North America’s Top 10 BBQ Experts

Question 1

If you could choose a dish that most represents you, what would it be and why?

A perfectly grilled bavette steak! Quick and easy, this is a common meal at home. A bavette is a lean and inexpensive small steak from the sirloin that has nice grain and takes to natural fire very well. Paired with some grilled veggies and some type of grain, I'd say this represents my style of cooking and lack of time available to spend making dinner. All my favorite things balled into one quick meal that's cooked outside, with a cold beverage, on a HOT patio!

Question 2

What inspires your cooking or keeps you passionate about your work?

Unfortunately, I don’t get to cook as much as I used to, but, I’m quite passionate about the endless quest to perfect the BBQ at Franklin. I'm there every day, looking at everything, looking at the food throughout lunch, talking to the cooks, raising an eyebrow at the fires. I’m always trying to troubleshoot and dissect every minute of every day's cook and how to translate that into real-time to all the cooks involved in the 24 hours a day cooking process. It’s really all the guests that come through that I get most of my inspiration from.

Question 3

Which ingredient, technique, or tool could you never do without when grilling?

HA! Tongs? No really, good salt and lemons! I can't cook anything without those two little unicorns!

Question 4

If you could share one cooking tip with your fans, what would it be?

Just try! Don't be intimidated by cooking something that seems hard! Think about it, make a plan, and practice!!!

Question 1

If you could choose a dish that most represents you, what would it be and why?

Our homemade rosemary and cured-olive focaccia bread baked on a charcoal grill. Fact: One of life’s most delicious smells is fresh bread. Add the aroma of charcoal and wood to that scent and it's literally enough to make your knees buckle in pure BBQ ecstasy!

Question 2

What inspires your cooking or keeps you passionate about your work?

Each other. We are sisters by chance, best friends by choice...most days, when we aren't fighting over who gets to pull the pork shoulder bone from a batch of pulled pork! Our love of cooking together is what keeps us passionate about our work. The decision to quit our day jobs to pursue our BBQ dreams was a journey that we knew we could only embark on if we could do it together. We made this life-changing decision after determining that we wanted to inspire more women to explore the art of outdoor cookery.

Question 3

Which ingredient, technique, or tool could you never do without when grilling?

Our hands! We're talkin’ squeaky clean, bare hands touching, squeezing, mixing, and tearing the food in all of the dishes we create. We feel it is so important to connect with the food you eat by getting right in there with it; feeling the textures, the wetness, the smoothness of the food. When mixing a batch of homemade small-batch sausage, we feel it’s almost impossible to truly know if all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined until your fingers take a deep dive into the mixture to see for themselves!

Question 4

If you could share one cooking tip with your fans, what would it be?

When the recipe says add 2 cloves of garlic, always add three more. Garlic was made to be used in fives, it’s a scientific rule, and if you share this tip at a dinner party and someone tries to question this logic, just tell ‘em that Maddie & Kiki said so!

Question 1

If you could choose a dish that most represents you, what would it be and why?

A stuffed burger! You can switch it up, add avocado, shrimp, salsa picante. There are so many choices of ingredients that can either make it ‘edgy’ or fancy. There's always room for creativity with a burger.

Question 2

What inspires your cooking or keeps you passionate about your work?

People. My team is awesome, my customers are great and so are my suppliers. Working in this industry is amazing. The enthusiasm, love and energy that comes from our fans fuel us and energize us to keep doing more.

Question 3

Which ingredient, technique, or tool could you never do without when grilling?

Ingredients: Spices! I NEED my spices. I could cook a rock as long as I had the right spices.
Technique: Knowing how to control the fire or source of energy.
Tool: An instant thermometer.

Question 4

If you could share one cooking tip with your fans, what would it be?

Don't stress. Use the best ingredients and the right tools, and your BBQ game will be outstanding, every time!

Question 1

If you could choose a dish that most represents you, what would it be and why?

Welllllll, my website is named AmazingRibs.com, so the recipe that most represents me is a no-brainer. We launched in 2005 with just one recipe, “Last Meal Ribs,” the ribs you would want to eat on death row for your last meal. But I’ve gotta tell you, our “Close to Katz’s Pastrami” may be the most exciting recipe in that everyone who tries it raves over about it. Why? When you pile it on rye and take your first bite, you can't help but doing what Meg Ryan did in Katz's Deli in New York in the movie.

Question 2

What inspires your cooking or keeps you passionate about your work?

There are three main motivations: I love to eat, I love to cook, and I love the challenge of being creative. I actually did my Masters in Art at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, so thinking in a creative sense is great fun. I love to break outside the box, to cross the streams, and use Asian ingredients in traditional Italian recipes. That’s why they call it Culinary Arts.

Question 3

Which ingredient, technique, or tool could you never do without when grilling?

Digital thermometers. Cooking is all about harnessing heat and to do that, you need good thermometers. Cooking without good digital thermometers is like driving without a speedometer. You need one for your fridge, one for your grill/smoker/oven and one for the food. Invest in good thermometers. They're inexpensive, fast, and accurate. They will pay for themselves. Nothing will improve your cooking more.

Question 4

If you could share one cooking tip with your fans, what would it be?

Learn about 2-zone cooking and reverse sear for anything more than 1” thick. Set up your grill with only one hot side. You'll do most of the cooking with the lid down on the side that isn’t hot, gently roasting the food with warm convection airflow. High heat shrinks muscle fibers that squeeze out moisture, you want to cook your food gently. After the interior temp is close to where you want it, move it to the hot side and lift the lid. Now you can cook the surface, flipping often so the high heat does not penetrate. There are some fascinating physics and chemistry going on.

Question 1

If you could choose a dish that most represents you, what would it be and why?

I would have to say that the BBQ dish that most represents me is the whole hog. It’s big, thick, and tricky to get perfect tenderness, but I've won 4 BBQ World Championships cooking ‘em.

Question 2

What inspires your cooking or keeps you passionate about your work?

My inspiration for barbecuing started with my dad, Jack Mixon, who taught me from an early age how to smoke meats to perfection and to take pride in that skill. He's gone, so it’s my turn to inspire my sons to be the best they can.

Question 3

Which ingredient, technique, or tool could you never do without when grilling?

Every meat has a perfect internal temperature when it reaches doneness. To make sure I don’t undercook or overcook my proteins, I always use a meat thermometer to make sure my barbecue is perfect.

Question 4

If you could share one cooking tip with your fans, what would it be?

The best tip I can give on smokin’ and grillin’ is fire management. Whatever temperature you're cooking at, keep it consistent. Don't fluctuate. It throws off your recipe timeline and it’s not helping the meat when you're bouncing the grill temp up and down.

Question 1

If you could choose a dish that most represents you, what would it be and why?

A dish that most represents me would be something like Paella. I suffer from what I call ‘Ben & Jerry's syndrome.’ I'm constantly seeking out different tastes, textures, and mouth feels. I get bored when a dish can’t hold my attention. Paella does all of that. It's steeped in tradition and is made both to bring people together and to be shared.

Question 2

What inspires your cooking or keeps you passionate about your work?

Three things; markets, cookers, and travel. I love having the opportunity to go to the market with maybe a protein or vegetable in mind and returning home with something that has limited availability - often seasonal, fresh, and completely different than my original plan.

The same can be said for cookers. There are so many fun ways to cook outside that at times I enjoy the process as much as the result. I will roast meats in a barrel cooker, simply because I appreciate how basic and quiet it is, or I'll use a pellet grill with smart functions that allow me to monitor and adjust temperatures remotely, from somewhere like my favorite fishing hole. Recently I've learned to appreciate a good gas grill and how it can be both a powerful and effective cooker, especially when the weather here in western Montana chooses not to cooperate.

Travel fuels my creativity by introducing me to local markets and foods. My experiences change the way I view certain foods; Hatch chilies in Bainbridge Island, oysters along the Gulf Shores, pizza in New Haven, cheddar cheese in Vermont, and poke on the big island.

Question 3

Which ingredient, technique, or tool could you never do without when grilling?

I'm addicted to tongs! If I were a culinary superhero, I'd probably have tongs for hands. When I cook outside, they become an extension of me.

I've also become a huge fan of salt in the past few years. Living in Montana gives me access to some unbelievable meats. Often the biggest compliment you can give to the animal, farmer, and butcher is to let the meat speak for itself. A good quality salt bought for pre-cooking, dry brining, or to use on occasion when finishing, makes meat sing with flavor.

Question 4

If you could share one cooking tip with your fans, what would it be?

People put way too much pressure on themselves when it comes to outdoor cooking. A positive attitude is the most important ingredient you can incorporate into your dish.

When I cook for a gathering, most of the time it’s all about bringing people together, it’s the camaraderie, the conversation, and the companionship that truly make the meal. If I season my food with a smile and a positive attitude, the positivity becomes contagious and makes for a special event.

Question 1

If you could choose a dish that most represents you, what would it be and why?

A classic surf and turf is the meal that represents me the best. Grilled beef tenderloin with a lobster tail served with potato roti and grilled asparagus. I'd finish that dish off with a duo of sauces such as red wine and beurre blanc.

Question 2

What inspires your cooking or keeps you passionate about your work?

What keeps me inspired and passionate is the sheer joy of producing high quality meals for my family. My wife and daughters are the recipients of most of my home cooked meals, and that gives me the biggest rush. In my professional work, knowing the joy and comfort I give to my guests gives me a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that's second to none.

Question 3

Which ingredient, technique, or tool could you never do without when grilling?

My internal temperature probes are the tools I can’t go without anymore. I don’t need to worry about internal temperatures, I get my medium-rare every time.

Question 4

If you could share one cooking tip with your fans, what would it be?

When BBQ'ing or gas grilling, always give yourself an ‘out’ by having a two-tiered heat approach. This advice has saved quite a few backyard parties. Too many people try to grill on high and forget to have a cooler zone to gently finish items off.

Question 1

If you could choose a dish that most represents you, what would it be and why?

Caveman T-bone. It's certainly primal (you throw a red hunk of meat on blazing embers—no grill grate needed—and char it exactly as our forebears did hundreds of thousands of years ago). My readers know my passion for the history of barbecue. It's dramatic—people’s eyes pop and jaws drop when they see the process, and it produces a smoky char you just can’t achieve with conventional grilling.

I like to serve it with a pan fry of jalapeños, cilantro, and garlic. Robust flavors for a gutsy steak. It’s hard to imagine a more invigorating slab of meat.

Question 2

What inspires your cooking or keeps you passionate about your work?

First, my work takes place at the intersection of food, history, and culture—not to mention, literature, geography, chemistry, physics, etc. — all subjects I’m most passionate about. I love languages and travel. Barbecue has taken me to more than 70 countries on 6 continents.

Second, my work is also incredibly varied. From solitary writing in my office (or more accurately, on an Adirondack chair by the pool, I'm lucky to be able to go to the office in shorts!), hard traveling in the field for research, and working with a crew that’s more like family to make TV shows. A lot of my job description is to cook barbecue and eat barbecue—and get paid for it! How cool is that?

Third, I get to meet interesting people who are passionate about what they do, and share my passion for live fire, cooking with millions of readers and viewers.

Question 3

Which ingredient, technique, or tool could you never do without when grilling?

Ingredients: Extra virgin olive oil. I use it for marinating, basting, drizzling, and serving—it's the lifeblood of my grilling.

Technique: Ember-grilling (also known as cavemanning). There’s nothing like charring food right on the embers to intensify flavor and add wow power.

Tool: A simple set of long-handled, spring-loaded tongs. Use them for turning, scraping, cleaning, testing for doneness. I even designed a pair with a flashlight built-in so you can see what you're grilling. They're called Tumatongs.

Question 4

If you could share one cooking tip with your fans, what would it be?

Keep it hot. Keep it clean. Keep it lubricated! Start with a hot grill grate, clean it with a stiff wire brush, and oil it well before adding the food. That, and learn to control the fire, not have it control you.

Question 1

If you could choose a dish that most represents you, what would it be and why?

I would say a juicy, mouth-watering, chin dripping, t-shirt ruining Cheeseburger. That would be me.

Question 2

What inspires your cooking or keeps you passionate about your work?

Life is inspirational as is all the food in the universe. I love it. The smell, the touch, the look and the taste of food. It is the driving force behind my love of cooking and especially Barbecue.

Question 3

Which ingredient, technique, or tool could you never do without when grilling?

From an ingredient perspective, salt is key for me in the kitchen. As for tools, I love my tongs and I can't live without when I cook. Short 9-inch-long tongs to be exact, followed by my Thermapen thermometer, and lastly, a handmade spatula that I use for flipping burgers and other tasty eats.

Question 4

If you could share one cooking tip with your fans, what would it be?

#DFIU: Don't F It Up! But on a more serious note; patience is key to all you cook, whether it be in a smoker or on a grill or working with a stove. Patience will give you great results.