This week were joined by Swamp Boys owner operator Rub Bagby. His decades of competition bbq didn’t satisfy his bbq bug. We catch up with Rub and his newest venture, not just retired. A few school years past since his retirement and Rub is back in the trailer weekly. This time with a little different perspective and goal in mind; feeding the masses. Rub with the help of some of his other local bbq legends in their own rights turned his 15+ year bbq battle wagon into a food trailer. Where you can find him under the water tower. Nearly the whole food service industry thinks buying a fancy new trailer is the best way to get a mobile bbq business going. But the blood sweat and tears (of his business competition) was worth it it puts him set up with a paid for rig that doesn’t have him strapped for cash week in and week out. Maybe other could follow the same pattern. Find this and all our shows on Apple, Spotify, Google or TheSmokeRingSyndicate.com/podcast

A good bed of coals will keep your cooker humming along smoking bbq for what seems like forever. I liken Shawn Bevins to a good bed of coals, little rain, no worries; it’s still burning. I first met Shawn after Hamrforge while he was building out Hellrazr. We spoke around the time of his new grill releases. Fast forward to September 23 we are knee deep in the biggest train looking cooker I’ve seen. Plus his heart tried to check out but he wouldn’t allow it to quit….. So we are headed back north to Quebec Canada this week to get the first word from Shawn on his recent bbq transition to what’s new in his bbq world. He’s hosting bbq classes as well as other food courses right from his outdoor kitchen. Full disclosure; we went deep on this one we speak weekly about so much positive in bbq and when you’re forced to transition or die its difficult at best. Lots of life lessons and tidbits to take from it. Trying to slow down the conversation enough to have it in a single episode was tough. We even chatted post episode. Just didn’t seem to have a final word to end with, we probably could have gone four hours chatting about the bbq lifestyle. TheSmokeRingSyndicate.com Un bon lit de charbons gardera votre cuisinière bourdonnant tout au long du barbecue en fumant pour ce qui semble être pour toujours. Je ressemble à Shawn Bevins à un bon lit de charbons, peu de pluie, pas de soucis ; il brûle toujours. J'ai rencontré Shawn pour la première fois après Hamrforge alors qu'il construisait Hellrazr. Nous avons parlé à l'époque de ses nouvelles sorties de grillades. Avance rapide jusqu'en septembre, nous sommes à genoux dans le plus grand cuisinier à l'air de train que j'ai vu, son cœur a essayé de vérifier, mais il n'a pas voulu le permettre d'arrêter... Nous retournons donc vers le nord au Québec au Canada cette semaine pour obtenir le premier mot de Shawn sur sa récente transition au barbecue vers les nouveautés dans son monde du barbecue. Il organise des cours de barbecue ainsi que d'autres cours de cuisine directement depuis sa cuisine extérieure. Divulgation complète ; nous sommes allés en profondeur sur celui-ci, nous parlons chaque semaine de tant de choses positives dans le barbecue et quand vous êtes obligé de faire la transition ou de mourir, c'est difficile au mieux. Beaucoup de leçons de vie et de petites choses à en tirer. Essayer de ralentir suffisamment la conversation pour l'avoir en un seul épisode était difficile. Nous avons même discuté après l'épisode. Nous n'avions tout simplement pas l'air d'avoir un dernier mot pour terminer, nous aurions probablement pu passer quatre heures à discuter du style de vie du barbecue. TheSmokeRingSyndicate.com

This week I sat down with Ray Carnes Owner /operator of Recteq Grills. We chatted about what got him into bbq, and his influence of smoked meats. How a failure wasn’t fatal to him. A smaller car lot that couldn’t survive the financial constraints of 2008-2009 turned into what their fans claim to be; the best pellet cooker on the market. They have a customer in me. Which this is not a sponsored episode; but hey Ray… hint hint lol. But I digress, their loyal fans that push this brand into homes and businesses throughout the US. It’s fascinating how I have watched what was a one grill company turn into the bbq lifestyle brand and real life Disney World of Grills feel of a showroom in Augusta Ga. From designing a prototype to sourcing and manufacturing, distribution through the US. I had wanted to hear the story I watched unfold. Ray comes across as the same humble guy I watched online, gifting a father who lost his son a grill to building back a pellet cooker that didn’t even resemble his cooker which builds and built in ye fan base that does the advertising almost for them. Second half it was time to talk new cookers. I was enamored with the new grills, the model upgrades but the most interesting part was their pellet powered flattop smoker grill. Proof they are listening to the fans that built the brand. This year they introduced a whole handful of new grills one of which has never been done; a pellet powered griddle. Personally, can’t wait to see it in person. If you’ve enjoyed this weeks episode we’d appreciate a review a like a share.

The BBQ depot, owner operator, Shane Biddy is in the house joining us this week from Gainesville Georgia. Shane, a heating and air technician by trade started his life in BBQ as a sponsor for a friends, barbecue competition team. Shortly there after he found himself at the competitions and cooking with his former sponsored team. And just when you thought he couldn’t get busier, he started a local BBQ rub, sauce and seasoning supply store. From there, he volunteered to help a local fundraising effort with his competition style BBQ. And what would you know but it was a hit too. Cooking is always been a passion of Shane’s and he’s taking his barbecue lifestyle to new levels it seems each year. He still does heating and air while running a BBQ supply store while catering Bbq. And now he started his journey into opening a BBQ restaurant as if he wasn’t busy enough I’ve known Shane for a good little while, and seeing some of the products that he puts out, I know if he puts his heart into it. He’ll be a raving success. We chatted about different barbecue restaurants in the area and what’s available. What’s going to set him apart. As well as what goes into Design and BBQ restaurant for him. Thoroughly enjoyed having Shane on the show and plan to be at the grand opening in 2024 when his new restaurant opens. You can find the Barbecue depot on Facebook as well as TikTok!

The first installment of BBQ trailer trash round table. We sat n chatted with Jeff Mike and James about some of the ins and outs of food truck/trailer work. Deciding on the truck layout, getting the portions required to not sell out but not waste all your profits. Some of the tricks of the trade. Mike in St Pete FL and Jeff in Ootawah, Tn chat about requirements in food truck or trailers. Ootawah is having a big blow up with more food trucks n trailers than you can shake a stick at.

Mike Silverstein of M&M BBQ and Tampa Pig Roast join us at the pit this week to chat all things trailer trash………. Lol tongue in cheek of course. The getting to know Mike episode before our round table discussion. Find out the about illegal fuel, and why food trailers are superior to trucks. We met Mike in person while he was catering an event in the area we were vacationing. I called to speak and shake his hand as I’d known through social media. We just hit it off, I even scored his coveted chicken recipe! That kind of friend, a bbq friend. Get caught up on Mike now so you know the members of the food truck and trailer round table discussion episode releasing in the coming weeks.

Something that started with a middle Georgia Good ol boy has grown. Thad Estes purchasing the Stump Smokers brand has blossomed into a sizable operation with him at the helm. Thad started out like most bbq guys n gals competition bbq. He’d began building a name for himself in the competition world when the opportunity to own his favorite smoker brand. Their smokers built right here in Georgia by hand. You can count the beads in the welds like neat little stacks of nickels. Gravity fed smokers built by skilled hand, individually for each customer. I learned the gravity feed isn’t just about falling charcoal… you can too. What does the future of Stumps Smokers hold? More innovation, a highly anticipated smoker release for a long time client might just be the newest innovation in smokers, time will tell. Catch up with Thad and the SS Crew at https://stumpssmokers.com If you’ve enjoyed this episode we’d appreciate a review a like a share. #ThePeopleaPitmaster #SmokeRingSyndicate

Quick!!! Turn on the subtitles, Boston’s son, John Maguire, a.k.a. Johnnie Mags host of the Pit Life BBQ Podcast joins us at the pit this week. We ended up chatting all things barbecue podcast his history. Think Facebook live without guard rails…. What started from a drunken night by the bbq pit turned into a podcast that’s 5 years in and counting. Mailman by day podcast host by night Johnnie Mags has had cohosts but the one constant is him. In the second half we discovered his original studio was upwards of $100k!!! Stay tuned bc we chat about into how he ended up in the $100,000 studio for his show to begin with. Find Johnnie Mags and The Pit Life BBQ Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts!

The Sausage Sensei Bill Dumas is at the pit for this weeks episode of the Smoke Ring Syndicate. Bill is a master in the art of sausage & has been for decades. Starting as a young boy as free labor for his dad graduating into the sausage maker for a local bbq joint eventually curating sausage recipes and skills for several *not publicly named* bbq joints in Texas and beyond. After his most recent visit to Mexico the Sausage machine aka smoker colab was born. His talent has taken him abroad and continues to grow every year. Even with the classes nearly every week he still maintains the sausage for Brotherton's Black Iron Barbecue a high-volume, nationally acclaimed award-winning Texas Monthly Rated BBQ restaurant. His classes are interesting as there’s not a set recipe he’s giving out per se’. It’s designed with understanding the craft of what needs to go into a sausage. So it’s for the beginner taking that first step, the already proficient backyard pit cook wanting to just sharpen and polish his or her skills, or for the professional pitmaster or restauranteur wanting to increase their bottom line.

And that’s the bottom line…. You can get yourself in class at SausageSensei.com or with Harry Soo in his quarterly class.

This week or joined at the pit by Ashley Henson from Old School with Mark and Ashley. He is also part of the founding team of Faith & Fire a nonprofit that works with the high school BBQ association, as well as other organizations in getting stake church and Bbq church into competitions across the country and eventually the world. Ashley is also a SCA steak cooker, hoping to make it to Texas again for the world championship three years running. he has typically gotten his golden ticket before this time of year so he’s a little bit behind the eight ball and he’s chasing her a bit but I’m sure he’ll make it. We chatted about him and Mark Lambert’s relationship that feels like decades in the making but they’ve been buddies for just five or six years. What a crazy best friend I have in Mark. A seven time world champion BBQ competitor. We highlighted the beginning of Old School with Mark and Ashley how they just made the decision to turn the camera on cook some dinner and it all spiraled out of control into what we see every week. Mark is a humble guy, but I believe Ashley may be more humble in the creation of the show. As we chatted through our episode, we talked about the competition and cooking school classes. Mark and Ashley have done their most recent love Cajun food. I myself also enjoys a good Cajun dish and got the coveted invitation to the next Cajun cook episode. I told him I made a really good eater. Actually seems to surround himself with food champions, from all walks. Guys, if you’ve enjoyed this weeks episode, we would encourage you to leave a review, a like, a share. We release every Wednesday at 5:30 AM Eastern standard time until next time keep smoking. #SmokeRingSyndicate #ThePeoplesPitmaster #OldSchool #BBQ #Pitmaster #Podcast www.thesmokeringsyndicate.com/podcast