Jon Wilson - BBQ Community Cookbook Curator

Dan - Host: 0:00

Today's episode of the meat & Greet BBQ podcast is brought to you by iOS outdoor kitchens. They are the South's leading outdoor kitchen design and installation specialists. Welcome to another episode of the meat & Greet BBQ podcast today we are graced with the presence of John Wilson 68 Fantastic Instagram page if you've not looked at it, great variation of recipes on there. But also he's putting together a rather special cookbook, which he's going to talk more about shortly. But without much further ado, here's John. So John, thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us today on the meat & Greet BBQ podcast for anyone listening. Introduce yourself, who are you? How can they find you?

Jon Wilson: 0:51

I'm John Wilson. John Wilson 68 on Instagram. I've compromised Yorkshire and work in the construction industry.

Dan - Host: 1:01

Exciting. So how does construction lead into barbecue?

Unknown: 1:07

I think a lot of it is I mean, I'm quite creative with the job I do. I'm a bricklayer by trade. So being creative at work and being creative in the kitchen on the barbecue. So I think both going hand in hand really, with things like that. So that's probably the most common thing that I've got to say with that really is both being creative things cooking and the job I do. So it goes hand in hand really.

Owen - Host: 1:34

First first question straight off the bat being a bricklayer, have you built a brick built barbecue?

Unknown: 1:42

Yes, I've built a few. Well, you could say that, I mean, that's how I got into barbecue. And to be honest, when I was 1617, I was just coming out the end of my apprenticeship. And I don't know how old you guys are. But I'm 55 now and being killed brought out these, it looks like one of these trays from your oven. And you have like a grill as well. And a tray where you put your charcoal. And these became very popular in the late 80s. And people were getting family members and near business and you're getting in touch and say, well since you're a bricklayer can you build one of these big bar because not only was it like two sides in the back to it, then you turned the bricks on one side on both sides the opposite way. So you could have a shell so this shelf just basically rested in the bricks. And that's basically how we got into we're enjoying barbecue and so I was building these on a weekend.

Dan - Host: 2:43

That's the exact same setup that my dad had and had made the news when I was growing up so I know exactly what you mean.

Unknown: 2:52

It was But yeah, the real popular I mean they didn't last very long because obviously the rusted and things that but yeah, that's how I yeah, I made a little bit of cash doing these none of your work for the tax people.

Owen - Host: 3:05

Surprise

Unknown: 3:10

So, yeah, that's what I did when I was 16 1718 That's how I basically got into barbecue and really sort of building these things for people and it progressed from there. So

Owen - Host: 3:21

fantastic. So fast forward to now what what's your kind of set up that you've got? Home?

Unknown: 3:33

Right, what setup Have I got? Well, everything I've got a massive Weber fan. I've got I've got the smoke palette. I've got the smoke fire, the pellet grill. I've got the large summit Komodo I've got the kettle I've got the Smoky Mountain and I've got a Gas BBQ as well which I'm really proud of because they organize gas but I find it good. The Spirit the gas spirit one and I've got a Ghazali pizza on so yeah, I've been told I'm not allowed to get any more for a while so

Dan - Host: 4:14

do you have a favorite out of them one that you kind of quietly caress when you walk past

Unknown: 4:22

yeah until I got the Komodo the summit Komodo I was I think the kettle Weber. I don't use it as much now but my favorite now is obviously that the cabana they're a big piece of kit but it's super they're a brilliant brilliant piece of kit. So yeah that that is my favorite. Really but I have a real soft spot for the kettle BBQ as well. So

Dan - Host: 4:52

how did you find when you first got the Komodo moving across onto using that because they are quite a different bit of kit to get used to and you

Unknown: 5:00

Yeah, it was difficult. The consumption of charcoal, the heat retention in them is phenomenal. Obviously just using the kettle BBQ and things like that. But no, it did take a couple of months. And it was at one point thinking, This is driving me mad. I couldn't get into example, all I've ever used was a kettle BBQ really. But once you get into it, and I've had a lot of guys off Instagram, obviously not abused these and asked me questions and advice. And I just sort of tell them as it as it is, I mean, I'm not no expert at all. But I just tell them, I do it. And it seems to work for them as well. So but yeah, there were a different difficult to get used to start with. But no, it's fantastic. Fantastic. And plus, it saves you on charcoal as well, because the consumptions really good. And, of course,

Dan - Host: 5:54

a lot a big part of kind of the British barbecue community is really kind of exploded since 2020. And everything everyone had to go through then but they've got more time to be able to engage with barbecue and everything. What What's your journey been like over the last few years and how is your barbecuing kind of progressed,

Unknown: 6:12

I was never, I was one of these, I wouldn't gonna get into so I was never a great fan of social media. Really, I've never really was into the Facebook thing or Instagram, you use Twitter now and again, but a couple of years ago, I my partner she got me some ribs and this annular from anger sighing and that sort of sent this thing through it any rubs any GCSE, they will just tag us in. And the other thing on the bottom, I thought I had to go into that adult really fancy doing bits and pieces. But I sort of put the ribs on the table and took a photograph and put it out there on Instagram. I think obviously, that's why Johnson 68 I've never really heard it from them. And the amount of people were saying, Oh, that's great, what you're gonna do, and I'm thinking, I have no idea what I'm gonna cook, but people say, an anger sign. And Bill, meat, whiskey them, they're all sailing and do this idea that I'm thinking, Oh, great, I'll have a go and do something so and it kicks off from there, really. And that's what I did. And I sort of posted a few pictures and I'm thinking now nothing's gonna really happen here. And then people started to like it and post it, I'm thinking, this is pretty good, actually, you get a bit of a buzz. People are liking what you do. And unfortunately, just around that sort of time, I had a couple of sad moments in my life, I lost my stepdad very suddenly. And then two or three months after that, I lost my dad as well to cancer. So it was a massive help, really, I mean, I was going to hospitals as you're dealing with things like this, and I was coming back and you will see really dead shit really about stuff. And it's just gonna be the garden cracky barbecues on, do what you need to do. And you can just lose yourself a little bit. And it was a massive help for me through the grieving process, and just helping them just get over things and just taking your mind away from stuff. So that's what the Instagram and the barbecue has done for me. At the very beginning. That was brilliant. And a lot of people supported me. And so it's sort of come around to me, and I thought, yeah, it's a special place to be. It's especially, obviously me thoughts on social media now have sort of changed, and I'm really enjoying it. So yeah, it's been good. A lot of positives have come out of it.

Owen - Host: 8:28

I was gonna say, sort of, you've seen about the, you know, the community and people kind of helped as well as the actual cathartic of doing the barbecue. But you know, people supported you. And you're kind of now supporting the community. Right. So one of the things we wanted to talk to you about is the kind of community barbecue cookbook.

Unknown: 8:48

Yeah, that's, that's something that's that, you know, well, I've got a massive fascination. We're not it's not a person. It's an obsession with cookbooks. Seriously. It's, I'm setting I've got little thing in my garage where I do a bit of prepping and this under sat there now, but I've got books, boxes and boxes of cookbooks, hundreds of them. And I started off. I just I got a new book. I can't remember the exact name of it. But I got a book and I just put it out there on Instagram and just said, Would anybody like me to do you know, I've got this book? Does anybody want to miss it or this review and sort of tell you a bit about it? And as you're if you're exhibition, it's quite surprising how many people say, oh, yeah, I haven't got that book. And yeah, be great. So I started doing these on a weekly basis. And it just grew from there. It just exploded, really. And then I ended up on the sizzle show with caulk. interviewed me about the book review club out as it started off and was having a bit of a chat and there's certainly other people who say no, you want to bring your book out and never really thought any more about it and then Paul, from Flynn's barbecue said, why don't you do it? Why don't you come up with an idea and sort something out. So the idea came was, obviously, just after losing my dad that I wanted to do something for to help a charity, Macmillan Cancer, and I'm not built for running or biking up or down the country, I was never ever going to do something like that. So I thought, Well, what I could do is, I could do this cookbook. I could do it for charity, well, to charities, but I said the Macmillan, obviously, to support the people who helped me dad. And now we're finally through the difficult times, and the other charities, young minds mental health charity. So it's sort of an idea started, and then I put it out on Instagram. And it just went crazy. It just went absolutely crazy. And it's just grown from there. So as we are at the moment is, as spent the last eight months collecting recipes in from everybody who wanted to I mean, there was no rules, you didn't have to be have 1000 followers plus or anything like that. It just anybody who wanted to, as long as the barbecue related, could submit a recipe. And that's what we're doing. So we've got all the recipes in now. We're just editing it all, because we're gonna self publish it. So there's a few others involved. There's me and my sister. There's Lee from smokes here. There's Paul Flims barbecue, and there's Tom smoke face griller. They're sort of helping me on the admin bits and pieces. And just Lee was a massive LP lent me well, he opened up his web page for people to put the recipes submit. So, so many mistakes, and I would have said it's an it all up, and we're going to self publish it. But it's one of them things, I've never done this, I mean, heck, I was no good at school, I got a zero in English, my book writing skills is worthless, but we're just putting it together. And hopefully at the end of this year, we should have it out there. So it's quite exciting. It's good. But the only good thing about it is is that it's going to raise money for two charities. But when I first started this, and I've said to quite a few people. There's a lot of brilliant, brilliant cooks in the barbecue community. And, for me, the biggest thing, the biggest threat, I'll get out of doing it, and it's for these people to be able to have the chance to have a recipe published in a book. When does that ever come along? For anybody? So that's a great thing that anybody could do you know, no matter who you are, what your skill levels, whether there's a you've got the chance there to be to be of your own recipe put into a recipe book. So yeah, it's progressing well, slower than I thought to be honest. But it's one of those things, and it just takes as long as it takes.

Owen - Host: 13:04

It must. I mean, obviously, it's fantastic opportunity to raise money for charity, which is always a good thing. Like you said, 800 recipes got submitted?

Unknown: 13:15

No, it was we needed. I think, I think we ended up with about 100 and about 130 140. But what I did say to everybody was that whoever submitted or it I mean, some people put three or four in, but what I did say to anybody who submitted a recipe, I would use it. So I've took a lot of fiddling around to get people's recipes into sections. And I've tried a few sections in and people think about what everybody was submitted a recipe has got the name in the book, and obviously the recipe as well. So

Dan - Host: 13:52

I love the idea as well, kind of that your journey was going through these cookbooks and doing recipe after recipe after recipe. And now that you've got this cookbook, hopefully some people out there will go through it recipe by recipe by recipe. So it's kind of gone full circle. But one of the biggest problems people have in barbecuing, or at least Oh and I've been discussing this the last few weeks is what do I cook this week? Particularly when sometimes you start thinking about social media and thinking I want to do something different. But the genius of following a recipe book is you've got something different to cook every week. So people go out there do it and work through it and tag joy in every single one. You'd love to see that. But has that changed how you cook as well?

Unknown: 14:35

Yes, it has because I've sort of, I've followed recipe books, I look for inspiration on recipe books. That's how I really started off but now I take a lot of inspiration from the amount of followers do you have are people you following? I'm thinking could they have done that? Yeah, we're gonna copy that or that sort of gives me other people really give me the inspiration and and change the way I can Look, but yeah, it is a difficult thing is trying to keep it fresh into every time when you cook stuff. And unfortunately for me, my partner, she's vegetarian. And there's only there's only two in the house now because the kids have got to university in that. So it's, it depends what I can cook. I mean, I can't eat a full brisket to myself, can I, sir?

Dan - Host: 15:23

Well?

Unknown: 15:27

Yeah, it's sometimes you got to be economical with it all. And I thought I'd cook stuff that I can either save for a couple of days, I'll stuff like that. So it's one of those things I just sort of Cook quite enjoy really. Whatever's in the fridge or the freezer, or I'm walking around the supermarket or I speak to the butcher and get stuff like that. But yeah, hopefully, when the book comes out, people couldn't follow it. Because there's a lot of varied recipes. And I mean, there's some there is honestly some cracking cracking recipes. I mean, like I said earlier on, I've got some loads of barbecue cookbooks. And there's some of these recipes in what I've got, would easily stand on their own in some of these cookbooks. Definitely. But yeah, there's from everything from status, beef, pork, lamb, fish, seafood, to dessert. So I think we've covered everything on the book really, including with all the recipes in that, so hopefully, it should be good.

Owen - Host: 16:31

And uh, you did you say, by the end of the year, you're hoping to be able to kind of release that.

Unknown: 16:35

Yeah, hoping to what I was hoping to do it by the springtime, but I didn't know how long it takes. Well, I didn't envisage how long it would take to get all these recipes in. That was a thing. And I kept setting a deadline in your mind, I think by September that will be done. It's just difficult. Because when we started it was in April, and then you had the summer holidays. And then people were busy doing festivals and this that and the other people have their own ways to lead. And then a CQ people say, oh, I want to do a recipe for you. I said, yeah, we'll just forward it to me and then forget, and I've got to remind people and things, which is only natural. I mean, people have busy lives as well. So it's just took a lot longer. So we give the deadline of the end of December, which was probably two months later than I first envisaged happening. So it were a couple of months behind. But then I've got to edit it all and put it out into some sort of order and things like that. So it's we're doing it asked about first, really, because most of these authors, I think, have all the recipes and the cook them all and doing themselves. We are sort of importing recipes from other people. So we don't really know what we're gonna get. So it's all a bit backwards, really. But it's working. It's working. So

Owen - Host: 17:52

we can't wait to see the finished article.

Unknown: 17:54

Yeah, it's gonna be good. I mean, there's a lot of people who support it. There's, as I said, the four guys, right three guys and my sister and the whole community. I mean, everybody has supported it by posting, you know, the posts I put out and people have shared it and doing stuff like that. But yeah, it's it's been fantastic. And everybody should be proud. Everybody should be proud of the whole community has been involved. It should be proud of what they've put into it and things like that. And I can't thank people enough really, for doing what they've done. So

Dan - Host: 18:29

right then, so what we'd like you to do best and worst recipe submissions. No, no. What I would love to know is you put so many great stuff on Instagram and just looking back you had your 500 posts recently where you did like the lamb burger, but you haven't real mixture of what what kind of you're doing putting out there at the moment. What's your favorite thing that you've cooked recently?

Unknown: 18:56

Everything else caught? Oh, possibly last week. I'm very fortunate. I'm an ambassador for y'all Actually, me and Gavin, who was the butcher there. And I'm not just saying it because I wouldn't put money into people's products if I didn't think they were that good. But he sent me some pork and I did it on the rotisserie on the web. And seriously, it was so bad so at the moment yeah park for me. Ross Park on the I've only just got this rotisseries law for Christmas. So I'm spinning all sorts around on it at the moment so it's well yeah, the park the park was one of my favorite things at the moment. I've been cooking so but a burger. I did a burger today. That was the 500 and first post was tonight. And I had some lamb and I thought I'm a sucker for burgers. I think most of us that was so I just like to mix it up a little bit. I feel different flavors and things like that. So it's

Owen - Host: 19:57

the accessories are awesome. Just going back to The President isn't it's so good.

Unknown: 20:03

Yeah, I mean, I had one from a gas. I've got one for me gusta barbecue, but I know people moan about and say gas. But gas was easy for me. Because when I've been working on a building site and you come in on a nighttime and I'm thinking all I want to do, really, and that's the beauty of barbecuing, is, I just enjoy cooking outside. No matter if it was on a gas barbecue, or the Weber kettle or whatever, I just enjoy being outside. And plus, my missus ain't gonna move and the smoke going all over the house. It makes life a little bit easier. But no, I had one from her. For the Spirit. Yeah, you can do keep tabs on this one. So I've got this one for the kettle. Yeah, it's a game changer for me is that it's, it's just a shame. I did ask Weber why they haven't done one for the commander. And they didn't really say really why they hadn't? Or the when's that it's probably somewhere they're gonna look into? I don't know. But it'd be brilliant if they could bring one out.

Dan - Host: 20:57

We've not really gone in depth into kind of rotisserie cooking, we've talked about a little bit, but what's the big differences you get out of using rotisserie if people haven't used one before? And why does it enhance what you're doing?

Unknown: 21:12

I think where's the pork is at it's obviously spinning round. It baked in itself all the time. So as it goes round and round and round, it's just obviously the juices and the fats. And that is just keep this in the meat. And it's getting that even cook as well into it. You don't have to touch it, you just switch it on and let it spin around. And I usually deal with a two basket unit basket either side type thing and have a drip pan in the middle and just do it that way. It's it's a simple way of cooking. You don't have to put a probe into it. set that up. And then you just leave it and hopefully it don't fall off. Or anything like that. It just it just keeps going down. So yeah, it's a simple way of cooking. And I think one of the best ways of cooking at the moment for me is perfect. It's I love it. I love the rotisserie.

Owen - Host: 22:00

Yeah, I agree. I've got a rotisserie for the Weber kettle. And I've been doing a lot of schwannoma or chama style kind of you know, lots of chicken thighs squash together. And yeah, you're right it obviously as it based itself, but like, you know, with something like pork gives it a really good Cracklin because again, that constant spin in it, you know, but even with chicken it you get some nice sort of crispy out bits, but it's still really moist in the inside. So it is almost press the button and it just let it and it's quite cool to watch.

Unknown: 22:36

Yes, yeah, I think I'm very impertinent that probably my worst worst thing about barbecuing I mean people say if you're lifting the lid, it's not just remember the same the same but I'm forever have a nightmare. I'm saying that you shouldn't lift it, you shouldn't lift it and what I do lift the lid up and that is my biggest problem. I'm very impatient cook me so I'm always thinking about and I'm wondering why things are going a bit wrong. But the I was I was speaking to Genevieve Taylor last year about it and about being in person with cooks and and she said she was very similar. So it's, it's a nightmare. That's not one of my biggest problems which I would have stopped doing.

Dan - Host: 23:15

I think anyone who's sat there has accidentally overcooked something. So if not checked, straightaway. You go the other way. That's the problem I had you have a quick one thing and now I'm constantly having to say no, you're not allowed to look to check you're not allowed to look for check. I'm guilty of my Komodo having a torch and shining the torch. I've done the opposite to try and see how things are coming along. And after lift it I'm awful. But it is yeah. Looking looking. It's not cooking as it is to say and you know that's

Unknown: 23:46

that's the same? Yeah. It's like what he used to do. He obviously put in I mean, I have spent years trying to perfect your knowledge on a barbecue and I've finally done it, which was a massive thing for me the other week and I thought, God this is brilliant. I can actually cook a Yorkshire pudding covering from Yorkshire as well. I can actually do it on on a barbecue. But yeah, it's like an evident it when you ever put Yorkshire puddings in. I was a nightmare opening the door looking in. We never had an oven with the lighting. So

Dan - Host: 24:16

we talk about barbecue fields. I have a cooking with children fail that happened the other day. I wanted to teach my my daughter because she's getting into cooking a bit now. Why we can't open kind of like the oven or the barbecue I do in Yorkshire puddings and what happens? The problem began. So I was like, Okay, well, 1560 minutes in we've got this huge kind of bloom. Watch what happens open it and they'll shrink straightaway. And she found it hilarious. She's like, let's do it again. Let's do it again. No, we're trying to achieve but you're right. The second you start opening things up, particularly Yorkshire you're destroying what you're putting together.

Unknown: 24:50

That's it. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't know. It's it's a learning curve. I think we're all learning out with it's, it's part of the process.

Owen - Host: 24:59

I think Dan is you've because you've kicked off with a barbecue fail, we might as well talk about some barbecue fails. So John, if you if you've got any fails that you'd like to share with.

Unknown: 25:09

Yeah, I mean, one of my nemesis is for years was short ribs. I could not get him right. Whatever I did, I followed recipe after recipe. And there were my biggest things I mean, did come out and be like, bits of charcoal on bits of bone and the way it was terrible. I just couldn't get it right at all. And I stopped cooking. I thought that there's one thing I can't do is beef short ribs. And I gave up. And then I got a cookbook from Kevin Bledsoe. You know, they're going from Los Angeles. It has a couple of restaurants. Well, I was very fortunate he sent me which, unfortunately, I can't use but he did say I could use his be for it recipe for the cookbook. And we sort of went down the route routes of using it but through copyright bits and pieces. We couldn't so unfortunately can't use his recipe. But it was given me a bit of advice. And I thought, right, I am going to conquer this. So it went from a barbecue Phil to a barbecue on a positive through him really just saying, Do this, do that. Don't do that. And it's not always so yeah, now I can cook beef short ribs. Well, I've done it once.

Dan - Host: 26:27

Well, what's the top tips? Well, what do you what were you doing wrong before? What did you tweak?

Unknown: 26:32

I don't know. I think it was just one of those things that way. Whatever I tried. I was probably over complicating it. I think I was overcomplicated. I was probably running a bit too high the temperature things like that he didn't wrap is a wrap them. I've spread and I've done all sorts but he just left it it just said just leave it. Just cook it. I can't remember what temperature we're using them but and it just sort of don't go too mad on the robe side of things. I think I just use salt and pepper I think on the ones I did. And they did they came up perfect. And I thought well, yeah, that's it trying to overcomplicate things. And that is probably the sometimes a problem. A lot of us sort of go down the route of over complicating things. And I think that was it. I think I was going a bit bamboozled by I think you start looking at things on the internet and you start reading books about recipes and looking at YouTube when this isn't you man starts going mad. Do you think I have done that? And I've done this. But once I talked to him, and he said just put it all back. Just go mode to the basic method. And then that's what I did. And that worked. So it's a lesson learned there is over complicate things.

Dan - Host: 27:42

Did you use a wok pan?

Unknown: 27:45

Yes, I did. Yeah, I use the water pan on it. Yeah. So but I think I think at one point I think it was I think that's one of the problems I have. But yeah, it's it's all fun and games into.

Owen - Host: 28:00

Definitely if I actually barbecue failed last night through sheer greediness. Oh, yeah, I fired up the pizza oven. And I basically cooked some pork pork a couple of weekends ago and portioned it out, you know, trying to make it last. So I decided to have pork pork pizzas. But there was more than there was more than the portions worth. I didn't want to waste it. So I chuck so much of it. Pizza. There's almost like a mound of but then as I was kind of turning the pizza in the in the oven, the pizza oven kind of split in half. So I then had to try and rescue a half cooked pizza out of the the pizza oven that was getting stuck to the stone. And yeah, I ended up with very crispy edges and a very very doughy bottom. So I've just got to stop putting so much Scott stop putting so much toppings on.

Unknown: 29:01

Yeah, I've heard the same thing though, with the Rockbox as a sort of slightly off the peel. And half of it kept on and so I thought what do I do now? And I thought I'd say what I'm gonna do I'm gonna make it into a Killzone and the top landed. It's not a fully self into a path to this year. But it's either gonna work or it's not so to be honest, it wasn't too bad, but it was just halfway within seconds. I thought what do I do? I'm gonna throw it all in the bin. Or I got to think of this as I just flipped it over. And luckily enough it just flipped over and met into a pasty but that's exactly the same as yo, is I overtopping put topping too much on it and then it's a disaster.

Owen - Host: 29:45

Yeah, I mean, you see, you know, you see all these kind of perfect looking pizzas and you know, you see these, you know, pizza vendors and stuff that have the you know, rock boxes and, and it's literally just a bit of cheese tomorrow and a bit of basil. I just I just loaded You know, yes. So much.

Unknown: 30:03

Sad to say that it's over complicated. Yeah, I will create the creature. I'm thinking about some of that I've got some of that. I go to the supermarket and buying pepperoni, salami, all sorts of stuff. And I'm thinking, do you really need it all? And then I sweat somebody and stuff? Do you really need that on it? And I'm sort of in the end, I'm thinking, Gianni a bloody idiot. Just calm it down and just use a bit like it's a bit of cheese, tomato, basil. And that's it. Really, it's simple. And

Owen - Host: 30:31

I actually blame as two pizzas for that, because, unlike, unlike, unlike other pizzas, they've got a very generous topping to base ratio. So it just instantly just makes me want to put a lot of toppings on because I can ask for pizza.

Dan - Host: 30:50

I have an embarrassing barbecue fail, which I don't think I've told her in about, which I've done recently. So we had kind of a cook day we went down to aos, outdoor kitchens. And I've got a monolith at home. I've got the basic model. And he has one of the shall we say proper models, if that makes sense. Like the Pro models. And his vents are different, I noticed that you could lift it up and open it 100%. And when I ordered mine, it always said or had a locked vent or had a locked vent. I didn't really know what that meant, if that made sense. But it meant you could heat things up much quicker and you get much higher temperatures and you weren't kind of sleeping slaving away to get like a proper hot temperatures for things like pizzas. And I got home I kept looking at it. I was like, Oh, please don't tell me this is the case. I've owned this for over a year. I've owned it for over a year. So I deliberately didn't touch it for months thinking I can't I can't this can't be the case. And then the other day I was like I'm just going to try it. And whereas on here she just pushed it back and it open. I was like if I lift that and twit oh my god, I've owned this for over a year and I didn't realize you could fully open at the top I loved my content before but that was changed my life. Do that. But it's amazing. It always fiddle with your equipment, right? It's better to fix it than to be embarrassed because you're not using all of the options he's got on it.

Unknown: 32:17

Yeah, that's it totally, totally agree.

Owen - Host: 32:21

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Dan - Host: 32:26

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Owen - Host: 33:24

Visit aos kitchens.co.uk. So what's your what's your plans for 2023? In regards to your kind of barbecue journey, John?

Unknown: 33:38

Well, first and foremost, keep enjoying it really. Obviously, I've got my book to do. And that it's just I just enjoy it. And I'm part of the barbecue North team as well with Ryan. So we've got a few bits and pieces to do the he's got his festival, Emir time I think it is. So yeah, it's just basically just enjoy what I'm doing now and see if I can't get at what I am going to hopefully do is obviously I've got this book coming out at the end of the year. And I'm one of these I start thinking of the next thing before the first thing is actually finished. So now I've got an idea now of this because people keep saying to me, once I started going to do a follow up book, you've got all these recipes. Are you going to do another book? I'm thinking I haven't got the first one to put them in your cogs start turning thinking yet. I want to do a second one. The first one is going to be good, but the second one is going to be even better. So yeah, I've got an idea there for the second book once I got this one sorted out. And I've got loads of things really. I'm a big believer in Well, that's one of the charities is the man's mental health charity is for kids. And I think kids nowadays, there's a lot of pressure on kids from all ages rarely to tip Got to do well at schools. And there's loads of pressure on kids from all walks of life and different situations. And one of the things I was talking to somebody else about what would be, I'd like to be able to set up something where you can sort of go to, I don't know, schools, youth clubs, and sort of get kids involved in barbecuing, or just cooking outside. So that's something that I'm probably hopefully going to look at some point this year to see how we could do it. And if it's viable to do it, as well. So that's something that I'd like to sort of start doing. I don't know how to do it, or it's just an idea. But so was the book that sort of taken off. So that's just something I like to do. And I'm hoping to set up a proper charity of some sort, with the barbecue community involved as a name type thing. So with my sister, a few legal people are sort of looking into that at the moment as well is to sort of set up a proper charity, to do these books and probably other bits and pieces and generate charity money for other causes as well. So that's something that I'm looking, looking at doing. So it just keeps him busy.

Owen - Host: 36:22

And giving and giving back, which is so yeah.

Unknown: 36:28

I think that's it, I'm 55 now, and it's, it's been an eventful life I've had. And I think if you can help people, through your experiences, and bits and pieces that you've picked up along the way, I think I've come to that sort of age now where I've had a lot of experiences of various things in this, that and the other. I think you got to go through a few traumas in your life to come up with the side a better person. And I think I can probably now hopefully, with what I know, and the experiences I've had, that you'll be able to give back to other people as well. So that's what I'm hoping to do. So it's a good it's a it's one of those things, just watch this. I don't know, it's just ideas. Hopefully, they'll materialize. And but that's a few things that I'd like to sort of go down there and just enjoy cooking. So

Owen - Host: 37:21

sounds sounds like it's gonna be a very busy 2023 for you.

Unknown: 37:24

Yeah. I think to go in and put some stats. I mean, many years ago. A midlife crisis. Do you have midlife? I was 26. Do you have a midlife crisis at 26? I think I did. Anyway, and I went off, unfortunately, I got divorced and things. So what can I do now? The building trade I was in was fallen on its knees in the 90s. So I went and bought a pub. What do you do? Yeah, I'll go and buy a put my house I thought would be brilliant. When I was a kid kind of love the pub. So I bought a pub. But I always need something to do. And that's another thing where the barbecuing came into more of a professional side really was when I had me doing barbecues on a Sunday afternoon and enjoying the company of people and don't do it for more of a social thing. Really. Which was brilliant. It's there's no better thing than added think if you're gonna have a group of people who are giving you a few quid, and they're enjoying what they're eating. And that was back in 9697. But yeah, but as you do

Owen - Host: 38:33

as you as you do

Unknown: 38:35

one after what after, don't just sat there looking at the paper thought, Oh, that looks alright. local bookstores. I thought I need someone said all right. We'll go. I've never worked in a problem in your life. But yeah, it didn't work out very well. I went bankrupt after three years. But

Dan - Host: 38:50

if you enjoyed it, I saw that. Oh, yeah. Yeah,

Unknown: 38:54

it was brilliant. Yeah, I think I think if I hadn't done it, I would have regretted it. And I think that's what people should do really is. If you have these dreams, and you want to go do it, do it regret. I mean, I have massive respect for people like Elon, he was gone off and followed his dream and done, what he's done. And things like that. I think people like that really. I admire a lot of can follow the dreams. And that could go with it. And I wish all people like that all the success in the web world. They deserve it. And if things don't work out, you've learned from it but I've no regrets that you can't live life regretting everything. And that kind of give it a go. And you'll never know if you're any good at it or not if you don't so

Dan - Host: 39:41

one word of warning, if you're if your idea or dream or ambition is to like put together some sort of podcasts, there's a lot of editing, so maybe that one don't bother doing just pursue other dreams that don't infringe on what we're doing.

Unknown: 39:56

Okay. Yeah, it's, it is different. It is mean, I'm no good with computers and stuff like this. I mean, I've never at all. And all this Instagram stuff when you got to sort of put your pictures out there and this. And a lot of it is social media. I mean, there's a lot of guys out there most respect for them for the stuff they can do and what they're doing, and all this editing and like yourselves. It just blows me away. I'm hopeless and stuff like that.

Dan - Host: 40:26

To be fair, John, you picked a half decent, if anyone has a look on your Instagram, there's not a bad picture on there. It's,

Owen - Host: 40:32

I think we've got worse than yours.

Unknown: 40:36

I haven't quite fortunate that. I think it's been creative. I think the job I do, I can sort of set stuff up, like to take the photograph of how things are. And it's all the rest of all the technical stuff, the end of the editing and other bits and pieces. I mean, everything I did was always on a mobile phone so that there's nothing much else. But yeah, it's I just I just I just love the journey. To be honest. I just, I just love it all. And I think people when you post us, and you have all these nice comments from people, and it just gives you a bit of a buzz. And I think we'd all be lying if we said we didn't I think most people would still get a bit of a buzz. When people pay compliments, and that's only human nature. Yeah.

Owen - Host: 41:23

So you've obviously mentioned you're working with barbecue up north Ryan. And yes, he's got an event in May. Are you going to be kind of getting out and about as we come in to kind of barbecue season and all the festivals you visit in any places this year?

Unknown: 41:39

I haven't got anything planned. But yeah, I'm going up to the the one in Preston the barbecue north at Ryan's flood and fire festival, I'm going up. I don't know what I'm capacity, I'm going up there. I'm just I don't know, yet. No resistance to do anything. So

Owen - Host: 41:55

just enjoy it.

Unknown: 41:57

Just enjoy it. And that's it really, I mean, there's nothing really I don't I don't make plans as such, I just take things out the door. Really, it's the thing is in the workplace because I'm self employed. So unfortunately, my job is first and foremost. And the web, the building trade is at the moment is just crazy. So a lot of times over the summer periods is taken up with work even on a weekend. So it's a bit difficult to sort of have a spare weekend, it's just sort of thrown on me. So it's a bit difficult to plan sort of things as and when Sir. But the older I get that is one thing I'd like to do is to platinum 60, it's probably my body won't keep letting me go to work in a week in the winter and stuff like that. So I'd like to sort of try and make a bit of a living through the barbecue thing. If possible. There's not a lot around here, see where I am in East Yorkshire there's not a great deal of barbecue and it's, it's quite flat. So there's possibly I know there's Yorkshire barbecue Academy there, do classes and stuff like that. I'd love to get in somewhere like that. That'd be nice and do a few pop ups and other bits and pieces. But like I said, at this moment in time, my job sort of takes most of my time. So I need to get back on my hours at work and then see where it goes.

Dan - Host: 43:25

We should do something brand new. Have a barbecue bar, where you can't buy alcohol unless you're you've actually already ordered or holding a piece of barbecue. Big pit in the middle. You're constantly cooking and people can go and buy their drinks once they've got the food.

Unknown: 43:40

Yeah, yeah, I could work.

Dan - Host: 43:42

It's weird. But the best ideas are weird, right?

Unknown: 43:47

Oh, yeah. Gotcha. Yeah. It's, it's strange, where some people's ideas come from it. It's just all of a sudden, and before we know things work and and you're it goes and flies, some things do up. But it's, it's been I will tell you a very quick story if I've got time. But when I had my pub, we used to get it's all food related. So but we used to get these backpacks of cabbage and potatoes and bits and pieces like that. And we got this big backpack of cabbage and it was on a Sunday night and Katherine with a deep fried it in our booth. This is about half past nine at night. And obviously I've had a few drinks. So I deep fried all this cabbage and I was looking around the kitchen in the commercial kitchen. We had them I was just throwing stuff on it all and took it out to the bar and put it in bowls and this was before all this politically correct that people couldn't stick their hands in knots and all the rest of it. It was all you could eat what you want it but people were eating all this stuff that was saying what he's asking is, I mean I was pissed. Don't get me wrong. I was told it was a secret recipe and this that and the other. So that was it and a couple of days later I will look at pay for the editor used to come into the pub. And it was sort of asking people for stories. I think it must have been a bit of a crap time around where there was nothing much going on. So it was asking us the whole reason this chap said to him, he wants me to Johnny says it's just created this dish. That was from his relatives years back. He said, really said, what was it? And he asked me, I said, Oh, it's like deep fried cabbage. He said, Where did he come from? I said, I was somewhat my granddad. My granddad, it was it was a fisherman he never cooked in his life. What is it? I said, Oh, it's a secret recipe. Really? He said, Yeah. This is what is it? So I got to tell you all of the obviously, but I said it's deep prank. And that's how it went on. He said, Well, he said, what I'll do is in a couple of days time, he said, I'll send somebody across. And they'll interview Yeah, I never saw any more of it. Took this phone call. This reporter turned it with a camera man. Did this big report on me and photographic cetera, et cetera. I said to the girl, I said, Well, when will it be in the paper? She said, It depends what sort of news he's on. She said, if there's a murder going on, all the sudden it was going on. I said, you've probably made it about the middle pages. But if there's nothing going on, you know, you never know. I couldn't really believe it. On the Friday afternoon. Somebody walks into the pub with the elderly now, there's this nice stood on the front cover of the paper with a frying pan full of deep fried cabbage. And it just went crazy. And that was an idea that I just want I mean, out. Yeah, I was pissed. I was I was telling them the story. But I ended up on local radio on one of these cooking programs. It was mad the meal did our local radio oversight. And I said, we have this cooking program on at six o'clock. All right, yeah. We want you to come on as a guest. I said, Well, she said this thing that you've just you've invented. I said, What's that? And she said, discovered? I said, Really? She said, Oh yeah. Well, there were three or four, possibly one other radio. So I had three or four pilots in the room. And I was live. And I was telling you it was this woman, this local cook. She was absolutely mesmerized by what I told her. She had to come to the pool. today to try it. I said, we don't make it specially I said it's June. It's just something that happens. It's just but yeah, it went crazy. And that was just a silly idea. And it just progressed from there. But yeah, it's always try something different. That's what as I love

Dan - Host: 47:23

the idea started the recipes. Six pints. And then.

Unknown: 47:29

Yeah. Always have a few drinks. And it always works. It always works. Yeah, it was a story that's always round here that people have always asked about.

Owen - Host: 47:41

You still have you still got the cover?

Unknown: 47:44

Yes, I have. I've got the thing. I'd say what I'll do. I don't know. Yeah. But if you don't put it on, I've got a picture of myself with this frying pan. And whatever the heck, it's 25 years ago now. So it's what yeah, what we'll do

Owen - Host: 48:00

is, we'll give you I'll give you a couple of days notice before we release this and yeah, you love you love to put on Instagram.

Unknown: 48:05

Yeah, yeah, I will definitely yeah, it's a funny story. It was it was funny to me. Yeah, I had a bit of a joke on everybody's expense, really? Because obviously, it was no secret recipe at all. It was just a crap I could find in the kitchen. I just thought altogether. Every time I did, it was always different. So

Dan - Host: 48:24

I love the idea but someone asked you like how do you make that? Granddad's wait?

Unknown: 48:29

Yeah. Well, you always get away with anything. If he's at grandma's or your grandma's. Nobody's ever gonna question you.

Dan - Host: 48:37

Very, very true. Very true indeed.

Owen - Host: 48:41

I think that probably leads us quite nicely actually talking about just whipping up some ingredients into our barbecue bingo challenge. Barbecue Bingo is brought to you by lumberjack food company. Your tickets are flavortown. Right. So what I'm going to do so this is this section is actually brought to us by lumberjacks food company. So they're a rub and sauce company in the barbecue community. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to share my screen and there's going to be a we'll have random ingredients to hopefully cook something creative. So can you see my screen? I've accidentally pressed it.

Dan - Host: 49:36

If when turned away.

Owen - Host: 49:39

I have to do that again. Barbecue fail.

Dan - Host: 49:44

I will say the answer. I could see it. Yeah. Can you see it, John?

Unknown: 49:49

Yes, I can't know. Yeah,

Owen - Host: 49:51

yeah. Okay. We're going to edit the file out in a second. No, we're not. Right. So basically, we've got a list of ingredients. It's ranging from well, a few different things here to hopefully inspire you to cook something on the barbecue. One of the things we've got is my signature dish. So if it lands on that, what would be your signature dish to cook?

Dan - Host: 50:21

signature dish. Do you know I think a great signature dish. Deep fried cabbage on the barbecue.

Unknown: 50:29

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that could work. signature dish, I'm always doing burgers Tiki wings. I like Asian filled as well. I do quite a lot of Asian sort of tourists and stuff like that. So possibly, I'd say curry if that's

Owen - Host: 50:47

the case. Yeah, wherever, wherever you want it to be okay, so I'll give it a spin. What we'd also like to do something we've started in the last series is we'd like we've got everyone in the last series. Once we spun the wheel, we got them to leave an ingredient on the list, hopefully for the next person to do so. Whilst I'm spinning this, if you can think of something to add to the list that will be that'd be great. Right? Okay. So for example, things like chocolate buttons were put on there by by a previous guest and things like that. So, okay, let's give it a spin that's good. I think that's that's a pretty versatile thing you can use there. Yes.

Dan - Host: 51:35

It would have gone well and your Lamberg is has anything come to mind for you?

Unknown: 51:40

Yeah, love Yeah, lamb. Yeah, mean to me. I mean, you go straight away to to lambda, it's possibly something like that. Possibly a dessert if I could look at something like that. You can cook the crap

Dan - Host: 52:02

out of it. The Yeah.

Owen - Host: 52:09

On the ship on specialists. So what what ingredient would you like to leave for the next guest?

Unknown: 52:18

What anything like somebody could allocate something like black pudding?

Owen - Host: 52:21

Of course you could. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.

Dan - Host: 52:25

That's one of my favorite ingredients to play with actually, on the list. If you've never done it before, I highly recommend black pudding burgers. Well, my favorite things to do with like any black pudding, if you've done breakfasts and stuff, and you've got little bits leftover. Firstly, not yet enough black pudding. But if you do, if you make a burger patty, just crumble it in and off. The extra flavor that adds is phenomenal. Love blackbirds so much.

Unknown: 52:55

Who I think it's you barbecues. Still. He's simply there. He's actually submitted that recipe into the Soviet into the book. So yeah, so yeah, you can't be black pudding.

Owen - Host: 53:10

No, I agree. I this is not barbecue related. But it's black pudding related. I actually made a black pudding lasagna. So the bottom layer was black, sliced black pudding, and then you start to build a normal lasagna just on top of Blackbird at the bottom. Pretty darn tasty. That's cool. Well. Interesting. I haven't done it since it was so good. 10 years ago.

Dan - Host: 53:41

But one time it was phenomenal.

Owen - Host: 53:43

Yeah. Six points in and

Dan - Host: 53:49

it was his grandfather's recipe.

Owen - Host: 53:51

Yeah. So is there anything else that we kind of haven't covered yet, John, that you'd love to kind of chat about on the podcast? No, I

Unknown: 54:05

think we've sort of covered everything. I think it's I don't think there's anything else really. So I'd say it's just part of being part of this community is some of that's, I'm very surprised about and I can say that Iran is social media was never my big thing at all. But being part of this, like you guys doing the podcasts and other people what they do, I just think it's a brilliant place. And I think it's very supportive as well. I mean, I know you had some smoke first driller on a few weeks ago. You let it go a few weeks ago, and things like what his journey has been. I mean, his house nearly burns down and then it's therapy is to go into his garden. Set fire to something to cook on. I mean, it's every supports that and it's a smashing guy. I love the guy to bits is part of the People will help with the book. But I think the whole community really is such a supportive place. And there's no ill feelings from people. And it's it's just, it's just a nice place to be. And so long wait, continue. Really, it's, it's nice to be part of, and that that's really one of the things I really do enjoy. And it's just enjoying cooking.

Dan - Host: 55:22

Oh, well, one last thing that I'd like to ask him before we wrap this up

Unknown: 55:26

as someone who's kind of new on the rest of you on the rest of you for that rabbit? Well, yes.

Dan - Host: 55:32

But but also, as someone who's been through so many recipes, and kind of built up that repertoire, what would you recommend someone who's new to barbecuing to have a go at that's a bit different, it might be a bit show offy. But it's like entry level.

Unknown: 55:50

I always say chicken wings, chicken wings are pretty easy. And you can make them look pretty spectacular. I did some last year for a competition, I did bat wings and got a little black food coloring and sort of made them so that like bats wings. I think that's pretty simple, really. And it can't really go wrong with a chicken wing, Kenny, it really, I think you can sort of get there. Most people could sort of cook it. And there's lots of different flavors to be used on them. I mean, I've got a brilliant cookbook, chicken wings and things it is and added a live cook with Scott foods. And I did some miso caramel, chicken wings. So you can go from one extreme to another. And I think chicken wing probably is probably the easiest. And where you can diversify with a lot of different flavors is a good thing to start. I always, I always try and do. I did a thing for barbecue up north where I did this big debate between gas barbecues and pellet grills and the charcoal grills and I cooked everything. But separate things. Obviously. I use chicken wings and everything. Because it's easy enough to do and you can sort of really work out how things are better and which are worse. Things to cook on. But yeah, I'd say definitely chicken.

Owen - Host: 57:15

Well, John has been an absolute pleasure coming on. On the podcast. We appreciate your time one final time. Can you just tell people where they can find you and more rare to find?

Unknown: 57:27

Yeah, it's what I've done is it's John Wilson 68 Is my Instagram account. And I've also set up the BBQ community cookbook account as well, which I'm going to keep posting things on the regarding the cookbook and things like that. So yeah, I just like to thank people who have helped and supported and submitted recipes to the cookbook. I really do appreciate it. And you're very, very, should be very proud of yourselves for being part of it. And that's really what I'd like to say to everybody.

Owen - Host: 58:01

Great. Well, thanks very much for coming on, John.

Unknown: 58:03

Yeah, thank you very much for having us. Great talk. Thanks, guys.

Owen - Host: 58:08

Cheers. Bye. Bye. That's it for another episode of meat & Greet BBQ podcast. Thanks so much to John for coming on and talking about that barbecue community cookbook that he's putting together in a to chair to very, very worthwhile charities as ever, we want to hear from you on the podcast so if you could get in contact with us through the usual channels and go on the website meat & Greet BBQ podcast where you'll find them meat & Greet BBQ podcast merchandise and we've got affiliate links for things like thermal pen which you know cooking to temperature not time is absolutely essential in barbecue. You can find us through all the socials on twitter instagram, facebook at meat & Greet BBQ podcast and until next time keep on grilling Today's episode is brought to you by aos kitchens, the South's leading outdoor kitchen design and installation specialists