January 6, 2026 • 19 mins
This episode of Barbecue Nation After Hours delves into the intricate world of barbecue, featuring engaging discussions among hosts JT, Leanne Whippen, and Stretch. A focal point of the conversation is the exploration of the various styles and techniques that characterize the art of barbecue, as well as personal anecdotes that highlight the unique experiences of each participant. Throughout the episode, we reflect on the nuances of cooking different types of meat, including the controversial swordfish, and share stories from competitive barbecue settings that underscore the challenges and triumphs faced by cooks. Additionally, we engage in light-hearted banter regarding culinary preferences and past mishaps in the kitchen, further enriching the dialogue with humor and camaraderie. The episode encapsulates both the passion for barbecue as a culinary form and the community it fosters among enthusiasts.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Painted Hills Natural Beef
- 17th Street
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:45):
This is Barbecue Nation After Hours.
The conversation that tookplace after the show ended.
Hey, everybody, it's jt andthis is a special version of Barbecue
Nation.
It is brought to you in partby Painted Hills Natural Beef, Beef
you can be proud to serve yourfamily and friends.
That's Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Welcome to After Hours,everybody, here on Barbecue Nation.
I'm JT along with Ms. LeanneWhippen, and we've got Stretch.
(01:10):
I could just stop talkingthere and just let you go.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
No, you gotta ask them theseserious questions, okay?
These serious questions.
Let me really get in here andget intimate.
How's that?
Okay, that's good.
That's good.
Yeah.
If Leanne.
Leanne from here.
I know.
(01:33):
If Leanne declared you supremeruler of barbecue for one week, what
would you.
Stretch, as supreme leader, decree.
More swordfish.
I love swordfish.
I don't get to eat it enough,and I think everybody should eat
(01:55):
swordfish.
I don't like swordfish.
Why don't you like swordfish?
Because it's tough.
It's like.
It's.
It's not delicate and flaky.
It's.
It's almost steak, like, but not.
I don't know.
I'm just not a loin fish.
Not a filet yet.
Yeah.
I like it when it cut a nicefish because I love fish.
But if I'm eating, like, atrout or something that's got those
(02:17):
little pence pea bones andstuff, it can ruin my whole meal,
just like.
And I'll just stop eating.
But a swordfish steak doneright on the grill, you know, whether
capers or a nice sauce or evenjust lemon, a little salt.
But it's awesome.
I love it.
Yeah.
Cool.
That's healthy.
There you go.
Okay, so if you could eraseone mistake from your past, what
(02:39):
would it be and why?
So earlier this week, I did ashow called Barbecue Podcast.
With someone named Leanne.
Wow.
(03:00):
Yeah.
If there was one thing I coulderase from my past, what would it
be?
Wow, that's a tough one.
I don't know.
I really don't know.
I'm sure I gotta think thatone's actually good.
That's a good answer.
Yeah, that's really good.
(03:21):
Yeah.
I've never really had any regrets.
You know, I live it and you do it.
You gotta own it.
Okay, if you'll like this one.
If we put your skills tomusic, Stretch, what music would
it be?
Oh, it'd probably be somewherebetween polka and punk.
(03:46):
He's a rock and roller.
Come on.
He is.
He is.
Worst concert you've ever been to.
Oh, my God.
Riverdance.
I fell asleep, I guess.
Really a concert.
But it was.
It was rough.
It was.
Yeah, it was a rough one.
Good to know.
They were talented, but it was rough.
Okay.
I can.
I can believe you on that one.
(04:08):
Watch all the click, clickingheels for.
Yeah.
Everybody run around.
What was that guy's name?
Michael Atlee or Michael something.
I don't remember.
You know, I read.
Probably would have ratherhad, like, the pan flute guys, you
know, in front of me for four hours.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it.
Interesting.
What's the biggest mistakeyou've ever made during a competition?
(04:32):
Missing turn in time.
Oh, a couple times I've done that.
Once was my fault.
Once was my fault.
I think I've done it twice.
Oh, that was.
Mistakes doing that.
Then one time I asked thejudge, it was at a competition, a
kosher Q.
And on the Thursday orWednesday night, they do beef ribs
instead of pork ribs.
(04:53):
And when I was doing a gig inNew Zealand, they take the meat,
the beef, off the bone and cutit up and make it look like burnt
ends.
So I asked at the meeting, canthey do it?
Can I do it?
And they said, the judgesprefer that you don't.
I said, I don't care what thejudges think.
I think it looks better thanhaving a rib bone in the box.
So I did it.
(05:13):
And the judges came over andthey said, stretch you turn that
box.
And I said, yes, well, you're DQ'd.
And I said, why?
I asked on Wednesday at themeeting, they said, yeah, but it's
illegal.
And the, you know, the guysputting on the deal, they said, well,
shouldn't have done it.
And the guys next to me in thetent, they're like.
He asked.
And they said it was okay.
They just didn't prefer it.
(05:34):
So I got DQ'd.
And what sucked about it is Ihad three good calls and then I was
DQ'd.
And I still didn't come inlast place.
And then I beaned a rabbi witha stick of butter, which was melted.
I started drinking.
It was Fleischmann's, so itwas okay.
It was okay.
Yeah.
(05:54):
So I probably shouldn't havebeen Ezra, or whatever his name was
with you.
Knock his yarmulke off his head?
No.
It's flattered.
It was soft.
It was soft.
Wow.
It was fun.
Do you remember the firstthing you ever grilled or smoked?
And I'm not talking about on anail or an iron.
I'm talking about Somethingreal, a real machine.
(06:16):
Tie, stick.
Oh.
Whatever you want, buddy.
But anything you ever.
The first thing you evergrilled or smoked and went, yeah,
I mean.
Probably.
No, I don't remember, but Iremember, you know, burgers were
probably the first thing orpork chops growing up that I put
(06:39):
on a Weber grill or a Gasserearly on was the first things I said,
wow, it doesn't have to be burnt.
I grew up in that meat andpotato family where everything was
well done, and once it cameoff, you cut it open and it leaked
all the juices all over the place.
And then you took the whitebread and soaked it all up, you know,
and ate it.
(07:00):
But once I realized you couldeat meat that wasn't brown, I was
like the new day, you know.
Yeah, I will tell you, that was.
That kind of happened to me too.
My dad, he liked everythingpan fried.
Everything was pan fried or itwas baked.
Just baked the snot out of it,roasted it in the oven, and everything
was brown.
(07:22):
And that's where I got myaffinity for Lee and Perrin was to
give it some sort of flavor.
But when I discovered thatthere was this thing called medium
rare, I went nuts, you know,and I started.
I started cooking dinners andstuff then.
And my dad would go, you know,he'd cut into it and some juice had
come out.
(07:42):
He go, this isn't done, youknow, I. I said, well, yeah, it is.
Why don't you try it?
So he did eventually.
I don't think he ever likedit, but he tried it.
So anyway, where's the worstplace you ever had to cook during
a comp?
Oh, pouring rain or location.
(08:04):
Worst conditions, let's put itthat way.
Rain, when you have a tent andwind is always, always tough.
And I cook a lot of comps myself.
And having to hustle over tomeet and get your stuff turned in
on time is tricky.
And I did one down in Alabama.
(08:24):
I did a triple by myself once.
It was two turn ins at thesame time.
And then the second day was asingle, and that one kicked the hell
out of me.
That was a tough one.
And the winds were seriously.
I mean, it was out of control.
The winds, they were blowingstuff, tents.
You know, the tents look liketumbleweeds going down between them.
Some of the worst times isbeing sick, getting a cold or something
(08:47):
once you got there, but youstill got to get through.
So, you know, you got yourpaper towels, you know, stuffed up
your nose when you'reinjecting and get through the thing,
you know, because you got yougot to do what you got to do.
Oh, yeah.
Dire Straits, AC DC Or BillyRay Cyrus.
May have to go with AC DC onthat one, Jeff.
(09:07):
There you go.
Wow.
That was a very formal answer.
I like it.
I like it.
One thing you miss about your twenties.
If you remember one thing youmiss about your twenties?
My hair.
Oh, God.
(09:29):
What would be your last mealif you were on death row?
Just to piss off Leanne, I'mgonna say swordfish.
You all heard the joke.
You know, what was theCannibals last meal, right?
No.
Five guys.
(09:51):
That sounds like an Alexa, Joe.
You know, would be reallynice, you know?
Yeah, there you go.
Or, you know, I'd call it, youknow, smorgasbord.
You just start at one end, andthen you never, you know, get that.
Just keep on trucking.
Yep.
Yep.
What's your favorite movie?
You know, it's a tough one.
And every year, for whateverreason, I fall in love with Die Hard.
(10:17):
I just love him.
Oh, really?
I think it's.
He's awesome, and he just getskicked around so much, and I don't
know what it is.
I just go back to it every year.
It's probably one of the onlymovies I've watched more than 10
times.
You know, it is a good flagfor sure.
If you could cook for and thenhave dinner with a historical figure,
(10:40):
who would it be and what wouldbe on the menu?
Hmm.
So I think Pocahontas would befun, and I would make her turkey
and corn.
No, I think Pocahontas wouldbe kind of fun.
I think she was prettygroundbreaking and put up with a
lot of crap.
I think Einstein would bereally wild to have dinner with.
(11:06):
I'd like to say to have dinnerwith Hitler as a Hebrew school dropout
and stuff.
I would just want to know whatmade that guy think like that.
And if you're going to sitaround a neutral environment like
a table, I really would wantto know what would make that guy
tick.
You know, you can bringGenghis Khan to the table.
You can bring, you know, Yodato the table.
(11:28):
You can bring all sorts ofgreat people at that dinner table.
And I think the conversationswould be crazy.
It'd be all over the place,you know?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
I was always wondering whensomebody was going to bring that
up, since I've been doing thisshow, because, to tell you the truth,
I thought about that, too.
Why that son of a bitch.
What.
What made you do that?
(11:49):
Right?
Yeah, yeah.
It was out of his mind,obviously, but he's Like, I'm not
only out of my mind, you know,everyone's going to drink the Kool
Aid and we're going to walkour way across Europe and kill everybody.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that's basically what they did.
What's the worst thing aboutowning your own restaurant?
(12:10):
Oh, man.
Yeah.
You know the same thing.
What's the best part?
It's customers.
And I sometimes allocate tokind of relate it to, like, being
a teacher.
The best part about being ateacher is when those students come
through and they.
They do great things and theymove on in the future, and you're
rewarded.
At the same time, you have thebad students.
(12:30):
Customers are great whenthey're smiling at the end of the
meal, but it really pisses youoff when they're not happy, and you
can never make those people happy.
But what I do love the mostabout my restaurant is seeing employees
that start at the bottom andmake their way through.
We've put a lot of nursesthrough school as well.
But seeing someone start inthe dish pit and then become managers,
(12:52):
I'm actually getting somegoosebumps on that.
I love seeing them thrive.
Learn something.
What we used to say is, you'relearning a trade where you can take
this trade anywhere in the world.
Not just putting the pushing abutton like at Taco Bell or Applebee's
microwave and stuff.
You're learning how to cookand make sauces and.
Yeah, it might only be pizza,but without all the, you know, crap
that goes along with makingfine French cuisine, you know?
(13:16):
Have you ever cooked in athunderstorm in your underwear?
Well, I didn't start wearingunderwear until about 10 years ago,
and I.
I'm down with that.
You know, I've cooked in myunderwear and a kokoi.
Have you ever cooked in a cook way?
I cooked in a kikoi when I wasdoing a gig in Kenya when I did something
(13:42):
with the Maasai tribe, I wascooking goat with them and drinking
the blood of the goat in theheadlights of a pickup truck.
Oh, so that's what happened.
That's it.
Oh, God.
If you could work with one ofyour barbecue heroes, who would the
(14:06):
hero be?
Well, Leanne's no longeravailable, so a barbecue hero.
You know, I wish I got achance to cook with Mike from 17th
Street.
Yeah, I thought that would.
Yeah, I agree.
Awesome.
To cook with him.
I think that would have beensuper cool.
(14:27):
Yes, it would have.
What barbecue skill took youthe longest to master?
I think I'm still trying tomaster all the skills.
I don't think, you know, youknow, chicken's always tough, but
(14:49):
it's the one I excel in.
Actually, I've gotten more180s in that than anything else.
And then I was doing fine withpork, you know, Again, I think it
depends on your smoking rig,your apparatus, whatever grill you're
cooking on.
I like to try new smokers often.
It's probably smarter if Istuck with the same one.
(15:11):
But I like the challenge offiguring out how to make different
kind of smokers do what I needthem to do.
So that's my biggest challengeis smokers probably with myself.
Okay, a couple more questions here.
Stretch.
What is the best day forstretch Contain as far as activities?
(15:31):
If you had your perfect day.
Perfect day is when I don'thave to refill the coffee makers
with beans and my coffee makermakes perfect coffee.
And then I can go out.
Studio's perfect.
The weather's right around 68degrees outside.
I love that I have plenty ofgas in my truck.
(15:53):
There's no jackasses driving a Prius.
That slows me down from pointA to point B.
The perfect lunch comes ontime, whether it's hot or cold, whatever
I want to have to eat.
And I have good people aroundme throughout the day, smiling and
enjoying it with good conversation.
And then it doesn't matterwhat I do the rest of the day.
There you go, last one.
(16:13):
Did you.
Have you ever smoked an armadillo?
I've smoked iguana, I'vesmoked nutria.
I've smoked wild boar.
What's nutria?
Weird pig looking things inRepublic of Georgia in the Usgali
mountains, way above Tbilisi.
(16:36):
I do not think I've eversmoked an armadillo.
I've smoked carp or Asiancarp, but I don't think I've smoked
an armadillo.
Well, I do not.
There's could be on your to do list.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it would.
I don't know how you keep them lit.
Yeah, well, you know, andLeanne's heard me tell this story
(16:59):
in Texas.
It's the thing, if you see aroadkill armadillo, you're supposed
to get out, prop him up on hisback feet and his tail and put a
Lone Star bottle in his hands.
That's what you do.
Is that why they sell those atthe gas stations?
Yeah, yeah.
I wish I saw more of thosebloated creatures holding Lone Star
(17:20):
bottles on the side of the room.
It's all good.
It's okay.
And by the way, Leanna nutriais kind of like an otter or a beaver,
but they're.
I didn't know that.
Yeah, Vegetarian, actually.
They're vegetarians.
They live down in the swampsdown in Louisiana.
On my eating the enemy show onAnimal Planet, we did nutria.
(17:41):
Yeah.
Interesting.
Yeah, we have them here.
We have them here.
So where's here?
Oregon.
I live in Oregon.
Ah, yeah, we have them.
And in fact, as soon as I turnoff the recording, I will tell you
a story about what happened to nutria.
Anyway, Stretch, it's.
It's been great to see you andtalk to you again, man.
(18:03):
It's always good.
Sure.
Thank you so much, guys.
And keep on smoking.
And look for the new albumcoming out hopefully by end of March.
Excellent.
We'll have to do some reviewsfor you.
Yeah.
It's all about food.
There's a song on there calledmy grill is a battlefield.
There's a song there calleddine and dash.
(18:25):
There's a song, it's a lovesong called I'll make you breakfast
in bed.
There's a song calledcarnivore of chaos.
So it's all food related, firestarter, propane and accessories.
There's a lot of fun stuff.
That's fun.
Yeah.
I can't wait to hear it.
(18:45):
I love it.
I love it.
All right, well, folks, that'sit for after hours here this week
on Barbecue Nation.
Ms. Leanne and I will be backnext week and Mr.
Stretch will be out in theworld somewhere causing chaos.
And we love it.
Thanks, bud.
Peace out, Stretch.
You got it.
This is Barbecue Nation After Hours.
The conversation that tookplace after the show ended.
Hey, everybody, it's jt andthis is a special version of Barbecue
Nation.
It is brought to you in partby Painted Hills Natural Beef, Beef
you can be proud to serve yourfamily and friends.
That's Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Welcome to After Hours,everybody, here on Barbecue Nation.
I'm JT along with Ms. LeanneWhippen, and we've got Stretch.
(01:10):
I could just stop talkingthere and just let you go.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
No, you gotta ask them theseserious questions, okay?
These serious questions.
Let me really get in here andget intimate.
How's that?
Okay, that's good.
That's good.
Yeah.
If Leanne.
Leanne from here.
I know.
(01:33):
If Leanne declared you supremeruler of barbecue for one week, what
would you.
Stretch, as supreme leader, decree.
More swordfish.
I love swordfish.
I don't get to eat it enough,and I think everybody should eat
(01:55):
swordfish.
I don't like swordfish.
Why don't you like swordfish?
Because it's tough.
It's like.
It's.
It's not delicate and flaky.
It's.
It's almost steak, like, but not.
I don't know.
I'm just not a loin fish.
Not a filet yet.
Yeah.
I like it when it cut a nicefish because I love fish.
But if I'm eating, like, atrout or something that's got those
(02:17):
little pence pea bones andstuff, it can ruin my whole meal,
just like.
And I'll just stop eating.
But a swordfish steak doneright on the grill, you know, whether
capers or a nice sauce or evenjust lemon, a little salt.
But it's awesome.
I love it.
Yeah.
Cool.
That's healthy.
There you go.
Okay, so if you could eraseone mistake from your past, what
(02:39):
would it be and why?
So earlier this week, I did ashow called Barbecue Podcast.
With someone named Leanne.
Wow.
(03:00):
Yeah.
If there was one thing I coulderase from my past, what would it
be?
Wow, that's a tough one.
I don't know.
I really don't know.
I'm sure I gotta think thatone's actually good.
That's a good answer.
Yeah, that's really good.
(03:21):
Yeah.
I've never really had any regrets.
You know, I live it and you do it.
You gotta own it.
Okay, if you'll like this one.
If we put your skills tomusic, Stretch, what music would
it be?
Oh, it'd probably be somewherebetween polka and punk.
(03:46):
He's a rock and roller.
Come on.
He is.
He is.
Worst concert you've ever been to.
Oh, my God.
Riverdance.
I fell asleep, I guess.
Really a concert.
But it was.
It was rough.
It was.
Yeah, it was a rough one.
Good to know.
They were talented, but it was rough.
Okay.
I can.
I can believe you on that one.
(04:08):
Watch all the click, clickingheels for.
Yeah.
Everybody run around.
What was that guy's name?
Michael Atlee or Michael something.
I don't remember.
You know, I read.
Probably would have ratherhad, like, the pan flute guys, you
know, in front of me for four hours.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it.
Interesting.
What's the biggest mistakeyou've ever made during a competition?
(04:32):
Missing turn in time.
Oh, a couple times I've done that.
Once was my fault.
Once was my fault.
I think I've done it twice.
Oh, that was.
Mistakes doing that.
Then one time I asked thejudge, it was at a competition, a
kosher Q.
And on the Thursday orWednesday night, they do beef ribs
instead of pork ribs.
(04:53):
And when I was doing a gig inNew Zealand, they take the meat,
the beef, off the bone and cutit up and make it look like burnt
ends.
So I asked at the meeting, canthey do it?
Can I do it?
And they said, the judgesprefer that you don't.
I said, I don't care what thejudges think.
I think it looks better thanhaving a rib bone in the box.
So I did it.
(05:13):
And the judges came over andthey said, stretch you turn that
box.
And I said, yes, well, you're DQ'd.
And I said, why?
I asked on Wednesday at themeeting, they said, yeah, but it's
illegal.
And the, you know, the guysputting on the deal, they said, well,
shouldn't have done it.
And the guys next to me in thetent, they're like.
He asked.
And they said it was okay.
They just didn't prefer it.
(05:34):
So I got DQ'd.
And what sucked about it is Ihad three good calls and then I was
DQ'd.
And I still didn't come inlast place.
And then I beaned a rabbi witha stick of butter, which was melted.
I started drinking.
It was Fleischmann's, so itwas okay.
It was okay.
Yeah.
(05:54):
So I probably shouldn't havebeen Ezra, or whatever his name was
with you.
Knock his yarmulke off his head?
No.
It's flattered.
It was soft.
It was soft.
Wow.
It was fun.
Do you remember the firstthing you ever grilled or smoked?
And I'm not talking about on anail or an iron.
I'm talking about Somethingreal, a real machine.
(06:16):
Tie, stick.
Oh.
Whatever you want, buddy.
But anything you ever.
The first thing you evergrilled or smoked and went, yeah,
I mean.
Probably.
No, I don't remember, but Iremember, you know, burgers were
probably the first thing orpork chops growing up that I put
(06:39):
on a Weber grill or a Gasserearly on was the first things I said,
wow, it doesn't have to be burnt.
I grew up in that meat andpotato family where everything was
well done, and once it cameoff, you cut it open and it leaked
all the juices all over the place.
And then you took the whitebread and soaked it all up, you know,
and ate it.
(07:00):
But once I realized you couldeat meat that wasn't brown, I was
like the new day, you know.
Yeah, I will tell you, that was.
That kind of happened to me too.
My dad, he liked everythingpan fried.
Everything was pan fried or itwas baked.
Just baked the snot out of it,roasted it in the oven, and everything
was brown.
(07:22):
And that's where I got myaffinity for Lee and Perrin was to
give it some sort of flavor.
But when I discovered thatthere was this thing called medium
rare, I went nuts, you know,and I started.
I started cooking dinners andstuff then.
And my dad would go, you know,he'd cut into it and some juice had
come out.
(07:42):
He go, this isn't done, youknow, I. I said, well, yeah, it is.
Why don't you try it?
So he did eventually.
I don't think he ever likedit, but he tried it.
So anyway, where's the worstplace you ever had to cook during
a comp?
Oh, pouring rain or location.
(08:04):
Worst conditions, let's put itthat way.
Rain, when you have a tent andwind is always, always tough.
And I cook a lot of comps myself.
And having to hustle over tomeet and get your stuff turned in
on time is tricky.
And I did one down in Alabama.
(08:24):
I did a triple by myself once.
It was two turn ins at thesame time.
And then the second day was asingle, and that one kicked the hell
out of me.
That was a tough one.
And the winds were seriously.
I mean, it was out of control.
The winds, they were blowingstuff, tents.
You know, the tents look liketumbleweeds going down between them.
Some of the worst times isbeing sick, getting a cold or something
(08:47):
once you got there, but youstill got to get through.
So, you know, you got yourpaper towels, you know, stuffed up
your nose when you'reinjecting and get through the thing,
you know, because you got yougot to do what you got to do.
Oh, yeah.
Dire Straits, AC DC Or BillyRay Cyrus.
May have to go with AC DC onthat one, Jeff.
(09:07):
There you go.
Wow.
That was a very formal answer.
I like it.
I like it.
One thing you miss about your twenties.
If you remember one thing youmiss about your twenties?
My hair.
Oh, God.
(09:29):
What would be your last mealif you were on death row?
Just to piss off Leanne, I'mgonna say swordfish.
You all heard the joke.
You know, what was theCannibals last meal, right?
No.
Five guys.
(09:51):
That sounds like an Alexa, Joe.
You know, would be reallynice, you know?
Yeah, there you go.
Or, you know, I'd call it, youknow, smorgasbord.
You just start at one end, andthen you never, you know, get that.
Just keep on trucking.
Yep.
Yep.
What's your favorite movie?
You know, it's a tough one.
And every year, for whateverreason, I fall in love with Die Hard.
(10:17):
I just love him.
Oh, really?
I think it's.
He's awesome, and he just getskicked around so much, and I don't
know what it is.
I just go back to it every year.
It's probably one of the onlymovies I've watched more than 10
times.
You know, it is a good flagfor sure.
If you could cook for and thenhave dinner with a historical figure,
(10:40):
who would it be and what wouldbe on the menu?
Hmm.
So I think Pocahontas would befun, and I would make her turkey
and corn.
No, I think Pocahontas wouldbe kind of fun.
I think she was prettygroundbreaking and put up with a
lot of crap.
I think Einstein would bereally wild to have dinner with.
(11:06):
I'd like to say to have dinnerwith Hitler as a Hebrew school dropout
and stuff.
I would just want to know whatmade that guy think like that.
And if you're going to sitaround a neutral environment like
a table, I really would wantto know what would make that guy
tick.
You know, you can bringGenghis Khan to the table.
You can bring, you know, Yodato the table.
(11:28):
You can bring all sorts ofgreat people at that dinner table.
And I think the conversationswould be crazy.
It'd be all over the place,you know?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
I was always wondering whensomebody was going to bring that
up, since I've been doing thisshow, because, to tell you the truth,
I thought about that, too.
Why that son of a bitch.
What.
What made you do that?
(11:49):
Right?
Yeah, yeah.
It was out of his mind,obviously, but he's Like, I'm not
only out of my mind, you know,everyone's going to drink the Kool
Aid and we're going to walkour way across Europe and kill everybody.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that's basically what they did.
What's the worst thing aboutowning your own restaurant?
(12:10):
Oh, man.
Yeah.
You know the same thing.
What's the best part?
It's customers.
And I sometimes allocate tokind of relate it to, like, being
a teacher.
The best part about being ateacher is when those students come
through and they.
They do great things and theymove on in the future, and you're
rewarded.
At the same time, you have thebad students.
(12:30):
Customers are great whenthey're smiling at the end of the
meal, but it really pisses youoff when they're not happy, and you
can never make those people happy.
But what I do love the mostabout my restaurant is seeing employees
that start at the bottom andmake their way through.
We've put a lot of nursesthrough school as well.
But seeing someone start inthe dish pit and then become managers,
(12:52):
I'm actually getting somegoosebumps on that.
I love seeing them thrive.
Learn something.
What we used to say is, you'relearning a trade where you can take
this trade anywhere in the world.
Not just putting the pushing abutton like at Taco Bell or Applebee's
microwave and stuff.
You're learning how to cookand make sauces and.
Yeah, it might only be pizza,but without all the, you know, crap
that goes along with makingfine French cuisine, you know?
(13:16):
Have you ever cooked in athunderstorm in your underwear?
Well, I didn't start wearingunderwear until about 10 years ago,
and I.
I'm down with that.
You know, I've cooked in myunderwear and a kokoi.
Have you ever cooked in a cook way?
I cooked in a kikoi when I wasdoing a gig in Kenya when I did something
(13:42):
with the Maasai tribe, I wascooking goat with them and drinking
the blood of the goat in theheadlights of a pickup truck.
Oh, so that's what happened.
That's it.
Oh, God.
If you could work with one ofyour barbecue heroes, who would the
(14:06):
hero be?
Well, Leanne's no longeravailable, so a barbecue hero.
You know, I wish I got achance to cook with Mike from 17th
Street.
Yeah, I thought that would.
Yeah, I agree.
Awesome.
To cook with him.
I think that would have beensuper cool.
(14:27):
Yes, it would have.
What barbecue skill took youthe longest to master?
I think I'm still trying tomaster all the skills.
I don't think, you know, youknow, chicken's always tough, but
(14:49):
it's the one I excel in.
Actually, I've gotten more180s in that than anything else.
And then I was doing fine withpork, you know, Again, I think it
depends on your smoking rig,your apparatus, whatever grill you're
cooking on.
I like to try new smokers often.
It's probably smarter if Istuck with the same one.
(15:11):
But I like the challenge offiguring out how to make different
kind of smokers do what I needthem to do.
So that's my biggest challengeis smokers probably with myself.
Okay, a couple more questions here.
Stretch.
What is the best day forstretch Contain as far as activities?
(15:31):
If you had your perfect day.
Perfect day is when I don'thave to refill the coffee makers
with beans and my coffee makermakes perfect coffee.
And then I can go out.
Studio's perfect.
The weather's right around 68degrees outside.
I love that I have plenty ofgas in my truck.
(15:53):
There's no jackasses driving a Prius.
That slows me down from pointA to point B.
The perfect lunch comes ontime, whether it's hot or cold, whatever
I want to have to eat.
And I have good people aroundme throughout the day, smiling and
enjoying it with good conversation.
And then it doesn't matterwhat I do the rest of the day.
There you go, last one.
(16:13):
Did you.
Have you ever smoked an armadillo?
I've smoked iguana, I'vesmoked nutria.
I've smoked wild boar.
What's nutria?
Weird pig looking things inRepublic of Georgia in the Usgali
mountains, way above Tbilisi.
(16:36):
I do not think I've eversmoked an armadillo.
I've smoked carp or Asiancarp, but I don't think I've smoked
an armadillo.
Well, I do not.
There's could be on your to do list.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it would.
I don't know how you keep them lit.
Yeah, well, you know, andLeanne's heard me tell this story
(16:59):
in Texas.
It's the thing, if you see aroadkill armadillo, you're supposed
to get out, prop him up on hisback feet and his tail and put a
Lone Star bottle in his hands.
That's what you do.
Is that why they sell those atthe gas stations?
Yeah, yeah.
I wish I saw more of thosebloated creatures holding Lone Star
(17:20):
bottles on the side of the room.
It's all good.
It's okay.
And by the way, Leanna nutriais kind of like an otter or a beaver,
but they're.
I didn't know that.
Yeah, Vegetarian, actually.
They're vegetarians.
They live down in the swampsdown in Louisiana.
On my eating the enemy show onAnimal Planet, we did nutria.
(17:41):
Yeah.
Interesting.
Yeah, we have them here.
We have them here.
So where's here?
Oregon.
I live in Oregon.
Ah, yeah, we have them.
And in fact, as soon as I turnoff the recording, I will tell you
a story about what happened to nutria.
Anyway, Stretch, it's.
It's been great to see you andtalk to you again, man.
(18:03):
It's always good.
Sure.
Thank you so much, guys.
And keep on smoking.
And look for the new albumcoming out hopefully by end of March.
Excellent.
We'll have to do some reviewsfor you.
Yeah.
It's all about food.
There's a song on there calledmy grill is a battlefield.
There's a song there calleddine and dash.
(18:25):
There's a song, it's a lovesong called I'll make you breakfast
in bed.
There's a song calledcarnivore of chaos.
So it's all food related, firestarter, propane and accessories.
There's a lot of fun stuff.
That's fun.
Yeah.
I can't wait to hear it.
(18:45):
I love it.
I love it.
All right, well, folks, that'sit for after hours here this week
on Barbecue Nation.
Ms. Leanne and I will be backnext week and Mr.
Stretch will be out in theworld somewhere causing chaos.
And we love it.
Thanks, bud.
Peace out, Stretch.
You got it.
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