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See Episode GuideGetting Piggy With It
Roger Mooking goes hog-wild at two legendary barbecue restaurants located in America's Barbecue Belt. At A&R Bar-B-Que in Memphis, Roger helps owner Andrew Pillard load racks of St. Louis-style ribs into custom wood-fired pits. Andrew also shows Roger how to make Barbecue Spaghetti, a dish created in Memphis in the 1950s. In Lexington, N.C., Roger visits Bar-B-Q Center, a local institution famous for its chopped pork sandwiches and massive ice cream sundaes. Roger and co-owner Cecil Conrad fire up big brick pits with oak and hickory wood and then load salted pork shoulders to cook low and slow for ten hours before they're chopped and piled onto soft buns. And no trip to Bar-B-Q Center is complete without their famous banana split that weighs a whopping four pounds!
Cali Cookout
Roger Mooking meets Chef Thomas McNaughton of San Francisco restaurant flour + water at a farm in Healdsburg, Calif., for a live-fire feast of epic proportions. They affix a whole pig to a metal cross to cook over hot coals for several hours, basted often with a mixture of butter, herbs, warm spices and citrus. The pig roast drippings fall into a potato-filled cast iron pan set over the hot coals, and whole onions and squash are nestled directly in the embers. To complete this feast, Roger and Thomas suspend chickens over a fire to roast. But these aren't just any chickens -- they're black-skinned chickens with a slightly gamier flavor. It's a fiery feast Roger won't soon forget.
Twist on Texas 'Cue
Roger Mooking visits two restaurants in the Lone Star State that turn traditional Texas-style barbecue into crafty culinary creations. In Fort Worth, he meets pitmaster Travis Heim and his wife, Emma, the power couple behind the popular restaurant Heim Barbecue. Roger and Travis fill a giant steel rotisserie smoker with slabs of briskets. Then, in the kitchen, Emma and Roger build the Heimburger -- two beef patties mixed with brisket trimmings and topped with molten cheese and bacon burnt end bourbon jam. In Tomball, Roger visits one-of-a-kind spot Tejas Chocolate and Barbecue. Owners Michelle Holland and her brothers Scott and Greg Moore fire-roast cocoa beans for chocolate bars and confections and smoke beef, chicken and pork in a 3,000-pound propane tank smoker for classic Texas barbecue. The "three chocolatiers" show Roger how to make their signature mole sauce with their craft bean-to-bar chocolate.
Cali Cookout
Roger Mooking meets Chef Thomas McNaughton of San Francisco restaurant flour + water at a farm in Healdsburg, Calif., for a live-fire feast of epic proportions. They affix a whole pig to a metal cross to cook over hot coals for several hours, basted often with a mixture of butter, herbs, warm spices and citrus. The pig roast drippings fall into a potato-filled cast iron pan set over the hot coals, and whole onions and squash are nestled directly in the embers. To complete this feast, Roger and Thomas suspend chickens over a fire to roast. But these aren't just any chickens -- they're black-skinned chickens with a slightly gamier flavor. It's a fiery feast Roger won't soon forget.
Twist on Texas 'Cue
Roger Mooking visits two restaurants in the Lone Star State that turn traditional Texas-style barbecue into crafty culinary creations. In Fort Worth, he meets pitmaster Travis Heim and his wife, Emma, the power couple behind the popular restaurant Heim Barbecue. Roger and Travis fill a giant steel rotisserie smoker with slabs of briskets. Then, in the kitchen, Emma and Roger build the Heimburger -- two beef patties mixed with brisket trimmings and topped with molten cheese and bacon burnt end bourbon jam. In Tomball, Roger visits one-of-a-kind spot Tejas Chocolate and Barbecue. Owners Michelle Holland and her brothers Scott and Greg Moore fire-roast cocoa beans for chocolate bars and confections and smoke beef, chicken and pork in a 3,000-pound propane tank smoker for classic Texas barbecue. The "three chocolatiers" show Roger how to make their signature mole sauce with their craft bean-to-bar chocolate.
Fiery Outdoor Kitchens
Roger Mooking tames the flames in outdoor kitchens fueled by wood-burning fires. In Solvang, Calif., the Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort is home to 10,000 acres of land with horses, cattle and a bevy of fiery cooking contraptions. Roger helps fire up a meal of juicy beef ribs and grilled chickens for their weekly ranch cookout. In San Diego, Roger visits the outdoor kitchen of caterer Clyde Van Arsdall of 3 Squares Gourmet to slow-roast herb and citrus-stuffed turkeys on the spit while vegetables roast in the oven. Then it all comes together for a hearty soup that's cooked in an antique cauldron rigged above scorching hot coals.
Roadside 'Cue
While road-tripping through Texas, Roger Mooking pulls the car over for some seriously delicious barbecue. In San Antonio, he makes a pit stop at The Box Street Social food truck to hang chickens and racks of ribs over a live fire. He also gets a taste of roasted pumpkins topped with goat cheese and arugula. In Santa Fe, Texas, Roger finds another food truck with a penchant for central Texas-style 'cue with a twist. At Smokin D's BBQ Fusion, he loads up a smoker with brisket for a mac and cheese-filled quesadilla, and he also tries the specialty Smoke Dog, a beef jalapeno sausage wrapped in bacon.
Surf and Turf in the Sunshine State
Roger Mooking is fanning the flames of a fiery surf-and-turf extravaganza in the Sunshine State. He starts at Mrs. Peters Smokehouse, a smoked fish institution that has been thriving in Jensen Beach, Fla., since 1958. Roger and owner Tommy Lopresto fire up a giant 100-year-old oven to smoke hundreds of pounds of fish, some of which will be used in a special seafood chowder. In Loxahatchee, Fla., Roger meets husband-and-wife operators of Swank Specialty Produce, Darrin and Jodi Swank. The Swanks grow vegetables, greens, fruits and flowers and raise livestock, too. Several times a year, they host events at their farm and invite chefs and local restaurateurs to cook in their wood-fired outdoor kitchen. Roger works with local chef Dak Kerprich of Jewell Bistro to slow-roast three dozen chickens on two massive asado crosses. They also fire up a grill to cook flatbread and char a colorful blend of sweet peppers.
Fire and Family
Roger Mooking heads to the South to visit two family-run barbecue joints that have been passing down recipes and rigs for generations. At Smokin' Joe's Bar-B-Que in Townsend, Tenn., pitmaster Zack Peabody honed his barbecue chops under the watchful eye of his grandfather, Joe Higgins. Zack and Joe built a smoker that can cook up to 1,000 pounds of meat, and Roger and Zack arrange briskets and pork butts on its shelves. At Shack in the Back BBQ in Fairdale, Ky., Mike and Barbara Sivells converted an old log cabin into a barbecue restaurant. Roger and Mike load pork shoulders and turkey ribs into the smoker to create two popular dishes: The Hump and Turkey Ribs.
Get Your Grill On
Roger Mooking is in Lockhart, Texas, to meet the team responsible for designing and crafting a monster rig that offers seven different cooking contraptions. Brothers Matt and Caleb Johnson create smokers for chefs and pitmasters across the country through their company Mill Scale Metalworks. They collaborated with local chef Arturo Ramon II of Blanco River Meat Co. on an impressive rig, and Roger helps Arturo roast whole young goats on asado crosses, hang sweet tea-brined Cornish hens and steam whole red snappers stuffed with aromatics.
Lighting Up Louisiana
Roger Mooking is in Louisiana, where smoked meat makes an appearance in many classic Cajun dishes. He meets Chef Nathanial Zimet, who serves North Carolina-style smoked whole hog in po' boy sandwiches at Bourree in New Orleans. Roger helps Nathanial season and smoke a whole hog, and they also prepare Smoked Buffalo Chicken Wings. At Paul's Meat Market and Grocery in Ville Platte, La., Roger helps owner Paul Fontenot fill his outdoor smokehouse with several different kinds of sausages, tasso, pork belly, turkey wings and drumsticks. Paul also shares a family recipe for Cajun Brown Gravy.
BBQ for Breakfast
Roger Mooking visits two Texas pitmasters who give breakfast a wake-up call by adding barbecue. Reid Guess' custom-built rigs and smoked meats are on full display at Guess Family Barbecue in Waco, Texas. Reid and Roger fire up a 1,000-gallon offset smoker and fill it with seasoned pork butts and tri-tip steaks. They pull the pork, add it to fluffy pancakes and top with whiskey butter and maple syrup. The steak is seared on hot coals, dressed with chimichurri sauce and served with fried eggs. Then Roger heads to Derek Allan's Texas Barbecue in Fort Worth, Texas, for the signature Brisket Kolaches. Helming the unique upright smokers is Derek Crudgington, an IT systems engineer and self-taught pitmaster. Derek and Roger smoke wagyu beef brisket and stuff the melt-in-your-mouth meat inside soft, pillowy dough with cheese and hashbrowns. They also smoke housemade wagyu beef sausages made from a blend of chuck and brisket and serve the legendary links in breakfast tacos with scrambled eggs, cheese and salsa.
Taste of Texas
Smoke signals lead Roger Mooking to two popular food trucks in Texas serving up delicious ethnic eats. In Grapevine, Texas, Roger meets pitmaster Trey Sanchez of Vaqueros Texas Bar-B-Q, who's known for combining authentic Texas-style barbecue with Mexican dishes. Roger and Trey season and smoke briskets for Birria Tacos and prep Cowboy Potatoes for a pop-up with hungry locals at Hop and Sting Brewing Co. The chopped brisket is served in griddled corn tortillas with melted cheese, onions and cilantro, plus beef consomme for dipping. The smoked potatoes are diced and sauteed with onions, bell peppers and salsa in a metal disco set over hot coals, and both dishes are served with Trey's signature fiery, smoky salsas. In Austin, Texas, Justin and Lakana Trubiana park their food truck DEE DEE at Radio Coffee and Beer and serve authentic northeastern Thai dishes inspired by Lakana's family recipes. Roger and Justin light coals and preheat a massive, custom-built rotisserie that can cook up to 36 whole chickens that have been brined and rubbed with a flavorful paste of Thai aromatics and seasonings to create Gai Yang. As the succulent chickens spin and cook for two hours, Roger and Lakana grill Moo Ping, thinly sliced pork marinated in a top-secret family recipe and cooked on wooden skewers. Both dishes are served with Thai sticky rice and sauces that are both sweet and spicy.
Meat in Full Swing
Roger Mooking meets up with a few culinary titans in Tennessee who are swinging for the fences with outrageous rigs. At Wedge Oak Farm in Lebanon, Tenn., he joins Chef Trey Cioccia, owner of Nashville's Black Rabbit, to set up the Burn Tower. On this unique rig, meat, fish and vegetables are hung at varying heights around a metal cylinder filled with hot coals. In Nashville, Roger hangs with James Peisker and Chris Carter, the owners of Porter Road Butcher. Chris shows Roger an old swing set that he transformed into a cooking contraption, and they hang meaty rib roasts and fill a basket with chorizo and kielbasa.
Beef and Beyond
Beef is king in Texas, and Roger Mooking visits two pitmasters who are elevating traditional smoked meats with exciting global flavors. In Pearland, Texas, he helps Ronnie Killen season and smoke brisket and beef ribs to serve at Killen's Barbecue. Customers can order the smoked meats by the pound, but Ronnie also combines them in a Tex-Mex dish, Short Rib Tamales with Brisket Chili. Then Roger heads to Houston, Texas, to hang with Khoi Barbecue co-owner Don Nguyen, who holds Central Texas-inspired, Asian-influenced barbecue pop-ups using a 500-gallon smoker in his backyard. Roger helps him prepare Brisket Pho and Beef Rib Nigiri for a pop-up happening at Baileson Brewing Co.
Meat in Full Swing
Roger Mooking meets up with a few culinary titans in Tennessee who are swinging for the fences with outrageous rigs. At Wedge Oak Farm in Lebanon, Tenn., he joins Chef Trey Cioccia, owner of Nashville's Black Rabbit, to set up the Burn Tower. On this unique rig, meat, fish and vegetables are hung at varying heights around a metal cylinder filled with hot coals. In Nashville, Roger hangs with James Peisker and Chris Carter, the owners of Porter Road Butcher. Chris shows Roger an old swing set that he transformed into a cooking contraption, and they hang meaty rib roasts and fill a basket with chorizo and kielbasa.
Beef and Beyond
Beef is king in Texas, and Roger Mooking visits two pitmasters who are elevating traditional smoked meats with exciting global flavors. In Pearland, Texas, he helps Ronnie Killen season and smoke brisket and beef ribs to serve at Killen's Barbecue. Customers can order the smoked meats by the pound, but Ronnie also combines them in a Tex-Mex dish, Short Rib Tamales with Brisket Chili. Then Roger heads to Houston, Texas, to hang with Khoi Barbecue co-owner Don Nguyen, who holds Central Texas-inspired, Asian-influenced barbecue pop-ups using a 500-gallon smoker in his backyard. Roger helps him prepare Brisket Pho and Beef Rib Nigiri for a pop-up happening at Baileson Brewing Co.
BBQ and Boils in the Bayou
Roger Mooking visits the Louisiana bayou for barbecue, brunch and a crawfish boil. In Prairieville, La., he helps a husband-and-wife team of caterers prepare baby back ribs, brisket and 200 pounds of live crawfish. Then Roger heads to Baton Rouge, La., to meet a caterer serving barbecue breakfast sandwiches at a local eatery. They season pork butts and beef cheeks for smoking and then pile the meat onto biscuits with fried eggs, cheese and bacon.
Florida Heat
Roger Mooking cruises the Florida coastline for two fiery cookouts that bring the heat. First, he visits Chef Marcel Vizcarra, owner of modern Peruvian eatery Llama Restaurant in St. Augustine, Fla., to check out an ancient, Peruvian-style pit roast called pachamanca. Marcel invites Roger to his home, and they fire up his custom-built, above-ground pit for tubers, fava beans, lamb, chicken and pork all rubbed down with a flavorful marinade and layered in with plantain leaves. Marcel and Roger also prepare Peruvian arapaima fish fillets by wrapping them in plantain leaves and grilling them over an open fire. Roger then heads to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Georgia Pig BBQ, a legendary old-school, open-pit barbecue restaurant that has been around since 1953. The star of the menu is smoked meat cooked in the dining room's pit, and owner and pitmaster Luke Moorman shows Roger the dish that earned them rave reviews: a Bar-B-Q Chopped Pork Sandwich doused in a delicious mustard barbecue sauce.
Fiery Couples
From live-fire cooking to low-and-slow barbecue, Roger Mooking meets up with two couples making fiery feasts and creating sparks in California. He starts with Danny and Nicoletta Herlihy, whose company Do or Dine Catering specializes in Mediterranean farm-to-table feasts cooked with a live fire. Roger helps them hang legs of lamb and cook vegetables on a large, hot plancha for an event at an olive oil company. Then Roger meets up with Matt and Nina Horn of Horn Barbecue, an underground craft barbecue business with Southern influences. Roger helps pitmaster Matt season and smoke lamb shoulders for sandwiches that are served with a side of Nina's Pit Beans.
Southern Sizzle and Smoke
Roger Mooking makes two pit stops in the South for a little sizzle and a lot of smoke. He starts at Comfort Farms in Milledgeville, Ga., a nonprofit organization where retired veteran Jon Jackson helps fellow vets adjust to civilian life by teaching them how to farm, raise animals and cook. Jon often hosts cookouts to thank and feed his community, and Roger joins him to cook a whole mutton seasoned with garlicky rosemary paste and slow-roast cauliflower, broccoli, beets and onions. Roger then heads to Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q in Bessemer, Ala., for classic, open brick-pit barbecue. He learns the tricks of the trade from seasoned pitmaster Van Sykes, who has been stoking coals since he was 8 years old. They season 250 pounds of picnic pork with salt and load it into a 15-foot pit heated with hickory wood. The pork is then sliced, topped with just enough vinegar-based barbecue sauce and sandwiched inside a toasted bun with sliced pickles.
Backyard BBQ Blowouts
Roger Mooking drops in at two backyard cookouts where the smoke is thick and the fires are hot. He helps guest chef Jeremy Conner prepare a fish roast at renowned bed and breakfast Maison Madeleine in Breaux Bridge, La. They spear marinated whole red fish and pompano on sugar cane poles and arrange them around fire pits. In Bakersfield, Calif., Roger joins pitmaster Fred Reclusado in his outdoor kitchen to make ribs al pastor and fry tilapia.
Red-Hot Roasts
Roger Mooking visits two caterers in the South who specialize in live-fire cookouts. He starts in Chattanooga, Tenn., where Argentine grillmaster Mariano Cebrian has an incredible collection of portable rigs to create live-fire events through his catering operation, Panoram Asados. When he's off the clock, Mariano and his wife, Angelina, light up these creative rigs in their backyard and cook traditional Argentine meals for their family and friends. Roger and Mariano fire up the parilla, a large outdoor hearth, to roast whole cabbages and carrots and char steak empanadas. Large slabs of beef short ribs are attached to metal crosses to slowly cook over a bed of fiery hot coals. In Columbia, S.C., Roger meets Chef Kristian Niemi, who prepares farm-to-table feasts through Honey River Catering. Together they create two cooking stations out of a cinder block pit for a Southern-style surf-and-turf spread. They season and stuff a boneless whole hog with ground pork sausage, sweet peppers, fennel, cranberries and a medley of spices and aromatics to create porchetta that cooks low and slow over coals. On the side, they roast and steam a bounty of oysters with pecan wood smoke thanks to Krisitan's custom-made plancha.
Hawaiian Heat and Texas Meat
Roger Mooking heads to the Aloha State, where Chef Lee Anne Wong fires up a custom-made stainless steel unit with local kiawe wood and prepares a tropical feast of beer-can chicken, slow-roasted fruits and vegetables and fresh mahi-mahi fillets wrapped in banana leaves. In Bellaire, Texas, Roger steps into the smoke at Blood Bros. BBQ, where brothers Robin and Terry Wong and their childhood friend Quy Hoang cook up classic Texas 'cue mixed with global flavors. Roger and Quy season and smoke brisket flaps and then cube, sauce and slow-cook the meat for addictive Brisket Burnt Ends. They stuff the delectable nuggets inside soft bao buns with strips of cucumber, scallions and pickled jicama. Smoked St. Louis-style pork ribs are slathered with a sweet-and-spicy Thai peanut butter glaze and finished with a sprinkling of hot chilies.
Old School, New School
Roger Mooking gets schooled by two pit masters changing the barbecue game in Charleston, S.C. Carolina-style barbecue is all about pork and Rodney Scott is the whole hog boss. Roger checks out Rodney's impressive new pit room where whole hogs get cooked low and slow. Rodney then hits the hogs with his secret "
Raising the Heat
Roger Mooking visits the Lone Star State, where they're taking open-fire cooking to new culinary heights with unique rigs. In Fort Worth, Texas, chef and restaurateur Lou Lambert invites Roger to his ranch to slow-roast whole hogs over oak coals in a massive, custom-built metal rig. Dessert is a sweet treat inspired by Lou's chuck wagon cooking days -- pear and blackberry cobbler crisps baked in Dutch ovens using hot coals from burn barrels. Then Roger heads south to Houston, Texas, to meet up with Eight Row Flint's chef Marcelo Garcia, who gets customers fired up for the Trompo Wagon parked out back. Roger helps him load ten vertical spits with marinated pork butts and chicken thighs to spin slowly next to a triple tier of fire, smoke and heat. While the wheels are turning and the fires are burning, Roger and Marcelo make corn tortillas for tacos.
