Tailgate Guys BBQ Show, Episode 126: Lee Hickel, Matt Bohannon

08/11/21 • 72 min

We hope everyone is having a great BBQ week and is ready for terrific BBQ conversation on Episode 126 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Show Podcast.

Lee Hickel could be the poster subject for that old Willie Nelson song “On the Road Again.” From his home base near Corpus Christi, Texas, the pitmaster of Red Mule’s Bad Ass BBQ is piling up the miles as he travels the KCBS circuit for the first time. A former IBCA Team of the Year, Hickel tells us his journey from a gas-griller just a few years ago to one of America’s best competition cooks.

Winning a Grand Championship is a goal for all who fire it up on the competition circuit. Matt Bohannon of Parts ‘R’ Smokin’ BBQ out of Harrisonville, Missouri, realized that dream last weekend and we learn his cooking story and what the GC at the Laurie Hillbilly BBQ meant. Cooking with his dad, Matt was dominant with a KCBS winning score of over 706.

Co-hosts Lyndal and Steve discuss their cooking weeks and Lyndal gives his impressions of judging a KCBS contest for the first time.

Thanks to our sponsor/marketing partners who make our show possible: Blues Hog BBQ Sauce, Royal Oak Charcoal, The Butcher Shoppe, Iowa BBQ Store, Affordable Income Tax & Payroll, DDR Fabrication, Arkassippi Smoke Live and The Arkassippi Combo, Vietti Marketing, In the Garden of Eden and The BBQ League. Special thanks to Marty “Sign Man” Prather and Domino’s Pizza, an “Official American Royal World Series of BBQ” sponsor of our team.

Have a great BBQ Week!

#SmokeEmIfYouGotEm

We hope everyone is having a great BBQ week and is ready for terrific BBQ conversation on Episode 126 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Show Podcast.

Co-hosts Lyndal and Steve discuss their cooking weeks and Lyndal gives his impressions of judging a KCBS contest for the first time.

Have a great BBQ Week!

#SmokeEmIfYouGotEm

Previous Episode

Tailgate Guys BBQ Show, Episode 125: Carey Bringle; Ale Yeah BBQ

When Carey Bringle lost a leg to cancer at 17, the Tennessee native didn’t let it slow him down. Instead, Bringle turned his situation and BBQ knowledge into marketing genius. For a quarter-century, he’s been serving up and competing in BBQ as “Peg Leg Porker.” On Episode 125 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Show, we visit with Carey about his BBQ roots, his Nashville restaurants and get some timely tailgating tips as football season nears.

We also go “Under the Radar” with another up-and-coming competition BBQ team, this time taking a trip to central Ohio to visit with Chris Pannell and Heath Bletzacker of Ale Yeah BBQ. The duo recently won their first KCBS Grand Championship and we find out more about their journey from childhood friends to KCBS professional champs.

Meanwhile, co-hosts Lyndal and Steve discuss backyard cooking experiences from the past week and give a review of the latest episode of Food Network’s BBQ Brawl.

Have a great BBQ Week!

#SmokeEmIfYouGotEm

Next Episode

Tailgate Guys BBQ Show, Episode 127: Emily Detwiler, Nick Davis

It’s been far too long since we visited with Kansas City Barbeque Society CEO Emily Detwiler. We correct that on Episode 127 of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Show Podcast, with Emily giving us her thoughts on the first two years into her run as CEO of the world’s largest BBQ organization. She discusses what it’s been like dealing with a pandemic, plans for continuing education for judges and the new competition pork rule for 2022, which does away with a minimum starting weight.

This week’s other guest has a desire to help newcomers to competition BBQ and is doing so by starting a new contest this fall, for backyard cooks. Nick Davis of Oklahoma’s Double Barrel BBQ tells us why it’s important for him to grow the sport while also raising funds for a worthy cause that is personal to him.

Co-hosts Lyndal and Steve talk about their latest cooking adventures and weigh in on The Field of Dreams baseball game in rural Iowa. Home run or foul ball? They discuss.

Have a great BBQ Week!

#SmokeEmIfYouGotEm