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[Canadian John]

 By BBQ I mean; smoking,grilling cooking,baking by any means as long as there is fire involved.

 -Did you grow up in a bbq family?

 -Did someone you know introduce you to cooking bbq?
 
 -Was it the taste of bbq( restaurant or guest) that directed you to getting involved?

 -Was it you noticed pits in a persons yard that got the wheels turning?

 -Could it have been the aroma bbq drifting thru the neighbourhood?

 -Saw bbq cooking on TV?

 -Noticed bbq grills/pits in a store?

 -Other:



 I am sure I left out a few.. Feel free to add!

[yorkdude]

For me it was my Grandpa, he could bbq a boot. Memories grow sweeter with time, I know but he was the 2nd. Neatest guy I have ever met. He used to make the best beef ribs and chicken I have ever eaten. Cold Budweiser and him BBQ'ing. I can say he would have balked at pellet grills most likely, he was a factory Chevy mechanic and thought the world was coming to an end when he heard about metric wrench/sockets. He also WOULD not use paper plates, napkins etc. He was set in his ways but sweeter than a dump truck full of sugar.

[Free Mr. Tony]

My wife and I got married in 1999.  We bought an old house built in 1920 to fix up, live in, and eventually flip. About 2 blocks from that house was a tiny little storefront that was a pizza place for years. It had just recently changed over to Razorback BBQ. In the middle of one of my sessions of stripping off 6 layers of wallpaper from that house, I took a break and ordered a half chicken. I took it home, and opened the styrofoam container. It was a beautiful color, sitting on top of a piece of white bread, and had just maybe a ladle of sauce over the whole thing.  It was by far the best thing I had ever ate (I was 21).  The chicken fell apart, but was moist. The sauce was the best. The bread soaked up the sauce, and was amazing.

After going there constantly for chicken, I tried the brisket sandwich. Then I ordered those for probably 6 months straight. To this day, I haven't had a brisket that topped his. I would watch him bring in dozens of racks of ribs from his large direct heat charcoal smoker. They all looked identical, and were perfectly even mahogany color. Those were great too.

His name was Bruce Marshall. He has sadly passed on. His shop inspired me to buy my first smoker. I think at the time it was some sort of propane bullet type from Lowe's. That led to about 15 other smokers, etc, etc.

[desertdad]

I took my first business trip to Dallas 30 years ago and the guys there took me to a local BBQ joint that had the best food I had ever tasted. I came back home and bought a cheap electric Brinkman and some hickory chips to try my hand at it. I made some horrible food at first but kept at it until I figured it out. I then got the bbq itch real bad and bought and sold several types of smokers over the years from backyard cookers to big trailer rigs. Also tried competition, had a catering business for while and last year purchased my first PG.

[Jcorwin818]

Been smoking since 1982 and grilling since 1968.  It’s amazing when you enjoy something how fast time flies by.

[Bentley]

As a teenager, in the mid 70's on my folks 1950's PK cast iron made in Tyler, TX charcoal BBQ!  Nice shoes dude!

[Brushpopper]

My dad and grandfather (mother's father) owned a cattle company together when we were growing up.  They ranched and had a feed lot where we fed the calves before taking them to my uncle's slaughter house.  We'd kill a calf every fall and eat on it, deer and hog meat throughout the year.  We had an abundance of mesquite wood because we lived in south Texas.  Daddy would cook on his pit every Sunday if he wasn't having to deal with the cattle.  My older brother started cooking on the pit when I was very little and then I started when I was around 7 or 8.  Had to have one of them open the lid for me so we could check on the meat.  Seems like I was more interested in playing in the fire from a very early age.  It was just a natural progression, I guess.  Then I discovered pellet grills about a year and a half ago and my eyes were opened to a whole new world.  There's not many of them in this part of Texas.  Yet, at least.  I love the ease of use and the taste mine produce.

VERY nice shoes, Bentley!!

[Darwin]

Both of my parents were very good cooks and they taught their children to cook and be self sufficient.  In South Louisiana cooking with many methods is a way of life.  I was classically trained as a chef and have worked in Europe and a few regions in the US.  After switching to IT i had lots of free time and I began learning additional methods.  Cooking outdoors with Dutch ovens, grills and smokers is very enjoyable for me. 
While living in Dallas i was introduced to outstanding bbq beef and new sausages.  Being so far away from these foods pushed me into making my own and recently getting into pellet cookers.

[pdf256]

I grew up in a family that liked to grill over charcoal, mostly chicken and fish.  One year for my dad's birthday party we did a half hog on a spit, I think we had over a hundred people over.

Over the years I really enjoyed ribs and would order them whenever I could, but cooking them was way out of my league.

I got a gasser in the 1990's that I paid for with all the change that I put in a bucket ( $300+ ).  I could grill on it, but no real smoke.

After moving to Orange County I moved on to a $80 charcoal grill that worked but gave me very little control over the heat.  The smoke was better, I would add wet chips and rosemary twigs off our bush.

I had seen a bit about pellet grills over the last few years and in March I picked up a Traeger Jr at a Costco roadshow.  It was on sale and after using my rebate was only $80 out of pocket.

This year for Thanksgiving I will be taking Bison Brisket and Pork Ribs to the family gathering.


Then in August I ordered a Camp Chef Woodwind with a sear box.  I wanted a bigger pit, plus the high temp sear.

Between the two I have cooked outside three or four times a week this year and most of the other days was eating the leftovers from the night before.

[ksupaul]

I did not grow up in grilling or BBQ family at all. Rarely did we grill. After college moved to the Kansas City area and experienced a lot of great BBQ. Had a friend that was a griller so I bought a Weber kettle myself. After a while he stared smoking and that got me to doing it too. Started on the kettle, then got a bullet smoker. Next moves to an offset stick burner for about 6 years. Tried an electric Masterbuilt and while I didn't care for it, it got me thinking pellet. That's when I got the CS 540 I have had the last 7 years or so. I do a lot of butts and brisket. Weirdly, I feel like I have never made a good slab of ribs, but I am happy with my briskets 90% of the time. Opposite of my friend!

[GREG-B]

Did not grow up in a grilling family.   Got married in 73 and wanted to get into grilling so went to Montgomery Wards to look at a Weber kettle in their ads.   The salesman was doing a roast beef inside the store and handing out samples.  We were looking at the 18" but the salesman talked us into the big one.   Been grilling and smoking ever since. 

[Bentley]

Oh xxxx Yes! Lots of questions over the next years!

I was classically trained as a chef and have worked in Europe and a few regions in the US.

[Canadian John]

 Lots of very informative replies! Thank you..

  My start was over  40 years ago. My brother-in-law convinced me to buy the then popular, hibachi. He said that food cooked on it was so good. It was all cast iron baring the feet and handles..It sat on our picnic table..The most popular foods we cooked were potatoes and steak. That lasted a few years until we moved to a distant city where we were introduced to natural gas.....Two gassers later we got a Webber kettle, then Big Green Eggs,an entry level pellet smoker and finally a MEMPHIS PRO...Forgot, we had a Brinkman vertical water smoker and a small barrel grill...Now we are down to 2 Eggs and the Memphis..

 I did travel the deep South (U.S.A.) a lot and had a close association with the locals. We ate a lot of "Q". That didn't help the addiction.
 

[Rick]

My father grilled burgers and steaks.  Nothing else.  Similar to KSUPAUL, I was bit by the BBQ Bug when I moved to Kansas City in 2000.  My neighbor has a big trailer pit.  Everybody loved his BBQ and I was so intrigued by the process.  I bought an Oklahoma Joe stick burner and began my quest. I moved away from KC in 2004 but I still work hard to perfect the art of BBQ.

17 years later, I competed 9x this summer. Twice, against the old neighbor that got me hooked.   

[Darwin]

I first started using pellets in a tray device to smoke Andouille and tasso. My OCD issues kicked in and before I knew it I had bags of ever wood i could find.  The next logical step was to buy a pellet grill to use up my excess inventory.