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We chat with Canadian Social Influencer Kara of Scale and Tailor who has so much passion for Barbecue and makes it really accessible and most importantly fun! Kara talks to us about how she got into barbecue, how she is tryin...
We chat with Canadian Social Influencer Kara of Scale and Tailor who has so much passion for Barbecue and makes it really accessible and most importantly fun!
Kara talks to us about how she got into barbecue, how she is trying to inspire women to take up grilling and what she cooks for her family.
Hear what BBQ Bingo challenge Kara gets this week.
Hello and welcome to another episode of the meat & Greet BBQ Podcast. Today we are joined by Kara from scaling Taylor, who is a Canadian guerrilla taking Instagram by storm. She's all about enjoying the method having a great time and there's all types of different recipes that you can apply not just to your grill your barbecue but also to your oven. So without much further ado, here's Kara. Hello Kara from scale and Taylor, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you. For anyone who doesn't know who you are and what you're about please let everyone on the meat & Greet BBQ podcast know what who you are.
Scale & Tailor:Oh my goodness, put me on the spot. I am Kara again from scale and Taylor Taylor. I just want to say quickly, like this, just pause for a second and just say thank you for having me on. It's such an honour that you guys would ask me to come on. It's just such an honour. Ah, I love barbecue. Stay at home, mom BBQ. I just share my life on Instagram, raising my family and cooking on barbecue, the love of food.
Dan - Host:Did you know that that really comes across on your page as well. One of the reasons that we want to reach out to you is your one of the first Instagram accounts that I followed when I first started properly, properly barbecuing. And what I like about what you do is the fact that you walk everyone through it, it's all achievable. And it's also obviously cooking for a family. Which which is great. But how did you originally start up and get into everything?
Scale & Tailor:Oh gosh, it started honestly, not that long ago, You'll be really surprised it happened about two years ago or more. I was a stay at home mom. I kind of lost myself. I was a very busy person as you can tell my personality and a very busy person. And I wanted to be a stay at home mom, but I lost myself I needed a little bit more. So I started blogging, mob blogging, just like just blogging about my life. And I always had such old love for cooking. And I just cooked every night as you kind of see how I barbecue right now. And it just flew as soon as I said, Okay, no more like mob blogging, like I'm just gonna do food I'll show my life and my stories but like I'm just gonna like really dive into food. Everyone seems to really gravitate towards the food. And then Louisiana grills for each show to me one day and changed my life basically. Um, they sent me a little grill that I still have, I'll never get rid of it. My very first grill and I fell in love with grilling I'm outdoorsy person. I love being outside. I'm talking to you aside right now. Um, I literally love it so it's just it was love at first Girl
Owen - Host:Yeah, and you probably got subsequent grooves after that as well.
Scale & Tailor:Yeah, it just snowballed from there. Like as soon as I had my first role like the recipes just started flowing. It was a breath of fresh air for me a new thing to learn now I'm learning charcoal. If you haven't been following me I got a new charcoal grill. So I'm kind of following everybody into my journey of charcoal grilling. And just taking everybody I get I'm a real person I'm a real mom. And I know a lot about cooking and know a lot about food I have a lot of culinary background but not really so taking all my knowledge of In the Kitchen and bringing out the grill fun family recipes cooking for my family having fun with you guys you know
Owen - Host:I think the the I just want to pick up on that fun element. And I think that's really noticeable and actually it was one I think it was I can't move if you had posted it on Tik Tok then went over to onto your Instagram reels. But the you were recreating some dishes and you actually use your legs to create recreate chicken legs. And then you kind of sat like doing a drum set. You sat I think where you are right now. And I I was laugh out loud. laughing I showed my wife and she was giggling and we had so
Scale & Tailor:hysterical laughing All day long when I was filming them, my husband was in on it too, like it was just a hoot and a holler the whole way. And that's what makes what I do so fun and so rewarding, you know, because I get to put my leg in a photo with parsley, and a decorative towel like I did the original photo. If you're not if you're wondering what that post was, I work for chicken.ca, which is a Canadian raised chicken farmers and just a raising awareness of Canadian chicken. And I have so many chickens photos that I thought I would do a little bit of something fun that month by recreating the photo and it was like me versus the photo who wore a better ticket. But I tried my legs are.
Dan - Host:I also I also love all the music that you use as well. It's fantastic. And it makes you stand apart because it's fun and it's enjoyable. And also it goes across all genres. And it's just another element. Do you deliberately pick music that you like to partner what you're doing? Or do you more think about what what you're actually doing in the video and tried to pair it up that way?
Scale & Tailor:First off, you guys are blowing my head up like so. But I appreciate the fact that you said that you liked the music because if you only knew how much time I spent on picking the music, I feel like it sets the tone to the even in my stories like it sets the tone to what you're feeling. Do I want you to feel like hot and sexy while you're looking at this Pete like this spaghetti or do you feel like hot and pop in your outside on the griddle like you know, I kind of take what I'm doing and make what you know kind of create a feel for you guys. But in that being said, I only pick the music that I love and I only pick the music that I'm into I have such a passion for music, all genres of music. I only don't like cheese types of music and I'm sorry if this is or I just don't like like angry music like you know dark music because I'm a happy person and I don't like elevator music you know
Dan - Host:literally both ends of the spectrum. But you know if you're going to start using like 90s r&b and then the next thing is going to be like a album track from a Taylor Swift record and then you're gonna go straight into like rap people it's gonna bring different people in which which is great.
Scale & Tailor:Yeah, so I was like I'm glad that my music tastes really does bring everybody in because it's true I will play Pentair one day and and the next day play Taylor so
Dan - Host:I love the fact that you said you don't like angry music and then you've mentioned Pantera as well
Scale & Tailor:I feel like it's a I guess I should I don't think it that's like that's like respect music like to me like Nine Inch Nails some tools songs like I guess I love it all like I like it all I guess I just thought kind of music when you talk about the hard metal rock it has to be like I'm kind of pumped you know like
Dan - Host:music if you could grill to like schism by tool you can grill to anything
Owen - Host:I am completely lost right now.
Dan - Host:Musics my thing oh yeah lots of barbecue Mrs. Owens thing.
Scale & Tailor:What is your favourite music? I want to know now like what if you had to listen to something now like you're not a music lover? What's your go to?
Dan - Host:Guilty pleasure is I know what his guilty pleasure is. I'll go for this guilty pleasure is
Owen - Host:I suppose a probably most listened to like indie music. Oh, I suppose the Arctic Monkeys really lovely. Yes. Good.
Scale & Tailor:Mania, man. I'll get up. Yeah, omise Yeah, it's been a bit of indie artists. It they've been around for a long time, but they're one hidden gem that people need to know that
Owen - Host:sounds good. I do love r&b though. I do love Yeah, and be like 90s music and Yeah, exactly.
Dan - Host:Oh into guilty pleasure. That was ludicrous. In loves ludicrous whatever whenever you're over Owens house if he's got barbecue on, first thing he likes to do is sausages cut up with cocktail sticks and different dipping sauces. And as you sat there, listen to Chris, welcome on the rule.
Scale & Tailor:I want to come to your backyard barbecue. When am I being invited?
Owen - Host:I mean, it's a short trip. So
Scale & Tailor:jump over the pond.
Owen - Host:That's right. Yeah, it's Morris fine. Oh, I've got some beef.
Dan - Host:You've talked about your your journey into moving into charcoal. So for anyone who doesn't know, and correct me if I'm wrong, the main thing that I see you cooking on is a pellet grill. So in the UK, there are a lot more rare. I mean, I would say that we are a lot more rare. Yeah. Yeah. far behind. Any, any area in North America? I would say, barbecue.
Scale & Tailor:I've heard that. I've heard that. I have a few amazing. Yeah, amazing. Yeah, no. Yeah, for sure.
Owen - Host:I grew peligros definitely on the rise tradition. Traditionally, we are charcoal and gas. Yeah,
Dan - Host:definitely more so on the charcoal side. But as I said, they're becoming more and more popular. So if anyone has just got their first Pellet Grill, what advice would you give them
Scale & Tailor:you're gonna fall in love. My advice to you guys, girls, girls, because I you know, I'm such a believer of bringing these women out of the kitchen to know how easy it is. It's almost easier to cooking outside on your pellet grill than it is inside of your kitchen one to do you can do absolutely anything you can do on a pellet grill that you can in an oven or stove. Anything baking a cake, you can literally do absolutely anything. Use the same application, use the same science that you have in your oven installed on your pellet bro. And once you get used to it, tweak it start bringing the temperatures low, see how you can add the smoke element to it, you know what I mean? Go online research a little bit more. I'm telling you it's life. It literally changed my whole entire life. And that's how passionate about I am and that's how easy it is. It's it's so easy.
Owen - Host:And how you find in that conversion to charcoal you've mentioned that's quite new for you.
Scale & Tailor:It's like last year was like the pellet grill revolution for me and then this year is like the charcoal because again guys, I grew up in a home where my dad never let us like it was his domain and I was never I never broke I never even knew how to turn on barbecue never knew we wouldn't know whether or not a barbecue until like two and a half years ago like that was a gas girl like give you that like my like, but I didn't know. So it just shows you how easy it is and how you can do it. And so sorry, you're talking about the charcoal side of things, but I just kind of use the same I have a lot of experience on a grill now I cook every single day and on a grill and I just keep the same science behind the food onto charcoal. But the joy of controlling your own fire. Will you guys know it's like and that's my new breath of fresh air for this year is just learning that it's more difficult. It's more challenging and it's amazing.
Owen - Host:Do you feel that you get a different taste cooking on charcoal?
Scale & Tailor:Yes I do. Um A lot of people will chop really quickly and say like charcoal is such a clean taste and it's so amazing. It is 100% I love the taste of it. But I missed the smoke sometimes like I just did some chicken wings and I was like I wish I threw in a trunk a like a chunk of wood in it so I do miss the smoke and I need to that's my learning process I need to fuse it more into my charcoal grilling because I miss it because I use it so much and I've been using it so much right so in pellet grilling. It's
Dan - Host:about the control isn't it and learning how to control it and how much smoke you're going to get if you're going to use the smoke and how you want to blend it compared to I suppose the pellets a lot of that. You're so used to it and you've set up differently for it. It's and also we Torkoal you can set up in exactly the same way, the next day, and it'll be different. Completely different.
Scale & Tailor:Isn't that so fun aberra though?
Owen - Host:Yes.
Dan - Host:Yeah, that's what we fell in love with it. And that's why I think more more Brits are getting into it because particularly over the last year, and we don't have the best weather in the world, but it's a way of forcing you outside. You know, I mean, and for long periods of time, and particularly with what's happened over the last 18 months, any reason to be outside and connect with nature. And playing with fire is one of the best ways to play and connect with nature, right?
Scale & Tailor:I am so passionate about a million times over like, it saved people's lives. Like let's be real. I live in Ontario, Canada, and it is single handedly the longest locked down. prot like city like state or whatever you want to call it, because everyone's different. But here it's called the province in all of the whole world. We've been locked out, we just got a lockdown, like literally like three weeks ago. So for a lot of people, people really leaned in to the barbecue, especially the Canadian barbecue community, like we all banded together, we're like, we need to get through this state gather like, you know, what are we going to do? We're going to occupy ourselves at home, we're going to cook healthier meals, we're going to be safer, we're going to stay home and all that stuff. So yeah.
Owen - Host:How does? How does the kind of Canadian barbecue scene differ to say, the American barbecue scene? I'm assuming you've got quite a lot of similarities is competitions, quite
Scale & Tailor:a lot of similarities. A lot of same cup, we have the same kind of meat. I don't get tried tip as much as people in the states like tried tips like match to like impossible to get here. Um, so like, maybe like a little bit of a meat variance, but barbecue style wise, not very much. And obviously, we're a smaller country than the states, like all of Canada can fit into California, in itself just in California. So we're smaller, but we're mighty sorry.
Owen - Host:Sorry, I was gonna say the UK could probably fit into Canada 100 times and then into America probably a few 1000 times.
Scale & Tailor:Really? Yeah. Yeah, I don't even know. So tell me.
Dan - Host:So if you think like the UK, mainland UK, you'd have England, Wales, Scotland. If you went from London, which is kind of southeast of England, and drove up to the capital of Scotland which a different country you're looking at maybe 350 mile
Scale & Tailor:like 350 million people
Dan - Host:know my miles Oh my Oh, yeah. No, like we were really heavily densely populated areas. So like, so UK is like probably have like 71 million people, but in a tiny tiny landmass, tiny landmass.
Scale & Tailor:We're like, which is a huge landmass. Yeah, 35 million people. That's yeah.
Dan - Host:Whereas we, you could probably fit the UK in there. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times, like maybe even 1000s. We're tiny.
Scale & Tailor:Is like because you have a lot of condenser areas where people live in like condos and stuff. So there's not as much as barbecue areas. I'm only guessing I'm only
Owen - Host:we I suppose we could get kind of going through like a barbecue revolution is such like all parents, our parents, you know, kind of had this stigma that British barbeque was black on the inside. Sorry, black on the outside pink on the inside and it was just used to throw as many burgers and sausages as fast as you can cook them as fast as you can and then take them off and put them in the oven. Oh, yeah, finishing in the oven. That's that's what it's it's like but we're now we're now you know, we do have a barbecue competition scene. We have festivals. We have smokehouses popping up across the UK.
Scale & Tailor:Like this. Awareness. I love this guys. I love love this. Love it.
Owen - Host:I'm not Yeah, and I think we were on our you know, we're on an upward trajectory in terms of and I think a lot Down is actually helped that in the UK that hugely term we actually can't get stock is so it's actually quite frustrating like Dan's just bought barbecue that he had to wait three months for just to get the stock so
Dan - Host:yeah, it literally literally set it up today so I've got a new Oh, it's gonna hate this because I've been talking to him about it literally every day since like the end of April I've got a Kamado a monolith. Kamado ceramic grill. huge piece of equipment like 85 kilos in weight. I have no idea what that is in pounds. But heavy heavy
Scale & Tailor:oil how heavy they are. I have a 25 inch Yes.
Dan - Host:Yeah. And I've just been so instead ordered it like end of April, I think desperate, desperate to grill in this thing, because I've only had a kettle before and not a main brand. No, no wasn't a Weber it was it was a much smaller brand. It was a I think it might be. Yeah, no, it's like I thought it was a fire back or something like that. And like just a middle of the rose kettle, not the cheapest you could get but not a proper burned. And I've been using that since August cooking on it probably three times a week and already struggling. But my dream was always to try to do that. Yeah, so did like low and slow. Be sure ease did for probably eight or nine hours until they were done. Like turn off kilo.
Scale & Tailor:He didn't have to. He just went on a fall cut off. Um,
Dan - Host:I had to add a little bit of charcoal through but it's just again, but it's keeping an eye on I don't know, you don't
Scale & Tailor:have to adjust any.
Dan - Host:Because I was having to go out every half hour. So
Scale & Tailor:any tips from an attorney?
Dan - Host:Please, please do because
Scale & Tailor:I'll tell you something quick. Are we on to barbecue fails? Because I'm gonna Yeah, let's do this. Go for it. Yeah, you don't want to, it's not like, I want to get to 400 or you want to get to a certain temperature, you have to go slow. And once you're hot, it's hard to get back down. So you want to get to where you're trying to get at gioco high and then try to get down because those are ceramic. They're clay, they hold heat. They're made to hold heat. So don't go hot. Like go slow. And then slowly bring bring it up, don't go unless you're going hot and fast. You know, then that cranker
Dan - Host:Well, this is the thing we were talking to someone earlier because it's the second podcast record that we've done today because we're really keen. And they were saying,
Scale & Tailor:I feel like I'm like comparing,
Dan - Host:you know, talking to someone in the UK and talking someone to Canada. chalk and cheese right? It would be wrong to compare the two. But they were saying they did a cook where they were trying to get it quite hot. I think they said they were trying to do pizzas. And they lit it away. Came back and it was at 900 Fahrenheit
Scale & Tailor:trouper pizza though, but you got to be quick. That's two to 15 minute two minutes. I feel like not even sorry, I'm talking about my little pizza oven. That's two minutes and ah
Dan - Host:and also been scared that you're gonna damage the ceramic because that I use like a third maybe a quarter of the chocolate you think and then adds rather than if we round?
Scale & Tailor:Yeah, no 100% And after doing a shorter fact because if we're doing a lot, a lot larger cup, just load her up like because you're just Just close your top like your top bent. Remember just like releases the steam your bottom bent is what fuels or fire right so the more you open that bent up. I honestly like when I'm doing like a 300 and over like it's barely open both both of them. Both of them. Because you know, and don't be afraid to use too much charcoal because you just boop boop and then it's saying all that charcoal is saved. Do you guys want to see how much charcoal is left and Mike roll from tonight? Like yeah, go for it. Once you once you shut those fans up, like the charcoal stays clumpy I'll show it to you. Cool. I love it. So
Dan - Host:that's the first time we've moved on Podcast. I love it.
Scale & Tailor:I just got my girl Shibo app, so I'm excited to show it off. Even though you guys can't see it, because it's
Dan - Host:well, they will YouTube.
Scale & Tailor:That you will Yes, this is my Louisiana girls K 24. Just so you know exactly what girl it is. It's a tomato. And it's sewn up a little bit of heat. But as you can see, I mean, you can't you can see they're
Owen - Host:so large. Yeah.
Scale & Tailor:So because you have the ceramic now, don't be afraid you're not gonna rate wasted as long as you shot your events right away. You're good to go. It's better than having to readjust. That's why I had to say I did. Early on my first long cook. I had to readjust and dang like, I mean, I was nervous. I don't want to burn myself. Like, you know, like, I didn't really like doing that. So avoid it.
Owen - Host:I think this is a good time. You've already showed us one barbecue, but we like to know what people's grill grill space is what their setup is. Talk us through all of your equipment. What have you got? Oh,
Scale & Tailor:God, gosh, my team really suits me up really great. I have can I just like suit can I just take a minute to just like pump up by team because they found me before I didn't even have a girl and believed in me from the very beginning. And I wouldn't be where I am right now. And so like I have such a loyalty and such a love for my team. So before I show off all my Louisiana girls, I just want to say like I literally from the bottom of my heart. We talked about barbecue family and barbecue community. I mean, it does not get more of a family to me. Um, so over here. I have the brand new Do you guys want to like a full tour? Please do your on my laptop. Hey,
Owen - Host:this is the first time that
Scale & Tailor:I don't have electrical yet to my grill Shibo so I still have my main grill right now which is the brand new just released Louisiana grills founders premiere right here which is 1200 It's a 1200 it's so heavy. It's like a yoga guys like literally like it's so heavy. Like at the beginning I was like man, I'm gonna need to start working out literally so heavy that I had the Black Label over here that I've just kind of, you know, I still love her. But she's sleeping. I'm working on this one over here. This one over here looks fancy. But it this is just my first one that I have covered up with the premiere. Sorry, my backyard. So like half construction. All right. I'm done. I get in. You guys saw my charcoal K 24. And then underneath here is my pit boss. A griddle.
Owen - Host:Wow. And you mentioned you and you've got a pizza oven as well.
Scale & Tailor:Oh, yeah. Yeah, I have thick IBOR pizza Fremont oven, which I don't have out. I don't have the cover yet for it. So it's not outside. It's actually my garage. I bring it out when I use it. So that is my grill. And so three, like seriously
Owen - Host:you go quite a collection. And I love that I love I like to collect them and I want more barbecues and I would just want I just want to a big old row of them. What, what's next for you then? What would be the What's your dream barbecue that you haven't already got? What would you love to get?
Scale & Tailor:I mean, no one's gonna love it when I want to say it. But like, I really want to get into, like, open fire cooking like maybe
Dan - Host:the last few episodes.
Scale & Tailor:I really do. I just I just want to progress into the like barbecue. I just I'm so in love with it. And you know, so I'm just taking it slow. Going. No, no. Yeah, low is low and slow for life AB like motto for life. All sorts of facets. Slow, right. So yeah, I really just want to have fun. I want to create fun food that my family will actually eat because I'm not even lying. My family eats everything that I eat. I don't give it away. We eat everything. So I'm not going to eat something that you're not going to eat. I'm not gonna throw out something that you're not gonna eat, you know? So that's just what I want to do. I just want to make it more accessible for people like show women. I mean, I know you guys are like on the rise of showing your country all about, you know, barbecue. I lash out a woman so badly but you can get out in grill and have so much fun and it's not scary. Like I was literally terrified to grill I was like I look back and I'm like you're ridiculous you know, but I was like that person so don't be afraid.
Owen - Host:The 20th to the 22nd of August, the UK is largest barbecue festival be hitting Colchester for three days of all things grilling, music and family fun. And if that wasn't enough, the British barbecue open Championships will be held there, where teams will compete in numerous rounds of barbecue classics. For the panel of judges to crown the best British barbecue team
Dan - Host:to find out more and get your tickets visit smoke and fire festival calm slash tickets. We can't wait to see you there.
Owen - Host:And I noticed that obviously, you're very involved with Instagram, obviously lots of story promotions as well as your posts. But you're also kind of doing a series of lives. And I logged into one that was literally an hour or so ago. And we chatted about New York and potentially going to New York.
Scale & Tailor:My friends? Yeah, yeah.
Owen - Host:So I talk too much sometimes. No, no, not at all. Not at all. To be fair, we should probably Shut up sometimes. But I'm just gonna say is that is that kind of important for you as well to actually kind of get into do live content through your channels is.
Scale & Tailor:Um, I just always want to connect with my audience is what I want to do, it's my main goal. My main goal is to connect with people, um, and in as many facets as I can. So if you look, I'm equally as post like picture post heavy as I am real heavy, or I do IG TVs I do I just kind of try to like stretch myself, like a little over the whole platform as much as I can. Just so that I can reach to the people who are there for that platform reason, right. So if you're there for the pictures, you can see like, if you go through my comments, the picture post people are totally different from the people who comment on my rails. So you can tell like the people who follow you for the different facets of what you do, right so just stretch yourself over you know, there's people who love to do real like to love to watch lives and you can see the Popeye like there are there every every single week you know, so that's just why and I also because I love my girl Michelle love and every morsel who does the show at our show if you don't know, just called good vibe live. It's on Friday, almost every Friday at 5pm PST Eastern Standard Time. I don't know what that converts. I don't know when
Dan - Host:am UK time
Owen - Host:knows PM. This literally Yeah, it's literally been an hour ago. So okay. But don't trust me don't trust me.
Scale & Tailor:I just I just you know, we just like to have fun. We like to set the tone for the weekend. I often take weekends off like from heavy Instagram time IG stories, because I just never saw the stories. But that's my time. So I kind of like leave off. It's Friday. And then I have my family and we can
Dan - Host:ask, like, how do you stop burnout, because you do so much content, which is great. But it becomes a point where it literally takes over your life and we've had conversations before I've spoken to a few people they've said they they had all of a sudden they realised they were starting to cook stuff, literally just to show pictures off and then they were no longer eating them or no longer enjoying it. So they had to take breaks. How do you How would you stop the burnout?
Scale & Tailor:I don't do that I would never cook something that I wouldn't eat. Because like at the end of the day, you know who are you doing this for? You know,
Dan - Host:that was literally what they said. They literally said what's the point? What's it well who are they why are they doing this? Who is it for?
Scale & Tailor:I can I'm not somebody who I'm gonna be real with you guys like I'm always real like you're gonna get the 100% from me and it kind of did take over my life. But luckily I'm a stay at home mom and I work more on the evenings now like i It has taken over My life. Um, but I just limit myself like evenings other than, like this evening, you know, special occasions when you're asked to be in a podcast like,
Owen - Host:but we appreciate it.
Scale & Tailor:No, but you know what I mean? Like evenings I take off weekends I take off I even certain days with the kids, I have things plan with them. I'm like, no, no Instagram, like, I have to set limits for myself. Because if you don't, it will swallow you whole, it's an app made to make you addicted to it. So you have to you have to also get eaten away.
Owen - Host:What would you say is kind of next for you then in terms of your barbecue journey? Where do you want to go from here?
Scale & Tailor:I don't know. It's just kind of taken me where it's been like, it's it's taken me a year. Like, you guys know that. My first barbecue was given to me. Like March, not this March, last March. My
Dan - Host:friend was going to get a barbecue as well before all of this really kicked off. Right
Scale & Tailor:before the grey. Right. Right. And so yeah, I don't know. Like, yeah, it's just been it's swallowed me. Like it's taken me in but it's it's steered wheat where it's supposed to go like everyone's like, I've had some moms be like, you know, Can you post a little bit more like oven stuff and, and I'm like, You know what? As much as I want to, that's just not worth taking me and I'm gonna listen to where this universe and where it's gonna take me and I'm having so much fun doing it. So why wouldn't I have such a love for barbecue? Like, where's next US? Cuz that's over. I have absolutely no idea. I running by the seat of my pants as it is. I'm having the best time of my life. And I have absolutely no, I have absolutely no idea what's happening next, but I'm ready for it. Whatever it is.
Owen - Host:I think that's that's that's cool, isn't it? You don't, you don't necessarily have to plan the next five years of what you're going to do in barbecue and just let it come naturally. And enjoy it.
Scale & Tailor:I always teach people I want to always teach people the science behind food. Because once you know the science behind food, you could do charcoal pellet bro, it doesn't matter what you call oven, it doesn't matter what you do, you just need to know the science behind it.
Dan - Host:Um, we talked about audience a little bit earlier. And you do a whole range of different types of cooks, which must bring in different audiences as well. One of my favourite cooks I've seen you do recently was the buffalo dip bread. Yes, like that, because it's different. And we don't really have that sort of thing much in the UK with the different recipes and things. I love that what's been some of your favourite recipes that you've done that were a bit different.
Scale & Tailor:I have one recipe that is dropping soon. But I have done similar recipes in the past like based off of the same recipe. Sorry, like it's not even like one of the past but it's a maple mustard barbecue sauce that literally can go on. I used to make it in my oven with chicken. And then I was like, try it I'll be like, I'm just gonna try. I mean it was and then all of a sudden I used it on brisket friends. You probably saw it in my stories. I did it one day and I was like literally the best thing I've ever tasted. And so it's now just gonna be like the best thing that I might be pushing because like it tastes good on everything. I just thought it was just good on on chicken. It's so versatile now so I'm really really proud of that one. Um, but as as fine recipes go my bacon cone comb my bacon.
Owen - Host:That was brilliant. That tick tock
Scale & Tailor:I went crazy for
Owen - Host:well can be better than having like chips in a bacon cone.
Scale & Tailor:It's called a protein if you're from the French side of Canada it's called the potete but it's it's a french fries or chips as you called it oh in and cheese curds and gravy. And that's the traditional recipe. Now Canadians love to throw bacon in it because we live vegan. So I was doing a story or a story take over for Louisiana grills with Paula from Queen of the grill. And so she came over and we just had a whole day of fun filming for it and I had no idea that it was going to be that big like a thing that I didn't even shoot it I didn't even shoot it and I didn't even eat it initially the first time I made it.
Dan - Host:See, like, what I loved about it as well is anyone could, like you said can take that and you use it in different ways as well because it's literally as long as you can weave the bacon and wrap it around us it was aluminium foil tin foil used by imagine the smokiness makes a big difference as well, if you're going to do it barbecue wise,
Scale & Tailor:well, when you render the fat down slowly like that, the fat renders. So the bacon becomes like a real hard cone. Right? So it's an actual cone and you don't I didn't even use anything to tie it like bacon adheres to itself, right? So I didn't even use like toothpicks. Like, it's just like you fold it over. You make a cone. As long as you render it slowly 7375 For like, an hour, you know? Or so. You know? It says hard right? So do you
Dan - Host:reckon drill could be quite watertight? Because I'm thinking what would be great in there would be like melted cannon bear. And then you could have like, just dipping bread in?
Scale & Tailor:Oh, gosh. Or you just said you like that. Um, Buffalo Chicken dip. You could do like a like a breaded chicken you could do the sky's the limits. It's just a comb. You could really put ice cream in it. I mean,
Owen - Host:I was gonna go from why and put some string in it and have like the best birthday ever.
Scale & Tailor:I want to be your friends and your parties.
Owen - Host:Imagine sign up to a birthday party and it's just baking cones. And I
Scale & Tailor:get this like real meat sweat. Like, the real meat.
Dan - Host:Just after like three or four hours just being followed around by flies, but it's fine. It's absolutely fine. All the cats just want to be your best friend in the
Scale & Tailor:aisle. Everyone's gonna be like, hey. Like realise like getting cosy with you. That's just barbecue people, right?
Dan - Host:Speakers everyone loves bacon.
Scale & Tailor:i Yeah, yeah. And if not, I don't know. Like, come on.
Dan - Host:Where's the trust? Where's the trust that someone doesn't have bacon? Right. I don't think just Harriet's who like the smell of bacon when it's cooking. Right That's how powerful bacon is.
Scale & Tailor:In people you know your worst enemies? Yeah.
Owen - Host:I think we've all I think we've all known a couple of vegetarians as well though after a couple of beers. Oh is obeying sandwich going? You know
Dan - Host:finish it now I've started
Scale & Tailor:What's your can? I mean? Am I allowed to ask? Okay. But like, what are your favourites? It's your birthday. What do you cook in
Dan - Host:now both of us are quite big ears. For a start I mean, like it occasionally do like food challenges so like I've done like 50 chicken wings before I've done like there's been challenges and things like that. So a lot of food is the
Scale & Tailor:challenges you have to message me I want and I want to draw
Dan - Host:because of what's happened recently I haven't been able to really get involved in one but I am looking into some ideas when everything opens up in the UK a lot of stuff opening up on the 19th of July. So what two days we've got to eat I'm gonna be looking into that but um, I definitely have beef short ribs. I fell in love with them when I cooked them the last time and I can't wait to have a go of them on the kamado the large
Scale & Tailor:ones just for when did you brace them? What did you do?
Dan - Host:I just smoked them frankly. Yeah, took off. I took off the membrane. Yeah. I chucked on. It was like a coffee before
Scale & Tailor:on it. Stay on me. Yeah, we
Dan - Host:do. I put mustard mustard on it first and then use the mustard to hold it. And I married it marinated in that overnight first for probably 12 hours. And then I smoked it.
Scale & Tailor:I will never marinated and then smoked. Yeah. beef short ribs. Yeah.
Dan - Host:And then we I think it was on for about eight and a half nine hours. Yeah, I can't What internal tempo went for but aim for that as soon as I as soon as I hit it, took it off rested it for two or three hours. And it was it was ridiculous. It was like because I've not done them before. I knew I was gonna get shrinkage I didn't know how Do you want? Me? Yeah, exactly. Okay, so we had, we had, I have my brother in law over and sister in law, and we already had a full meal for barbecue meal because like, I don't know how these are gonna come out. I don't know if they're gonna be any good. So we'd had burgers we'd had, we'd had chicken. We did everything. And then a brought this out. And it was like, I had to fall for food. Then as soon as I had a proper rock, and it was so juicy. It went, like between four of us. We got through two or three kilos of beef short ribs, like,
Scale & Tailor:first bite. And you're like, this. This is my love language right here. This is where that if it was one
Dan - Host:thing, that's what I'd cook, definitely. What you're in.
Owen - Host:I don't know. I love all barbecue food. So March is really difficult to choose.
Scale & Tailor:Give us up for like, give us a protein. Like which one would you go with at least? Chicken beef, pork fish, like which one would you go for?
Owen - Host:I suppose porks probably my favourite. I think is that is the most versatile. It is.
Scale & Tailor:Forgiving. Yeah, yeah.
Owen - Host:Yeah. I just yeah, I'd go pork. Yeah. Yeah, that would be mine
Scale & Tailor:are definitely going beef ribs. It doesn't matter if it's back ribs or short ribs. Whether you smoke them or wrap them or or braised in a red Ryan brick doc shed I've done it all. I literally my husband has to like force me to stop. I see them I won't like just be friends.
Owen - Host:See, this is a one. That's the one area that I failed on. In I've done beef ribs once. And they didn't tell us what happened. I don't know. I just they just didn't turn over.
Scale & Tailor:Again, I always see people when I talk to them about barbecue, moisture. It doesn't matter if you wrap if you if you don't wrap you do the spreads if you don't spread senior water pan like you know, like with that sort of Cook it's just science and you need my shirt and whichever way you get it you get you give it to it and but and you know the resting period with the friends is by far the most important part. The most important part or else you're not gonna get that
Owen - Host:absolutely. I think it had some it's I had a new barbecue. So I've got Broil King Cake. Okay. A bit like a ceramic type I wasn't quite getting the tense right and I think that had a lot to do with it.
Scale & Tailor:So it just it just where you're yelling Yeah, yeah,
Owen - Host:that's awesome. I've got some short ribs in the freezer and I I keep looking at them going on over last
Scale & Tailor:thing is like Yeah, very good.
Dan - Host:briskets I was over his last weekend and brisket was great and just apply that science and you're not going to go wrong.
Scale & Tailor:If you literally the same science as that brisket as it is B breads, the same Cook, essentially.
Owen - Host:Yeah, I just need to I just need to get back together on the cow.
Scale & Tailor:I have some beef ribs in my freezer too. I'll show you my stories and we'll make some beef ribs.
Owen - Host:Sounds good to me.
Scale & Tailor:Tomato
Dan - Host:we call for your freezer. I've literally got my freezer right now. So
Scale & Tailor:I'm going to defrost them and then you guys have to come in I'm forcing you I win now
Owen - Host:we'll have to do it we'll have to do an Instagram Live
Scale & Tailor:Yeah. Oh my god you guys have to come on our live to I mean, like let's go let's go to let's go.
Dan - Host:The other thing as well with UK is it's much harder for us to get a lot of the what you'd call classic BBQ cuts in our supermarkets. So most of most of our meats we have to order online. So like if you try and get a brisket from a supermarket in the UK, it will be tiny it will be like rolls, like and it's just if we want decent meat like that for barbecue, it's getting slightly better but the majority we have to order online. So when we see people like barbecue Maisie walking through supermarkets and just looking at like the brisket
Scale & Tailor:favourite, she's my soul. Just saying I love her. Yeah, no, keep going. Yeah,
Dan - Host:but hopefully we'll get there in the next few years because I think the scene has changed dramatically in the last 1012 months in the UK, but it's because of demand Like we wouldn't be we wouldn't be cooking that sort of thing. It's rare in the UK that you'd hear people cooking briskets really sing beef short ribs even pork ribs the other week I went to the supermarket and I wanted to get some pork ribs I couldn't find any and it was
Scale & Tailor:fabulous has that Prescott is sometimes it's a luxury like not a luxury but you know it's not every single time you go, but it's always pork ribs. Pork ribs. What about pork belly?
Dan - Host:Yeah, often but with us it's more
Scale & Tailor:that's what I think it's different with you guys you guys do a lot of pork belly and when I see guys are like masters of that crackle. It's like you know you guys are real anyways that's what I've seen anyway, so I need you guys have
Owen - Host:you can't be big cracking that Oh,
Scale & Tailor:you guys got to show me how you guys gotta show me
Dan - Host:things I don't cook that much pork because my wife's not a huge fan of the more pork roasts which you'd normally have in the UK. Everyone loves bacon. So you know she's not crazy, but I cook like cracklings not my strongest points I know there's like tips that people use in the UK a lot of it of like boy pouring boiling water on it first so it tightens up and then using the salt and things
Owen - Host:so that's that's how I that's how I do it. So if
Scale & Tailor:you poke the holes so I score it your score and
Owen - Host:then I then I pour boiling water to kind of open up the holes then salt sea salt, or how I just spring I just sprinkle it on Yeah, I don't know I don't and then I personally use rapeseed oil people might either use vegetable
Scale & Tailor:or hot burning oil if you're saying like something I smoked.
Owen - Host:Yeah and rapeseed oil does have a quite high Flashpoint so yeah, just pour it on rub it in rub the salt in jobs are good.
Dan - Host:And like some people swear by doing it separately as well. I don't think you have to but if you want to make sure if you want to perfect it that's not a bad place to start because then once you've separated it you can try different methods different things but I have
Scale & Tailor:in my freezer but like I want to actually do I want to do it you know
Owen - Host:Yeah, I also think if you're cooking it on the meat at least in the fat that renders in the underneath the skin at least goes into the meat and adds moisture so we take it away. Not sure it's
Scale & Tailor:100% 100%
Dan - Host:Unless you're keeping that fat for something like roast potatoes.
Scale & Tailor:Truth guys, I just made brisket butter that's dropping soon so like 100% You could do a wash skip butter actually garlic scape because you guys know I don't know if you know but I have a large veggie garden so I took the veggies scapes from my garden garden and just showed the barbecue world that you can do a little bit extra with your brisket butter tallow if you don't know it's another word for brisket butter.
Dan - Host:Oh like brisket dripping effectively in the UK. dripping with with all the fat that comes off because in the UK used to be able to buy it oh,
Scale & Tailor:that's like wavy part of it. That's the gravy part like so you'll use that as the dripping with the old shoe of the breast of the breast get fresca butter is shaving the brisket. You know when you do your trim. You actually take that and you render down those fats and little crispy pieces and you literally suck the life out of them until they come and then you strain it over 24 hour time through a cheese cloth and then you get brisket butter and I'm telling you you'll never want another tip
Dan - Host:that sounds different again from what I'm thinking so like in butchers in the UK. I want
Scale & Tailor:to show you my little chart so cute to
Dan - Host:say sounds amazing because I mean
Scale & Tailor:it takes a lot of time like a whole awful trimming of a full Packer brisket will get you maybe like this much butter. I'm telling you that's gonna last you a long time if you like you know add it to your stir fries or whatever and you get that kiss the smoke toast toast.
Dan - Host:I want to put on toast that's all I want
Owen - Host:I think we've we've been talking a lot about some ingredients now. I think we should I think we should go into the barbecue bingo challenge.
Scale & Tailor:Okay. I'm nervous with this. I don't know why.
Owen - Host:I think we've been pretty we've I think we've been pretty calm with the ingredients. Dan, do you want to kind of talk through?
Dan - Host:So what he does and everything? Yeah, so um, oh inputs together, he's Wheel of Fortune, or the barbecue bingo wheel. So there's lots of different components or ingredients that we spin the wheel and whatever comes up, we asked you to cook, tag us in on social media and put it under the hashtag barbecue bingo. It doesn't have to necessarily be the main part of the cook, if that makes sense. For example. Yeah. So we had marmalade come up before and so three different ways. So they did like a marmalade milkshake, marmalade mics, we've had jam come up before, we've had cakes come up before. It's just a way of trying to push people maybe out of their comfort zone or get them to try something a bit different. So
Scale & Tailor:one thing I like pineapple so I hope
Dan - Host:you do I'm sure you can find some way of making it.
Scale & Tailor:I'll never back down from a challenge.
Owen - Host:So there is also my signature dish I your signature dish. So what would you say your signature dishes and if it lands on that that's what the that's what the cook would be
Scale & Tailor:the most signature just I think that people have recreated from my single handedly for my recipes with definitely the my sloppy joe tater tot casserole. Time and time again. It's the number one on my website. So that would probably be my signature disk if this.
Owen - Host:Okay, so if it lands on that, that's the cook. Okay. Okay. Let's give me a little well,
Scale & Tailor:okay I was on a smoker.
Owen - Host:Wow, that's been on there for a while. So yeah,
Scale & Tailor:you guys are really giving me a run for my money. So I'm gonna have so much fun. I'm actually glad I got this on here because I'm really gonna give it my all this is gonna be a challenge for me for sure. I actually already know what I'm making.
Owen - Host:Is it something you'd cook regularly?
Scale & Tailor:Um, no. Ah, no, we don't we were normally just like a pasta sauce kind of person. Yeah, what I've had I have, like, I have a recipe book that just has ideas in it from like, forever and there's a lasagna recipe so I'm coming for you.
Dan - Host:I am I like the idea of someone saying lasagna. I'm gonna use that as an ingredient. Something else?
Scale & Tailor:So I have to make it an ingredient or something else? No,
Dan - Host:no, you don't have to. You don't have to. No, you don't have to. It can just be lasagna. But I like the idea that someone would go jogging and making lasagna then I got blended down and put it in something you can just make you can just make a lasagna.
Scale & Tailor:Or bacon wrap count. I'm just joking. Everything goes
Owen - Host:in a bacon wrap cone right Imagine instead of Pastor you just had like long slices of brisket so your skin
Scale & Tailor:that way? Doesn't have to be noodle listen.
Dan - Host:No, I am. I just want to make you want to make it. I used to make lasagna but used to use slight like really thin slices of zucchini instead of Yes, you'd like a vegetable peeler to get rid of in slices. I used to layer up like that.
Scale & Tailor:Yeah. The last lasagna recipe I did I did. Shrimp lasagna or sorry, Penny love bond. Penny love vodka shrimp roll ups. I roll the lasagna up. But that was before barbecue. So it's been a long time since I've done a lasagna. So thanks.
Owen - Host:Great stuff. Well, we can't wait to see what you do.
Scale & Tailor:I'm gonna bring it
Dan - Host:over barbecue fails. So we've talked a lot about what's been successful for you. And some of the different ways that you cook and the fun you bring But what hasn't gone right because we all learn more from our mistakes, right?
Scale & Tailor:Gosh, I was just getting into the barbecue scene. All my friends are like, Oh, you're so cool, blah blah blah like all hyping me up and I was like all I was last summer. And I was like all excited. I'm like, Yeah, I'm ready. I'm ready you guys jalapeno poppers. It's gonna be the best thing you've ever had. I you know, I prepared them. Advance, ready for it? Heat scribe and I put them on and then what Well, someone brought up an axe throwing thing were like at the party, so I started axe throwing. Needless to say, I burned every single one of the hall, jalapeno poppers and all of my friends that just been like yourself I was so mortified and I still haven't been able to make it for them, they still think I'm a fraud. That was a really fun one. Gosh, there's been a lot I mean, we really do learn from from our mistakes. Show me share, share one of yours.
Dan - Host:Cooking for people quite often makes people make mistakes. I don't know if it's the pressure, particularly if you haven't seen people for a while. But time and time again, I burn halloumi cheese on the barbecue. So quite often, if I'm doing a barbecue Yeah, we'll have our meal. And although most it's not a dessert, but almost be like before the dessert I'll put a LUMION and they go from not browning at all to your turn your back and these things are black. So but um, we had someone over who is obsessed with it. And that was the main thing. So like, I'm not gonna have much I'm not gonna have much domains and I'm saving myself with alumi we had like a salad and things to go with. Put them on, start talking to them, get on a plancher quickly catch them and turn them in time thing, okay, I'm fine. I'm fine, I'm fine. Then they call me over and start talking to me. And I swear it was 30 seconds. It must have been longer go back. And not only are they black, I can't physically get them off.
Scale & Tailor:Yeah, just a string, but it's stringing.
Dan - Host:And then you get it off. Not only are they destroyed, but this person's deliberately not eating anything because they specifically me. And as I said, I eat a lot. So there was no proteins left afterwards, either. So I was like, the salad. You can have salad?
Scale & Tailor:Or some chips. Yeah, I mean, I've had a whole bunch of them from I think most of them are when people are coming over or when the pressures on like, you know, you were okay, like I had a someone sent me a try tip. And it was my first try tip guys. And they were paying me to do this try to and so like, talk about pressure. Like yeah, I was
Dan - Host:kind of imagine that you've tried to cook is that was
Scale & Tailor:that was the whole thing was to teach people that they can't like they went you know, and same with bison. I did a bison one and that was our whole thing to show people for the first time how to do it. And I that done it for the first time. But it's a lot of pressure pressure to get it. And Thank gosh for instant read thermometers. Right. They say all of our butts. Gonna tell me about your is your fail.
Owen - Host:Yeah, so it's, it's really rubbish, actually. Because it's not I'm not even. It's not even a cook, essentially. But I did some, just some marshmallows, you know, on the barbecue on the, you know, the sticks. Yeah. And for my children, and I wasn't really paying attention. And so, you know, there's that point where they start to go nice and golden brown, but they start to take very quickly,
Scale & Tailor:very quickly. But that's like the
Owen - Host:Yes, but then I wasn't paying attention. So it started to go and as I kind of bought it up, and I don't know how I did it. I just basically it got stuck to my hand. So I just ended up burning a lot of my hand and having a stringy marshmallow to my my hands. So yeah, that was
Scale & Tailor:what do you do? It's under hand for like, if it's going to just burn more and you're going to do and you're just like, like, it sticks.
Owen - Host:It sticks. That's the That's the worst thing about sugar.
Scale & Tailor:I'm having PTSD of a hot glue gun incident that I've had, so I know what you're talking about getting worse.
Owen - Host:Yeah. Needless to say, I've started wearing protective gloves. Marshmallows. I love that
Dan - Host:like charcoal as well. I've mentioned this before, but I've burnt more than just my toes now. I made a mistake cooking with charcoal and wearing sandals or flip flops, also known as UK we've got open toes effectively and a bit of ash coming up and landing in between your toes and how do you deal with that? Particularly in front of people when you're not? It doesn't really hurt it's just sucking my soul out of my foot but it's okay. A lot. Exactly. But like every no Like anywhere and everywhere, particularly if you're using like reusing charcoal I find and you're trying to coax it on a bit. And if you're applying any extra air, like stuck in your arms and stuff like that stuff
Scale & Tailor:scares me that's like one of the scariest parts for me is with my hair. Because if just a single spark gets into my hair, my hair will catch on fire. Right and like, I have a lot of hair and so that's my main nervousness when I go to you know, deal with any any sort of, you know, why pools
Owen - Host:just always been,
Scale & Tailor:I don't, I don't think he's ever seen my hair up. I never wear my hair up ever. I don't like the polling feeling. So I literally will, like, throw my hair like underneath my shirt. Like just to like do it. Anytime, so scratchies clearly.
Owen - Host:So, obviously, we've asked you lots of questions now. Is there anything that you wanted to talk not necessarily a questions as such, but is there anything that you kind of wanted to bring up and talk about on the podcast or talk about barbecue in general that you wanted to bring up?
Scale & Tailor:Just, I mean, if I were to just dance upon, like, you know, the love of barbecue that I have, it's it's it's this right here, it's connecting with other people like you it's it's literally why I started it like I started it because I was a stay at home mom, and I needed to connect with other people. I needed to talk to other people. I mean, and then all of a sudden I found this like family who is totally into what I'm into that you know that are that understand, you know, when I go sometimes I love them to pieces, my girlfriends, but like, they don't cook none of my girlfriends. Maybe one of them but like none of them do. Right? So to find a like minded community. It's amazing. And to to talk to people like you guys from a whole different continent. Just shows you how strong this barbecue community is and how amazing it is, and, and how it's, it's saved. A lot of us I think,
Owen - Host:most definitely, most definitely. Yeah.
Scale & Tailor:And let's keep going. Let's keep spreading that love. And let's keep showing the light to people. And let's keep talking about it. Because the more we talk about it, the more we share it, the more everybody will fall in love with it too, right?
Dan - Host:Well, like I always say if you can cook indoors, you can cook outdoors, so that shouldn't be a competition.
Scale & Tailor:You have full blown winters. Like I mean, you said you followed me since last summer. So you know, I'm knee deep in snow in winter. Right? So there's no excuse, you know, rain? Or oh, it does not matter. Good food is what matters and good company and enjoying the whole process of it because it sure is so rewarding, isn't it?
Owen - Host:Definitely. So do you want to do you want to, again, for our readers, readers, or listeners even? Do you want to tell them tell them how they can find you?
Scale & Tailor:Yeah, thank you for saying that. My main platform is Instagram, which is scale and Taylor and that is tailored to a i l o r and I also have my website which is scale and taylor.com I'm on everywhere but those are the two main places that you want to see all my recipes and videos. Everything's on my website. So that's where you can find me.
Dan - Host:Fantastic, John, thank you so much for coming on. It's been great speaking to you and also just the positivity is great because that's why we do this we're passionate about food it's quick to speak people who are passionate about food so thank you for your time today because again, I know it's come up to the point where you have your weekends off so yeah.
Scale & Tailor:So much you guys say listen the absolute pleasure and honour and I really appreciate you guys having
Dan - Host:us great thanks so much car
Scale & Tailor:get some sleep guys
Owen - Host:that's it for another episode of the meat & Greet BBQ podcast what a pleasure it was to speak to Kira and find out more about her journey into barbecue. And just how passionate she is really came across in this episode about not only Are how passionate she is about how passionate she is about getting other women into barbecuing. And I think she's really pioneering that and also it's incredibly fun her account so please go check her out on Instagram at scaling Taylor as ever we want to hear from you. Tell us what you want to hit here on the podcast what things we should be talking about around barbecue. Find us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook at meat & Greet BBQ podcast on our website meat & Greet BBQ podcast calm and we really want to hear from you. And again, a shout out to our sponsor, smoke and fire festival. Colchester 22 The 22nd of August 2001 Check out their website smoker fire festival.com And until next week, keep on grilling
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