereason, milk sounded really good.
And, you know, well, I hadeaten something too.

(14:30):
I wasn't just all scotch.
Anyway, long story short, I gointo her Aunt Ruthie's refrigerator,
and I grabbed this thing.
First of all, it wasbuttermilk, and I didn't read the
label.
And secondly, it was expiredbuttermilk by about a month.
The end result was not good.
I'll just put it that way.

(14:50):
Oh, gross.
Always check your food labels.
Okay, Brent.
Welcome back to the nation, my friend.
It's good to hear from you.
Nice to hear from you.
You're looking well.
Thank you.
That's why you and Christinadid a show together last year, one
of the first shows we did whenI took over here.
Oh, you don't remember?
Fourth of July one?

(15:11):
Yeah, I think so.
Yeah.
Were you here for it?
Was I here for it?
Yes, yes, I was here.
I was sitting right in thisexact chair.
So, as a professional meatcutter, do you actually adhere to
the stuff Christine is purporting?
Oh, absolutely.
That you should do.
Absolutely.
I'm glad to hear that.
Yeah.
Okay.
I'm glad to hear that, too.
I hope you're not just sayingthat because the USDA is on the line.

(15:32):
No, no, He.
He.
He.
Does.
He.
He's a good man.
Yeah, that's.
That's something that,absolutely, for me personally, drives
me nuts, you know, especiallyif you see somebody, you know the
number one rule, Wash your hands.
I mean, how hard is that?
And seems to be pretty hardfor certain people out there in this
world to wash their hands.
Yeah, you know, wash yourhands, make sure you got a clean

(15:52):
block, you know, and make sureyou wash your knives.
And just the little thingsthat people just don't adhere to
will drive you absolutely nuts.
Well, I think that's true, andI know Christina could back us up
on this, but sometimes in theheat of battle, because Brent has
done catering jobs with mebefore, you'll set a knife down and

(16:13):
you pick it up and.
And you have to kind of stopand think about it.
It's just as easy to go rinseit off or if you've got a damp towel
there that's not been used forsomething else, you know, and it's
purposely for cleaning the utensils.
You know, just do that.
I think it's so much easier than.

(16:34):
I guess or have two sets andyou could have one for.
Yeah.
And one for cooked.
Yeah.
I mean, there's a number ofthings you can do to make it easier
for you.
Taking the guesswork out of itis what I was trying to say is that
when you get in those, youknow, even if you're entertaining
at home on your deck, youknow, it's, it's.

(16:54):
That's why I was teasing her about.
Do you stick your finger inthe sauce?
I will do that sometimes, butonly when it's my closest friends
at the house because some ofthem come by and do it too.
And I can't, you know, they'renot housebroken, so I can't.
So I can't.
Can't get them to stop it.
Well, that's why you noticewhen we do catering together, I always
bring, you know, two sets of knives.

(17:16):
Right.
You know, I have my raw meatknives that I use, and when I'm done
with those, they get cleanedand put back into their respective
case.
And then I bring out my cookedknives that I cut cooked meat with.
So.
Yeah, do you do that, Christina?
You have two sets of knives.

(17:36):
I right now single, so I don'thave any fancy knives, but I try
to do washing them after.
After I cook raw meat and thenusing a clean one to cook cooked
meat.
I, you know, having been inthis business for a while, I have

(17:57):
a.
An actual whole drawer fulland then a butcher's block knife
holder thing full.
And I've got all that stuff,so it's easy for me.
I just get new ones constantly.
That's what I do is I justreach in the drawer because I have
several.
Several that I are kind of inpairs, you know, the same knife,
I'll just keep using them.
I don't care how many I use.

(18:18):
When we're doing a dinner oreven if it's just my wife and I at
home, they can be washed.
It's a lot easier to do thatfor me than take a chance.
That's what I think.
Definitely.
How come you're single?
You can't be single.
I'm not married yet.
I do have a boyfriend, but one.

(18:40):
Day, don't make me come backthere and have to have a talk with
him for you.
I know.
Maybe I should let him call you.
He should.
He should let him do thatbefore we go Here.
I want to tell you about ourfriends down at Barclays, Barclays
on 99E in Woodburn.
You go in there and you seeMark and you see Jamie and you see
all the thousands andthousands of items they have on there.

(19:02):
And it's organized.
It's not cluttered.
Okay?
I'm going to tell you thatright up front.
It is not cluttered.
They've got everything fromelkheads on the wall to guitars.
Very interesting stuff.
Always look up when you'rethere, too.
You might see an airplanehanging from the ceiling or scooters,
all kinds of things.
That's Barclays on 99E, juston the south end of Woodburn there

(19:26):
in Marion County.
How's that?
I even threw that Marioncounty in there pretty good.
We're going to be back and I'mgoing to put these two through the
world famous lightning roundwhen we come back from our next break.
So stay with us, everybody.
This is Barbecue Nation.
Hey, everybody, it's jt.
This week on Barbecue Nation,we're paying tribute to a friend
of mine, Brent Huddleston.

(19:46):
Brent was a professional meatcutter, a food adventurer.
He was my sous chef, at timesmy food stylist, but more importantly,
he was my friend.
Brent passed away from cancera couple of weeks ago.
He put up a good fight, but hedidn't win that one.
In honor of Brent, we'reairing one of the episodes where
he was my guest.
Actually, Brent was my veryfirst guest on the show 10 years

(20:10):
ago when we started.
So, Brent, boy, this one isfor you wherever you are.
I'm sure there's a grill goingand you're telling some great stories.
Miss you, buddy.

(20:31):
Hey, everybody, it's JT And Ihave eaten.
If you've ever looked at me,you know that.
But I have eaten seafood allover the world, and I can tell you
there's no place better thanhere in Oregon and our Dungeness
crab.
If you want to learn moreabout Oregon Dungeness crab, just
go to oregondungeness.org findout how to cook it, how to catch
it, where to buy it, and thesustainability of what they're doing

(20:54):
there in the Oregon Crab Commission.
Check it out.
This is an encore.
Hey, everybody, it's jt.
This week on Barbecue Nation,we're paying tribute to a friend

(21:15):
of mine, Brent Huddleston.
Brent was a professional meatcutter, a food adventurer.
He was my sous chef, at timesmy food stylist, but more importantly,
he was my friend.
Brent passed away from cancera couple of weeks ago.
He put Up a good fight, but hedidn't win that one.
In honor of Brent, we'reairing one of the episodes where

(21:36):
he was my guest.
Actually, Brent was my veryfirst guest on the show 10 years
ago when we started.
So, Brent, boy, this one isfor you wherever you are.
I'm sure there's a grill goingand you're telling some great stories.
Miss you, buddy.
We've got Christina Bow fromthe usda.
She is a food specialist.

(21:57):
I guess I'm kind of a foodspecialist, too, in a way, but probably
a little different thanChristina does.
And we've got BrentHuddleston, our good friend here,
who's been on the show severaltimes with us before.
He is a professional meat cook.
Cart cook, I guess you can say.
Professional meat cook.
I'm a meat guy and a meat guyand a cutter and a hockey fan.
I know you like your hockey.
I love hockey.

(22:18):
So, Christina, because you'resingle and I'm not, you know, kind
of pointing that out to ourlistening audience.
Yeah.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Do you spend much time cookingat home?
I do.
I spend a lot of time cooking.
I cook for me and my boyfriendall the time.
He says he's a good cook, but,you know, we've been together for
over a year, and he hasn'teven cooked me scramb eggs.

(22:40):
So I don't know.
I don't know.
Like, should I keep him around?
He's a.
He's a lion dog.
If he hasn't even made youscrambled eggs.
Come on now.
Yeah, scrambled eggs.
Enjoy cooking.
So easy.
So easy.
So easy.
If you can't do that to theperson you love, then Uncle Jeff

(23:00):
may have to come back thereand talk to you about that.
Now, Brent, you cook at homeall the time.
I know.
Oh, yeah.
You barbecue more than youcook in the actual kitchen.
I mean, you gotta prep.
I understand.
Yeah.
Cooking.
I, you know, my barbecue ispretty much on all day, and I don't
mean that as a.

(23:20):
As a joke.
It really is.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, you do do a lot of stuffwith it.
Yeah.
So that's kind of why you'resitting in that chair.
That's why I got half a dozenbarbecues sitting at home.
Yeah.
You never know which one'sgoing to work and which one's going
to go out.
Yeah.
Well, Christina, really quick,before we get into the lightning
round, David just told us atbreak here that he has a problem
with his children at home.

(23:41):
They come by and drink out ofhis cup.
Now, my solution was spit in it.
Do you have a better answerfor him?
Maybe just get them, like,nice cups with their name on it.
I don't know.
I've never had that problem before.
My mom doesn't like when Idrink out of her cup.
Your mom's smart, but I'mlike, you gave birth to me.

(24:03):
Why does it matter?
But I guess I should knowbetter to not drink after other people.
My kids always say, samefamily, same germs.
Is that.
What's the FDA stance on that?
Yeah, well, my mom was always a.
She'd put food on your plate.
You go to a restaurant, andyou'd order your meal and she would

(24:24):
order hers, and the family hadordered theirs.
And then she'd get it.
She's not a very big woman.
And she would come back andshe'd say, I can't eat all this.
Here, you take it.
And that just drove meabsolutely bat crap.
You know, I normally saysomething else, but I don't want
to have to zing it out today.
Anyway, are you ready?
Everybody ready here?
Brent, Christina, for thelightning round.

(24:45):
Okay, here we go.
Christina Bow, food specialistfrom the United States Department
of Agriculture.
What is the best and thetoughest food part of your job?
Managing social media.
Oh, wow.

(25:06):
Did they stick you with that, too?
Yes, because I'm good at it,but it's difficult.
Lordy, lordy.
Okay, Brent, toughest skillfor a beginning barbecuer to learn.
Oh, boy.
Washing your hands, maybe.
Okay, all right.

(25:26):
Well, like I said, you know, alot of people don't do it.
And, you know, I've seenpeople grab raw meat, then turn around
and without washing theirhands, grab, you know, something
else that shouldn't be grabbed.
And don't be careful what yougrab there.
Also, you can also use latexgloves and stuff.
Oh, yeah.
Okay, David's got a questionfor you.

(25:46):
Christina.
What's the USDA's officialstance on the 5 second rule?
We don't have a stance, but ifit falls on the ground, you should
probably not eat it.
But what if people don't see it?
I mean, someone sees it, yousee it.
Yeah, but you're the onemaking the call, so, I mean, you

(26:07):
know, off the record, nobodywill know that you said this on.
Don't eat it.
Don't eat it.
Okay.
When in doubt, throw it out.
Okay, well, see, my new sayingis don't let it burn.
Turn it.
Right.
I had it better the other day.
Turn it, don't burn it.
That was it.
Okay, on the deal.
Okay, Brent, what barbecueskill took you the longest to master.

(26:32):
Patience.
Patience.
That's a good one.
Yeah.
I mean, I'm normally a patientguy, but you know, when you see that.
That brisket just getting niceand caramelized and, you know, it's.
It's tough to let it sit foranother hour or two.
You just want to grab it, gnaw.
Gnaw, go the Fred Flintstone route.
Yeah, but you got it.
You got to put on your latexgloves when you do that.
They'll melt, though.

(26:53):
Okay, Christina, which ofthese would you rather barbecue?
The Thanksgiving turkey, ayule log, a Christmas goose, or the
Easter bunny?
I'm going to go with theEaster bunny.
That a girl.
I like fried rabbit, though.
There you go.
Well, you know, it's.
That's okay.
That's okay.
I like that.

(27:13):
She's the first one that said the.
Easter bunny, but he didn'tthrow out there a squirrel.
Huh?
I've never had squirrel.
Oh, yeah, we used to eat fried squirrel.
Did you do?
Well, my family's from Missouri.
That's right.
That's right.
Okay, so what is the best dayof activities contained for Brent

(27:34):
once you get your ass out of bed?
Well, I am on a bit of a vacation.
Yeah, you know, it's justtaking care of, you know, family.
I mean, I don't have any kidsor anything, but it's, you know,
take care of your.
Your.
Your.
Your mom.
My mom's 80 now, and my.
My kids are my dogs.
Taking care of those.

(27:55):
Take care of the things aroundthe house, and that's it.
And, of course, watch hockey,our baseball or basketball.
Okay, Christina, Bo from theusda, who would you like to cook
for you?
If you could pick anybody inthe world, who would you have cooked
for you?
I'm gonna go with Jeff Tracy.
Hey, there you go.
Let's get right.
Yeah.

(28:16):
50 bucks in the mail.
50 bucks in the mail.
Yeah.
That's two.
That's two people that haveactually said that, I think.
Or maybe three.
Does your wife count?
Only two?
Yeah.
Well, a lot of these people weinterview, we don't know personally,
you know, so they don't say anything.
But Graham Kerr, the gallopinggourmet, said that when we interviewed
him, he wanted me to cook for him.
So that is actually beingarranged, and we'll talk about that

(28:37):
later.
Brent, is there anybody whoshould not barbecue?
No, everyone should barbecue.
Rite of passage, I think.
Well, Christine, everyoneshould do it.
You got an answer on that one?
Maybe small children.
Small children.
Well, I mean, she's a safetyspecialist, though, remember?

(28:58):
That safety, though.
Yeah, Keep your.
Keep your little fingers outof the.
Remember, though, I don't haveany kids.
That's.
That's right.
Well, don't let your dogs getup there.
Okay, if you were declared.
This is for Christina.
If you were declared supremeruler of barbecue for one week, what
would you, as supreme leaderor ruler decree make her think?

(29:25):
See.
I don't know.
It's a tough one.
It's very tough.
You know, I think barbecueshould be cheaper for sure.
Or like free macaroni andcheese with barbecue.
There you go.
Free sides.
Yeah.
Christina says free sides.
As the omnipotent ruler ofbarbecue for a week, what would you

(29:49):
say, Bremboy?
Oh, man, I don't know.
That's like.
That's a tough one.
I'm a free beer.
Okay.
Free beer.
Okay.
That's better than my answer.
We've got just a coupleminutes left here before we go to
break.
What is the dumbest thingyou've ever seen done with a barbecue
or a grill?

(30:09):
Christina?
When they fry craw.
When they grill crawfish downin Louisiana.
No, I'm just kidding.
I don't know.
I've never seen seen anythingdumb done.
My mom was telling me that mymomma used to cool gumbo on the back
porch, so that's not verysmart in my opinion.

(30:33):
But that's all I got.
You got to remember thosepeople have lived a long time, so
they built up a tolerance.
Brent, what's the dumbestthing you've ever seen somebody do
with a barbecue?
Besides something that we did together?
I was going to say, you know,a lot of times people open up, especially
if you're using charcoal or.
Or is open up the lid a littletoo fast.

(30:55):
You know, you gotta rememberto open that lid up a little slower,
you know, so you don't haveany flare ups or.
Well, you don't get that draftin the action stuff if you do that
too.
That's good.
All right, well, I guess youtwo passed the lightning round today.
There was a couple morequestions I wanted to get to, but
we don't have time in thissegment, so we are gonna take a break
and be back with more.

(31:15):
Hey, everybody, it's jt.
This week on Barbecue Nation,we're paying tribute to a friend
of mine, Brent Huddleston.
Brent was a professional meatcutter, a food adventurer.
He was my sous chef, at times,my food stylist, but more importantly,
he was my friend.
Brent passed away from cancera couple of weeks ago.
He put up a good fight, but hedidn't win that one.

(31:37):
In honor of Brent, we'reairing one of the episodes where
he was my guest.
Actually, Brent was my veryfirst guest on the show 10 years
ago when we started.
So, Brent boy, this one is foryou wherever you are.
I'm sure there's a grill goingand you're telling some great stories.
Miss you, buddy.

(32:07):
Hi.
This is John Marcus.
I'm 2022, inductee into theBarbecue hall of Fame and creator
of Barbecue Pitmasters ontelevision and not a bad pitmaster.
Myself, I have to say.
That gets lost sometimes, butI can do that, too, and I'm happy

(32:28):
to be here with Jeff andLeanne on Barbecue Nation.

(32:57):
Hey, everybody, it's J.T.
you know, I talk about PaintedHills all the time, and we always
say beef the way nature intended.
But it's more than thatbecause each bite of Painted Hills
will make your taste buds explode.
Put a big, bright smile onyour face, and whoever's at your
dinner table will have a big,bright smile on their face.
And you can thank me for that later.
Just go topaintedhillsbeef.com and find out

(33:20):
more.
You won't regret it.
Hey, everybody, J.T.
here.
I want to tell you aboutHammerstall knives.
Hammer Style combines Germansteel with beautiful and functioning
designs.
They're part of the HeritageSteel Group, which also does their
pots and pans.
So go to Heritage Steel USCheck out the Hammer Stall knives.
If you're really into cooking,I think you're going to like them.

(33:53):
This is an encore.
Hey, everybody, it's JT thisweek on Barbecue Nation, we're paying
tribute to a friend of mine,Brent Huddleston.
Brent was a professional meatcutter, a food adventurer.
He was my sous chef, at times,my food stylist, but more importantly,
he was my friend.
Brent passed away from cancera couple of weeks ago.

(34:14):
He put up a good fight, but hedidn't win that one.
In honor of Brent, we'reairing one of the episodes where
he was my guest.
Actually, Brent was my veryfirst guest on the show 10 years
ago when we started.
So, Brent boy, this one is foryou wherever you are.
I'm sure there's a grill goingand you're telling some great stories.

(34:36):
Mission buddy, Barbecue Nation.
That's the name of the show.
I'm your host, JT along withDavid Shirley, we have Christina
Bowe live from Washington, D.C.
and her mom's in the room,too, to make sure that she doesn't
do anything bad.
Maybe, I don't know.
We got Brent Heddleston outhere, a couple of things.
We've got some barbecuechampionships coming up this weekend.

(34:58):
If you're down in Elk Grove,California, they have the Elk, Elk
Grove Western Festival andBarbecue Championship.
And also if you're headed backeast, you can go to Ridgefield in
Connecticut.
And they have the RidgefieldGone Country Barbecue Festival.
I bet you that's a slammer.
Oh yeah.
Have you been to Connecticut?
You know, they don't look verycowboy to me back there, but they

(35:20):
probably have fun doing it.
Also in Appleton, Wisconsin,and they have the Masters in May
Classic and it is May already.
So we are with, like I said,Christina Bow from the USDA food
specialist there.
Christina is a frequent guest.
Not as frequent as we wouldlike because she's got a busy schedule,
but she's pretty frequentguest here on the show.
And also Brent Huddleston, whobesides being a hockey fan, is a

(35:43):
professional meat cutter and caterer.
In one minute or less.
Christina, what's the mostimportant things?
Give me like two or threethings that people can remember with
food safety as they head intothe summertime and more, you know,
warmer temperatures.
And as you said, like AuntMomo, don't leave the gumbo out on

(36:05):
the back porch for two days.
I think one of the mostimportant things is to always use
a food thermometer when you'recooking meat or poultry.
I know even with a lot ofprofessional chefs and a lot of people
think like, oh, I can look atit and know that it's ready to go,
you should always use a food thermometer.

(36:26):
Things like beef, pork cookedto 145 with a three minute rest time.
Ground beef 160 and all yourpoultry 165.
Another big thing is toremember that two hour rule.
Don't leave food out for morethan two hours if it's at room temperature.
And if it's really hotsomewhere like in Louisiana or Texas

(36:49):
or anything.
If the temp's above 90degrees, make sure to not leave it
out for more than one hour.
And then I guess always washyour hands too.
And if you're cooking, makesure to use separate plates.
If you put raw meat on thegrill, then don't use that same plate
to take the cooked meat offthe grill.

(37:09):
Make sure you use a clean plate.
Or take it back in and wash it off.
Yeah, you can do that.
Don't lick it off.
Don't lick it off.
Wiping it with a paper towelis not sufficient.
It's not?
No.
You need to get all thatinvisible bacteria off oh, the horror.
Yeah, go ahead.

(37:30):
I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to interrupt you.
That's fine.
Just hot water and soap, andthat'll do the trick.
Okay, so here's the deal.
Somebody's thinking this out there.
I know they are.
So it's been outside for two hours.
You throw it in the fridge for20 minutes to get the temperature
down about 3 degrees.
And then can you take it backout, set it outside again?

(37:50):
You want to make sure that itgets to below 40 degrees.
If you put it in the fridge,you can test it with a food thermometer
that way, too.
Or you can just set it on abed of ice and keep it cool outside
like that.
And that way it stays better longer.
You bet your ice you can.

(38:11):
Brent, really quickly, your suggestions.
We've got about a minute here.
Oh, I think she said it perfectly.
You know, it's.
It's.
You're just sucking up.
Yeah, I am.
You know, I know.
It's.
I had my bread, and mybutter's on.
No, you know, again, andyou've heard me say this a thousand
times, is use a meat thermometer.

(38:32):
You know, take.
Take the guesswork out.
You know, you can be great atdoing it, but just back that up with
that meat thermometer.
And.
And make sure you.
You just clean, clean, clean,wash your hands.
That's.
That's pretty much it.
You know, in a nutshell.
That's pretty much it in a nutshell.
And that's pretty much it forus today here on Barbecue Nation.
I would really like to thankChristina Bow and mom and the Shadow

(38:56):
back there in D.C.
for being with us thisafternoon and our buddy, Brent Huddleston
here, local epicureanentrepreneur like that.
It's a pleasure.
Yes.
And also like to thank all theaffiliates down the line and David,
my buddy here who keeps us ingood shape.
McGarrion is on deck, and BushLack's coming up behind him for the
rest of the lifestyle weekendhere on KXL and the Radio Northwest

(39:19):
Network.
I am J.T.
hey, real quick.
Sorry to interrupt.
Christina, you want to givethe USDA website info out?
Twitter, Facebook, whateversocial media you're managing?
Sure.
If you have any questions, youcan go to foodsafety.gov and follow
us on Twitter.
Our handle, isdafoodsafety.
Okay, well, we'll cut that andput that right where it belongs in.

(39:40):
Which is right where it was.
Anyway, I'm J.T.
we'll see you all next week.
Hey, everybody, it's J.T.
this week on Barbecue Nation.
We're paying tribute to afriend of mine, Brent Huddleston.
Brent was a professional meatcutter, a food adventurer.
He was my sous chef, at timesmy food stylist, but more importantly,
he was my friend.
Brent passed away from cancera couple of weeks ago.

(40:03):
He put up a good fight, but hedidn't win that one.
In honor of Brent, we'reairing one of the episodes where
he was my guest.
Actually, Brent was my veryfirst guest on the show 10 years
ago when we started.
So, Brent, boy, this one isfor you.
Wherever you are.
I'm sure there's a grill goingand you're telling some great stories.

(40:24):
Miss you, buddy.
What could we see from thehighest height?

(40:45):
What could have wins?
If I'm afraid to fly?
All of the tremors that I have inside?
Got me scared?
Will you be there?
If we're the last to learn?

(41:07):
That we crash and burn andwe'll never make it?
It's a smoke, don't glare?
Could we face our fear?
That we never make it?
Is it a chance we're taking?

(41:31):
Cause I just can't lose you?
You can't unfall and you can't unbreak?
And you cannot understand?
Every risk you should take?

(41:51):
I dreamed in the dark that werolled the dice?
I'm still scared?
Will you be fair?
If we're the last to learn?
That we crash and burn and wenever make it?

(42:14):
Barbecue Nation is produced byJTSD LLC Productions in association
with Salem Media Group.
All rights reserved.
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