If you’ve been keeping up with my emails over the past few weeks – like the loyal fans that you are – you know that I’ve been talking about attending world champion pitmaster Myron Mixon’s BBQ Cooking School in Unadilla, Georgia. Well, the weekend of April 16 was when it finally happened.
The school is run by Myron and his family, as well as members of his BBQ team with whom he’s been competing for many years. It attracts people who want to learn from the best, whether they’re current barbecue cooks who want to improve their skills, want to open their own barbecue restaurant/truck, or like me, backyard barbecue enthusiasts who just want to up their game to impress family and friends.
Indeed, there were about 60 or so people there, mostly from the south, but also from the Northeastern US, and even a few people from Canada. All folks who were super jazzed to be in the presence of the man who’s one the most championships in barbecue competition.
Unfortunately, I’m unable to reveal any recipes that I learned. We signed a form saying as much and I’m a man of my word. But allow me to take you through a few highlights of the experience.
A Pre-Class Fanboy Moment
On Thursday evening, I was looking for a place to eat dinner. I was staying in Perry, GA, and there isn’t much there. A few chain restaurants, but I wanted something a little more local. Through a Google search, I found a bar – “Charlie’s” I think it was called – about 15 minutes away. When I arrived where Waze directed me, I could not find the place. If it was there it wasn’t really obvious.
So I took a look around and saw right next to where I parked a restaurant called PROPS. I went in and I assume that the place is owned by someone who’s a pilot – a lot of aviation-themed décor and menu selections.
I finished my dinner at the bar and began to walk out. At the opposite end of the bar was Myron, who just sat down to order. I knew it was him right away; he has a very distinct look.
I walked up and said, “I’m attending your school this weekend!” He happily shook my hand and asked me my name. We chatted briefly – where I was from, etc. – and I asked if I could get a photo. He kindly obliged.
I have to say, I was first introduced to Myron when I watched the first season of BBQ Pitmasters. He was a surly good ol’ boy, but seemed to have lightened up a bit in his role as a judge on the show when it turned into a competition format. As was evident from the weekend, he obviously became very aware of his brand and making sure that he was always relatable and someone from whom you would want to learn and ultimately, purchase classes, products, etc.
I was so psyched to have met him, and it couldn’t have been a better start to my experience.
Day One – The Meet and Greet
On Friday, around 6 p.m., the registrants arrived at Myron’s BBQ school located at his business headquarters, Jack’s Old South (named after his father Jack Mixon). We signed the necessary forms, were served a real southern dinner of fried chicken, fried catfish, mac and cheese, etc. Myron came to speak to us for about 20 minutes to give us an overview of the weekend and what to expect.
The first thing that became pretty obvious – Myron focuses on competition-style barbecue. That’s how he made his money and achieved notoriety. Competition-style, however, has a flavor profile that might not suit everyone – including me – all the time. It’s very sugar-based, sweet, and tangy… at least when it comes to pork and chicken. That’s what the judges in these contests are looking for, and often they’ll deduct points if they don’t get it.
The only meat that doesn’t follow that profile is brisket, which they definitely want to bring out the beefiest flavors possible. Otherwise, the competition style seems to be akin to a candy sweetness in the food.
So, while I definitely intend to replicate what I learned that weekend, it probably won’t be go-to style. I and my fiancée prefer more smokey, herby, and slightly spicy flavors, and the prospect of using a lot of sugar in my food isn’t an appealing prospect, especially since I’m trying to lose weight before my wedding.
Day Two – Whole Hog & Prepping the Other Meats
Much of the first official day of barbecue school was dedicated to something I’m sure I’ll never have the chance to attempt: cooking a whole hog. Unless I befriend someone close to me who has a sizeable smoker and doesn’t mind opening up and prepping a gutted animal with its face intact, I’m probably going to have to go to my grave without actually cooking a whole hog.
It takes a good amount of strength to butterfly the pig and cut through the bones necessary to separate the ribs from the loin. Thus, (sorry ladies) I’ll need the help of another guy if I want to attempt this.
Regardless, it was a good experience to watch the process in person.
After doing all the work to prepare the hog physically, Myron then moved on to his injection. Again, without going into the exact recipe, he made five gallons of a vinegar-, apple juice-, and sugar-based injection. The “hog injection” would be used for the other pork products that weekend.
A lot of injection was used. One thing I learned is that the mixture is extremely concentrated because as the hog cooks, it renders and pushes out a good amount of the injection. So the flavor that remains must be strong enough when it’s time to eat.
After the rub – A LOT OF RUB – was applied, into the smoker. The pig is placed in backside down, with the head TOWARD the heat source. This is because the upper part of the animal takes the longest to cook and needs the most amount of heat. Bacon and foil are placed over the head to protect the skin from getting burned.
That was the highlight of the day; the rest of the time on Saturday was dedicated to prepping other types of meat. Rather than go through too much detail, I’ll just give a quick overview. After demonstrations of each, we separated into groups to practice the techniques on:
Pork butt – trimming the fat, especially around the “money muscle,” which is the most tender part of the meat and the one competitors always include in their presentation boxes. We also injected and applied the rub.
Pork ribs – shaping the meat St. Louis style, removing the membrane, injecting with the hog injection, and applying the rub.
Short ribs – trimming the fat and applying the rub. I was told we could also inject with the brisket mixture if we wanted, but didn’t this day.
Brisket – trimming the fat, injecting with a mixture to add more beef flavor, and applying the rub.
Chicken thighs – removing the bone, trimming the fat, scraping the bottom side of the skin, and tenderizing in preparation for the brine (the demonstration for which was also done during the day).
Chicken legs – removing the tendon, cutting off the cartilage of the top to make it more square, and tenderizing in preparation for the brine.
We didn’t get to prepare them, but Myron also demonstrated preparation for a whole turkey and chicken. The brine used for the thighs and legs were used to brine these overnight.
The pork butt, the short ribs, and the brisket would be placed in the smoker very early the next morning so that everyone could taste later that day.
Day Three – Chicken and Tasting Time
This morning started with a demonstration of how to prepare and cook Myron’s famous “cupcake chicken thighs,” as well as the chicken legs. He also gave us timelines for each of the meats.
One thing of note – Myron is a “hot and fast” barbecue pitmaster. Many cooks prefer the “low and slow” method, but Myron’s philosophy appears to be “why wait all that time?”
Then it was time for the hog to come out (it had been cooking at 230 degrees for 20 hours). After the meat was prepared, we all walked by with bowls and got our own samples. Again, the flavor profile is very sweet, but … Oh my God. The meat was so tender and the flavors incredible. Like everyone else, I went back for seconds. Like I said, I’ll probably never get to do whole hog, but I can see why one would want to.
The rest of the day, we tasted the rest of the meat we prepared the previous day, and Myron showed us how to prepare a competition box – a Styrofoam container with decorative greens in which the meat is presented to judges.
And of course, it was graduation time. No caps and gowns, no guest speaker, but we all got our official certificates of completion.
Overall, I had a blast. It was fun to be among fellow barbecue enthusiasts and to meet the winningest barbecue competitor in person. Like the other places I visited while I was there, it was refreshing to be somewhere that didn’t care if you wore a mask or not. In our group, only one did. It was great to be normal again, if only for the weekend.
If you think you might want to participate in this experience yourself, and I recommend it highly, visit Myron’s BBQ Cooking School page on his website.
My next post won’t be about a recreation of one of these dishes. I need a little time to prepare for that. But stay tuned for my reverse-seared tri-tip steak attempt coming soon!
Cheers!