I have NEVER seen someone go into as much detail as you have on this. THANK you so much. You've given me some great ideas! Different note: Thank you for your service. You and your buddies. Yeah yeah I'm in America but I dont care where you are from you guys sacrifice just as much as anyone has anywhere else. Seriously, thank you.
Hey Brother, I’ve had a traeger 22 in my yard and I’ve always wanted to start it up big time and life somehow always got in the way until I found your videos. Your style, humor, attention to detail always captivated me and the second you started speaking about OEF it all made sense. I was there in 2012 with the US Army and I wasn’t at all shocked you’re a vet. We all have the same sense of humor. Quickest sub you ever got. I’ll be looking forward to watching the rest of your stuff. Stay safe and keep up the great content!
Steve, I recently found your channel after getting bit by the brisket bug. Your bbq tips are absolutely amazing. Also, thank you so much for your service to our country. Your sacrifice for us hasn't gone unnoticed!!
Congratulations on the win, the competition looks like a lot of fun! It's hard to find people that share your passion like that and have the patience to learn the craft, you're very lucky!
Thank you and your fellow BFF's for your service! Don't question yourselves about the sacrifices you warriors have made in your service, it makes a difference. Great video and congratulations on your win!
I haven't competed since 2011 but I can tell you, you should absolutely jump in and compete. If you are uncertain then enter into a backyard category. But if you can finish all 4 meats in a practice run just enter with the big guns. The first time you get your name called at the awards will be a life long memory. If the God's line up for you and you win your first overall you absolutely will not ever forget that. My first Grand Championship was with Myron Mixon finishing Reserve Grand right behind us. I doubt either myself or Myron will ever forget that. That is how the BBQ world works. Sometimes your biggest rival is your biggest fan.
To answer the title of your video, I'll quote Harry Soo: "It is always about the pitmaster, never about the pit." He won many championships using Weber Smokey Mountain bullet smokers. Congratulations! Having watched many of your videos, you put a lot of thought into your BBQ process. It must be gratifying that your efforts paid off.
Determination Discipline and Thin blue smoke. Congratulations, i think that'll motivate many others. (I've started to win competitions with cheap homemade vertical smokers, made the rich teams mad as hell. // HSS BBQ )
Congratulations on your win. More importantly you were able to do it with your veteran buddies. Side note: for those of your friends who question our value in Afghanistan after our withdrawal. Our 20 + year mission was a success. We were blindsided by the failure of the Afghan government. Please keep the faith. HOORAAA! Win. More comps.
Fellow Army Afghan Vet and backyard self-proclaimed pit boss here. This video was nothing short of awesome. Probably my favorite and I follow all the TH-camrs religiously. I’ll actually be joining your patreon (first for me). Thanks for the pick up and motivation brother!
Congrats on your wins man. Just got my first offset, and going to do my first 17 lb brisket over night. My competition is myself, and i watched your offset smoker fire management. definitely using those techniques tonight.
I'm not really interested in competing but this was such an informative video my man.. Got my reverse flow offset smoker done about 2 weeks ago... I follow your suggestions for whatever I'm cooking and it ALWAYS turns out great! It makes a person feel pretty dang good when you have someone tell you, your smoked whole chicken is the best chicken they ever had.. I've only smoked 3 chickens so far so hearing that REALLY made me feel good.. Couldn't have done it without this great channel and you! Thanks!
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ I'm gonna be smoking some pork belly burnt ends and a whole chicken later today.. I was actually putting them in brine when you replied lol
Another fantastic video, Steve! I loved the song in the middle (homage to Rocky), and all the fun cutaways of you with your friends! Congratulations again! Seeing all the hard work that you guys put in shows just how much you all definitely deserved this win!!!
Canadian Army? That's awesome, I worked with some amazing Canadians in the Kandahar area. Some of my favorite stories are from those guys! Fun times, great people. Warriors. Absolute warriors. My feelings on Afghan are very similar to yours. Love your channel, love the brisket knowledge, love your background. Thank you!
I always appreciate the humor, gotta have fun. But your intro with the military references is not a joking matter, it's very serious. Thank you for including that, and thank you for your service.
British infantry saying Hi. I use a tiny diy store kettle grill for smoking currently - moving house soon and buying an offset immediately. I’ve found that adding a Pringle tube to the top vent makes my life a LOT easier. If it works but looks stupid, it isn’t stupid.
Thank you for your service, nothing but respect.... great video and congratulations that so awesome! keep up the good work, you are an inspiration! Hope the family is doing well!
Really enjoyed this vid,. Been trying for a yr or so to start a new BBQ team, but it's not of much interest in my area. Thank you all for your service and sacrifice. You Canadian kids are a hoot.
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ no, I've been part of the same team since 92 but we've been spread all over the country so we had to disband last year.. I'm not a good lackey, but I am going to check it out, maybe Something to think about👍🏼🔥🇺🇸
Congrats on the win in your competition. I see you guys doing something by giving back to the veterans with your passion for BBQ. Also 2 helpful tips. Don't buy a yeti cooler. Go to Walmart and get yourself a couple of lifetime coolers for a fraction of the price. They perform just like Yeti and will hold your temps for your cooked food for future competitions. Second Invest in thermoworks x4 units or other models that give you multiple channels to check you food temperatures while it's resting in the cooler to stay warm and you won't have more overdone meats for the judges.
My 14 year old son has the OJ smoker and loves your videos:) Ours is set up as a reverse flow--came that way. Do you have a preference on setup (regular vs reverse flow)?
Great video Steve. Before kids we completed in a lot of KCBS competitions. I definitely need to assemble a new team and get after it. I enjoyed reliving all the particulars of competition especially thinking about my old buddy that always got pots and pans duty.
When you find someone that does the dishes you need to hang on to them forever haha! That's awesome man I hope you assemble the crew and get back into it! Can your kids get involved or are they too young?
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ they are too young right now but they are good quality control for the test cooks. Unfortunately our pots and pans guy lives across the country so we’ll have to do some tryouts for the coveted job.
Hey Jon, really enjoyed the video. I actually did my first competition with a buddy of mine this year, and we brought our OKJ as well. It was a blast! Wish I would've seen this before we went. Lot of great advice here. And it was really cool cuz Tuffy Stone did a crash course on making boxes for us while we were there. We definitely weren't as prepared as you guys, but we tried. You just don't really know what to expect going into your first comp. But we only did ribs and chicken for ours. Our chicken wound up burnt so we got 19th in that, but we surprised ourselves and took 2nd in ribs. We were just as excited as you guys were. Anyway, congrats to you guys, and from one veteran to a few others thanks for what you did. You guys seem like a great bunch of dudes. Keep up the great videos too.
I noticed in your firebox that you no longer use a horizontal grate under the angled grates. Does that work better and is it difficult to clear ash from that arrangement? Thanks for the video, I enjoyed it.
I've been experimenting without the horizontal grate. It seems to work better because there's a better coal bed. I don't really need to clear the ash because there's still space on dithe side of the V
Loved the video. Your song is so terrible and awesome. Congrats on the wins. That looks like a great group of guys. I loved the crack about light beer - I call it "beer flavored water".
Man this looks like a lot of fun and stress. Glad you were able to hangout with your friends and kick some bbq. Congrats on the win. I've yet to smoke any meat on my Oklahoma Joe Longhorn but I got some chicken breasts in the freezer. Any tips for smoking breasts?
Are 1/4 inch steel offsets alot more expensive in Canada? You work some magic on that cheap offset bro, imagine what you could do with a higher quality smoker
Dude (I'm from SoCal so I'm not sure the Canadian equivalent to dude...is it buddy? Guy? All I know about Canada is from the South Park Movie). Anyway, dude, I love the direction your videos are moving towards. Whimsical humor, great cooks, shirtless dudes in aprons....I am here for it!
This is a good video dude..! Also made me laugh in a good way. I have competed in KCBS and I also have Been a Judge for KCBS. I still go to BBQ festivals but I only go to enjoy them now. So back to being able to eat and drink lol 😂 Good information and very entertaining big thumbs up from me. 👍
veteran bff's coming together to prove they can compete in the harsh bbq competition world despite all odds. underdogs into unlikely heroes...definitely feels like a movie deal incoming. loved the training montage as usual. next time you should try and compete with your pellet smoker so there can be more sleeping, drinking and dancing :)
Let me say first of all, the final curtain on Afghanistan was a complete humiliating disaster orchestrated by the abject incompetence of current U.S. leadership. As far as BBQ competitions, you've got the type of discipline and commitment to some day win the American Royals. I, sure as hell, would not be on your team though. I'm an undisciplined gray haired old guy who has an OK Joe in his carport. I thoroughly enjoy sitting out there with a chunk of meat in Old Joe's gullet, a carton of beer and a damned old dog who wants constant attention. I always enjoy your videos, keep them coming.
Thank you and your team’s service. Still painfully upset about our government’s (USA) ass backwards procedure. 🤬🤬🤬 I will leave it at that so your video doesn’t get Censored 🤫 CONGRATULATIONS ON THE TEAM’s WIN!! 😁👍👍🎉 & Thanks for sharing!
Blah blah blah why aren't you return your messages we want to know about heat management on your stupid little smoker did you put the heat down below with the exhaust pipe dropping down How did that work out That's a question can you answer it😢
I have NEVER seen someone go into as much detail as you have on this. THANK you so much. You've given me some great ideas! Different note: Thank you for your service. You and your buddies. Yeah yeah I'm in America but I dont care where you are from you guys sacrifice just as much as anyone has anywhere else. Seriously, thank you.
Thanks man! I appreciate it!
Hey Brother, I’ve had a traeger 22 in my yard and I’ve always wanted to start it up big time and life somehow always got in the way until I found your videos.
Your style, humor, attention to detail always captivated me and the second you started speaking about OEF it all made sense. I was there in 2012 with the US Army and I wasn’t at all shocked you’re a vet. We all have the same sense of humor.
Quickest sub you ever got. I’ll be looking forward to watching the rest of your stuff.
Stay safe and keep up the great content!
Steve, I recently found your channel after getting bit by the brisket bug. Your bbq tips are absolutely amazing. Also, thank you so much for your service to our country. Your sacrifice for us hasn't gone unnoticed!!
Thank Keith! Appreciate it man! Let me know if you have questions
Congratulations on the win, the competition looks like a lot of fun! It's hard to find people that share your passion like that and have the patience to learn the craft, you're very lucky!
Thanks David! The trick is to feed them delicious BBQ until they get interested enough to buy their own smoker.
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ seduce them with food? Good thinking, just don't use your powers for evil!
Than you for your service!
That is awesome! Congratulations on your awards! It's all about the pit master, not the equipment.
Thanks Tony. Congrats to you as well on your success.
Thank you for your service
Lol the montage, back and forth with the crew was amazing
Thank you and your fellow BFF's for your service! Don't question yourselves about the sacrifices you warriors have made in your service, it makes a difference. Great video and congratulations on your win!
Thanks!
I haven't entered a competition yet because it seems a bit intimidating, but this video may have changed my mind! Thanks for this!
I haven't competed since 2011 but I can tell you, you should absolutely jump in and compete. If you are uncertain then enter into a backyard category. But if you can finish all 4 meats in a practice run just enter with the big guns. The first time you get your name called at the awards will be a life long memory. If the God's line up for you and you win your first overall you absolutely will not ever forget that. My first Grand Championship was with Myron Mixon finishing Reserve Grand right behind us. I doubt either myself or Myron will ever forget that. That is how the BBQ world works. Sometimes your biggest rival is your biggest fan.
I appreciated the fact you established dominance early with the wolf T-shirt. I think that was a key factor
To answer the title of your video, I'll quote Harry Soo: "It is always about the pitmaster, never about the pit." He won many championships
using Weber Smokey Mountain bullet smokers. Congratulations! Having watched many of your videos, you put a lot of thought into your BBQ process.
It must be gratifying that your efforts paid off.
Determination Discipline and Thin blue smoke. Congratulations, i think that'll motivate many others. (I've started to win competitions with cheap homemade vertical smokers, made the rich teams mad as hell. // HSS BBQ )
We as Americans thank you for your service. I’m very sorry that the people of Afghanistan let you all down.
Congratulations on your win. More importantly you were able to do it with your veteran buddies. Side note: for those of your friends who question our value in Afghanistan after our withdrawal. Our 20 + year mission was a success. We were blindsided by the failure of the Afghan government. Please keep the faith. HOORAAA! Win. More comps.
Thanks Terry! Yea we feel pretty good about what we did, just sucks how it all turned out.
Fellow Army Afghan Vet and backyard self-proclaimed pit boss here. This video was nothing short of awesome. Probably my favorite and I follow all the TH-camrs religiously. I’ll actually be joining your patreon (first for me). Thanks for the pick up and motivation brother!
Thanks man! See you there!
Congrats on your wins man. Just got my first offset, and going to do my first 17 lb brisket over night. My competition is myself, and i watched your offset smoker fire management. definitely using those techniques tonight.
Good luck man! Let me know how it goes
I'm not really interested in competing but this was such an informative video my man..
Got my reverse flow offset smoker done about 2 weeks ago...
I follow your suggestions for whatever I'm cooking and it ALWAYS turns out great!
It makes a person feel pretty dang good when you have someone tell you, your smoked whole chicken is the best chicken they ever had..
I've only smoked 3 chickens so far so hearing that REALLY made me feel good..
Couldn't have done it without this great channel and you! Thanks!
Thanks JT! That IS a good feeling. What are you cooking next?
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ I'm gonna be smoking some pork belly burnt ends and a whole chicken later today..
I was actually putting them in brine when you replied lol
Ive learned soooooo much from you over time.........get a TOP NOTCH TEAM if you have boozers , tisk-tisk. YOUR VIDS ARE PRICELESS.
Another fantastic video, Steve! I loved the song in the middle (homage to Rocky), and all the fun cutaways of you with your friends! Congratulations again! Seeing all the hard work that you guys put in shows just how much you all definitely deserved this win!!!
US army Afghan and Iraq vet here - glad to see you doing this. Congrats on the win and the info
Thanks! Cheers man
Canadian Army? That's awesome, I worked with some amazing Canadians in the Kandahar area. Some of my favorite stories are from those guys! Fun times, great people. Warriors. Absolute warriors. My feelings on Afghan are very similar to yours. Love your channel, love the brisket knowledge, love your background. Thank you!
A lot of emotions in this video. Be glad you have life long brothers no matter what happened.
I am grateful!
It's great to have friends like brothers.
I always appreciate the humor, gotta have fun. But your intro with the military references is not a joking matter, it's very serious. Thank you for including that, and thank you for your service.
British infantry saying Hi.
I use a tiny diy store kettle grill for smoking currently - moving house soon and buying an offset immediately. I’ve found that adding a Pringle tube to the top vent makes my life a LOT easier. If it works but looks stupid, it isn’t stupid.
Haha nice solution!
Great video. Congrats on the brisket calls! No small feat in that crowd.
Thank you for your service, nothing but respect.... great video and congratulations that so awesome! keep up the good work, you are an inspiration! Hope the family is doing well!
Thanks Jason! Fam's all good. Little Jacob's getting a personality. very cool to watch him grow. Hope you're well
Awesome video. I need to get my Army buddies together. The no drinking until 6pm will be a hard sell. Especially if we all get together.
Nobody followed the rule
I got a highland smoker for Christmas last year I love it so far. It’s nice to know it can compete with the best.
Totally! We were going up against teams with super expensive smokers and competing on par with them.
Way to go my man! You deserve it brother....love your videos, keep up the good work, hope your family is doing well. Love from Minnesota
Thanks man! Everyone's all good. Jacob's sleeping well for a 6 month old. Hope you and yours are all good!
Nice, fellow Minnesotan here.
Really enjoyed this vid,. Been trying for a yr or so to start a new BBQ team, but it's not of much interest in my area. Thank you all for your service and sacrifice. You Canadian kids are a hoot.
Thanks! Have you tried seeing if you could join an existing team as a helper? Might open up some connections
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ no, I've been part of the same team since 92 but we've been spread all over the country so we had to disband last year.. I'm not a good lackey, but I am going to check it out, maybe Something to think about👍🏼🔥🇺🇸
Thank you for everything you and your friends and family have done. Also great video
Thanks John!
Congrats on the win in your competition. I see you guys doing something by giving back to the veterans with your passion for BBQ. Also 2 helpful tips. Don't buy a yeti cooler. Go to Walmart and get yourself a couple of lifetime coolers for a fraction of the price. They perform just like Yeti and will hold your temps for your cooked food for future competitions. Second Invest in thermoworks x4 units or other models that give you multiple channels to check you food temperatures while it's resting in the cooler to stay warm and you won't have more overdone meats for the judges.
Love the Vids, keep it up! Much love from 3ième Bataillon, Royal 22ième Régiment! 🇨🇦
Thanks brother! I appreciate you watching!
Yah I purchased that smoker a few months ago and it made amazing barbecue.
Haha, great video.
Congratulations on the awards! Thank you for your service
Thank you!
My 14 year old son has the OJ smoker and loves your videos:) Ours is set up as a reverse flow--came that way. Do you have a preference on setup (regular vs reverse flow)?
Awesome! I bet he's cooking up some great Q! I just have the highland. Not a reverse flow, so no tuning plates
Great video Steve. Before kids we completed in a lot of KCBS competitions. I definitely need to assemble a new team and get after it. I enjoyed reliving all the particulars of competition especially thinking about my old buddy that always got pots and pans duty.
When you find someone that does the dishes you need to hang on to them forever haha! That's awesome man I hope you assemble the crew and get back into it! Can your kids get involved or are they too young?
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ they are too young right now but they are good quality control for the test cooks. Unfortunately our pots and pans guy lives across the country so we’ll have to do some tryouts for the coveted job.
That's awesome! Love this channel and Harry Soo also....
Thanks Garrett!
Now I need a bbq soundtrack from you boys
I have a much cheaper offset smoker. Nexgrill . It's too small to put in logs. Got any tips on how to best maintain heat and clean smoke?
Small hot coal bed with wood chunks. Same principles.
8:32 “So here’s how we’re gonna win this thing: # 1 no drinking before 6pm”
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Hey Jon, really enjoyed the video. I actually did my first competition with a buddy of mine this year, and we brought our OKJ as well. It was a blast! Wish I would've seen this before we went. Lot of great advice here. And it was really cool cuz Tuffy Stone did a crash course on making boxes for us while we were there. We definitely weren't as prepared as you guys, but we tried. You just don't really know what to expect going into your first comp. But we only did ribs and chicken for ours. Our chicken wound up burnt so we got 19th in that, but we surprised ourselves and took 2nd in ribs. We were just as excited as you guys were. Anyway, congrats to you guys, and from one veteran to a few others thanks for what you did. You guys seem like a great bunch of dudes. Keep up the great videos too.
Gow, you are a bloody legend mate.
Thanks Simon! Now that you've discovered my exceptional vocal talent maybe I can sing in your band?
I noticed in your firebox that you no longer use a horizontal grate under the angled grates. Does that work better and is it difficult to clear ash from that arrangement? Thanks for the video, I enjoyed it.
I've been experimenting without the horizontal grate. It seems to work better because there's a better coal bed. I don't really need to clear the ash because there's still space on dithe side of the V
So whats a "Finishing powder"? Congrats on the win. Cool trophy you got.
Well done! The song/montage hahaha. Need to put that on Spotify!
Great idea!
You are a very good man. This was a great video.
Loved the video. Your song is so terrible and awesome. Congrats on the wins. That looks like a great group of guys. I loved the crack about light beer - I call it "beer flavored water".
Haha yea one of my worst so far but still my favorite.
0:10 biggest flex I’ve ever seen in my life I laughed so hard 😂😂😂😂
I don't always flex, but when I do it's any chance I get
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ well deserved flex haha
Learned a lot from you bro. Wish you more awards and tasty bbq.
Thank you!
man.. the level of cringe with the music and the handshake montage at 10:20 was an absolute masterpiece 😆👌
The funny thing is I actually think it sounds good when I'm singing it. Then I watch myself and I can barely get through it
Thank you for another great video. Outstanding!
Love that team!!!
Man this looks like a lot of fun and stress. Glad you were able to hangout with your friends and kick some bbq. Congrats on the win. I've yet to smoke any meat on my Oklahoma Joe Longhorn but I got some chicken breasts in the freezer. Any tips for smoking breasts?
Are 1/4 inch steel offsets alot more expensive in Canada? You work some magic on that cheap offset bro, imagine what you could do with a higher quality smoker
Thanks man. Yea they would all be custom jobs. Multiple thousands of dollars
Competition’s these days are a rich person sport. To compromise the man said to plan your work and work your plan. Great video….
Yea they are super expensive. It's shocking when you add it all up.
Dude (I'm from SoCal so I'm not sure the Canadian equivalent to dude...is it buddy? Guy? All I know about Canada is from the South Park Movie).
Anyway, dude, I love the direction your videos are moving towards. Whimsical humor, great cooks, shirtless dudes in aprons....I am here for it!
Also bbq aside I would 100% watch a road trip movie with you and your crew trying to find some metaphor of your lost youth.
This is a good video dude..!
Also made me laugh in a good way.
I have competed in KCBS and I also have Been a Judge for KCBS.
I still go to BBQ festivals but I only go to enjoy them now. So back to being able to eat and drink lol 😂
Good information and very entertaining big thumbs up from me. 👍
Great Video and Information You Guys Rock
Thank you for your service!
veteran bff's coming together to prove they can compete in the harsh bbq competition world despite all odds. underdogs into unlikely heroes...definitely feels like a movie deal incoming. loved the training montage as usual. next time you should try and compete with your pellet smoker so there can be more sleeping, drinking and dancing :)
Thanks man! I don't think I'd get to sleep even with pellet grills lol
Been smoking for 20 years through many different methods. Just built my first cheap offside smoker. Quite excited to fail, that is all knowledge.
Love your site!!
Great vid, I had to laugh out loud a couple of times
Thanks!
The checkoff was the best milisecond
I've been to comps where guys using weber kettles got the call.
so i really enjoyed this. bbq entertainment
I love this channel
Thanks man!
So you are allowed to prep meat before the meat is inspected by the officials?
You can trim it ahead. No seasoning or injections etc
Do you interact much with other teams at these comps?
For sure we met a bunch of people
WOW Michael Bublé knows alot ABOAT trimming
Congrats 🎊🍾🎈🎉
US or Canadian Army? I know a lot of Canadians in the US Army, that’s why I’m asking.
Canadian
Get some!!
Great montage 🤣
where u from in canada?
Haha giving your team a whole 5 paragraph order and op order lmao
That's what it takes to keep those bugalugs in line!
Great Video!!! 😂👍🏽
Really thought he was gunna say "manage your friends" when he said "check out the video to learn how to manage..."
HOOAHH Ft Carson here
Let me say first of all, the final curtain on Afghanistan was a complete humiliating disaster orchestrated by the abject incompetence of current U.S. leadership. As far as BBQ competitions, you've got the type of discipline and commitment to some day win the American Royals. I, sure as hell, would not be on your team though. I'm an undisciplined gray haired old guy who has an OK Joe in his carport. I thoroughly enjoy sitting out there with a chunk of meat in Old Joe's gullet, a carton of beer and a damned old dog who wants constant attention. I always enjoy your videos, keep them coming.
its not the cooker . its the cook. i won 3 comps using an old brinkmann offset from walmart in the late 90s.
What about lite beer? 😂
It's not the pit, it is the Pitmaster.
Bon travail !
There was no link to fire management on a cheap smoker 🤷🏼♂️
Took a dark turn at 1:16
Briskets for Brandon! Let’s go Brandon!
Thank you and your team’s service. Still painfully upset about our government’s (USA) ass backwards procedure. 🤬🤬🤬 I will leave it at that so your video doesn’t get Censored 🤫
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE TEAM’s WIN!! 😁👍👍🎉 & Thanks for sharing!
Depends on the person competing . Most Tom, Dick or Harry’s most likely will not win.
I definitely was a Harry Dick in my first one
Thank you for your service. I’m sorry our newly elected government failed you. I love BBQ , pit masters and America (North America)
Babys got the same hair do as dad..
JUST SUB TO YOUR CHANNEL
Hooah ! wait... Huah. eh?
Know your cooker. It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.
Good BBQ was around a couple of centuries before $5,000 smokers were.
Rah
lol cheap. 400-500 bucks for a grill aint cheap imo
Blah blah blah why aren't you return your messages we want to know about heat management on your stupid little smoker did you put the heat down below with the exhaust pipe dropping down How did that work out That's a question can you answer it😢
Thank you for your service