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Welcome to BBQ Nation with JT's After Hours.Conversation that took place after the broadcast ended.
Hey, everybody, it's J.T.And this is a special version of Barbecue Nation.It is brought to you in part by Painted Hills Natural Beef Beef.You can be proud to serve your family and friends.That's Painted Hills Natural Beef.All right.
Welcome to After Hours here on Barbecue Nation.I'm J.T., along with Ms.Whippen and Mr. Chisholm is with us today.Are you any related to the cattle driver? Not that I know of.
I actually wanted to ask you that question if you were related to John Chisholm for, I don't know.
Oh, John Chisholm, that historic Texas thing.
Yeah.Well, I don't know.Somewhere down the line.Who knows?Yeah.You know, I saw something the other day.It said, it had a picture of Conway Twitty when he had his hair so beautiful.
And it says, if your dad had hair like this, you've got relatives you don't know about.
That's probably true.That's probably true.So, um, this is where we ask some kind of fun questions and some of them will make you think a little bit.Uh, but let's start with this one.
If you could cook for, and then dine with a historical figure, who would it be?And what would be on the menu?
Huh?Uh, do they have to be going to be alive?No, we'll dig them up.Okay.
Huh? Wow.I think I like to cook for Jimmy Buffett.
Yay! We have so much in common, and he don't even know it.I mean, we both have a connection to Mobile, Alabama, and the Gulf Coast, and the Florida beaches, and the Panhandle, and Nashville, and country music, and music in general.
And there's so many parallels in my life with him.And I've known all of his music.I can tell you everything about his career, and his life, and all that.And I've never even met him.I know people that were in his band.
I've met several of his band members. Uh, but I just think we would really, really hit it off.And I think that I could cook for him, uh, in a way that he would appreciate.And we would have some laughs and might even grab a song out of the deal.
There's gotta be a song title there somewhere, you know, you know, that his first, um, I want to say substantial boat was called the euphoria.And that was named after a tavern here in Portland because he used to come up once a year.
A lot of times it was just him and his guitar and he would play at the, the euphoria tavern, which is long gone now, but we had a lot of, um, I was two, so I didn't get to go in, but, uh, you know, they would.A lot of break.
You gotta be three to get in and you gotta be at least this tall, uh, you know, A lot of great bands came in there, but Jimmy would come through town every year.I've been a Parrothead since, I don't know, 1974, I guess, something like that.Yeah.Yeah.
I just missed him a couple of times when he was playing.He basically grew up in Mobile.I went to college there.And he would swing through, and he'd pop in at the local hot spots.I just missed him at a couple of places.
I just missed him at Floriband one time down there. Yeah.So, um, I've, I've met several of his band members as close as I've gotten.I don't know that I'll ever meet him really.But, uh, but you know, since we were imagining who we might meet.
Oh, sure.Yeah.What would you cook for him though?You never said that.
I think that I would probably talk to him about some of the things that really lights him up and then, uh, we'll start with that, you know?
Okay.All right.So, um, what would you say? If you could erase one mistake from your past, what would it be and why erase one mistake?
The only thing that I can think of was I had a summer job in Galveston, Texas, right out of high school.And I insisted on having my dog down there and I didn't have a place for that dog.And, and she got hit by a car.Yeah.And I, and it hurts.Yeah.
Yeah, 40 years later.Wow.How's your regret?I can think of really, I mean, because, you know, you make mistakes, but mistakes shape you, you know, you learn and you grow and that makes you a better person.But, well, that's a regret.
That's a true regret.And I don't know that I have I can't, I don't know that I can really say I have regrets about anything else.There are mistakes probably.
And of course, but then again, you, that, that, those are, those are putting your path so that you can become a wiser.Right.
On a scale of one to 10, Byron, how much barbecue do you eat on a regular basis?Like eat it five times a week or three times a month or whatever?
Boy, I would say. I'm not around it all the time.Um, I would say at least once a week.Okay.
Well, you know, um, something I've cooked and, and I'll, and I'll throw in, you know, grilling, uh, you know, the big umbrella there, but, uh, I'd say at least once a week, uh, down here in Tennessee, uh, on Sundays, um, I don't even invite people.
They know on Sunday evenings come to dinner.And, and so we have at least a dozen of my neighbors and, Generally, uh, it's going to be barbecue related, something off the grill.And, uh, that's just, that's just a weekend week out deal.
Uh, but, but often I'll, I'll do more now back when I was competing, I was practicing a lot.Of course, you know, you're producing a lot of barbecue.You're not really entertaining with it, but, uh, you know, you, you give it all away.
You make sure it gets good home.Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.Um, besides bullfrogs, what are your, what is your least favorite food to cook?
Well, at this point, since I'm not cooking for a living, if it's least favorite, I'm not cooking it.
No, I like if I'm if I'm cooking and I'm inspired to cook it, you know, my favorite like last six months has been pork belly because I'm not I'm not practicing for competition.
So I've got my freedom hat on now and I'm just imagining food and doing what I want to and not worry about the next contest. So I really, really like the belly is a great barbecue cut in that if you could get low and slow over coals.
And and so low and slow for several hours.It just renders out so beautifully.And I don't really candy it up and all that.And I'll render the fat out of it.I'm not serving you something that's half fat.Right.I'm trimming it good.
And then I'm rendering it.And it's the most beautiful barbecue cut. Um, there is, it's just, it really is.It reminds you of cooking a whole hog in the same manner.
Sure.Um, sorry.Now, if we put your skills to music besides Jimmy Buffett, what would the music be?
Bob wills and Texas playboys.
That's a great, uh, Western swing band that put Western swing on the map.Uh, It's a genre that just lights you up, man, with the horns, with the fiddle, with the vocals, with the energy.It's a great genre.
I just went to see the new Bob Wills band out in Central Texas after, of course, Bob Wills died in the early 70s.But they've got a new group honoring the tradition, and they're fantastic.
And that genre is just, you can't stand still when they, you know, Yeah.I mean, it's just, uh, the energy of that stuff.It's just amazing.
Remember what Waylon said?Bob Wills is still the king.Yes.Yes.What does a fantasy day look like for Byron?
A fantasy day is a day when I'm at the butt ranch and it was really, really good weather.
And I got draft beer and I got friends coming over and I've been cooking all day and they come over and we have a great time and they love their meal and they talk about it the whole next week.There you go.
Um, where's the worst place you ever had to cook?
Uh, one of the worst places was on an asphalt parking lot in Kansas city in the summer. It was the hottest ever been in my life.
I mean, there was no speedway contest.
This was the one that was like the first $10,000 contest.So this is a long time ago.And it was so fun.It was just Oh my god.I mean, it I thought I was going to die.
I mean, there's no it's funny you say that there.So I did the Kansas City Speedway and it was a long time ago.And I remember it's the only contest ever that I didn't go to awards because I thought I was burning inside of my body.
I mean, I really felt like I was cooking and you threw an egg down on the on the pavement and it would start bubbling and frying.It was horrific.
Just one that was the big, big, the first one of the first big prize money ones.
Yes.Yes.That's the same event.I bet you it's the same one.
We share the same misery.
Yeah. No, I'll never forget it.It was horrible.It was horrible.
Well, I got real cognizant about where I was going and what time of the year it was after that.And I remember in the summertime, for three years, I would go up in the upper Midwest, Illinois, Nebraska.
um our there was three in a row did and it was all it was like you know 70s maybe 80 and it was so beautiful and that's july you know august yeah because uh there are times the places were you know i mean make your decision but i'll tell you what that that was that was a very painful life-changing yep nothing is to say i didn't uh didn't get a call
which always makes it worse.
Yeah.So here's one you'll like, Byron.If Leanne declared you supreme ruler of barbecue for a week, what would you as supreme ruler decree?
Man.Supreme ruler barbecue.
I would say everybody gets a $200 gift certificate at Costco, and let's all go have a party.
Hilarious.I don't want to overspend the kingdom's money.I got it.
I got it.I got it. I got a lot of jokes.I got to let alone their, uh, biggest change you think should be made if any to competition barbecue.
Um, I think that it's, it just takes a life of its own and the people that are in it, they have the ideas and they present it to the board and the board talks about it and they make the adjustments.
Um, I don't, I don't really have an opinion about that.Um, You know, I, I know when I was competing, uh, there was a time where I'm like, man, I really didn't like hauling lettuce around for garnish and it'd be waterlogged.Nobody had coolers.
Nobody had RVs.We were all in ice chests.And, uh, I'm like, it's kind of silly.It's a non-functional garnish.That was a long time ago.I could care less now.Okay.
OK, I can live with that.If if you were if you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?
Hmm.Mercy, then you hit me.I think that a bird probably.A hawk.
Hawks are. I see them.I guess eagle, too, but eagles can be kind of mean.I've seen them take fish away from egrets, and they're not even pretty. No, I just like the freedom of flying and soaring.
And, you know, you can you can just see the world from another dimension and be out of the threats of that, that the land animals are, you know, are not as aware, you know, that can't separate themselves from their right.
What's the what's the craziest thing you ever did that you can actually talk about in barbecue or anything, anything?
Huh? Well, craziest thing I ever did was, you know, I mentioned I went to college in Alabama.I was in, this was, you know, an hour away from Gulf Shores before it became so discovered.
And a friend of mine let me drive his brand new sports cars, you know, five years it was an old Mustang. And, uh, and I got on the highway going home and there was nobody around.It was just, there was not a soul in sight.
And I just wanted to see how fast that thing would go, you know, and I opened it up a little bit.I think it's probably about 60 miles an hour speed limit.I opened it up a little more and there's nobody around open up some more.
And finally, I'm like, well, how fast will this thing go?And I bet you I was going about 130, and I passed a cop on the side of the road.I passed him so fast that I barely knew it was a cop.And I'm like, My turn is just right up the road.
I think I got him.So, so I was running from a cop.I knew if I stopped.
You know?Yeah.So I'm like, but I think I got it.I was going 130.He's sitting still.I'm like, you know, being a physics major at Harvard, I kind of figured that out.So I'm like, so I pulled into the house, turn out the lights. And I got away with it.
So I ran from the cops one day in my life and I pulled it off.
Uh, is that your limitations are up on that?
Yeah, I'm sure they are.So this, this might actually answer that question, but what's one thing you miss about being in your twenties?
Well, not much because in my twenties, I was trying to figure out where I wanted to be.And now I'm where I want to be and I'm enjoying being confident of myself and my direction.
And it was fun, but it doesn't have the meaning of being connected to, to, to where you're supposed to be in life.
Yeah.You know what I miss about my twenties?Not much.Yeah. Part of it was foggy and part of it was, uh, weary.I'll just put it that way.Okay.Here you go.Um, favorite movie.
I liked Urban Cowboy, and I know it wasn't all that great a movie, but it was, that's when I was graduating from high school, and I was in that same part of Texas, all over Houston and Southeast Texas.
And I was dancing like a maniac, and it was so much fun.And that movie just, solidifies everything about that.I was, I was, it was, it came out in 1980.I was at that point, I was living that life there in Texas.
And, uh, the dancing was just, uh, unbelievable.Uh, you know, super, super, super fun part of my life.And I guess I could go back to the twenties and say, I missed all the dance I used to do back then.That was, that was a highlight.
Every chance I get when I go back to Texas, I generally make two or three trips a year there.My co-packers are in Texas, so I've got business to do there while I'm there.
But all our meetings just happen to coincide with when somebody I really want to see is playing.The dance halls are the thing that I really enjoy about Texas history.Most of them, the ones that are left, I mean, they're all over 100 years old.
And it was a big part of Texas culture and their community centers.And I always had live music and a lot of two-stepping.And it wasn't really a bar or commercial.It was just a neighborhood hub.
And that's my favorite thing about going back to Texas and dancing at the dance halls.
There you go.Boxers or briefs?Briefs.OK. Dire straits, ACDC, or Billy Ray Cyrus.None of the above.None of the above.Okay.That's legal.
Although I did like a key, break your heart.And the first hundred times I heard it after that, I didn't know.I like Billy rice music.I'm a country guy, but, um, he's not one of my favorite artists, but I do like a lot of his music.Yeah.
Yeah.It was always fine.Uh, would you describe yourself as corn fed or grass fed?
I got more marbling.Yeah.
Have you ever have you ever eaten haggis?
Well, I guess I don't know.Oh, you know, I guess this is where they take a sheep's stomach.This is from Scotland.
They take a sheep's stomach and they clean it out and they put like the liver and the heart and all that, and they put potatoes and onions in it and then they tie it off and they boil it. And then you got to, I'm not making this up.
And then you got to do this thing called prick to boil because you got to let the steam out or the damn thing will explode at some point.And then you eat what's inside of it.
That's interesting.No, I've never eaten it or heard of it.Um, I'm not really big on, uh, I mean, I'm pretty straight up, you know, I mean, I figured there's enough chicken, pork and beef in the world that I let somebody else eat.
It's cultural, though.I mean, if you grow up with some of that, you know, then that's part of your life.But, you know, coming from the outside to try something like that.I know in England, it's like a black pudding for breakfast.
Oh, my God. Maramore might know that.I mean, you kind of got to grow up with that.I think, I mean, I don't know.I'm not that adventurous, uh, in forest cuisine goes like that.
No, I get it.I get it.Um, do you remember the first thing you ever, ever cooked?
You can be barbecue or on the grill, but I remember as a kid putting those, uh, ship already pizzas together.Yeah, just follow the instructions and it worked out pretty good.Yeah. No, I started cooking in college.
You know, the cafeteria food wasn't so good, and who wants to go out all the time?And who wants to spend all their beer money for that anyway?
So I just kind of started, it didn't look that hard to me, and I started toying around with it and realized I had a knack for it.And I think that My friends were really impressed, and that's always a motivating factor.
It just kind of happened naturally.When I was in Mobile, I had a lot of aunts and uncles, and my grandmother was there.My aunts were all good cooks, and my grandmother was a good cook, so every time I saw them, I'd have a few questions for them.
And I'm like, oh, okay.And then I go back to work.And so they helped, they helped shape me, you know, in those early days.
So here's the quite beings.You just said that I got a question for you on that.Did your grandma or your aunts or whoever was helping you, did they ever give you the complete story?Now, my background is I learned.
I grew up in the country, like you did, even though it was in the Northwest, my mom, my aunts, all that were marvelous cooks.
Except when you would ask them a question, there was always one little thing, one little tiny trick or ingredient or something that they might just leave out so you couldn't copy exactly what they did.
No, I didn't.I understand that.I see that. That's always kind of been fascinating to me.
I mean, if you're in a commercial, you're marketing something commercially, or if you even have a restaurant and you kind of want to have your special recipes, then I can understand that whole mindset.
But when you just have something you created and you don't want people to know how you did it, I don't understand that.I'm happy to tell everybody everything. And write down, because I'm going to probably do it different next time anyway.
So no, I don't understand that whole mindset.I didn't experience that.I didn't, you know, I'll see that.And it's kind of odd to me that.Yeah.So you don't want someone to enjoy something you created.Right.You know, I don't get it.Yeah.
Yeah.Well, it happened at our house.
So that's what happened to you.
Yeah, that's what happened.So, um, here's one that people really enjoy answering Byron.What would your last meal on death row be?Oh boy.And it's not about blown by that cop 40 years ago.You know what I mean?That you're right.
Statute of limitations is over, but what would it be last meal?
Um, You know, my really my favorite meal to this day, and it was as a kid and it still is.And I always cook this for my own birthday party and that people come over.I always say I cook my own birthday party that way.
We're not going to a restaurant and I have to be disappointed and all that.We just cook at home.Anyway, I like fried shrimp.Now, What does that mean?
I mean, it starts at the source, you know, down in Alabama, Alabama, where Forrest Gump had his enterprise.They have great shrimp and buds down there.And I know how to get really good.I know where to go to get really, really good shrimp.
So there's your start.And then, you know, just a simple preparation, but very light on batter, properly fried, not overcooked.It's just a magic food to me.It's just such a delicious, beautiful thing.
Reminds me of being a kid, reminds me of good times growing up. I've been on the Gulf Coast most of my life, and that's just always been my favorite dish, you know?And of course, you want your hushpuppies, and you want a few things go with it.
But yeah, that would be.Although, if I have it as my last meal on death row, and they take something pre-breaded, and, you know, it'd be pretty disappointing.
Well, you wouldn't have to, you wouldn't have too long to worry about it.I guess a fitting finish to, uh, yeah.So, so when you do your shrimp, this is just personal.Do you do fried okra with them ever?
Uh, you could, it's not really a traditional company, generally fried.And I try to break away from everything on the plate being fried because obviously, uh, French fries, shrimp or fish, all that's fried.So you definitely want some slaw in there.
A lot of times I'll do a different kind of potato.I might not do French fries, but, uh, fried okra is delicious.You know, the traditional fried okra that my grandmothers did. They cut it and cook in a cast iron skillet.It wasn't as deep process.
And, um, and it has got a whole different character doing it that way.And that's, that's, uh, that's a beautiful dish, uh, done properly.
And even the commercial way is still good, but going back to the roots of that dish, uh, and they cooked it lightly breaded and some bacon fat and a cast iron skillet.That's beautiful.
OK, very good.All right.One last thing, Byron, this is your chance to tell the world your message.What is Byron Chisholm's message to the world right now?Or you can just tell it to Leanne and she'll tell it to the rest of the people.
I guess my message, I don't know. The barbecue documentary we did when it tells the story about how I just got out of college and had no idea where to go.I knew what I did in high school was mow crossroads.Very confident.That was my thing.
I had a purpose.I had a mission.I was successful. But then when you get out of high school and you're going to college, well, I mean, I'm not a scholar.I don't know.I hated being forced to read all these things in books.
You know, I was just forced to fit all, you got to read all this material and I didn't like sitting still reading.So I'm just so glad I got out of high school, out of college.
I think to answer your question, when I stopped listening to everybody telling me what I need to be doing,
And when I started to listen to my heart and listen to digging deep, and figuring out what made me, what motivated me, you know, what made me excited in life, when I started focusing on my intuition, and started thinking about that, I got on the right path.
And that path led me to the barbecue, which has been a godsend.And it's given me a career, it's given me friends and travel and experiences, and it's still giving, it's still giving.So that's my message to the world.
find your inner peace and listen to your own heart and your own intuition. And that'll take you where you're supposed to be.
Excellent.Byron Chisholm from bad Byron's butt rub.
I must say, have you noticed how his background, how beautiful the night sky is?He's got a beautiful sunset since we started the show and it's, it's, it's so pretty there.Your home is beautiful.
Yeah.I actually got some in-laws that moved to Tennessee and I spent a lot of time in Nashville and, uh, I think it's I try to keep the images away from my wife because she's going to want to move there.So anyway, it's all good.
We're in middle Tennessee, just not just South Nashville.So it's a little bit different the last time you're here because it's me by myself.I got three or four sleeping dogs around here.But when you were here, we had about a hundred people.
At least 10 countries.It was the Thursday night of the Jack week.We have a kickoff party here.And so that's when you were here.I got pictures of us all together.
There you go.Byron, thank you so much for being with us.I really appreciate it.
It's good to be with you all, Jeff and Leanne.
Yeah, we'll we'll make sure that you get links and Joseph gets links and when it shows ready to roll and you can you can point to it and say that was me.So there you go.
And I'll see you at the Jack, because that's right around the corner.Yeah.
All right.We're going to get out of here.Actually, I'll see you at the Royal first, right?You're going to be at the Royal?
I'm not going to be at the Royal, no.That's just prior before I go out to see Jeff in Portland, because we're working on some footage out there.
We'll look forward to seeing you at the Jack.
But congratulations again, and you will love this ceremony.It's just the whole experience.You will really well.
It will be one of the great days of my life, I'm sure.
You got it.You got it.We'll be back next week with another edition of After Hours.Until then, remember our motto, turn it, don't burn it, and try to be kind.Take care, everybody.
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