Announcement: 0:01

Time to fire up that grill from smoke pork to smash burgers. Outdoor cooking just tastes better. This is the Okie Smokin Podcast, and here's your host, John Berry.

John Berry: 0:20

Well, thank you for tuning in to this podcast today. My name is John, as you just heard, and this is the Okie Smokin Podcast. This is our second episode and these first couple of episodes are really just getting things set up, testing the waters, getting our equipment ready, and going to be doing our official launch next week, on December the 18th, we're going to be having our first season, that's right. We're going to be doing this in seasons. My co-host, delores, will be joining me for most of the episodes. She's not going to be on here today, but this is going to just be a little bit of an introduction about me and what Okie Smokin is all about, how it began and why we're doing a podcast as well. We're going to go over a little bit of that. Well, I'm fired up for season one and that is going to be coming next week. Our first season, our first season one, episode one, and I'm going to go into details on what that's all about here in just a moment. This is our second episode on this podcast and we're just kind of testing the waters, making sure everything's working, getting everything in order, so to speak. Then, on December the 18th, I'm going to go ahead and launch the official podcast. That's one week from the day this episode was released and we're going to launch episodes on a weekly basis on Mondays, may sprinkle in a bonus episode surprise once in a while, but that's going to be the plan for the most part.

John Berry: 2:14

When I was thinking about doing this podcast I was trying to find out how to do it and finding random topics. I thought it would be easier to we just go ahead and put it in bite size chunks of a topic and just do seasons. We'll do miniature seasons that will last a couple of months, all on one particular topic, maybe one food item or one grill or a style of cooking or something. We'll focus on that and then move on to our next season afterwards. That way we can stay zoned in to a particular topic, try to cover it very well. This episode is episode two. We did a episode one and we did an introduction, a little bit of a trailer. That's what we've done so far on this channel. I guess you could say this is like the pre-log or the preface or what do they call that in a book. You kind of got the prelude, or you know what I'm talking about to where it is just a little bit of an introduction. That's what I'm going to do.

John Berry: 3:26

Today is just back up a little bit. I'll tell you a little bit of how Oki Smokin came about, what it's about and why we started this podcast and hopefully we get some listeners and this becomes something that we get better at over time. I'll have my wife Delores. She'll be my co-host on many of the episodes. She's not here in this particular episode, but hopefully she'll be joining us next week when we do our first season and I'm going to explain what that season is all about and see if it interests you at all, and then we're going to go ahead and do multiple seasons throughout the year every couple of months. So first of all, let me just go ahead and welcome you and thank you for going ahead and clicking the Oki Smokin podcast.

John Berry: 4:19

This is all about outdoor cooking. I am just a big, big fan of cooking outdoors. I've got several smokers and let me go ahead and go over the different smokers that I do have, so you'll get an ideal. The first smoker that I bought, which it's debatable whether it's a smoker or not, it's called the Pit Barrel Cooker, the PBC for short, and it is a smoker, but it is at a higher temperature. It's in a barrel. Of course it don't have a way to really adjust the temperature. It don't have a way to lower the temperature it does, but it don't have any you know temperature gauge on it. It pretty much you set it, set it, forget it, put the charcoal in, you put the wood in and it does the rest. Of course there are some things you can do, such as it has a rods that go across it and if you remove one, if you're not needing to use it, that would make the heat go up. You add one, that'll make the heat go down. So there are some ways that you can adjust the cook as well as putting less charcoal in or more charcoal in is going to affect how hot it gets.

John Berry: 5:42

So we got the pit barrel cooker. My other cooker is just a basic Weber, which is nothing fancy. It's basically just a charcoal Weber, just a Weber. Not the Weber Smoky Mountain, but I also do have the Weber Smoky Mountain, so that'll be the third cooker I have which I really enjoy cooking on. Unlike the pit barrel cooker, this one has a way that you can actually lower the temperature. It's got a temperature gauge and you can close the dampers. That's got three of them. You can close each one of them a little bit or all of them to adjust the lower to lower the temperature and open them to raise the temperature and you can cook very long cooks on that one.

John Berry: 6:30

I've cooked some excellent brisket on it. One time I've cooked a. I haven't done a turkey. I like to do a turkey on that when I've done a turkey on the pit barrel cooker but I have not done one on that yet. That would be a great cook. Ribs come out excellent. It's just a good way to slow cook some things and desserts which that's a little teaser to our first season, but desserts come out real well with it also. So you got the pit barrel cooker, I've got the standard Weber Charco Grill I think that's an 18 inch and then I've got a Weber Smoky Mountain.

John Berry: 7:10

And then just recently, within the last couple of weeks, I added to my inventory a pit boss Onyx pellet smoker and this one is is really really good. I really enjoy it. It's a 500 square inch. It's not real big, I don't need it to be. I've got multiple smokers out here. I'm in good grief. I've got. I could. I could be cooking for a big event or something with as many smokers as I currently have, but I got it for some smaller cooks.

John Berry: 7:49

Sometimes I need to cook just some pork chops, or maybe you just want to throw a chicken on and you don't want to go through the process of Going through a bunch of charcoal or wood or whatever and you just want to turn the knob on and have it ready. This thing is excellent for that, but I'll still be using the other cookers for, you know, bigger cooks and things like that, although just last night on that pellet smoker I did cook a pork shoulder. It was about seven pounds. I put it on at 3 pm yesterday and that would have been on a yes, but right now it's Sunday, the day before this airs. I put it on a 3 pm on a Saturday and it didn't get done until about 5.30 in the morning this morning, sunday morning. So that's what. I took it off, I let it rest for about 45 minutes and then pretty much I let it go ahead and we just use some forks and spread it apart and pulled it off and everything and we just got it in a bowl.

John Berry: 8:55

Now I've been making sandwiches, dipping it in barbecue sauce and it has turned out really good. I just wanted to test that pit barrel smoker on it. It did its thing. I cooked it to 205 degrees internally and cooked it between 200 and 225 degrees on average. I originally started cooking it at 250 because we also were cooking some chicken breasts. I had them cooking with it so we wanted to kind of get them done for dinner because we knew the pork shoulder wouldn't be done until the next day or after midnight. It went way into the next day. I woke up a few times to check on it, but I went ahead and cooked some chicken and after the chicken were done I turned it to 225 and then around midnight I said this thing is not getting done anytime soon. I lowered it to about 205. That way I didn't have to worry about it cooking too hot, just let it really slow cook overnight and it came out fabulous. So that was my weekend and always liking to cook outside, outdoors, in my backyard.

John Berry: 10:12

I've got a little backstory about me. I've had a YouTube channel now for about I don't know a couple of years two, three years maybe even and a long time ago I put a couple of videos out cast iron skillet just a couple cooks indoors, and then I didn't put nothing out for a long time and later on I decided you know what? I'm going to get a smoker and cook some more outdoor stuff and started filming it and really decided to start committing to the YouTube channel and for well over a year now I have been posting videos regularly, maybe not every week, but almost every week, sometimes a few a week, but I try to put many of them out. There's over 100 videos now, about 70 something regular videos and over 40 short. So on the YouTube channel, so you can check it out. It's Oki Smokin. That's the YouTube channel if you want to go look at some of the videos, but it is has been a great time. That's really got me thinking.

John Berry: 11:25

I want to also create a podcast, just because I really just enjoy creating content. This is something that I like to do is share my barbecue. I don't know if I'd call them skills. It's I learn as I go and it's something that I wanted to create a podcast to talk about a little bit. Like I said, I'm also going to have a lovely wife, dolores, on many of the episodes going forward. She's not with me here, so let me just let you listen to her. Here is a clip of her on one of our previous podcast episodes so you can get an idea of who she is. I do like the Smoket Apple Pie the Smoked Apple Pie, though Even though I'm Keto, I still take a little tiny face.

John Berry: 12:13

That was pretty good. She does Keto. I'm not a Keto podcast, but no means. But we do do some Keto things as well, because she can eat those and sometimes, well, she cheats because she just can't resist.

John Berry: 12:25

She just cannot resist it. There she is. That is a Delores. You'll get to hear her on some upcoming episodes during our first season. So I just wanted to give you a little bit of an intro of what to expect with her. But you kind of introduce her to you guys. That will be a Delores.

John Berry: 12:47

So what types of items do I cook the most? Well, let me think I really do enjoy cooking big cuts of meat, such as a pork shoulder that's not a real big cut of meat but also brisket and turkeys. But smash burgers, let me tell you, burgers is something that on the Blackstone griddle, which I forgot to mention earlier, I do cook on the Blackstone as well and I sometimes even use the deep-pryor outside. I've got a way that I use a deep-pryor and deep-pryor turkey and things like that. So there's no limit to what I'll be cooking out there.

John Berry: 13:31

But over the month of November, on my YouTube channel we created a dessert series, a pie series to be more specific. If you listened to our last episode, you would have heard the four pies that we did. If you listened to our last podcast episode, our first one that we really kind of dove into just a little bit of meat and potatoes, of some pies, the lorries, like the apple I did too. We did a pumpkin and caramel, a cream pie and there was one more that we did a pecan pie as well. So we did all of those pies and that's why we have decided for season one of this podcast we're going to go ahead and call it something like fired up for season one. Folks, we're going to explore outdoor cooking and smoking desserts, so we're going to call it the oaky smoking dessert adventures or something like that. And episode one we're going to go ahead and talk about our our adventure on grilling desserts on the pit barrel cooker, the Weber Smoky Mountain and the pellet grill. We're also going to be doing something we've never done before in that season. That's going to be cooking a cake. Haven't done it, but we're going to go ahead and do it during one of our episodes. It looks like that's probably going to fall into. I'm looking at it here. We're going to have eight episodes during this first season and it looks like episode number six. Yep, episode number six. We're going to be trying to cook a cake. So that's going to be fun and we're going to be doing some other things on there as well. So something new right there, that'll be something to look forward to.

John Berry: 15:32

But pretty much every episode during our first season is going to pertain to sweets. We have done pies, we have done cookies, we have made s'mores on the Blackstone, we made some s'mores on the pit barrel cooker and that was a total fail. You can find that video on TikTok just a short video of where we tried to cook them. We over smoked them and it just tastes like we're eating nothing but smoke. So I would not go with that one. If you're going to do s'mores, you want to do them so that they don't smoke for a long time. And we smoked the chocolate and we smoked the graham crackers and we had the marshmallow smoking and then by the time we ate it, it was just horrendous. I love smoked things, but you don't want to just taste like you're eating wood, and that wasn't far from it. It was just like you were just drinking smoke or eating smoke and did not did not do well as far as what we were expecting or anything. So there are some things that don't do well, and maybe this cake will be one, but I think we're going to get that down. We're going to come up with some ingredients, hopefully to where it turns out pretty good. So a smoked cake later in season one. That is going to be really, really cool.

John Berry: 17:00

Also, during this season upcoming, we're going to highlight some of the episodes to where we're going to specifically talk about cooking desserts on one of the items. So one of the episodes could be Weber Smoky Mountain, and then we're just going to talk solely about desserts on that one, how the desserts that we've tried have tasted, how well they've come out. And then we may have another episode of a pit barrel and what we've cooked on it and how they've come out as well. So it's going to be a really hopefully interesting season for everybody. And then, going forward, we'll have season two announced later next season, once we determine exactly what the topic, what the theme I guess you should say is going to be, because it's that's what it is right. Each season we're going to have a theme and then we're going to come up with about eight it could change, you know, six to ten somewhere in there. Give or take. We're going to have episodes about that theme, maybe smaller pieces of each one of those episodes. So it'll be a bullet point of a smaller category within that theme and that's why we've chosen to do seasons, and I think it's going to be great.

John Berry: 18:26

But we did notice one thing. So our first episode airs December, the 18th, and then the week after that is on a Monday. Next winter episodes fall, but that's also Christmas Day. So we're going to skip Christmas Day for episode two, although I think we might come out with a little small holiday episode or something, just so there's something out there. But it'll be a special bonus episode or something, if you will. So we're going to skip that one. So season one episode one will be December 18th. Then you won't get to episode two until the week after Christmas, which will also be New Year's. But we'll go ahead and air one on New Year's. We'll go ahead and let that holiday go ahead and have an episode for that one. So that's pretty much what you can expect in season one.

John Berry: 19:27

But let me just go ahead and also talk about what the joys is of cooking outside and why it is something that I enjoy and many others do, and it don't matter what time of year it is. Now, if there's a blizzard outside or something, I'm not going to be out there, but during all temperatures, put your jacket on. Go out there during rain, if I can. It's not raining too hard, I still will go out there but just the fresh air, enjoyment of starting a fire and cooking on it, not heating up your house, you're freedom out there. You're out there with the. There's birds, there's wildlife I'm not out in the country or anything, but there's those things out there. It's just the enjoyment of outdoors and it's just something that I've enjoyed.

John Berry: 20:26

There are some challenges that do come with it. If it's a very windy day or there is a burn ban that has been issued, you have to look at that. Maybe you can't use your charcoal or wood because of a burn ban. If you do, you could get fined or worse, catch the grass on fire and then have it spread somewhere and then you would really be in trouble. So you do have some of those around here, not very often, but during those times you can use a black stone or maybe a pellet grill would not fall under the ban. Of course it could. You got to look at the ban and see what is and isn't allowed. I've seen it before where they'll ban burning outside but they don't ban charcoal, or they ban both, or they won't ban pellet grills. So you got to look at the full thing and see what it is they do or do not allow. Make sure you follow it to the T. So I also want to do a little bit of house cleaning. When I say house cleaning, just make sure that I let everybody know that's listening, where they can find me, where they can reach out to me.

John Berry: 21:38

If you have a question, a comment, a feedback of any kind good or bad, go ahead, you can email me. Just type in John at okeysmokincom. J-o-h-n at O-K-I-E-S-M-O-K-I-N dot com. That's John at okeysmokincom. Hey, send me an email, shoot me one. I'll reply back to you. If it's something you have a question about, maybe it's something we'll talk about in an upcoming episode. If you have a dessert question, go ahead and email me now. We might be able to get it on an upcoming season that's about to launch about desserts, but nonetheless, I will definitely. If I were to get enough emails, I could make a segment and answer emails. That would be something fun to do. You can also find us on Facebook. So if you go to facebookcom, slash okeysmokinoutdoor and then you can find us on YouTube, tiktok and our website, okeysmokincom.

John Berry: 22:46

But I'm not going to be mentioning this in every episode to bore everybody to death. You'll always find this information in the show notes below. And, of course, don't forget to follow, no matter what podcast platform you're using, whatever your favorite platform is, so you don't miss out on any of the deliciousness that we're going to talk about this season and in future seasons also. And before I go, I don't believe I mentioned where the okey smoking name came from. Of course, smoking has to do with me enjoying smoking outdoors. Smoking not cigarettes or any other smokable item, but by smoking food, meats, vegetables, all those types of things. And Okie comes in to stand for because I'm from Oklahoma and I'm at Okie, I love smoking meat, so that's where I come up with Okie smoking.

John Berry: 23:45

And then we got a website and everything else. I started making videos. I've got. I've just. You know, you can call me Okie If you want. Hey, okie, that's perfectly fine, doesn't bother me at all. You can call me John as well. Whatever it is, just go ahead. If you want to shoot me a message on Facebook, that's fine, or an email, that'll work too. You'll find all the information you need to do either one of those in the show notes below. So, from adding ice cream to your desserts to smoking some pies, maybe some blackstone desserts all that stuff's coming up in season one. The season officially launches December 18th of 2023. So can't wait to get to that. I'll see you guys then.

Announcement: 24:37

Thank you for listening to the Okie Smoking Podcast. Episodes drop every Monday. Don't forget to follow this podcast or you might miss out on some delicious creations. You can also find us on our website, okiesmokin. com, and on YouTube and other social media platforms. Until next time, keep firing up that grill.