The Low and Slow Barbecue Show

Linkdown: 5/22/24 – The Three-Time Grand Champions Edition

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Monk: The Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest was held this past weekend in Memphis, and The Shed yet again took home the Grand Champion and Whole Hog titles. The Grand Champion title was the third for the 17-time competition team from Ocean Springs, MS led by brother and sister Brad Orrison and Brooke Lewis.

The full list of winners in other categories are on their website. Of note, Big Bob Gibson and Chris Lilly took home yet another Pork Shoulder title.

Of note, the upstart barbecue competition SmokeSlam also took place the same weekend at Tom Lee Park, the former site of the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.

Here were the winners of SmokeSlam:

Native News

Friends of the blog The Low and Slow Barbecue Show featured Jon G’s Barbecue

Union Barbecue is a newer barbecue food truck in Charlotte native Holden Sasser

Pizza Peel in the Plaza Midwood is closing after a decade open and is turning into an Improper Pig

Mike D’s BBQ in east Durham but got a couple of lifelines through a Rapid Recovery loan  from The NC Rural Center

Non-Native News

City Limits Barbeque has been testing out pork steaks

Smoke Queen Barbecue is run by Winnie Yee-Lakhani and was recently featured by J.C. Reid in a recent profile

After last week’s tornadoes, many Houston restaurants are still without power including Gatlin’s BBQ and Feges BBQ

Daniel Vaughn digs up the first article on Franklin Barbecue

A Thousand Words: The 2024 Carolina BBQ Festival

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Monk: This year’s Carolina BBQ Festival changed locations from Camp North End to Uptown and became part of the Charlotte SHOUT! annual arts and culture festival. And Speedy happened to be in town, so he and I hit up the festival courtesy of new friend of the blog, Chigger Willard of the Low and Slow Barbecue Show. Shout out to him as well as Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s BBQ, who puts on the festival every year.

Our favorite bites will be featured in an upcoming issue of The Smoke Sheet, but for now, here were some of the bites we tasted including whole hog from Elliott Moss and pork spare rib from Bryan Furman,.

Plus hash and rice from the recently-named James Beard finalist, Robbie Robinson. I chatted briefly with Robbie and he was understandably excited to have just been named a finalist three days prior. The winners will be announced June 10 at a ceremony in Chicago, which will be livestreamed on Eater.

Some of the faces serving barbecue on the day:

The typical Jon G’s line plus the Lincoln log cabin of beef rib bones.

No seriously, it was a gorgeous day:

Did you make it out to the Carolina BBQ Festival this year?

Pitmaster Brandon Shepard on the Low & Slow Barbecue Show

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Monk: I had the good fortune to meet Low and Slow Barbecue Show host Michael “Chigger” Willard earlier this month at Jon G’s alongside The Smoke Sheet guys as well as Master Blend Family Farms pitmaster Ronald Simmons. Sadly, I had not yet taken the time to listen to his podcast, which is a shame since he’s doing great work to showcase North Carolina pitmasters through interviews. After this listen, I can’t wait to dig into the archives.

In this episode, Chigger sits down with Brandon Shepard of Shepard Barbecue in Emerald Isle, NC to discuss his origin story with barbecue and how he’s become friendly with the mayor himself of Diners, Drive-ins & Dives, Guy Fieri (Shepard recently met back up with Fieri at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival in Miami). He also touches on current restaurant fan favorite brisket and whether he will be adding whole hog to the menu in the near future.

Description:  Pitmaster Brandon Shepard joins The Low & Slow Barbecue Show to talk about his business on Emerald Isle, his barbecue experience, and the national spotlight from Diners, Drive-ins & Dives. Listen to this Carolina Pitmasters episode to hear about Brandon’s Eastern-style influence and his experience as the only game in town in a coastal Carolina community where seafood is usually the first choice. Don’t miss Brandon’s tips for preparing a great brisket – perfect for any backyard barbecue enthusiast. Brandon also hints at some outside-the-box thinking that fuels Shepard Barbecue menu items that aren’t your ordinary barbecue fare.