Pitmaster Pedro's BBQ Secrets: From Grills to Rubs and Beyond

Owen: 0:00

Today's episode is brought to you by AOS Kitchens, the South's leading outdoor kitchen design and installation specialists.

Dan: 0:17

Welcome to another episode of the Meet and Greet Barbecue podcast. Please do follow us, subscribe to the podcast feed and also give us a like and a review. It really helps people find the show. Today we're speaking to Pitmaster Pedro, also known as Pete, all about his ambassador role with lumberjacks and also Traeger and some of the other bits and pieces he does. Without further ado, here's Pete. Hello Pitmaster Pedro. So for anyone who doesn't know who you are, please do introduce yourself to our audience.

Pete: 0:53

Hi. well, yeah, I'm Pete. I'm just your average guy really. I love cooking outdoors. I'm a bit of a tech geek. with the different bits of kit and stuff, i like trying different methods of cooking different cuisines. There's no set pattern to what I cook. I like doing low and slow texts and style Asian flavours, beef, seafood, poultry, pork It's just everything about barbecue that I just love.

Owen: 1:31

You mentioned you love cooking. What is it about barbecue specifically? that's kind of ignited your passion or continued that passion into where you are now.

Pete: 1:43

I don't know really. I've always been a foodie. for as long as I can remember Living with my mum when I was a kid. she did lots of very different types of things. Then, moving out, bought my first house, just walking around the DIY store and picked up a picture for barbecue. It just all grew from there, From living in the first house, being your average Joe sausage burner. Then I sort of flopped between a couple of different things. I had a couple of gas grills. Then when I moved here, I bought another Weber kettle. That's where it all grew from. really, I've always had a barbecue.

Owen: 2:32

You mentioned there. You picked one up early doors. What did you go for? We've heard a lot of different, contrasting types of barbecues. Some have gone straight from offsets, some started off with gas, some started off with a 30 quid kettle that rusted after a week. Where did you start?

Pete: 2:51

It was an outback grill, It was just a direct grilling surface, maybe two foot square, two cast iron powder coated grills, cut stovetanamal grills, that sort of thing, just with a charcoal basket underneath. That was it. It was perfect for steaks and stuff like that. I burned loads of food on that grill. The classic mistake I just filled in the charcoal basket and lighted everything at once. I ruined loads of food with that. It all started there, really.

Owen: 3:33

I was going to say when you first started, did you do the classic spray all down with lighter fluid to get the things going?

Pete: 3:41

Oh, yeah, yeah, i bought those horrible bags and all of that. I made all those mistakes early on. I didn't really get away from doing that sort of thing until about maybe eight years ago That sort of thing I started researching cooking over fire properly and realised that I was just ruining food. Basically, it's a matter of thinking.

Owen: 4:04

isn't it Just how we've started with coating our food with lighter fluid?

Pete: 4:11

essentially, Yeah, and if you did use that stuff correctly it was okay. But by the time that that stuff's fit to cook on, all of the heat's gone. You've got maybe like 40 minutes of cook time left, And it's just no good, is it? We've come so far, a long way since then.

Dan: 4:34

And you're a bit of a legend on the circuit, i would say From Instagram, a lot of people talk about going and looking at what you're doing for a bit of inspiration, but also you're out demo cooking as well. So at what stage did you take that next step and go? actually, this is more than a hobby for me.

Pete: 4:55

Well, i guess probably two years ago Brendan and Jay reached out from Lumberjacks. We did a couple of lives together and had a bit of banter in that online. From there that progressed from off-mere and ambassadorial role with company, a few social media posts and using the products and promoting them. And I don't commercially get a lot out of that. I do it more to help Brendan and Jay because they're a good pair of lads. And then I did my first demo last year with them down at Sizzlefest. I was on their stand so they were selling rubs and I was knocking out food. And then our security role with Traeger. I'm still waiting on my first demo with Traeger grills But yeah, through this season hopefully I'll be out in venues knocking out food In their name.

Owen: 5:54

Do you enjoy that demo? I suppose you wouldn't be doing it if you didn't enjoy it. But I mean, do you quite like that live element of talking to people whilst you're actually cooking for them, showing them what can be achieved on a barbecue?

Pete: 6:09

Yeah, for sure It does take me a little bit outside of my comfort zone. I'm not very good socially. I don't know if you've noticed I struggled, for Mavocabra is not the best, so it is quite a challenge for me, but yeah, i do really enjoy it. The previous Sizzlefest, james invited me to do like a fire stage cookoff against Cornivore. I know, dom And we got in the SoCal Barn together. I did some chicken drumsticks and I think he did like a Thai curry And he picked up the microphone and he was waxing the wrinkle, chatting with the people And I just was sweating bullets And I did knock out some really good food, but the interaction and the communication, you know, it wasn't there. So when I decided to take that next step I thought it's a good way of improving my social confidence, you know.

Dan: 7:04

Yeah, and I think you're more authentic though from that point of view And comparing anyone to Dom, who can talk the hind legs off a donkey, like the other scammers saying it's always difficult. But I think, on the point of like the vocabulary, it means that what you say has a lot more weight behind it, because you only use do you understand what I'm saying? You're not going to go on for ages and have a joke And then when you do say something, it's going to have that strength behind it to teach people more.

Pete: 7:36

Possibly. Yeah, you know, like I say, putting a certain point across and being able not not being able to find the words, but then when I do find them, sometimes it can be quite blunt. People don't want to hear it. I haven't met my career. I haven't had to face the public. You know, people have worked in the public sector and in retail and things like that hospitality. I've worked in heavy industry all my life and sort of. I call a spade a spade. I've got very, very low filters. So I have to really think about what I say before I say it.

Owen: 8:18

I think. Ultimately, though, let the food do the talking. That's the thing, isn't it? That's what they ultimately want to taste. What fantastic creations you can make, and showcasing them on some fantastic kits and rubs and sauces, that's the star, isn't it?

Pete: 8:33

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Let the food do the talking, and when they go quiet, you know you've got it right.

Owen: 8:45

Yeah, so you mentioned the Traeger thing is quite new for you.

Pete: 8:49

Yeah, i bought a Traeger for the Mrs, not the Christmas just gone, but the Christmas previous. She was enjoying coming out in the garden and cooking, but she didn't enjoy the aspect of lighting a fire, getting black fingers, loading a grill up with charcoal, cleaning the grills and that sort of thing. She was sort of starting to shy away from it again. I took to 15 undercooked into a Traeger iron wood and since then she's been flying. The Mrs is really, really coming along and some of the things she's putting out are epic. She's into the baking side of things as well and she's baking in the barbecue and it's really coming along. Traeger put an advert out there for people volunteering to be demonstration chefs. I just put my hand in the air. They looked at my socials and it all blossomed from there. But I think those demonstrations moving forward are probably going to do those together as a couple. So it just saves ruining a weekend together. We're out there, we travel to it together, we do the food together and hopefully we sell the lifestyle that Traeger want to portray, and that's the goal.

Owen: 10:05

Fantastic. I noticed that you've also got the. Well, I mean you've got lots of wood splits behind you, but I noticed that you've got the. Is it the Nomad Traeger?

Pete: 10:15

I've got the. I recently bought the Hammerforge not the Hammerforge, the HellRazor, HellRazor, no matter, we've got that. During the Traeger training they had that at the end of January down at Riverside Garden Centre and they got some really snazzy little fire pits, laser cut on the side sort of thing, and I was looking for something like that and I just stumbled across it and got Charles to send us that out. I've also got a Hammerforge old iron side offset, a little table top offset smoker, so that's what that's for. and I've also got a freestanding pizza oven, just one of these dome shaped things as well, so that's where the wood's going to be used.

Owen: 11:02

Really. Yeah, i knew I saw a Traeger sort of fire pit somewhere on your socials and then I was getting confused between that and the HellRazor. I noticed as well. I saw some post of you also got a Traeger Ranger as well.

Pete: 11:18

Yeah, that was sent as part of the demo kit that they've gave us. So I've had a few cooks on that finding out all the nuances and so when I get what, i am out there and I am looking through it out. The general public could have looked at the complete fool.

Dan: 11:35

Do you know what that barbecue has been peaking our interest? We've spoken to a few people about it because of the size of it. It's fantastic for people who do more individual cooks and smaller cooks, which I think in real life is the majority of us. If you're cooking every day, you might be cooking for like a family, And just the fact it's so mobile as well, I mean, what have you been experimenting with on it? Have you had a chance to kind of get to grips?

Pete: 12:04

Yeah, I've done like a full Spat Scott chicken in there wings, some prawn skewers, some smash burgers. It comes with a cast iron plancher that fits inside there, So you can get it nice and not and smash them patties out. And it's a fabulous little thing. It is weighty, it's not as portable as you think. You know moving it around and stuff like that, I won't want to carry it too far, And obviously it requires power as well. So you're going to need a jackery battery or something. If you're going to go truly off grid you do need 240 volt supply, But it's a fabulous little grill.

Owen: 12:40

Yeah it has been my interest. I've been sort of teeing the idea up with a wife. She clearly knows I don't need another one, but I had a perfect example tonight All I was cooking was one chicken breast. I didn't want to fire up an 885 or a 57 Weber or whatever you know for just such as something that's going to take 10, 15 minutes and then take twice as long to heat up. So I thought it'd be nice just to have something small, just suitable for one. So again I was going see if I had a Traeger Ranger or if I another small portable barbecue. that would have been perfect just for that one chicken breast.

Pete: 13:26

If that gets one through the door, buddy, i'm all for it. You go for it, yeah.

Owen: 13:35

So in regards to, obviously, 2023, then you're going to be out with the Traeger team Fantastic. Are you going to be doing some more with Lumberjacks? Are you going to be? I know that they're going to be at Sizzle Fest again. Obviously, we're working with them as well this season. Are you planning to kind of do some work with them again? at some events.

Pete: 13:53

Yeah, we're nailed on for Sizzle Fest and that's pretty much a given. We're looking at smoke and fire as well. I've got to consider what Traeger throat is as well, so I can't really commit to it too much. So possibly the smoke and fire is, and definitely Sizzle Fest. For sure I'm going to be there.

Owen: 14:12

Fantastic. And for you then? you mentioned right at the beginning that you like to cook all types of things on the barbecue. Is there any, perhaps proteins or anything that stands out for you that you would say is kind of your forte in terms of barbecue?

Pete: 14:30

As you can tell by my build, i'm partial to large portions of food, so, yeah, i'm a red meat fan. Beef, pork, poultry as well. I do like my chicken. I'm not a seafood fan. The women absolutely love it And I'm really jealous of people that enjoy seafood because it's one of those things when it's prepared well, it looks absolutely superb. Few things present better than well-cooked seafood, but I just don't get on with it. I'm not a fan. Mussels, maybe, prawns, lobster tail that's about me. Fish, wet fish and stuff like that. Salmon I'm not a big fan.

Owen: 15:13

I agree with you so much. I just can't get on with fish either, but the recipes generally look fantastic And yeah, you're right.

Pete: 15:22

Yeah, we used to work offshore and every Christmas they'd pour thousands into a Boxing Day buffet that was purely seafood. I used to walk past it, really jealous of everybody that was just smashing food. I'm thinking it looks absolutely epic, but I just, you know, a couple of prawns in a bit of Mary Rose sauce, and that was me.

Dan: 15:44

I don't do enough seafood on the barbecue. I think the problem I've got is I really like seafood but my wife hates it. My daughter hates it. What's the point?

Pete: 15:57

Yeah, you've got the exact opposite problem to me. I did a Cedar Plank Salmon with some King Prawn tail the other night, with a Noodle and the Jack's Mango rub, and the women hoovered it up And I just sat looking at it and I had a few chips That was me And a big prawn.

Owen: 16:20

And so excuse me for the setups that you've got at the moment. So you've got the shack. Obviously you've mentioned a couple of barbecues that you're cooking on with the trakers and hammer forge etc. Is there anything else in your arsenal that you've got as well?

Pete: 16:44

Oh nice. So I've got a Camaro Joe Classic 2. That was the first edition, sort of just before all the lockdowns and that started and this started to snowball into being my main pastime, got the Classic 2. I swapped out the old weather classic. I had the old thing with the old half moon catch basket underneath where the ice used to blow everywhere, so I upgraded that to our master touch. I've got a PKTX. I've got a small Theros tabletop, the T1. Numerous attachments and a rotisserie. For that I've done an £8 turkey. In that one Christmas day under my gazebo before the shack was built that was torrential rain, absolutely pouring. I managed to keep the lid on the gazebo That didn't blow away and braved it And I really enjoyed that. That was a superb cook. And then the Hellrazer, the Traeger, the hammer forge, the ranger and the piece of wood.

Owen: 17:49

When people watch this on YouTube, they're going to see that you're in your shack and you've got all the wood splits With all those barbecues that you listed. is your shack about eight foot long, or?

Pete: 17:59

There is an extension plan believe it or not, but the extension plan for more kit. I've got to secure the finances. I keep saying I'm going to do it, and then we have a financial setback or something happens. a car will get end up with a big bill or something like that, and we can't just justify blowing the cash on it. But hopefully the shack the shack's 10 by 12, i think I'm going to put that out another 10 foot, but I've only got a half roof fit. We're going to keep the gazebo, so we've got a sort of area where we can still sit. And then there's going to be some new additions, some new stuff going into the shack. Some of the stuff that we've got currently is on its way out as well. I want to replace the Traeger Ironwood with a new timber line for the misses And yeah. so there's lots of plans. Some of it's a little bit of a part dream, but most of it will come to fruition this year, i think.

Owen: 18:59

The timber lines are something new designed, and they're something special, aren't they?

Pete: 19:03

Yeah, i've got to see them at the training day. Such an epic piece of kit Having the induction on the side and the cooking area. But they've made the cooking grates modular as well, so like you've got the massive cooking area but everything inside the grill made of stainless steel. It'll fit in the dishwasher, so it just takes all of the pain out of cleaning your grill And it's just really well-built, really well-built piece of kit. Hellishly expensive, i'm not going to lie to you. People look at things like that and think my lord, who's going to spend 3,600 quid on one piece of kit? But absolutely just rock solid, tank sized grill that you could do virtually everything with And you've got all of the features to set, and forget. People look at triggers and think of them as an easy bay cover, the amount of convenience you get out of appellate grill with the Wi-Fi technology and the heat warm functions and all the wireless connectivity. It just makes your life so much easier. People that struggle with fire management should think about spending that extra cash if they want to look as good as most of us do when we're knocking food out.

Owen: 20:20

And actually, since you've had the trigger, have you found that you're using that more than perhaps, say, some of the charcoal or the wood based, just purely because of that convenience?

Pete: 20:34

No, i wouldn't say it's any easier to use than a Camaro. honestly, for myself, you can set the vents on a Camaro grill, get your temperature rock solid. it's not going to move For the convenience in the winter because it's under the shack. my shack goes back to my house so I don't even have to get wet. if it's pissing it down, i would walk outside, i could plug a grill and I've got 240 volt outside on the electrics or weatherproof and that I could plug it in, switch it on and go inside and control it from the phone. So from that point of view it is really good. but with Camaro's undercover I could pull a Weber inside here as well and move things about. So I'd say sort of, in the winter I do lean on the trigger a little bit more than I would have done, but in the summer I tend to go towards charcoal or wood more.

Dan: 21:27

I think as well your point about dishwasher. Dishwasher for a lot of people who are first getting into barbecuing, it's the cleaning aspect that sometimes puts them off or can put people off kind of firing up My Camaro. All the grills can go in the dishwasher and it makes a huge difference in regards to time, cleaning and everything. So it's just another plus to try and get people through the door right.

Pete: 21:51

Yeah, yeah, and like with them putting the thought into it. It just goes to show that somebody out there is saying have you got a trader? Have you got anything of that sort of size, a sort of an iron wood, that sort of thing?

Owen: 22:04

Yeah, I understand.

Pete: 22:07

And like all you can do is brush it off really, or get your pressure washer out. If you've got a pressure washer, then you've got to blast all of the food crud everywhere and that sort of thing. So the way that they thought it made the grill modular so that they'll fit in there, it's just again, just elevates things and makes things so much easier.

Owen: 22:28

I had actually on that point this week. I have just bought a paddling pool so that I can clean my grills. I can't fit in the dishwasher. I literally got delivered yesterday and I mean by the time this comes out it'll be months ago. But yeah, i've actually had to buy a paddling pool so I can clean my grills because I can't fit in my dishwasher.

Pete: 22:49

Yeah, yeah, i like my Web of 57,. You know I'm going to look at getting the stainless replacement because I've got the mild seal. I've got the one with the mild seal, chrome plated. I use the Vortex a lot and it's burnt the chrome plate in a way. So. But it's probably the most challenging thing in the world to clean. With the flexible sides, the pop-up sides where you can add fuel to your fuel baskets and things like that, the way it all moves around and like the size of it, you just can't get it in anything to clean. So that's perfect solution. Really. I think I might jump on Amazon when we knock off.

Owen: 23:27

I don't believe it. Actually I had an awful experience. I say awful. I went into my workshop yesterday and I can't remember what I was cooking. I can't remember what I was cooking, it was only yesterday, but anyway, i ventured into my workshop where I keep all wood, charcoal etc, etc And where I've got various accessories for the various different barbecues. as I lifted something out to realise I've used something and put it down and it had either a little bit of meat juice or whatever still left in it, where I've just thrown it away just for the second forgot about it, and it was like a furry garden. It was horrible.

Dan: 24:12

And I've gone. Yeah, i'll come back to that.

Owen: 24:13

I just can't deal with that right now.

Pete: 24:16

I wrote this read in the web earlier the week and I took the grate out and I stood there holding it and I put it on the garden table outside and I thought I'd be fine there. Obviously it rained and everything. I picked it up and put it in. After I took the rosicids a bit and put everything back and like the stain on the table was just like. I'm going to have to sort that out. Luckily it's only a glass, so a bit of bleach, spraying and cloth that came up probably.

Owen: 24:50

Yeah, the cleaning bit is unfortunately not the fun part of a barbecue.

Pete: 24:56

No, for sure, for sure. But it's therapy. You're outside, you know it's definitely sorts your head out, getting a good for your mental health, getting out in the backyard bit of fresh air.

Owen: 25:10

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Owen: 26:16

Visit aoskitchenscouk, so I'd like to jump into BBQ Fails. There's me talking about. You know what you've said about leaving stains and me leaving stuff to go mouldy. Have you got any stories for us about things that haven't gone so well for you?

Pete: 26:37

So well, yeah, i did a flank roll. I went to the butchers and got a lovely piece of flank steak and I flayed it out, spread cream cheese and spinach and all good business on there, some garlic and some citrus and stuff, rolled it up, tied it and I thought it looked absolutely epic. You know, i wasn't really sure what to do with it, put it off to one side a bit of indirect, seared it off, we cut it up and it was hanging. So there was like 15 quids with a steak and another three or four quids with a good business that went into it. That just turned into a fish and chip takeaway What happened then?

Owen: 27:28

Was it just too tough?

Pete: 27:35

Yeah, i didn't put enough thought into the cooking process, i didn't do enough research, just really underestimated what I was going to do with it, and I've since revisited it. I've made it a lot better. But yeah, i just, you know, it was a couple of years ago. I just wasn't thinking. And also as well, skillet cornbread. Do you know James Barbachew? He's got his YouTube channel.

Owen: 28:07

Yeah, I'd definitely heard of him. He's got a YouTube channel, hasn't he?

Pete: 28:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Quite a guy from Northern Ireland. He had a discord group that I was a part of. We got into doing monthly challenges and I decided to as part of my challenge, just to do a skillet cornbread and it was just one of those going back to every five minutes lifting the lid, probing it. No, it's not ready, i'm still getting stuff on miscure. I'm still getting stuff on miscure. Yeah, that's perfect, turned it out and it was blacker than it looked on my Web of 57. It was absolutely ruined and I'm like, oh my life, but I rescued it. I've got some muffin cases out. I still got some batter left and I made some muffins, so I managed to rescue that. But the stuff that came out of the skillet, i think I've got to put it in the charcoal basket and use it to power the barbecue. It was rancid.

Owen: 29:08

Yeah, i tried that with some baking ones. I tried to do some scones and they were just cremated on the bottom So I ended up just like cutting the bottom, so having like half, basically the top half of a scone.

Pete: 29:22

It's challenging. But you look at people like Sue and they're using upturned baking trays and stuff like that to take a bit of direct heat away from the bottom of the cook stuff like that. So again, it's another thing that I've managed to solve in circumvent. But it was hilarious because I walked in the kitchen and she said, oh, that looks lovely. I turned it out to the board. I can't tell you what I said family show.

Owen: 29:49

So you mentioned that obviously your wife does a lot of cooking on the Traeger and baking specifically And obviously we've just been talking about. is it something that you do much of yourself and the baking side of things, or are you more sort of sticking to your proteins and things like that?

Pete: 30:07

Yeah, i'm more of a carnivore than I am a baker. I can't. I haven't got the patience. I have done it a few times. I mean, i've baked a few buns and I've tried a focaccia and failed. She made it focaccia tonight, which was absolutely banging really good, and there'll be some pictures on the Instagram if you want to go and have a look. But yeah, now I'll leave that to the wife Peacers. that's about it. I don't know if I've had pizza.

Dan: 30:36

Oh, i'd like to talk to you about that. So when, like, doing the dough and stuff, how into it have you got? Because I was trying to do some research and all of a sudden, when things started talking about hydration, i was like this is too far for me at the moment. Like, is that, have you gone that far into looking to doze and hydration?

Pete: 30:54

She has. She's got a little gadget that measures the like, the, what's the word? see things through, that is the usual the moisture content of the air in the kitchen. You know what I mean. And like she's going down that rabbit hole and getting really serious about it. you know, like ambient temperatures and things like that And they're different, the different things that she has to do to keep a dough right. I'll just prove it in a bowl, you know, put a shower cup over it, put it in the fridge overnight. And that's me. I'm not really that into it And I don't really get no fails in my pieces anymore. You know, from accidental cows. I used to have a rock box and a few accidental cows. I was in that, i can tell you, trying to get them off the peel and then something stuck and you pull it out and it's just yeah, just leave that.

Owen: 31:50

I just buy the dough down. It's really bad, I know, but I should buy it.

Pete: 31:54

Northern doughs, the stuff you get from those. It's acceptable, you know you get good results using it, but it's just I don't know a bit of it. Me and a geek, i like to understand things.

Dan: 32:07

Oh, that's me. That's exactly me. I'm looking to get in a rock box at the end of the month, And so I thought I'd start doing some research, maybe go down the rabbit hole of, like you know, making my own dough, taking it seriously, because you know various cookbooks. You have pizza dough recipes, but they're never the same as the proper stuff, And I just want to elevate the game. But then, all of a sudden, when I started talking about hydration, I was like, well, hang on, hang on. Eh, I can barely spell that word. Let's take some time.

Pete: 32:37

So I need to watch more. really, just start off slow And the Gosney website's a great resource, you know they simplify things quite well And just start off using their simple recipes from there and move on. you know, and the rock boxes are fabulous little piece of kit, but the three of us in our house you can only prepare like a really eight, eight, 10 inch pizza or a thin crust. you know, i mean, you cook a pizza in about 90 seconds. two minutes, that sort of time scale. it's not too bad. But I just wanted something where I could get one family size pizza out of it in one go, slide it out onto a board and we're done. So I went with a bigger option.

Owen: 33:22

What was that bigger option? I think I've misheard when you mis-.

Pete: 33:27

It was something that Al, the Aldermere website to call their own brand, fire Kings. So it's got like a 16 inch opening sort of thing, so you can. There's a good stone base inside there So it retains its equal quite well And it's quite a cost effective solution. It was about 500 quid I think.

Owen: 33:50

That size, that's decent.

Pete: 33:54

I dare say it's not as well insulated as some premium brands and stuff like that. But for what I do it serves a purpose. I'd love something like a Gosney Dome, but what you're looking at for over 1800 quid.

Owen: 34:08

Yeah, I think so.

Pete: 34:11

I just can't just if I spending that sort of thing for the amount of pizzas and stuff and baking that I do.

Owen: 34:20

So for you for this year, what you kind of looking forward to you get, i suppose, outside of the demoing, are there any kind of events or people that you're hoping to see or things happening in the barbecue community that you'd like to get involved in?

Pete: 34:37

I'd like to spend more time with Bren and Jay. Really We've only done the one event together. It's just a press last year And we really are on the same level Low standards, in a sense of you won't believe, but we just really hit it off, the three of us, and there are a great pair of lads, so hopefully Smoke and Fire have come off and I managed to get to them And they do some stuff smaller events and garden centers and retailers and farmers markets So hopefully I'll get to spend a bit more time with those And obviously there's a trade of stuff as well. I think that's going to tie up a lot on my tongue because I do work quite a few weekends and what I do. So I've got to keep an eye on what I'm doing with the barbecue and what I'm doing with work and balancing it with the family life.

Dan: 35:27

So that takeaway is quite nicely into something I wanted to ask you. So, of course, you've got the partnership with Lumberjacks and they've recently gone through the rebrand and they've had the new rub come out And the versatility of what they've got there is really interesting. And, looking through your Instagram page as well, the amount of different types of cooks and flavors you play with it's really interesting and shows what you can do. So it feels a bit like a match made in heaven. but can you talk us through kind of the different ways that you use the rubs and what people can get out of them?

Pete: 36:00

So yeah, you know, what they'll generally do when they're playing with a new flavor is they'll pitch the rub at me and ask me what I think. But, like you know, you've got a little bit of spicy and heat with the buffalo. But their hot buffalo rub is my go-to for most things. It's absolutely superb. You know, quick wings, dollop of olive oil, generous shake and a freezer bag on a kilo of wings. Shake it up Really really simple with the hot sauce as a glaze, set it on best wings. In my opinion that I can do really really super, really easy. But then you've got the citrus. That's where the new mango rub I did, the seafood stuff, i've done a bit of checking with that And the contrasting flavor with the mango rub and the mango sauce. People would think going double mango, that really wouldn't work, but it does. You know, the mango rub is quite a citrusy hit, you know. I'm sure about it. But I think the base of that samsour powder, that's quite sharp. Couple that with the sweet and spiciness of the sauce And for me that really works. Then you've got the tibo. You know practically anything would be. You know you're not just limited to smash burgers and steaks. Get it in a cottage pie, get it in a bolognese, that sort of thing, get it in a chili. It really does get underneath like any beef that you're browning off and just give a bit of a new mommy kick And you've got all the other stuff that's in there, the dried onions, you know. And then, moving on to the spicy side of things, you've got the tai chiang mei. So like in green curries and stuff like that, before you cook your meat off, give it a coat of that And it just gives you another level. There You've got the Moroccan Tower Bowl. That makes like a really, really wicked chicken swarmer. There's some buttermilk or some yogurt, healthy shake of that. Package them up, get them on the spit rotisserie, them off And, like the wife and the kids, go and manage me for that all the time. That goes down really well. Then you've got the other stuff like the tempura. You've got the tandoori masala. It can be used pretty much in the same ways. You know, there's so many different things in that range that you don't really have to look anywhere else. I mean, i do use other products and stuff like that. You know, and I'm quite open with Brendan Jay about what I do with the other things And obviously I've got a work partnership with Trigger so I do use their rubs and stuff like that. But for what they're allowed to do you don't really have to look elsewhere for too much because the range that they do is that varied. It just suits all needs. It's a really good set and a range of rubs and sauces It's just super.

Owen: 39:01

I think that again leads us quite nicely into our A. There Are BBQ Bingo partners for Season 5. But we'd love to set you a BBQ Bingo challenge, pete, and see what you can cook for us. BBQ Bingo is brought to you by Lumberjack Food Company Your ticket to Flavortown. So, if I share my screen, you're going to see our high-tech wheel that we've spent millions of pounds on.

Pete: 39:30

And I've got that up.

Owen: 39:32

Yeah, yeah, don't tell them our secret. It's custom made.

Dan: 39:37

It's not like if you're watching you can't see the name of the website or anything on there, exactly, exactly, ok.

Owen: 39:45

So we've got a whole list of list of ingredients And, as we mentioned too early before we started recording, a lot of these have been left by previous guests And the only thing that's on there is called My Signature Dish, which would be your signature dish. So if it lands on that, we'd like you to cook what you're best known for. What would you say that is?

Pete: 40:10

My Signature Dish. It's difficult really. I don't really go back to one thing that often really, i'd say if I do something too much, it's probably wings.

Owen: 40:25

So we have wings.

Pete: 40:27

Yeah, not very exciting, i know not very original, but I do wings a lot.

Owen: 40:33

Yeah, sounds good. Okay, so I'll give it a spin. We'd like you to then think of an ingredient that you could leave for the next guests, please. So let's give it a go. This is going to be that.

Dan: 40:55

Mango.

Pete: 40:58

Other rubs and seasonings are available.

Owen: 41:01

Yeah, I tell you, what that couldn't have sounded like more of a fix than if we tried right.

Dan: 41:09

Luckily, it's all on video, right.

Pete: 41:13

I tell you what I do a mean mango chilli chicken curry dish, so I'll steer away from using the rub and I'll do that Perfect awesome.

Owen: 41:26

Okay, and what would you like to leave for the next guest? Are you going to be really nice and leave a nice ingredient, or are you going to do something to stitch people up?

Pete: 41:37

I've already. I had in mind I've just seen it's already there. I was going to say octopus because it's something that I would need. That looks absolutely epic Things we tend to call when they call beautiful. So that's that out of there. So what we've got there.

Owen: 41:53

So some other things that we've got beef, tongue, artichoke, duck, seshwan pepper, polish smoked sausage.

Pete: 42:00

And then there's goat, but it's fake artichoke. We've had a few bits I'm going to go with under wheel sausage.

Dan: 42:13

Oh, okay yeah.

Pete: 42:15

Go with what sorry, under wheel sausage.

Owen: 42:19

Yeah.

Pete: 42:24

Hopefully you've got a spell checkers. A-n-d-u-i-l-e.

Dan: 42:30

I think N-D-U-J-A, that's N-D-U-U-I-L-E. Oh, that's what happens when you.

Owen: 42:38

Google something in a correction. I tell you what I'm going to put it there and then I'll Google it and spell it later. Awesome, right. Well, yeah, i can't believe that. Mango of all things, but mango chicken curry sounds amazing.

Pete: 42:57

Yeah, yeah and, like I say, we'll steer away from that. We spent maybe 15 minutes talking about mango rum and mango chili sauce, so I'll step outside of that and do something different.

Owen: 43:12

And would you normally use a fresh mango? Yeah, for sure.

Pete: 43:18

Fresh mango mango chutney. Good on the British Indian restaurant style of cooking it a base gravy, partly cooked chicken and a wok. That sort of thing.

Owen: 43:34

Brilliant. Is there anything else that we haven't sort of spoken about yet in regards to the barbecue in general, or the community or events or anything like that, that you'd like to kind of chat about?

Pete: 43:50

Not really. We've had a really good chat and I've really enjoyed it And it's good to put faces to the names and if you are going to go sizzle fest, obviously we will get to meet and we can have a bit of a face-to-face and a beer and a good laugh.

Owen: 44:06

Yeah, absolutely You might actually see us because, again, we've been speaking with Brendan and Jade about potentially meeting up with them at Smoke and Fire or another event anyway. So if you're going to be at some of those we may meet you sooner. but yeah, sizzle fest for definitely.

Pete: 44:22

Brilliant. I can't wait to be good fun.

Owen: 44:26

Well, i suppose the final thing then is for you to just shamelessly plug yourself. Tell people where they can find you and give him your Instagram handles. All that type of stuff, please.

Pete: 44:38

Yeah, just find me on Instagram at pitmasterpedro same Twitter handle. Give us a follow, ask me a question, let me know what you like to see, let me know what you don't like, And I'm always interested in debate and styles of cooking and things like that, And it would be good to meet you. Perfect.

Owen: 45:04

Well, yeah, go on. Sorry, you're dead. This is why we do it. We record it so that we stop cutting each other. We can cut this bit out, but go on, danny.

Dan: 45:12

It's just. it's been great speaking to you. I've sampled some of your food last year and it was fantastic, so I'm looking forward to do it again. So thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us.

Pete: 45:22

really, Thanks for having me on, guys. you know, spreading the word, spreading the love barbecue message, it's all good.

Owen: 45:32

Right. Thanks very much for coming on Pete.

Pete: 45:34

Yeah, thank you guys. Cheers, thank you, cheers, bye, bye.

Owen: 45:39

That's it for another episode of the Meet and Greet BBQ Podcast. Thanks so much to Pete for coming on to the show and talking about his journey, his new partnerships with Traeger and Lumberjacks and just really what gets him going in terms of barbecue. And so ever. we want to hear from you. tell us what you'd like us to talk about on the podcast. Get in contact through the usual channels at Meet and Greet BBQ Podcast through social website meetandgreetbobacupodcastcom, and until next time, keep on grilling.

Dan: 46:19

Today's episode of the Meet and Greet BBQ Podcast is brought to you by AOS Outdoor Kitchens. They are the South's leading outdoor kitchen design and installation specialists.