SPEAKER_01 0:54

You ever noticed how some folks judge barbecue just by the sauce? They see that shiny, sticky glaze and think, that's the good stuff. But here's the thing. Sauce can cover up a lot. In this between the fires, I'm talking about why what's underneath the shine, whether it's barbecue or people, is really what matters. So if you've ever felt overlooked because you weren't the flashiest, yeah, this one is for you. You can't fake barbecue. You could pour all the sauce you want on it, but the smoke, it tells the truth. If you didn't season it right, if you didn't give it time, didn't manage your fire, the first bite, it it's gonna call you out. And that's kind of like life. You could talk a big game, flash your success online, or show off that highlight reel. But if there's no foundation underneath, it falls apart pretty quick, don't it? I mean, I've had some cooks where the outside looked perfect. Color was money. I mean, beautiful just looks so amazing. Shine was right and you just wanted to dig in. But when you sliced into it, it was tough or dry or look great, but just didn't taste great. And that's what sometimes happens uh when you rush the process, whether you're cooking or chasing goals in life. I mean, patience don't show up on camera. It's what happened behind the scenes that makes it good or bad. And uh, you know when you season a brisket or ribs, you're building layers. A little salt, a little pepper, some garlic, maybe a touch of sweet. Now, for me, it's a touch of heat. I want some heat, baby, and that smoke, it all starts, starts to weave together. That's the real story. I mean, the sauce, it's just the headline. And people, they're the same way. Uh we're all made of layers. Our struggles, our lessons, the times we fell short, and learn something from it. That's how you build character. That's where character comes from. And when you meet somebody who's been through the fire, who stood out there in the wind and smoke and kept going anyway, man, you can taste that experience and who they are, and you can feel it. And that's why I always say don't judge the cook by the sauce. You know, judge it closer. How about the smoke ring? Look inside. See what's inside that uh that cook. You know, I've seen folks drown their meat in uh sauce, hide mistakes because they've overcooked it. I know I've done that. You didn't season it enough, or you think sauce, it's gonna be the easy fix, at least it feels that way. You're gonna go ahead and uh pour this sauce on it. You got it out, you tasted it, you said, Man, this don't taste right. I didn't add enough seasoning. I I did that recently to a uh a cook of mine, and I didn't think I'd seasoned it enough. I added more seasoning, but I actually didn't add sauce this time. Uh because I'm also a firm believer when it comes to uh cooking barbecue. The the type of sauce someone wants on it may not be what I would like. I I like it spicy and a whole lot of people don't. So I don't want to put a spicy sauce on something if someone wants it sweet. There's some people that don't want sweet but want spicy, or there's some people that want more of a savory sauce or a uh, you know, a particular flavor, maybe a honey. There's a various amount of sauces you could put on. Uh you may have someone that wants no sauce. Maybe they're on a low carb diet or they bring their own with them. Have you ever done that? You know, take your own sauce. Maybe you're going to a restaurant or somewhere and bring your own seasonings or your own sauce. Uh Dolores has been known to do that. Uh, she'll bring something because it's uh a low carb and she will order from the menu and do it that way. Uh but the point is don't judge by the way the sauce looks with or without. I've had some cooks that looked absolutely dreadful, but tasted amazing. You can have, and and this happens in competition, I think, quite a bit. You go ahead and you realize you need to get an extra point. This don't, this is this isn't gonna win by taste. Let's fake it. Let's add a little sauce to it. Let's let's get an extra point from looks. Because when they look at it, they're gonna instantly say it's worth a set number of points, and they taste it, and they forget that they've given it a point for uh the looks. Uh so uh sauce as an easy fix is just uh not the way to go. Uh the sauce does not tell the story. I mean, everything good in barbecue takes time. You can't rush rush a brisket and you you sure as hell can't fake it. You can't fake the bark. You can't microwave smoke. And going back to life, life is no different than this. Like I said before, we've all got layers. You can't skip the early mornings and the failures. The trial runs that don't work. You you can't forget about them. Those are the cooks that teach you who you are. And when you take the long route, when you build flavors slowly, that's when you earn it. And once you've earned it, nobody can take it from you. And I think about that sometimes. You know, I'll be sitting out back in my backyard kitchen, cooking a slow cook, drinking a cold beer, just letting the smoke roll. Don't you like to just watch that smoke? It just kind of starts rolling, especially off that big green egg. It'll just, it just rolls. Although you want it to be a good, clean, clean smoke roll. I mean, it's quiet, but it's honest. The kind of quiet where you start to think about all the cooks you've stood over, all the fires you've made in life and in cooking, and realize every one of them has taught you something. Everything you do in life, every cook you make on the grill, you get 1% better. You learn something from it. I mean, the the the world moves fast. Flavor takes time. So the next time you pull a rack of ribs off the pit, take a second to look past the sauce and think about everything that went into it before that brush hit the meat. And there's so much. And this goes with barbecue, this goes with people, this goes with the life, everything behind the scenes, everything you don't know about, everything you don't see. This podcast I'm creating right now, I don't know how long it's going to be. This is a short version that I do. Probably 10 minutes or so. It took a whole hell of a lot longer than 10 minutes. You have to record, you have to download, you have to edit, you have to make some adjustments, you have to create a title, you have to send it to the podcast hosts. Ten minutes. But it took a lot more. Stuff behind the scenes. And the same goes for uh you know, cooking that that fantastic brisket you're having. Um, you know, you it may have needed trimmed, it may have needed brined, it may it, you know, it definitely needed seasoned, you're not gonna have it plain, the seasoning that goes on it. Then the cooking, hours of cooking. And when you think about it, you couldn't you basically can cook some kind of food or meat, and you could do, we'll just say, eight hours of brine. Then you've got to season it, and you've got to let it set. And then if you're using uh charcoal, you've got to start that, or wood, you've got to light that. If it's a pellet grill, you've got to turn it on, you've got to get everything rolling. You may need to clean it up a little bit. You gotta get the grates going, you gotta put it on. You've got to cook it, you've got to wait beside it, you have to sit there, you have to, you have to monitor the whole thing. Five hours, eight hours, ten hours, ever how long it is, maybe twelve, fifteen hours, everything behind the scenes that you don't see to turn into what you are getting offered on the plate. So don't judge it by the sauce because the sauce don't tell the story. Uh the sauce might be pretty, but let me tell you, the smoke is what makes it honest. And and just like I said, that's the same with people, the polish that people put on and and and filters that they add to themselves and highlight reels and and everything else, and you look at it and you think, wow, that that person's incredible. But none of it tells the story. None of it tells the real story. And that goes with uh with really anything. Uh the smoke they've been through, you don't know, the time uh they've spent getting battered, the the flavor, the flavor that only comes out from fire. So that's what this episode's all about. The sauce ain't the story, the smoke is. And this is another episode of Between the Fires, where I come on and do a quick short episode, talk about something, sometimes related to barbecue, sometimes not, kind of reflect a little bit on and maybe get some things off my chest. Sometimes uh it may or may not make sense, uh, but it is uh fun to do and a way to uh get out there and talk to everybody. These come out on Wednesdays and on Fridays. Our main episode comes out on Mondays. You can always text us as well or leave us a voicemail. Would love to hear from you. The phone number is four zero five four five eight five five one three. That's area code four zero five four five eight five five one three. If you text a message, we might read it on air in a future episode. And if you leave us a voicemail, we might play it. You could also email me at Okie Smoking at gmail.com. In the process of creating the new email, once it gets up and running, I'll announce it, but I'll have all of the emails from that address forwarded to it, so whichever one you want to use, I will still get it. I'm based right here in Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma City area, Midwest City. Uh got a YouTube channel you can check out. It's Okie Smoking YouTube. Just made some smoked whipped cream tonight, code smoked. So check out the channel that just dropped. It's fall, pumpkin pies, whipped cream. Come on, you're probably gonna want to make some. So check out that video. You don't even have to smoke it if you don't want. But I I recommend. I had it with some Americano. Who don't like Americano? A shot of espresso, some hot water. Freaking amazing. I'll see you guys in the next one. Keep on firing up that grill.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

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