Found out Malcolm Reed from Malcolm Reed BBQ started out cooking on a $50 offset smoker he got at a garage sale

I was reading an interview with him last night and it kinda blew my mind cause now he's got that whole line of rubs and sauces, anyone else ever look up a pitmaster's backstory and realize they started way more basic than you thought?

2 comments

2 Comments

jamesroberts18d agoMost Upvoted

Dude I had the same thing happen when I looked up how Tuffy Stone started. Guy was just a lawyer who bought a cheap smoker and taught himself over weekends. Makes me feel less bad about learning on my janky old offset that I patched with duct tape and a pizza stone. It's weird how we think these guys came out of the gate with fancy rigs but really they were just like us burning ribs and figuring it out.

the_christopher18d ago

Laughed out loud when I read that cause my first smoker was a rusty bullet I found in my neighbor's trash pile after they moved. Took me three tries to even get a pork shoulder to temp without it tasting like charcoal and regret. Honestly half the battle in this hobby is just being stubborn enough to keep burning stuff till you accidentally figure it out. Makes me feel better knowing these guys were also out there eating shoe leather brisket at some point.