November 15, 2025 • 42 mins
This podcast episode features an engaging discussion with Tuffy Stone, a renowned world champion in barbecue, who shares his experiences and insights following a period of significant change within the culinary landscape due to the pandemic. We delve into his recent travels, including international teaching engagements in Australia and Brazil, where he encountered diverse cooking techniques and cultural approaches to barbecue. The conversation also highlights Tuffy's evolution as a chef, reflecting on his transition from fine dining to mastering the art of barbecue while emphasizing the importance of flavor balance and ingredient quality. Additionally, we explore the growing popularity of barbecue rubs and seasonings, their versatility in various culinary applications, and the shift in consumer preferences towards healthier options. Join us as we uncover the intricate world of barbecue, enriched by Tuffy's profound knowledge and passion for this timeless culinary tradition.
Links referenced in this episode:
- paintedhillsnaturalbeef.com
- barbecuenationjt.com
- oregondungeness.org
- paintedhillsbeef.com
- gunterwilhelmknives.com
- heritagesteel.us
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Painted Hills Natural Beef
- Yeti
- Weber
- Cake Cape Grim
- Gunter Wilhelm
- Hammerstahl
- Kia
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
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 GoBurnett studios in Portland, here's
jt.
This is an encore.
Hey, everybody.
Welcome to the nation.
That's Barbecue Nation.
I'm JT along with my co host,co pilot, and hall of famer, Ms.
Leanne Whippen.
Camaro.
(00:20):
Dave, Commander, Chris,they're running around here someplace.
Dave's always trying to find aplace to park his car.
We would like to thank thefolks at Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Beef the way nature intended.
You can check themonline@painted hillsnaturalbeef.com
Leanne's had some PaintedHills Natural Beef.
She can vouch for them too,like I can.
Oh, boy, can I.
It was a holiday with thatprime rib that was just epic.
(00:44):
It was absolutely outstanding.
Pretty good stuff.
Pretty good stuff.
Yeah.
Well, the big news is we'vegot one of our favorite guests.
Not only is he a worldchampion, and you're a hall of famer
too.
Aren't you there?
Yes, he is, big guy.
Yeah.
Tuffy Stone is back with us today.
It's been a while.
While.
Been a couple years sinceDuffy's been on the show.
(01:06):
Welcome.
Well, thank you for having me.
And I thank you.
I think you have enhanced yourshow greatly by bringing in Leanne
Whipping as your co host.
Thank you.
Don't get to see your face enough.
But when I do, I'm always happy.
Yeah, thanks, Tuffy.
I gotta.
You know what?
I.
You're not the only personthat said, Tracy, that's probably
the best business decisiondecision you've made in 20 years
(01:28):
is bringing Leanne on board.
Now the question is, was it mine?
Yeah.
That REM to be seen.
I guess.
What's worse?
That or the cat named Pork Chop?
Pork Chop.
There you go.
Right.
I spend that my time with the cat.
When she starts putting a memeon the screen with a picture of Pork
(01:49):
Chop and Voice doing the voiceover.
I'm leaving.
Okay, so.
Oh, good.
So, Tuffy, what do you been.
What have you been up to?
We haven't talked to you, likeI said, for a while, you've been
busy.
You racked up a few more worldtitles under your belt since we talked
to you.
You know, it's been, you know,last year, you know, I'm sure Leanne
(02:09):
can relate to this too.
You know, a couple of years ofCOVID wasn't so great and.
And, you know, it hit the foodservice industry pretty hard, so
that was A big of a beat down.
I can't remember if last timeI spoke the other day was still alive
or not, but Leanne and I areboth in the club of losing our dads,
both of which were veryimportant to us.
(02:29):
Right.
But last year, you know, youknow, things started lifting and
I started traveling again anddoing a lot of teaching.
And so last year was a prettyaction packed calendar, you know,
and, you know, went from like,you know, not going anywhere, not
doing anything, to all of asudden saying yes to everything.
So I've had a little bit oftime off, but the calendar is going
(02:52):
to pop back into action, buteverything's good.
I saw that you had traveled internationally.
We did one of which.
One of my trips actually gotcanceled because so I went, I went
to.
I went to Australia for one ofmy trips and I ended up teaching,
went with Yeti and I ended upteaching three classes at Weber stores
(03:14):
there and doing some events.
And I ended up getting Covidon my way home.
And so I was supposed to turnaround, go to Germany, but that trip
canceled.
And then I was able to go toCanada for an event.
And then the coolest, probablyone of the cool, a very cool event,
I shouldn't compare, but I gotto go cook in Brazil for a big event
(03:35):
called Churrascata.
And I think I cooked like 400,450 beef tri tips.
So it was, yeah, it was a lotof work, but it was a cool event.
Now, Tuffy, I gotta tell yousomething about Brazil.
I've been there a couple timesand Leanne's heard this story, so
she can like go pet pork chopor something.
But I was.
(03:56):
First time I was in Brazil wasthe early 90s, and I had never heard
of a tri tip, even though Igrew up on a farm.
The butchers around where Ilive, they just grind it up and put
it into chuck or something,you know, hamburger, whatever.
And I went to one of therestaurants down there and I always
pronounce it wrong, so I'lljust say it starts with a C. But
(04:18):
they come by, they seat you,they bring you these big bowls of
like vegetables and potatoesand all this.
And then they come by withthese skewers and they slice off
different pieces of meat.
Okay.
And virtually anything you want.
I mean, I mean, one of thebest things I ate there was actually
Brahma bull hump, believe itor not.
Yeah, yeah, I've had it.
Yep.
Yeah, it's very good.
But they came by and they,they put some tri tip on my plate
(04:41):
and they Spoke English, not Portuguese.
That's.
That's a tough language, as Iknow you're finding out there.
And I ate it.
I went, wow, what is this?
And they came back and theybrought me some more, you know, like
that.
So they told me about it.
I came home and I went to mylocal butcher shop and I, I said,
hey, Dave, I said, can you cutme some tri tips?
(05:02):
He goes, what do you wantthose things for?
We just grind them up.
And I'm like, no, they're great.
And of course, the affinityfor tri tip has grown over the last
30 years.
It's huge now.
But that was the first place,not in my own backyard, but in South
America, where I found tritip interesting.
Yeah, yeah, it was really different.
(05:23):
What did you find in, like, inyour trip to Australia?
I love Australia.
Did you find that they werevery open people?
I did.
And really wanting to learnand absorb and, you know, it's not
just the old stupid thing.
Shrimp on the barbie.
No.
Well, you know, I mean, Ilike, I like the way the Australians
(05:43):
live life.
I mean, they all, they live itin the now when they holiday, they'll
take four or five weeks.
You know, they're, they'renot, they don't tend, you know, I
think over here in the U.S.sometimes we, we tend to like, all
right, we're going to work,work, work, and, and then save up
enough money to where we canretire and then we're going to travel
(06:03):
and then we find ourselveswith our knees too bad to go do the
trips that we want, you know,you know, the Aussies, they, they
get out there and see theworld while they're young and youthful.
And I really like that.
They've got a real zest for life.
They, they love outdoor cooking.
And, you know, the show thatLeanne and I did together, Barbecue
Pit Masters, that show stillairs reruns in, in Australia and
(06:28):
it runs in New Zealand.
And what that show did is it,it really turned on those countries
to American style barbecue andcompetition barbecue.
So they, they really.
There's a couple ofsanctioning bodies over there and,
you know, and KCBS is overthere as well.
And, you know, the Australianshave their own barbecue alliance
that some buddies of minestarted, but they're just, they,
(06:52):
you know, just like, you know,I think it's communal.
I mean, you know, it's like, Ilook at Leanne and it just takes
me back to probably the firstbarbecue contest ever cooked.
I met Leanne and that was whatit went back 2004.
But I mean, there's just thiscommunal enjoyment, hence your show
of people that just get deepgratification enjoyment, you know,
(07:13):
lighting the grill, lightingthe smoker and trying to coke something
great out of, out of a pieceof meat and.
But I, I've really enjoyed mytravels there.
I've been able to go, I wentover for three meat stocks.
My friend Jay Beaumont broughtme over for meat stock and Melbourne
and Sydney and then we went toAuckland, New Zealand and, and this
(07:35):
time we traveled, went overthere and we traveled all over Australia.
But you know, just, justteaching and sharing.
I mean, I taught more grilling.
I mean we got into barbecue alittle bit.
But I really like, I likepeople to get outdoors and cook all
the time, you know, andsometimes we don't have enough time
to cook a pork butt or abrisket or a rack of ribs, but we
always got time to grill, youknow, some pork or some beef or chicken
(07:57):
and light that fire.
And they're just, they're justlovely people.
I really enjoy them.
Do you find that the meat isdifferent over there?
Yeah, so the meat's differentover there.
So typically speaking, theydon't raise their hogs to be as large
as we raise our hogs to behere in the state.
So when you, when, you know,like I went over there a couple times
(08:17):
and actually taught classesvery specific to what we would do
in competition barbecue.
And so trying to find bigthick, meaty ribs over there was
a real challenge.
So their cuts are, theiranimals don't tend to, they don't
grow them as large.
Now one of the things that wasinteresting, Leanne, about the meat,
(08:38):
you know, I've always kind ofleaned, I've always had a preference
towards like grain finish, hogversus grass beef grain finished
beef versus grass fed.
But I had some beef that was,that I tried over there.
I think it's called Cake CapeGrim and it's out of Tasmania.
And I didn't know this,thought it was over there, but they
(09:00):
have more rainfall in Tasmaniathan they do anywhere in the country.
And so the grass grows, youknow, fast over there.
And so this grass fed beefthat they had over there was way
more marbleized than I wasaccustomed seeing, seeing over here.
But yeah, there's some changes.
I find that a lot in my travels.
(09:20):
You know, I get to travel alot of places and cook a lot of different
meats.
But the big thing I find iswith pork and they're just not growing
their animals to be as largeas we typically, you know, grow our
two before we harvest they didyou ever.
Order a salad while you werethere in Australia?
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure I did.
(09:41):
Why?
Memory?
Well, no, my first trip there,they took me to lunch one day.
I was there for about threeweeks and they took me to lunch and
they had a lovely big T boneand they brought it out and there
was a potato.
I said, well, I'd like a salad.
And they looked at me like Iwas from Mars.
(10:02):
And they said, what kind of salad?
I said, you know, like a green salad.
Lettuce.
And that's how they brought meout a bowl of lettuce and they set.
It down in front of me.
There was nothing else on it.
There was no.
No dressing or anything.
And I said, do you not havesalad dressings?
And they said, what's that?
And they were serious.
And this was a really nice restaurant.
(10:23):
And I said, well, how about.
Let me start with just somevinegar and oil and maybe if you
got a little chopped orpowdered garlic, something like that.
And so I mix my own up rightat the table.
Well, you told me earlier inthis talk, what year was that?
That would have been about 97,I think, the first time.
I don't know.
(10:43):
I think.
I mean, look, I'm having aninterview with you guys on Zoom,
where I can see your face andhear what you're saying.
And I'm on my telephone.
I think.
I think technology and hasmade this world so much smaller in
so many ways.
And.
And so I think there'sprobably been a little bit of movement
since then.
But there are definitelycultural changes, you know, everywhere
(11:07):
you go and certainly some bigfood changes.
But.
But it's interesting to hearyour conversations about.
I guess that was about 30years ago.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it wasreally interesting.
We are going to.
Excuse me, we're going to takea break.
We're going to be back withsix time champion.
World champion.
Do I have six times?
You know, it.
One is plenty.
(11:27):
I mean.
Yeah.
Well, we'll be back with Ms.Leanne and Tuffy Stone right after
this.
Don't go away.
Need a vehicle.
Does it feel hopeless?
Did other dealerships alreadysay no because of credit or negative
equity?
Weston Kia wants to say yesduring the Kia Fall Savings event.
Come see Weston Kia, Oregon'sall time leader in Kia sales.
January 1994 to December 2025.
(11:48):
Western Kids sold more newkids than any other kid dealer or
emperor.
Kia Corps.
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 and it'sgot five ply construction.
(12:10):
Stay cool handles.
It's titanium strengthened.
It's got all the great stuff.
Just go to Heritage Steel USand find out more.
You'll love it, I guarantee it.
This is an encore.
Welcome back to Barbecue Nation.
(12:31):
I'm JT along with hall ofFamer Leanne Whippen, and we've got
Tuffy Stone with us today.
We're going to pick up thatconversation in just a second.
If you want to email us,simplest way is to go to the website
barbecue nation, jt.com that'sBBQ nation, jt.com and there's a
little box there.
You can send us questions orwhatever you want and either Leanne
(12:53):
or I will answer them.
Also, you can find us onFacebook and Twitter and all that
stuff.
So we're out there.
I'm not sure how far we goanymore, but it just seems like it
just goes to infinity andbeyond, you know, as they would say
in the kids would be.
But we've got Tuffy Stone withus today.
We were talking about your travels.
(13:13):
Toughie.
Do you find it?
And I'm not trying to get youin trouble here, but was what was
more fun?
Australia and down in theSouthern hemisphere, maybe Brazil
or the stuff you've done in Europe.
Oh, golly.
You know, I've been sofortunate to go to so many amazing
places.
You know, I was able to go toSweden and, and teach in Sweden and
(13:36):
then travel with Johan, whohad brought me over.
We went to Denmark and, and wehad dinner at Noma and then from
there we went to Germany.
And, you know, I'd never beento any of those countries before
that trip and that was amazing.
The Aussies are justincredible and really live life to
its fullest.
And I love them.
(13:57):
Was able to go to New Zealandand, and go teach there and be a
part of an event and then gotto get in some, some fly fishing
and that was cool.
The Brazilians are so passionate.
They're just, they're so,they're just so passionate and they're,
and they got, I love the heartthat they have and I love, I love
what they do with cooking withfire and, and yeah, actually I was,
(14:21):
I've been to Brazil twice now,but I was able to meet a really inspiring
chef, Marcus Levy.
And he, he, he, he starts inhis mind creating these cooking apparatuses
about a year beforeChurrascata comes out.
And he built, like this yearhe had built these cages.
(14:41):
His thinking was, you know, Ihad to Have a translator, because
I don't speak Portuguese andhe didn't speak English.
So I had someone who had beenhelping me at my station had brought
me over.
I mean, he just, he blew my mind.
We connected so well, but hesaid that everybody's always looking
down at the fire, and hewanted people to look up at the fire.
(15:03):
So he created these cookingapparatuses out of steel and, and
they're like these cages.
And he had a winch like youmight have on the front of a boat
trailer, and he would hoistthese, these cages up into the sky.
And so part of the device held the.
The foods that he was cookingwith fire.
And it could have been meat,it could have been vegetable, it
(15:24):
could have been bone marrow.
And then he.
He had a device withinsidethat device where that actual fire
was, and he was able to movethat fire up and down within this
cylinder within the cooking apparatus.
You know, I've got images ofit actually.
Jay Beaumont took the images,but I've got images of these devices
(15:47):
actually on my Instagram.
But it just blew my mind.
And, you know, it's so humbling.
It's so nice.
It's always nice to be aroundto talk to people.
I mean, Leon and I've beenable to have lots of conversations
about cooking over the years,but it's always nice to.
To talk to somebody else aboutcooking and get different perspective
and, and, and share ideas and.
(16:10):
But this, this chef just blewmy mind.
He did things that I had neverever seen before.
But, you know, sometimes thosethings can be a little.
I want to.
Sometimes they're more cleverthan they are delicious.
Myself has been guilty of that.
But he made food for me thatwas just sublime.
It was like, all right, thisis really cool to watch, but when
(16:32):
you put it in your mouth, itwas amazing to eat.
Anyways, I don't know if Ianswered your question.
It's really hard to pick one place.
I mean, it's like.
I mean, Leanne and I'vetraveled all over the country to
all sorts of cool towns andstates and, and witness and gotten
to be a part of so many greatexperiences just here in the States.
(16:55):
It's just, I don't know, it'sreally cool to, like, be around new
people and learn.
Oh, absolutely.
So my question about thosedevices, was it charcoal lumped or
was it stick wood?
What was it?
Stick wood.
Big fires.
In fact, just a little sidenote, I burnt my shirt when I was
over there visiting and he wasgiving me a tour.
(17:20):
I bumped my head on One ofthese cages that was hoisted up in
the air with the fire, andwhen I bumped my head, these embers
came down all over my hair.
And so you got to be careful.
You know, it's like, walk carefully.
Oh, boy.
That would have been a bonfirefor me.
(17:42):
You look like one of those oldRoadrunner commercials where Coyote
just goes poof, and there hegot no hair.
Exactly.
Can I share a little story that.
Oh, hair dryer story?
Well, no, I think.
I think it's funny because Ithink it gives a little backstory
on barbecue Pitmasters.
So I was.
I was cooking in Dillard, Georgia.
(18:04):
I had a small contest that'sunfortunately gone away, and.
And it was a Friday, and I wascooking by myself, which is really
unusual.
And.
And John Marcus called me, andI picked up, and John said, hey,
hey, Tuffy, I've got this ideafor a television show, and.
And I want to know if it's allright if I could send a couple of
guys down from New York toRichmond to film you.
(18:28):
I'm going to put together asizzle reel.
And I said, sure, John, I cando that.
And then he went on further tosay that he had cast my role as a
professor.
Well, so they go.
They go to ChesapeakeWoodchucks to do the same with Leanne
before they come to Richmond.
So I think it's Monday night,and I get a phone call from Leanne,
(18:48):
and Leanne says, toughie, I.I'm sorry.
I gotta apologize.
And I said, what are youtalking about, Leanne?
And she said, well, you know,they wanted me to talk smack, and
they wanted me to talk trash.
And so I just was, like,trying to come up with stuff.
And I said, so I startedmaking fun of you and your spreadsheets,
and I'm being color coded andall this.
So, anyways, long story short,I stay up all night stressing out
(19:10):
over this thinking, man, Idon't talk trash.
I don't talk smack.
What am I going to do if they.
If they ask me to do the same?
And I literally didn't sleepall night about this.
So they come to my restaurantand they're filming, and now they
want trash.
And so I kind of come up withthese ideas in my head.
And so, like, one of the onesI came up with, like, I said, well,
(19:31):
I don't know if it's true ornot, but I hear Johnny's got a gun
in his boot.
And for Leanne, I said, I love Leanne.
I just don't like to cookbeside her because her hair Dryer
always knocks the power out inmy boot.
But we.
We had.
You know, we had such a funtime filming that show.
You know, like, you know,nothing was.
You know, sometimes peoplewould think, well, it was contrived
(19:53):
or it was made up, but it wasn't.
It just kind of wasn't good or bad.
It was.
It was what it was.
Okay, well, with that littlepiece of trivia, we're going to take
another break here on BarbecueNation on USA Radio Networks.
Tuffy, Leanne, and myself willbe back right after this.
Please stay with us.
(20:20):
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 andfind out how to cook it, how to catch
it, where to buy it, and thesustainability of what they're doing
(20:43):
there in the Oregon Crab Commission.
Check it out.
This is an encore.
Welcome back to Barbecue Nation.
I'm JT along with hall offamer Misley Ann Whippen and also
world champion Multiple,multiple times, Mr. Tuffy Stone.
(21:04):
We'd like to thank the folksat Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Beef kind of like your grandpaused to raise and beef the way nature
intended.
That's Painted Hills Naturalbeef dot com.
Also, Gunter Wilhelm knivesfor quality and durability and keeping
their edge at a reasonable price.
That's GunterWilhelmKnives.comin fact, I think David Malik's going
to be on the show in a few weeks.
(21:24):
So that's good.
We're talking about.
While we're reminiscing, I dohave to tell you this one quick story
about Tuffy.
When we were doing thePitmasters, the original one, he
was laid out in a hammock orsome sort of something, just relaxing
in the sun.
And, you know, everyone's kindof, like, buzzing around, and we
all looked at him and we'relike, what does he think he is?
(21:46):
Tuffy Cruise?
You know, like Tom Cruise.
It was.
So, yeah.
So we were calling him TuffyCruise for a while there.
Oh, my goodness.
Well, we're getting.
We're getting all the dirt onBarbecue Pitmasters.
There you go.
Can you.
Can you actually fly an F18 Duffy?
No, but ironically, I workedon them for four years, so, yeah,
(22:07):
I was F18 radar technician forfour years while I was in the.
In the Marine Corps.
So there you go.
There you go.
All right, let's talk a littlebit about.
About Tuffy and his cooking here.
What are.
How has your focus changedover the last, say, 15 years?
(22:31):
Are you doing things differentin your prep?
Are you doing things differentat the restaurant?
Your restaurant's verysuccessful, but.
And you're catering.
But how we all change, it'sjust a matter of, you know, what
is going on in our life.
But I want to know how hasTuffy changed his technique, procedure,
(22:51):
anything like that?
Pretty.
Let me just, you know, so I'm.
I'm currently without a restaurant.
My catering company's beengoing since 1993, and we will have
an event for 800 peopletomorrow night.
We'll have a staff of about 80some people working at it.
But I sold my restaurants.
(23:11):
Leanne knows how good that feels.
And so let's talk about foodand cooking.
So I started off in a Frenchkitchen back in 1987.
I moved from the front of thehouse in the back of the house and
thought my first name was acuss word for probably about the
first six months of being inthat kitchen.
But.
But I learned a lot, and Ifocused for a long time on really
(23:35):
hard to pronounce fancy food.
And it wasn't until 2004 thatI started to take a deep interest
in cooking with fire andtrying to learn how to make barbecue.
And.
And so I really.
I went off what I call thebarbecue deep end.
I really had a deep focus andtrying to learn how to cook with
(23:56):
fire, how to manage smoke, howto take the tougher cuts of meat
and try and coax somethingdelicious out of it.
In that journey, I found outabout competition barbecue and gave
that a go.
Eventually opened up,ultimately five barbecue restaurants.
And a lot of times withbarbecue restaurants, sometimes I
(24:20):
feel like the side dishes kindof are an afterthought, and the side
dishes, to me, are really important.
So as I developed my barbecuerestaurants, I tried to put a really
good focus and inclusion onthe side dishes as well.
And.
But I also learned a lot of lessons.
You know.
You know, a dish that I'vemade at my catering company for will
(24:42):
be 30 years old this year.
I've made salmon gravlox for30 years, and I never had one person
at event come up to me andsay, you know, Tuffy, I like your
salmon gravlocks, but mine is better.
But when I opened up my firstbarbecue restaurant, I realized that's
a different cuisine.
My potato salads compared toyour mom's or your grandmother's,
(25:02):
all these foods, you know,that people have strong opinions
about, whether it's yourbarbecue and the meats or the side
dishes that go with it.
When I was working on mycookbook and I finally picked a publisher
and I was like, now I wentfrom I think I need to do a cookbook
to I signed a contract and nowI got to do a cookbook.
I started to think, what, whatam I going to say?
(25:24):
What contribution am I goingto give to barbecue that complements
all these wonderful, amazingcookbooks that are out there?
And so I kind of like wentback to my roots of this high end
food and tried to blend inmaybe some of the sensibilities that
Chef Alana taught me and bringthat into foods that are in the barbecue
grilling world and see ifthere was a nice, healthy relationship
(25:47):
there.
I also, in that book realizedbecause we're so busy, I felt like
it was important for me toshare what I do as Cool Smoke and
competition barbecues.
I had to share that, and Ifelt like it was important to do
some slow cooked items, but Ialso realized we're also busy.
So I tried to do a lot ofgrilled recipes where it's only 20
minutes at the grill and not,you know, hours and hours and hours.
(26:11):
I really have had a deep focus lately.
Covid hit my businesses sohard, and I'd watched so many of
my friends getting so muchsuccess with their barbecue products
because nobody was going outto eat, but everybody was cooking
at home.
And so.
But again, it's the same wayas my cookbook.
There's a lot of cookbooks outthere and there's a lot of rubs and
(26:33):
sauces, so.
So I've recently kind ofrebranded all my products from Cool
Smoke to Tuffy Stone Barbecue Provisions.
And as I, as I make theserubs, I'm like, all right, what can
I make that's complimentary orreally delicious, or maybe it stands
out or if it's empty, you'llbuy another one when it's empty.
And so I've had a real deepconcentration in recipe development
(26:55):
for these products.
And I think, I think, like,I've got three new ones getting ready
to come out that I'm prettyexcited about.
But, you know, I tend to, Itend to explore all sorts of flavors.
It's not just paprika or chilipowder or garlic or onion or salt
or pepper, which I use all of those.
They're really important.
But I also branch out and, andbring in some other flavors that,
(27:17):
that I don't think offendedanybody, but maybe, maybe they're
just a little.
Maybe.
Maybe they're good, you know,and so, I don't know.
I mean, and.
And I tend to cook within the seasons.
I want to cook the foods thatare at, you know, I like to cook
corn in the summer, not in the winter.
I like to cook crab in thesummer and not in the winter.
I like to do foods that, youknow, take advantage of these ingredients
(27:38):
when they're at their best.
And I also like to cook foodthat when you're hot and sweltering,
you want to eat it.
So, I mean, where Leanne'sliving now, you know, it can be really
hot in the summer, so I'mgoing to lean towards brighter, lighter
foods, things that have alittle tang to it.
So, I don't know.
I mean, but also, I think themore I cook, the simpler my foods
get, too.
You know, it's like.
I mean, Leanne and I both beenmaking a living feeding people for
(28:00):
a long time.
And I mean, Leanne's reallyamazing cook.
I mean, it's like.
But sometimes my best dishesmight only have five ingredients
in them.
I agree with you wholeheartedly.
And I will say that my cookingstyle has changed a lot, too.
You know, I don't go forrecipes that have, you know, 10,
12 ingredients in it unlessit's like my chili.
(28:21):
But anyway, yeah, I just.
And it.
I don't know, I'm alwaysthinking about people, and when they
say, oh, I want to make that,you know, I want to make it something
that they don't have to go tothe store and spend a fortune on
all these different ingredients.
I like to have a lot ofthings, basics, as you probably do
in your pantry, so that, youknow, you can actually toss something
(28:43):
together, you know, any day ofthe week without having go in the
store, per se, you know.
Right.
Do you find.
And I'm going to ask both ofyou this question, but Leanne and
I have had this discussion offthe air quite a bit.
Tuffy, do you find that a lotof the barbecue products out there,
and they're all.
They're good products.
I'm not slamming anybody here,but for the most part, if you take
(29:06):
somebody that's not reallyastute at cooking, they enjoy barbecue,
they enjoy going out to eatwhat have you, and they go to the
barbecue store, the grocerystore, or whatever, and you take
these five bottles of Rub,it's hard for them sometimes to delineate
the difference in the flavors.
They're all very similar.
(29:26):
Well, I Think.
I think.
I think when it comes to.
If we look at, like, a classicbarbecue rub, there's probably over
100 out there that are very similar.
And I learned a lot of hardlessons when I first got into barbecue,
because I was coming intobarbecue with some of my.
My previous culinary experiences.
And I thought to myself, man,I'll bet demi glace or white truffle
(29:47):
salt is really good on bris.
And it is.
But I learned don't take thatto a barbecue contest.
I kind of coined this termcalled, I say it this way, the stereotypical
expected flavors of barbecue.
And I think there's a littleshift regionally, but there are some
flavors that tend to be reallyconsistent in their inclusion and
(30:08):
making barbecue.
I mean, it's the proteinitself, it's smoke.
John Willingham wrote a bookthat really inspired me when I first
got into barbecue.
And I read and he.
He said, smoke is dirt.
You know, we're cooking, we'renot smoking.
And I really hyper focused onthat and really studied that fire
(30:28):
management and trying to treatsmoke like salt and pepper.
But smoke is one of those flavors.
Salt is certainly one of those flavors.
Pepper is one of those flavors.
Granulated garlic, granulatedonion or powdered onion part, they're
going to be foundation flavorsthat are going to be very typical.
Paprika, chili powder.
There's going to be some ofthese flavors that just fit right
(30:49):
into what you would expectwhen you eat barbecue.
So that's why you find a lotof this commonality when you.
When you look at the.
And.
And I think we could take probably.
Lee and I could Both probablytake 40 or 50 rubs out there and
go to a barbecue contest andfare pretty well because we have
the.
We have the techniques, weknow when to apply, how much to apply,
(31:11):
right texture, all these kindof things.
So it becomes.
It becomes not a lot ofdifferent from one from the other.
So I think where you got tostart to make a difference is, you
know, I.
Sometimes I've been made funof with my recipe development, and
sometimes, like, if you get mycookbook, it's a little bit of a
pain because I say atablespoon plus a teaspoon plus a
(31:32):
half a teaspoon plus an eighthof a teaspoon.
I probably shouldn't have justgone into weights, because that would
have been an easier way tospeak about that.
But I also thought most homesdon't have a digital scale, right?
And that's why I went that route.
But I felt like that thatextra eighth of a teaspoon really
made a difference.
And so I think finding thatbalance of flavors and then you got
(31:52):
to decide, all right, does ithave sugar or not?
And if so, what kind of sugar?
So there are things that wecan do to maybe make that rub that's
very similar to so many othersstand out.
But it takes, takes work andit takes develop there.
There are some people outthere that have products on the market,
they don't know their recipe.
They went to a co packer thatkind of helped him along and that's
okay, too.
(32:12):
We're going to take a break.
We're going to take a breakand the three of us will be back.
Talk some more aboutseasonings here on Barbecue Nation
with Cuppy Stone right after this.
Need a vehicle?
Does it feel hopeless?
Did other dealerships alreadysay no because of credit or negative
equity?
Weston Kia wants to say yesduring the Kia Fall Savings event.
Come see Weston Kia, Oregon'sall time leader in Kia sales.
January 1994 to December 2025,Weston Kia sold more new kids than
(32:35):
any other kid dealer orEmperor Kia Corp.
Hey, everybody, it's jt.
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
(32:55):
will make your taste buds explode.
Put a big bright smile on yourface and whoever's at your dinner
table will have a big brightsmile on their face.
And you can thank me for that later.
Just go topaintedhillsbeef.com and find out
more.
You won't regret it.
Hey, everybody, J.T.
here.
I want to tell you about theHammerstahl knives.
(33:15):
Hammer Stahl combines Germansteel with beautiful and functioning
designs.
They're part of the HeritageSteel Group, which also does their
pots and pans.
So go to heritagesteel USCheck out the Hammer Stahl knives.
If you're really into cooking.
I think you're really gonnalike them.
(33:41):
This is an encore.
Welcome back to the Nation.
That's Barbecue Nation with jtthat's me, with Leanne Whippen.
Hall of Famer.
That's her, also hall of famer.
On the other end of the screentoday, Mr. Tuffy Stone, the professor.
I was going to say that and I forgot.
We'll be back with theprofessor right after this.
And I wanted to see how manypeople would catch that.
But you were talking about rubs.
(34:02):
Do you think that we kind ofare getting to the point?
Maybe we're not there yet,Tuffy, but with, with rubs, with,
you know, you can Call them blends.
You can call them all purpose seasonings.
You can.
You can call anything you want.
You know, there's no lawagainst that.
But do you think that we areseeing where some people are taking
(34:24):
one of Tuffy's Barbecueseasonings, and they're going, but
this would be good on broccoli.
Are we seeing peopleexperiment a little more crossing
over and using products like that?
I mean, I would think so.
I mean, I just had thisthought, all right, Leanne.
I might get it wrong, but Ithink I got it right.
(34:44):
You tell me, is it Tab's pig powder?
Yeah, that's my dad.
That's my maiden name.
Tab.
Yeah.
Trish Pig powder.
Well, I loved your dad, Jim.
Tab was like, amazing.
But.
But anyways, there.
There's.
There's a product that's beenmade before I met you.
And so it's.
It's a product that's beenaround for decades now.
(35:06):
And.
And why has it been arounddecades is because it's really good.
I think Byron Chisholm ButtRub is a great example of someone
that.
I think he's had this productout for 25 years now or something
like that.
Those.
Those products have stood thetest of time, and it's because they're
good.
And I think.
I think with products likethose, or any product that's good,
(35:30):
it's got to be universal.
I mean, it's good.
It might.
It might have been built forpork, but it's great on beef or it's
great on chicken or it's greaton vegetables.
I, you know, sometimes.
Sometimes meat lovers get, youknow, beat up on salads or beat up
on vegetables.
But I love.
I love grilling broccoli.
(35:50):
I love grilling broccolini.
I love getting that crisp bechar on vegetables on a hot grill.
And so I think.
I think a lot of these.
These rubs, and anybody that'swatching or listening, if you haven't
thought about it before now,these, These.
These seasoning blends, theserubs, whatever we want to call them,
(36:11):
while they might have beenintended for.
For beef or pork or poultry orwhatever, my guess is they're great
on a lot of different foodsbecause of the ingredients and there
makes them very versatile.
Yeah, I can tell you I canvouch for pig powder because I've
actually been experimentingwith it here at the Casa Tracy and
(36:34):
my new air fryer, I got an airfryer for Christmas.
I've got all the grills andstuff you want in the world out on
the porch.
But my wife asked me what Ireally wanted, and I told her an
air fryer.
So I've been doing, like, theother day just to tell you, I used
your pig powder on somescallops and some prawns, and I used
the pig powder on that in theair fryer.
And my wife, who's not a hugeseafood fan, ate every damn shrimp.
(36:59):
So I think I got one maybewhen I was bringing it in from the
kitchen to the living room towatch the ball game.
But the versatility is whatI'm talking about.
Not just in your product, butwhat the conversation has been about.
But it's really, really good.
I mean, if you think about it,I bet you every pantry has, like,
Canadian steak seasoning.
You know what I mean?
(37:20):
It's like people fall in lovewith a spice, and then it just catches
on everywhere.
And, yeah, there are certain standouts.
And, yeah, Byron's, I agreewith you.
Tuffy, that's been around fora long time, and it is everywhere,
too, which is nice.
Well, I mean, we've just seena lot of new products come out there
that are really successful.
(37:41):
But to make it 25 years or tomake it as long as is pig powder,
that list gets shorter.
Yeah, yeah, it really.
It really, really does.
But.
And I also think.
I chuckle sometimes.
The people we've had on theshow, and Leanne's been doing this
with me now for over a year,and they'll.
They'll say, well, we're.
(38:02):
We're selling this and we'redoing this, and.
But they haven't got a co packer.
They're still mixing it up intheir kitchen with their little digital
scale, and they're doing that.
And I have to give them creditfor that, for being tenacious enough
to stay with it, because theretail beast is something a whole
lot more.
You know, what's interestingis that when you used to walk down
(38:23):
not even the barbecue aisle,just regular barbecue sauce aisle,
you never saw any rubs.
And now some of the rubs areexceeding the amount of sauces.
And I spoke to a very largeretailer and I said, so what sells
more, the sauces or the rubs?
He goes, the rubs.
So I think people are alsohealth conscious and feel like since
(38:43):
a lot of sauces have sugar init, you know, they're staying away
from that and they are goingmore to the seasonings.
So hence the large market out there.
But it's tough.
It's brand confusion.
Not brand confusion, but it'sjust confusion for the consumer.
And it's overwhelming, evenfor myself to walk down those Aisles.
And then it becomes almost,what am I cooking?
(39:06):
What stands out as an ingredient?
And, you know, you're lookingat label colors, which ones are,
you know, grabbing your attention.
So a lot of it is success, Ithink, is based on marketing.
And, Tuffy, as you said, youkind of changed your strategy or
your packaging or whatever.
And I love your new packaging.
(39:27):
It points to you because thecompetitors know cool smoke, but
most of the people know youfrom television.
They know Tuffy Stone.
So I'm glad that you kind ofreversed your.
Or changed your, you know,your labeling and everything to reflect
you, because I think that's important.
It took a pandemic to put mein check.
(39:49):
I still get embarrassed aboutbeing around them or.
But anyway, so you gotta do it.
I know, I know, right?
You gotta.
Gotta try and make a living.
I bet you guys tore it up afew times.
I'm just throwing that out there.
Not really.
Not really.
Well, you know, I feel likeI'm talking to my sister right now.
It's a family.
It's like, we just.
We've had so many journeys together.
We've known each other for so long.
(40:10):
It's like.
I mean, it's like I.
Last year, I was able to,like, spend time with you a couple
of different times, and it wasjust so nice.
It's like being.
Being with a friend, you know, we.
Really never had the time onthe circuit.
Yeah, we had our littlepowwows quick and whatever, but,
yeah, it's.
It's nice.
It's.
It's more relaxed.
(40:31):
And I would say.
I mean.
Yeah.
Anyway, so we had to get back and.
And baste the ribs, spritz theribs, trim the meat, make the sauce.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, Tuffy, thank you forbeing with us on Barbecue Nation.
He is going to stick aroundfor the after hours, the part that
you get only online because ofFCC regulations.
(40:53):
But it's been a real.
It's.
It's been a really good timeto talk to you again.
And let's not make it, what, three.
I feel like we've been on theair, like, 10 minutes.
That's the fastest any showhas ever gone for me.
It's just.
I'm.
Oh, my God.
We need to do another one.
Whatever.
Okay.
We'll do After Hours.
We'll do After Hours.
We'll get it out in there.
And next week, we'll have Stretch.
(41:15):
All right.
Yeah, we're gonna have Stretch.
Hey, Tuffy, here's a questionfor you really quickly before we
go.
Do you know what Stretch'sreal name is.
I can tell you.
Hold on.
First time I met Stretch, Iwatched him do backflips and a cape
and his grill caught on fire.
Tell me, I can't remember, butJeff Ruminer.
(41:36):
Yeah.
Are you R u m a N E r?
I've gotten to do some good,good things with Stretch, too.
I like Stretch.
Yeah, riot.
He's gonna be actually.
He actually.
Stretch made the trophy that.
That Leon and I both have for.
Yeah, Barbecue hall of Fame.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I found that out last week.
Anyway, we'll be back.
Tuffy.
Thank you, Ms. Leanne.
Thank you and thank you.
(41:56):
We'll be after hours to becoming up here shortly, so remember
our motto here.
Turn it, don't burn it.
Take care, everybody.
Barbecue Nation is produced byJTSD, LLC.
Productions and associationwith Envision Networks and Salem
Media Group.
All rights reserved.
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 GoBurnett studios in Portland, here's
jt.
This is an encore.
Hey, everybody.
Welcome to the nation.
That's Barbecue Nation.
I'm JT along with my co host,co pilot, and hall of famer, Ms.
Leanne Whippen.
Camaro.
(00:20):
Dave, Commander, Chris,they're running around here someplace.
Dave's always trying to find aplace to park his car.
We would like to thank thefolks at Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Beef the way nature intended.
You can check themonline@painted hillsnaturalbeef.com
Leanne's had some PaintedHills Natural Beef.
She can vouch for them too,like I can.
Oh, boy, can I.
It was a holiday with thatprime rib that was just epic.
(00:44):
It was absolutely outstanding.
Pretty good stuff.
Pretty good stuff.
Yeah.
Well, the big news is we'vegot one of our favorite guests.
Not only is he a worldchampion, and you're a hall of famer
too.
Aren't you there?
Yes, he is, big guy.
Yeah.
Tuffy Stone is back with us today.
It's been a while.
While.
Been a couple years sinceDuffy's been on the show.
(01:06):
Welcome.
Well, thank you for having me.
And I thank you.
I think you have enhanced yourshow greatly by bringing in Leanne
Whipping as your co host.
Thank you.
Don't get to see your face enough.
But when I do, I'm always happy.
Yeah, thanks, Tuffy.
I gotta.
You know what?
I.
You're not the only personthat said, Tracy, that's probably
the best business decisiondecision you've made in 20 years
(01:28):
is bringing Leanne on board.
Now the question is, was it mine?
Yeah.
That REM to be seen.
I guess.
What's worse?
That or the cat named Pork Chop?
Pork Chop.
There you go.
Right.
I spend that my time with the cat.
When she starts putting a memeon the screen with a picture of Pork
(01:49):
Chop and Voice doing the voiceover.
I'm leaving.
Okay, so.
Oh, good.
So, Tuffy, what do you been.
What have you been up to?
We haven't talked to you, likeI said, for a while, you've been
busy.
You racked up a few more worldtitles under your belt since we talked
to you.
You know, it's been, you know,last year, you know, I'm sure Leanne
(02:09):
can relate to this too.
You know, a couple of years ofCOVID wasn't so great and.
And, you know, it hit the foodservice industry pretty hard, so
that was A big of a beat down.
I can't remember if last timeI spoke the other day was still alive
or not, but Leanne and I areboth in the club of losing our dads,
both of which were veryimportant to us.
(02:29):
Right.
But last year, you know, youknow, things started lifting and
I started traveling again anddoing a lot of teaching.
And so last year was a prettyaction packed calendar, you know,
and, you know, went from like,you know, not going anywhere, not
doing anything, to all of asudden saying yes to everything.
So I've had a little bit oftime off, but the calendar is going
(02:52):
to pop back into action, buteverything's good.
I saw that you had traveled internationally.
We did one of which.
One of my trips actually gotcanceled because so I went, I went
to.
I went to Australia for one ofmy trips and I ended up teaching,
went with Yeti and I ended upteaching three classes at Weber stores
(03:14):
there and doing some events.
And I ended up getting Covidon my way home.
And so I was supposed to turnaround, go to Germany, but that trip
canceled.
And then I was able to go toCanada for an event.
And then the coolest, probablyone of the cool, a very cool event,
I shouldn't compare, but I gotto go cook in Brazil for a big event
(03:35):
called Churrascata.
And I think I cooked like 400,450 beef tri tips.
So it was, yeah, it was a lotof work, but it was a cool event.
Now, Tuffy, I gotta tell yousomething about Brazil.
I've been there a couple timesand Leanne's heard this story, so
she can like go pet pork chopor something.
But I was.
(03:56):
First time I was in Brazil wasthe early 90s, and I had never heard
of a tri tip, even though Igrew up on a farm.
The butchers around where Ilive, they just grind it up and put
it into chuck or something,you know, hamburger, whatever.
And I went to one of therestaurants down there and I always
pronounce it wrong, so I'lljust say it starts with a C. But
(04:18):
they come by, they seat you,they bring you these big bowls of
like vegetables and potatoesand all this.
And then they come by withthese skewers and they slice off
different pieces of meat.
Okay.
And virtually anything you want.
I mean, I mean, one of thebest things I ate there was actually
Brahma bull hump, believe itor not.
Yeah, yeah, I've had it.
Yep.
Yeah, it's very good.
But they came by and they,they put some tri tip on my plate
(04:41):
and they Spoke English, not Portuguese.
That's.
That's a tough language, as Iknow you're finding out there.
And I ate it.
I went, wow, what is this?
And they came back and theybrought me some more, you know, like
that.
So they told me about it.
I came home and I went to mylocal butcher shop and I, I said,
hey, Dave, I said, can you cutme some tri tips?
(05:02):
He goes, what do you wantthose things for?
We just grind them up.
And I'm like, no, they're great.
And of course, the affinityfor tri tip has grown over the last
30 years.
It's huge now.
But that was the first place,not in my own backyard, but in South
America, where I found tritip interesting.
Yeah, yeah, it was really different.
(05:23):
What did you find in, like, inyour trip to Australia?
I love Australia.
Did you find that they werevery open people?
I did.
And really wanting to learnand absorb and, you know, it's not
just the old stupid thing.
Shrimp on the barbie.
No.
Well, you know, I mean, Ilike, I like the way the Australians
(05:43):
live life.
I mean, they all, they live itin the now when they holiday, they'll
take four or five weeks.
You know, they're, they'renot, they don't tend, you know, I
think over here in the U.S.sometimes we, we tend to like, all
right, we're going to work,work, work, and, and then save up
enough money to where we canretire and then we're going to travel
(06:03):
and then we find ourselveswith our knees too bad to go do the
trips that we want, you know,you know, the Aussies, they, they
get out there and see theworld while they're young and youthful.
And I really like that.
They've got a real zest for life.
They, they love outdoor cooking.
And, you know, the show thatLeanne and I did together, Barbecue
Pit Masters, that show stillairs reruns in, in Australia and
(06:28):
it runs in New Zealand.
And what that show did is it,it really turned on those countries
to American style barbecue andcompetition barbecue.
So they, they really.
There's a couple ofsanctioning bodies over there and,
you know, and KCBS is overthere as well.
And, you know, the Australianshave their own barbecue alliance
that some buddies of minestarted, but they're just, they,
(06:52):
you know, just like, you know,I think it's communal.
I mean, you know, it's like, Ilook at Leanne and it just takes
me back to probably the firstbarbecue contest ever cooked.
I met Leanne and that was whatit went back 2004.
But I mean, there's just thiscommunal enjoyment, hence your show
of people that just get deepgratification enjoyment, you know,
(07:13):
lighting the grill, lightingthe smoker and trying to coke something
great out of, out of a pieceof meat and.
But I, I've really enjoyed mytravels there.
I've been able to go, I wentover for three meat stocks.
My friend Jay Beaumont broughtme over for meat stock and Melbourne
and Sydney and then we went toAuckland, New Zealand and, and this
(07:35):
time we traveled, went overthere and we traveled all over Australia.
But you know, just, justteaching and sharing.
I mean, I taught more grilling.
I mean we got into barbecue alittle bit.
But I really like, I likepeople to get outdoors and cook all
the time, you know, andsometimes we don't have enough time
to cook a pork butt or abrisket or a rack of ribs, but we
always got time to grill, youknow, some pork or some beef or chicken
(07:57):
and light that fire.
And they're just, they're justlovely people.
I really enjoy them.
Do you find that the meat isdifferent over there?
Yeah, so the meat's differentover there.
So typically speaking, theydon't raise their hogs to be as large
as we raise our hogs to behere in the state.
So when you, when, you know,like I went over there a couple times
(08:17):
and actually taught classesvery specific to what we would do
in competition barbecue.
And so trying to find bigthick, meaty ribs over there was
a real challenge.
So their cuts are, theiranimals don't tend to, they don't
grow them as large.
Now one of the things that wasinteresting, Leanne, about the meat,
(08:38):
you know, I've always kind ofleaned, I've always had a preference
towards like grain finish, hogversus grass beef grain finished
beef versus grass fed.
But I had some beef that was,that I tried over there.
I think it's called Cake CapeGrim and it's out of Tasmania.
And I didn't know this,thought it was over there, but they
(09:00):
have more rainfall in Tasmaniathan they do anywhere in the country.
And so the grass grows, youknow, fast over there.
And so this grass fed beefthat they had over there was way
more marbleized than I wasaccustomed seeing, seeing over here.
But yeah, there's some changes.
I find that a lot in my travels.
(09:20):
You know, I get to travel alot of places and cook a lot of different
meats.
But the big thing I find iswith pork and they're just not growing
their animals to be as largeas we typically, you know, grow our
two before we harvest they didyou ever.
Order a salad while you werethere in Australia?
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure I did.
(09:41):
Why?
Memory?
Well, no, my first trip there,they took me to lunch one day.
I was there for about threeweeks and they took me to lunch and
they had a lovely big T boneand they brought it out and there
was a potato.
I said, well, I'd like a salad.
And they looked at me like Iwas from Mars.
(10:02):
And they said, what kind of salad?
I said, you know, like a green salad.
Lettuce.
And that's how they brought meout a bowl of lettuce and they set.
It down in front of me.
There was nothing else on it.
There was no.
No dressing or anything.
And I said, do you not havesalad dressings?
And they said, what's that?
And they were serious.
And this was a really nice restaurant.
(10:23):
And I said, well, how about.
Let me start with just somevinegar and oil and maybe if you
got a little chopped orpowdered garlic, something like that.
And so I mix my own up rightat the table.
Well, you told me earlier inthis talk, what year was that?
That would have been about 97,I think, the first time.
I don't know.
(10:43):
I think.
I mean, look, I'm having aninterview with you guys on Zoom,
where I can see your face andhear what you're saying.
And I'm on my telephone.
I think.
I think technology and hasmade this world so much smaller in
so many ways.
And.
And so I think there'sprobably been a little bit of movement
since then.
But there are definitelycultural changes, you know, everywhere
(11:07):
you go and certainly some bigfood changes.
But.
But it's interesting to hearyour conversations about.
I guess that was about 30years ago.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it wasreally interesting.
We are going to.
Excuse me, we're going to takea break.
We're going to be back withsix time champion.
World champion.
Do I have six times?
You know, it.
One is plenty.
(11:27):
I mean.
Yeah.
Well, we'll be back with Ms.Leanne and Tuffy Stone right after
this.
Don't go away.
Need a vehicle.
Does it feel hopeless?
Did other dealerships alreadysay no because of credit or negative
equity?
Weston Kia wants to say yesduring the Kia Fall Savings event.
Come see Weston Kia, Oregon'sall time leader in Kia sales.
January 1994 to December 2025.
(11:48):
Western Kids sold more newkids than any other kid dealer or
emperor.
Kia Corps.
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 and it'sgot five ply construction.
(12:10):
Stay cool handles.
It's titanium strengthened.
It's got all the great stuff.
Just go to Heritage Steel USand find out more.
You'll love it, I guarantee it.
This is an encore.
Welcome back to Barbecue Nation.
(12:31):
I'm JT along with hall ofFamer Leanne Whippen, and we've got
Tuffy Stone with us today.
We're going to pick up thatconversation in just a second.
If you want to email us,simplest way is to go to the website
barbecue nation, jt.com that'sBBQ nation, jt.com and there's a
little box there.
You can send us questions orwhatever you want and either Leanne
(12:53):
or I will answer them.
Also, you can find us onFacebook and Twitter and all that
stuff.
So we're out there.
I'm not sure how far we goanymore, but it just seems like it
just goes to infinity andbeyond, you know, as they would say
in the kids would be.
But we've got Tuffy Stone withus today.
We were talking about your travels.
(13:13):
Toughie.
Do you find it?
And I'm not trying to get youin trouble here, but was what was
more fun?
Australia and down in theSouthern hemisphere, maybe Brazil
or the stuff you've done in Europe.
Oh, golly.
You know, I've been sofortunate to go to so many amazing
places.
You know, I was able to go toSweden and, and teach in Sweden and
(13:36):
then travel with Johan, whohad brought me over.
We went to Denmark and, and wehad dinner at Noma and then from
there we went to Germany.
And, you know, I'd never beento any of those countries before
that trip and that was amazing.
The Aussies are justincredible and really live life to
its fullest.
And I love them.
(13:57):
Was able to go to New Zealandand, and go teach there and be a
part of an event and then gotto get in some, some fly fishing
and that was cool.
The Brazilians are so passionate.
They're just, they're so,they're just so passionate and they're,
and they got, I love the heartthat they have and I love, I love
what they do with cooking withfire and, and yeah, actually I was,
(14:21):
I've been to Brazil twice now,but I was able to meet a really inspiring
chef, Marcus Levy.
And he, he, he, he starts inhis mind creating these cooking apparatuses
about a year beforeChurrascata comes out.
And he built, like this yearhe had built these cages.
(14:41):
His thinking was, you know, Ihad to Have a translator, because
I don't speak Portuguese andhe didn't speak English.
So I had someone who had beenhelping me at my station had brought
me over.
I mean, he just, he blew my mind.
We connected so well, but hesaid that everybody's always looking
down at the fire, and hewanted people to look up at the fire.
(15:03):
So he created these cookingapparatuses out of steel and, and
they're like these cages.
And he had a winch like youmight have on the front of a boat
trailer, and he would hoistthese, these cages up into the sky.
And so part of the device held the.
The foods that he was cookingwith fire.
And it could have been meat,it could have been vegetable, it
(15:24):
could have been bone marrow.
And then he.
He had a device withinsidethat device where that actual fire
was, and he was able to movethat fire up and down within this
cylinder within the cooking apparatus.
You know, I've got images ofit actually.
Jay Beaumont took the images,but I've got images of these devices
(15:47):
actually on my Instagram.
But it just blew my mind.
And, you know, it's so humbling.
It's so nice.
It's always nice to be aroundto talk to people.
I mean, Leon and I've beenable to have lots of conversations
about cooking over the years,but it's always nice to.
To talk to somebody else aboutcooking and get different perspective
and, and, and share ideas and.
(16:10):
But this, this chef just blewmy mind.
He did things that I had neverever seen before.
But, you know, sometimes thosethings can be a little.
I want to.
Sometimes they're more cleverthan they are delicious.
Myself has been guilty of that.
But he made food for me thatwas just sublime.
It was like, all right, thisis really cool to watch, but when
(16:32):
you put it in your mouth, itwas amazing to eat.
Anyways, I don't know if Ianswered your question.
It's really hard to pick one place.
I mean, it's like.
I mean, Leanne and I'vetraveled all over the country to
all sorts of cool towns andstates and, and witness and gotten
to be a part of so many greatexperiences just here in the States.
(16:55):
It's just, I don't know, it'sreally cool to, like, be around new
people and learn.
Oh, absolutely.
So my question about thosedevices, was it charcoal lumped or
was it stick wood?
What was it?
Stick wood.
Big fires.
In fact, just a little sidenote, I burnt my shirt when I was
over there visiting and he wasgiving me a tour.
(17:20):
I bumped my head on One ofthese cages that was hoisted up in
the air with the fire, andwhen I bumped my head, these embers
came down all over my hair.
And so you got to be careful.
You know, it's like, walk carefully.
Oh, boy.
That would have been a bonfirefor me.
(17:42):
You look like one of those oldRoadrunner commercials where Coyote
just goes poof, and there hegot no hair.
Exactly.
Can I share a little story that.
Oh, hair dryer story?
Well, no, I think.
I think it's funny because Ithink it gives a little backstory
on barbecue Pitmasters.
So I was.
I was cooking in Dillard, Georgia.
(18:04):
I had a small contest that'sunfortunately gone away, and.
And it was a Friday, and I wascooking by myself, which is really
unusual.
And.
And John Marcus called me, andI picked up, and John said, hey,
hey, Tuffy, I've got this ideafor a television show, and.
And I want to know if it's allright if I could send a couple of
guys down from New York toRichmond to film you.
(18:28):
I'm going to put together asizzle reel.
And I said, sure, John, I cando that.
And then he went on further tosay that he had cast my role as a
professor.
Well, so they go.
They go to ChesapeakeWoodchucks to do the same with Leanne
before they come to Richmond.
So I think it's Monday night,and I get a phone call from Leanne,
(18:48):
and Leanne says, toughie, I.I'm sorry.
I gotta apologize.
And I said, what are youtalking about, Leanne?
And she said, well, you know,they wanted me to talk smack, and
they wanted me to talk trash.
And so I just was, like,trying to come up with stuff.
And I said, so I startedmaking fun of you and your spreadsheets,
and I'm being color coded andall this.
So, anyways, long story short,I stay up all night stressing out
(19:10):
over this thinking, man, Idon't talk trash.
I don't talk smack.
What am I going to do if they.
If they ask me to do the same?
And I literally didn't sleepall night about this.
So they come to my restaurantand they're filming, and now they
want trash.
And so I kind of come up withthese ideas in my head.
And so, like, one of the onesI came up with, like, I said, well,
(19:31):
I don't know if it's true ornot, but I hear Johnny's got a gun
in his boot.
And for Leanne, I said, I love Leanne.
I just don't like to cookbeside her because her hair Dryer
always knocks the power out inmy boot.
But we.
We had.
You know, we had such a funtime filming that show.
You know, like, you know,nothing was.
You know, sometimes peoplewould think, well, it was contrived
(19:53):
or it was made up, but it wasn't.
It just kind of wasn't good or bad.
It was.
It was what it was.
Okay, well, with that littlepiece of trivia, we're going to take
another break here on BarbecueNation on USA Radio Networks.
Tuffy, Leanne, and myself willbe back right after this.
Please stay with us.
(20:20):
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 andfind out how to cook it, how to catch
it, where to buy it, and thesustainability of what they're doing
(20:43):
there in the Oregon Crab Commission.
Check it out.
This is an encore.
Welcome back to Barbecue Nation.
I'm JT along with hall offamer Misley Ann Whippen and also
world champion Multiple,multiple times, Mr. Tuffy Stone.
(21:04):
We'd like to thank the folksat Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Beef kind of like your grandpaused to raise and beef the way nature
intended.
That's Painted Hills Naturalbeef dot com.
Also, Gunter Wilhelm knivesfor quality and durability and keeping
their edge at a reasonable price.
That's GunterWilhelmKnives.comin fact, I think David Malik's going
to be on the show in a few weeks.
(21:24):
So that's good.
We're talking about.
While we're reminiscing, I dohave to tell you this one quick story
about Tuffy.
When we were doing thePitmasters, the original one, he
was laid out in a hammock orsome sort of something, just relaxing
in the sun.
And, you know, everyone's kindof, like, buzzing around, and we
all looked at him and we'relike, what does he think he is?
(21:46):
Tuffy Cruise?
You know, like Tom Cruise.
It was.
So, yeah.
So we were calling him TuffyCruise for a while there.
Oh, my goodness.
Well, we're getting.
We're getting all the dirt onBarbecue Pitmasters.
There you go.
Can you.
Can you actually fly an F18 Duffy?
No, but ironically, I workedon them for four years, so, yeah,
(22:07):
I was F18 radar technician forfour years while I was in the.
In the Marine Corps.
So there you go.
There you go.
All right, let's talk a littlebit about.
About Tuffy and his cooking here.
What are.
How has your focus changedover the last, say, 15 years?
(22:31):
Are you doing things differentin your prep?
Are you doing things differentat the restaurant?
Your restaurant's verysuccessful, but.
And you're catering.
But how we all change, it'sjust a matter of, you know, what
is going on in our life.
But I want to know how hasTuffy changed his technique, procedure,
(22:51):
anything like that?
Pretty.
Let me just, you know, so I'm.
I'm currently without a restaurant.
My catering company's beengoing since 1993, and we will have
an event for 800 peopletomorrow night.
We'll have a staff of about 80some people working at it.
But I sold my restaurants.
(23:11):
Leanne knows how good that feels.
And so let's talk about foodand cooking.
So I started off in a Frenchkitchen back in 1987.
I moved from the front of thehouse in the back of the house and
thought my first name was acuss word for probably about the
first six months of being inthat kitchen.
But.
But I learned a lot, and Ifocused for a long time on really
(23:35):
hard to pronounce fancy food.
And it wasn't until 2004 thatI started to take a deep interest
in cooking with fire andtrying to learn how to make barbecue.
And.
And so I really.
I went off what I call thebarbecue deep end.
I really had a deep focus andtrying to learn how to cook with
(23:56):
fire, how to manage smoke, howto take the tougher cuts of meat
and try and coax somethingdelicious out of it.
In that journey, I found outabout competition barbecue and gave
that a go.
Eventually opened up,ultimately five barbecue restaurants.
And a lot of times withbarbecue restaurants, sometimes I
(24:20):
feel like the side dishes kindof are an afterthought, and the side
dishes, to me, are really important.
So as I developed my barbecuerestaurants, I tried to put a really
good focus and inclusion onthe side dishes as well.
And.
But I also learned a lot of lessons.
You know.
You know, a dish that I'vemade at my catering company for will
(24:42):
be 30 years old this year.
I've made salmon gravlox for30 years, and I never had one person
at event come up to me andsay, you know, Tuffy, I like your
salmon gravlocks, but mine is better.
But when I opened up my firstbarbecue restaurant, I realized that's
a different cuisine.
My potato salads compared toyour mom's or your grandmother's,
(25:02):
all these foods, you know,that people have strong opinions
about, whether it's yourbarbecue and the meats or the side
dishes that go with it.
When I was working on mycookbook and I finally picked a publisher
and I was like, now I wentfrom I think I need to do a cookbook
to I signed a contract and nowI got to do a cookbook.
I started to think, what, whatam I going to say?
(25:24):
What contribution am I goingto give to barbecue that complements
all these wonderful, amazingcookbooks that are out there?
And so I kind of like wentback to my roots of this high end
food and tried to blend inmaybe some of the sensibilities that
Chef Alana taught me and bringthat into foods that are in the barbecue
grilling world and see ifthere was a nice, healthy relationship
(25:47):
there.
I also, in that book realizedbecause we're so busy, I felt like
it was important for me toshare what I do as Cool Smoke and
competition barbecues.
I had to share that, and Ifelt like it was important to do
some slow cooked items, but Ialso realized we're also busy.
So I tried to do a lot ofgrilled recipes where it's only 20
minutes at the grill and not,you know, hours and hours and hours.
(26:11):
I really have had a deep focus lately.
Covid hit my businesses sohard, and I'd watched so many of
my friends getting so muchsuccess with their barbecue products
because nobody was going outto eat, but everybody was cooking
at home.
And so.
But again, it's the same wayas my cookbook.
There's a lot of cookbooks outthere and there's a lot of rubs and
(26:33):
sauces, so.
So I've recently kind ofrebranded all my products from Cool
Smoke to Tuffy Stone Barbecue Provisions.
And as I, as I make theserubs, I'm like, all right, what can
I make that's complimentary orreally delicious, or maybe it stands
out or if it's empty, you'llbuy another one when it's empty.
And so I've had a real deepconcentration in recipe development
(26:55):
for these products.
And I think, I think, like,I've got three new ones getting ready
to come out that I'm prettyexcited about.
But, you know, I tend to, Itend to explore all sorts of flavors.
It's not just paprika or chilipowder or garlic or onion or salt
or pepper, which I use all of those.
They're really important.
But I also branch out and, andbring in some other flavors that,
(27:17):
that I don't think offendedanybody, but maybe, maybe they're
just a little.
Maybe.
Maybe they're good, you know,and so, I don't know.
I mean, and.
And I tend to cook within the seasons.
I want to cook the foods thatare at, you know, I like to cook
corn in the summer, not in the winter.
I like to cook crab in thesummer and not in the winter.
I like to do foods that, youknow, take advantage of these ingredients
(27:38):
when they're at their best.
And I also like to cook foodthat when you're hot and sweltering,
you want to eat it.
So, I mean, where Leanne'sliving now, you know, it can be really
hot in the summer, so I'mgoing to lean towards brighter, lighter
foods, things that have alittle tang to it.
So, I don't know.
I mean, but also, I think themore I cook, the simpler my foods
get, too.
You know, it's like.
I mean, Leanne and I both beenmaking a living feeding people for
(28:00):
a long time.
And I mean, Leanne's reallyamazing cook.
I mean, it's like.
But sometimes my best dishesmight only have five ingredients
in them.
I agree with you wholeheartedly.
And I will say that my cookingstyle has changed a lot, too.
You know, I don't go forrecipes that have, you know, 10,
12 ingredients in it unlessit's like my chili.
(28:21):
But anyway, yeah, I just.
And it.
I don't know, I'm alwaysthinking about people, and when they
say, oh, I want to make that,you know, I want to make it something
that they don't have to go tothe store and spend a fortune on
all these different ingredients.
I like to have a lot ofthings, basics, as you probably do
in your pantry, so that, youknow, you can actually toss something
(28:43):
together, you know, any day ofthe week without having go in the
store, per se, you know.
Right.
Do you find.
And I'm going to ask both ofyou this question, but Leanne and
I have had this discussion offthe air quite a bit.
Tuffy, do you find that a lotof the barbecue products out there,
and they're all.
They're good products.
I'm not slamming anybody here,but for the most part, if you take
(29:06):
somebody that's not reallyastute at cooking, they enjoy barbecue,
they enjoy going out to eatwhat have you, and they go to the
barbecue store, the grocerystore, or whatever, and you take
these five bottles of Rub,it's hard for them sometimes to delineate
the difference in the flavors.
They're all very similar.
(29:26):
Well, I Think.
I think.
I think when it comes to.
If we look at, like, a classicbarbecue rub, there's probably over
100 out there that are very similar.
And I learned a lot of hardlessons when I first got into barbecue,
because I was coming intobarbecue with some of my.
My previous culinary experiences.
And I thought to myself, man,I'll bet demi glace or white truffle
(29:47):
salt is really good on bris.
And it is.
But I learned don't take thatto a barbecue contest.
I kind of coined this termcalled, I say it this way, the stereotypical
expected flavors of barbecue.
And I think there's a littleshift regionally, but there are some
flavors that tend to be reallyconsistent in their inclusion and
(30:08):
making barbecue.
I mean, it's the proteinitself, it's smoke.
John Willingham wrote a bookthat really inspired me when I first
got into barbecue.
And I read and he.
He said, smoke is dirt.
You know, we're cooking, we'renot smoking.
And I really hyper focused onthat and really studied that fire
(30:28):
management and trying to treatsmoke like salt and pepper.
But smoke is one of those flavors.
Salt is certainly one of those flavors.
Pepper is one of those flavors.
Granulated garlic, granulatedonion or powdered onion part, they're
going to be foundation flavorsthat are going to be very typical.
Paprika, chili powder.
There's going to be some ofthese flavors that just fit right
(30:49):
into what you would expectwhen you eat barbecue.
So that's why you find a lotof this commonality when you.
When you look at the.
And.
And I think we could take probably.
Lee and I could Both probablytake 40 or 50 rubs out there and
go to a barbecue contest andfare pretty well because we have
the.
We have the techniques, weknow when to apply, how much to apply,
(31:11):
right texture, all these kindof things.
So it becomes.
It becomes not a lot ofdifferent from one from the other.
So I think where you got tostart to make a difference is, you
know, I.
Sometimes I've been made funof with my recipe development, and
sometimes, like, if you get mycookbook, it's a little bit of a
pain because I say atablespoon plus a teaspoon plus a
(31:32):
half a teaspoon plus an eighthof a teaspoon.
I probably shouldn't have justgone into weights, because that would
have been an easier way tospeak about that.
But I also thought most homesdon't have a digital scale, right?
And that's why I went that route.
But I felt like that thatextra eighth of a teaspoon really
made a difference.
And so I think finding thatbalance of flavors and then you got
(31:52):
to decide, all right, does ithave sugar or not?
And if so, what kind of sugar?
So there are things that wecan do to maybe make that rub that's
very similar to so many othersstand out.
But it takes, takes work andit takes develop there.
There are some people outthere that have products on the market,
they don't know their recipe.
They went to a co packer thatkind of helped him along and that's
okay, too.
(32:12):
We're going to take a break.
We're going to take a breakand the three of us will be back.
Talk some more aboutseasonings here on Barbecue Nation
with Cuppy Stone right after this.
Need a vehicle?
Does it feel hopeless?
Did other dealerships alreadysay no because of credit or negative
equity?
Weston Kia wants to say yesduring the Kia Fall Savings event.
Come see Weston Kia, Oregon'sall time leader in Kia sales.
January 1994 to December 2025,Weston Kia sold more new kids than
(32:35):
any other kid dealer orEmperor Kia Corp.
Hey, everybody, it's jt.
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
(32:55):
will make your taste buds explode.
Put a big bright smile on yourface and whoever's at your dinner
table will have a big brightsmile on their face.
And you can thank me for that later.
Just go topaintedhillsbeef.com and find out
more.
You won't regret it.
Hey, everybody, J.T.
here.
I want to tell you about theHammerstahl knives.
(33:15):
Hammer Stahl combines Germansteel with beautiful and functioning
designs.
They're part of the HeritageSteel Group, which also does their
pots and pans.
So go to heritagesteel USCheck out the Hammer Stahl knives.
If you're really into cooking.
I think you're really gonnalike them.
(33:41):
This is an encore.
Welcome back to the Nation.
That's Barbecue Nation with jtthat's me, with Leanne Whippen.
Hall of Famer.
That's her, also hall of famer.
On the other end of the screentoday, Mr. Tuffy Stone, the professor.
I was going to say that and I forgot.
We'll be back with theprofessor right after this.
And I wanted to see how manypeople would catch that.
But you were talking about rubs.
(34:02):
Do you think that we kind ofare getting to the point?
Maybe we're not there yet,Tuffy, but with, with rubs, with,
you know, you can Call them blends.
You can call them all purpose seasonings.
You can.
You can call anything you want.
You know, there's no lawagainst that.
But do you think that we areseeing where some people are taking
(34:24):
one of Tuffy's Barbecueseasonings, and they're going, but
this would be good on broccoli.
Are we seeing peopleexperiment a little more crossing
over and using products like that?
I mean, I would think so.
I mean, I just had thisthought, all right, Leanne.
I might get it wrong, but Ithink I got it right.
(34:44):
You tell me, is it Tab's pig powder?
Yeah, that's my dad.
That's my maiden name.
Tab.
Yeah.
Trish Pig powder.
Well, I loved your dad, Jim.
Tab was like, amazing.
But.
But anyways, there.
There's.
There's a product that's beenmade before I met you.
And so it's.
It's a product that's beenaround for decades now.
(35:06):
And.
And why has it been arounddecades is because it's really good.
I think Byron Chisholm ButtRub is a great example of someone
that.
I think he's had this productout for 25 years now or something
like that.
Those.
Those products have stood thetest of time, and it's because they're
good.
And I think.
I think with products likethose, or any product that's good,
(35:30):
it's got to be universal.
I mean, it's good.
It might.
It might have been built forpork, but it's great on beef or it's
great on chicken or it's greaton vegetables.
I, you know, sometimes.
Sometimes meat lovers get, youknow, beat up on salads or beat up
on vegetables.
But I love.
I love grilling broccoli.
(35:50):
I love grilling broccolini.
I love getting that crisp bechar on vegetables on a hot grill.
And so I think.
I think a lot of these.
These rubs, and anybody that'swatching or listening, if you haven't
thought about it before now,these, These.
These seasoning blends, theserubs, whatever we want to call them,
(36:11):
while they might have beenintended for.
For beef or pork or poultry orwhatever, my guess is they're great
on a lot of different foodsbecause of the ingredients and there
makes them very versatile.
Yeah, I can tell you I canvouch for pig powder because I've
actually been experimentingwith it here at the Casa Tracy and
(36:34):
my new air fryer, I got an airfryer for Christmas.
I've got all the grills andstuff you want in the world out on
the porch.
But my wife asked me what Ireally wanted, and I told her an
air fryer.
So I've been doing, like, theother day just to tell you, I used
your pig powder on somescallops and some prawns, and I used
the pig powder on that in theair fryer.
And my wife, who's not a hugeseafood fan, ate every damn shrimp.
(36:59):
So I think I got one maybewhen I was bringing it in from the
kitchen to the living room towatch the ball game.
But the versatility is whatI'm talking about.
Not just in your product, butwhat the conversation has been about.
But it's really, really good.
I mean, if you think about it,I bet you every pantry has, like,
Canadian steak seasoning.
You know what I mean?
(37:20):
It's like people fall in lovewith a spice, and then it just catches
on everywhere.
And, yeah, there are certain standouts.
And, yeah, Byron's, I agreewith you.
Tuffy, that's been around fora long time, and it is everywhere,
too, which is nice.
Well, I mean, we've just seena lot of new products come out there
that are really successful.
(37:41):
But to make it 25 years or tomake it as long as is pig powder,
that list gets shorter.
Yeah, yeah, it really.
It really, really does.
But.
And I also think.
I chuckle sometimes.
The people we've had on theshow, and Leanne's been doing this
with me now for over a year,and they'll.
They'll say, well, we're.
(38:02):
We're selling this and we'redoing this, and.
But they haven't got a co packer.
They're still mixing it up intheir kitchen with their little digital
scale, and they're doing that.
And I have to give them creditfor that, for being tenacious enough
to stay with it, because theretail beast is something a whole
lot more.
You know, what's interestingis that when you used to walk down
(38:23):
not even the barbecue aisle,just regular barbecue sauce aisle,
you never saw any rubs.
And now some of the rubs areexceeding the amount of sauces.
And I spoke to a very largeretailer and I said, so what sells
more, the sauces or the rubs?
He goes, the rubs.
So I think people are alsohealth conscious and feel like since
(38:43):
a lot of sauces have sugar init, you know, they're staying away
from that and they are goingmore to the seasonings.
So hence the large market out there.
But it's tough.
It's brand confusion.
Not brand confusion, but it'sjust confusion for the consumer.
And it's overwhelming, evenfor myself to walk down those Aisles.
And then it becomes almost,what am I cooking?
(39:06):
What stands out as an ingredient?
And, you know, you're lookingat label colors, which ones are,
you know, grabbing your attention.
So a lot of it is success, Ithink, is based on marketing.
And, Tuffy, as you said, youkind of changed your strategy or
your packaging or whatever.
And I love your new packaging.
(39:27):
It points to you because thecompetitors know cool smoke, but
most of the people know youfrom television.
They know Tuffy Stone.
So I'm glad that you kind ofreversed your.
Or changed your, you know,your labeling and everything to reflect
you, because I think that's important.
It took a pandemic to put mein check.
(39:49):
I still get embarrassed aboutbeing around them or.
But anyway, so you gotta do it.
I know, I know, right?
You gotta.
Gotta try and make a living.
I bet you guys tore it up afew times.
I'm just throwing that out there.
Not really.
Not really.
Well, you know, I feel likeI'm talking to my sister right now.
It's a family.
It's like, we just.
We've had so many journeys together.
We've known each other for so long.
(40:10):
It's like.
I mean, it's like I.
Last year, I was able to,like, spend time with you a couple
of different times, and it wasjust so nice.
It's like being.
Being with a friend, you know, we.
Really never had the time onthe circuit.
Yeah, we had our littlepowwows quick and whatever, but,
yeah, it's.
It's nice.
It's.
It's more relaxed.
(40:31):
And I would say.
I mean.
Yeah.
Anyway, so we had to get back and.
And baste the ribs, spritz theribs, trim the meat, make the sauce.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, Tuffy, thank you forbeing with us on Barbecue Nation.
He is going to stick aroundfor the after hours, the part that
you get only online because ofFCC regulations.
(40:53):
But it's been a real.
It's.
It's been a really good timeto talk to you again.
And let's not make it, what, three.
I feel like we've been on theair, like, 10 minutes.
That's the fastest any showhas ever gone for me.
It's just.
I'm.
Oh, my God.
We need to do another one.
Whatever.
Okay.
We'll do After Hours.
We'll do After Hours.
We'll get it out in there.
And next week, we'll have Stretch.
(41:15):
All right.
Yeah, we're gonna have Stretch.
Hey, Tuffy, here's a questionfor you really quickly before we
go.
Do you know what Stretch'sreal name is.
I can tell you.
Hold on.
First time I met Stretch, Iwatched him do backflips and a cape
and his grill caught on fire.
Tell me, I can't remember, butJeff Ruminer.
(41:36):
Yeah.
Are you R u m a N E r?
I've gotten to do some good,good things with Stretch, too.
I like Stretch.
Yeah, riot.
He's gonna be actually.
He actually.
Stretch made the trophy that.
That Leon and I both have for.
Yeah, Barbecue hall of Fame.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I found that out last week.
Anyway, we'll be back.
Tuffy.
Thank you, Ms. Leanne.
Thank you and thank you.
(41:56):
We'll be after hours to becoming up here shortly, so remember
our motto here.
Turn it, don't burn it.
Take care, everybody.
Barbecue Nation is produced byJTSD, LLC.
Productions and associationwith Envision Networks and Salem
Media Group.
All rights reserved.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.