Porker Down

Well, it has been too long since my last post. A lot has happened and I hope to post more regularly these days. Since my last posting, I attended the Annual Symposium for the Southern Foodways Alliance in Oxford, MS. What a blast! I was invited as a guest of Nick Pihakis, owner of Jim and Nick's BBQ. My close friend, and fellow pitmaster, Pat Martin and I both went with Nick and several folks from the Jim N Nicks organization. We met some great chefs, foodies, writers and generally had a blast. Pat and Nick are both fun to travel with.

I ended up joining the SFA and attended another function last weekend at Blackberry Farms in East Tennessee. Pat, Nick, Dan Latham and I, once again, had a blast. But this time as I was about to leave, it happened.........Porker Down!

As you know if you read this blog, I have one leg. I don't wear my prosthesis in the shower so I generally hop. I am pretty used to it at home and have regular places that I hold to get in and out of the tub. Sunday morning, however, I was in an unfamiliar place in the cabin that we were renting. The threshold was low so I thought, no big deal. I can hop this with my eyes closed, after all, I had done it Saturday morning. The problem.......very slick shower pan. As I hopped into the shower, I felt my foot slide. It was quick and it was painful. I landed dead on the end of my cut off leg......$#&%. I think I saw Elvis..... He was right there sitting on the toilet laughing at me with that lip quivering. I have a full Femur on that leg and landed square on the end. If I were driving a nail, I would have sunk it with one swing of my stump hammer.

I managed to get home but not without a great deal of pain and suffering. Once home, I realized that I would not be able to wear my prosthesis for several days. After much coaxing from my wife and mother, I went to the orthopedic surgeon to get some Xrays. It turns out that I fractured my femur in two spots. One fracture on the end and one straight up the femur about 4 inches. Needless to say, I am still down after a week of leglessness but hope to get back on two feet in the next few days.

I will post again this week and have a new product and website coming out. Stay Tuned for more details.

Carey Bringle
The Peg Leg Porker

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Bon Appetit and Peg Leg Porker

Well, after much waiting and not knowing how or if it would be published. The July BBQ Issue of Bon Appetit magazine is here. The best thing about it is that Peg Leg Porker Memphis Wet Sauce is named as their #2 pick for BBQ Sauce..........This is quite an honor.

It is humbling to be alongside some of the greats in the BBQ world Big Bob Gibson's (Chris Lily and Don McLemore), Britt's BBQ (James Britt), Wee Willy's and Memphis Championship BBQ (Mike "The Legend" Mills).

Bon Appetit is the #1 culinary magazine in the country. To say that I am excited is an understatement.....Thank you Bon Appetit.

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Franklin Food and Spirits Festival

This last weekend, my good friend Pat Martin of Martins BBQ Joint in Nolensville, asked me if I would like to help him cook a whole hog for the Franklin Food and Spirits Festival. The festival organizers built him a pit at the Carnton Plantation just for this event. I knew that we would have a great time and so naturally I said yes.

I was on my way back from a business trip in Memphis on Wednesday so in order to save Pat some time, I picked up the Hog at Hayes Meats in Lexington, TN. It was a 220 lb hog. Thursday we went out to the Plantation and got the Hog on. I believe that it went on about 7 PM. The guys from Jim and Nick's were there. They had put the festival together and Dave Story was helping to cook the hog as well. Folks came and went most of the night but we were there until about 3 AM when we let Bo take over. The pit was built so tight that it only had to be fired about 3 times during the whole cook. Pretty impressive.....

Pat and Dave Story came back early Friday morning and kept it going all day. I had to work so I didn't get back out there until around 5:00. We served the hog along with 2 others cooked by Legendary Pit Master Ed Mitchell out of the Carolina's and the crowd seemed to love it. I think that the dinner was a big hit. Pat did a great job.

On Saturday, I took the family to the festival and we hung out all day. It was a great weekend and I got to meet some great folks. I think that this festival will continue to grow and become a major showcase for Southern food.....BBQ in particular.

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Memphis in May

Well we had a great time at Memphis in May this year. We met some new friends and just generally had a great time. Additions to the booth this year included a jumbo-tron projector screen in the top of the tent and wireless microphones. We spent countless hours in front of the tent commenting on passers-by through our PA system and the live video feed of the ice luge on a ten foot screen in the middle of the tent was spectacular.

The judging didn't go so well but that happens sometimes. Last year Memphis in May decided that they would not be sanctioning contests anymore and the MBN was formed to take that network over. For some reason, the MBN and Memphis in May could not reach an agreement on working together and so the MBN was not involved in the judging at all this year. There are a lot of folks that hope they get that worked out next year.

This year we had some new guests and sponsors. We picked up Yazoo Brewing as a sponsor and that was great. We also had the guys from Jim and Nick's BBQ out of Birmingham join us. They were great to meet and seemed to have a great time.

There were however some things missing. Dave Johnson for one. Dave had to leave on Wednesday because his mother was very sick. He was not able to come back and I tell you, it was tough not having him there. Dave and I have not missed a year together at Memphis in May for about 12 years.

We were also missing our competition rig because I burned it down. We are in the process of deciding how we will replace it and with what. I have taken my fair share of ribbing about the fire. Dudney even bought me a "Smokey the Bear" apron. I take it all with a grain of salt. After all, what would a BBQ team be without great stories and good friends. We are truly blessed to have on of the best groups of guys around. Each one brings something unique to the table.

Me..........well obviously, I bring the heat.

John, Pat and Dresch thanks for working so hard all week.

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Far too long - Grease Fire

Well, it has been too long between posts. Things here have been very busy as I have been preparing for Memphis in May and the World BBQ Cookoff.

Last week, while preparing to cook some brisket, I burned down my competition pit. It had been too long in between cleanings and our pit doesn't have a good grease drain......Anyway, as I closed the firebox, the fire jumped to the body of the cooker, blew open the doors and burned down the pit. Being an old refrigerator, the interior was made of aluminium. It didn't take long for that to completely melt.

The good news, I was not standing in front of it so I wasn't hurt. The bad news, it happened a week before the world BBQ cookoff. The other good news is that team member Pat Martin has almost finished his new rig and so we have a rig to use in Memphis; a nice one at that...We will also use the old horizontal.

I will write more next week from Memphis.

Carey B

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Memphis in May

Well, the applications are out and we are getting ready to gear up for the big show. Memphis in May, The super Bowl of Swine, The Big Dance....you get the picture. This is the time we work up to every year. It is a tremendous amount of work to put together but I love every minute of it.

We have a great group of guys and a great group of sponsors. It is mine and Dave's job to not only make sure we compete at a world class level but also to make sure that each and every one of our team members walk away from the event saying, "that is the best damn party I have ever been to"...... I am proud to say that in past years, we have had new members say that they expected a good time but this far exceeded their expectations. WOW......Those are the type of comments that make the hard work well worth while.

Our team has really come of age the last several years. Instead of having to tell people what they should be doing, now we have team members asking, "how can I contribute and what can I do to help". I think that is a result of letting everyone know that they have a steak in making the weekend a success and that each of them contribute to the good time in their own way. With 35+ members, not everyone can be involved in the cooking or wants to be. It takes members that can landscape, do dishes, set up tables, decorate, run a sound system, welcome guests and many other tasks to make a great team. Our members come from every walk of life but down in Memphis they are a unified group.....Peg Leg Porkers.... and I am grateful that they have chosen to be a part of our team....


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Uncle Bruce

I know, it has been a long time since an update. I have had a lot going on but that is no excuse. Since my last posting, my uncle Bruce passed away. As many of you may know, I lost my father on July 16th. This was his youngest brother Bruce and he died of cancer as well.

Bruce and I were very close. When my father and I were not seeing eye to eye and subsequently not speaking (for 4 years), Bruce really stepped in and spent a lot of time with me. We used to reload ammo in my grandmother's basement and then go out to Lyle Ogle's family farm and spend the weekend shooting with Lyle and John Interbitson. Bruce introduced me to BBQ at a young age and taught me a great deal about the art. He competed in the very first Memphis in May cook off and was a big inspiration for my getting involved in competition BBQ. Over the last three years, he came down to the booth and really became a fixture of the team, sitting in the back of the booth and telling his great stories. Bruce will be missed by me and by many who had the benefit of knowing him. There will always be an empty chair in the back of the Peg Leg Porker booth for Bruce........

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The Church BBQ

Well, the church BBQ went great. With some help from the other members of the Men's club and team members Dudney, Dave and Dresch, everything was dynamite. My two boys stayed with me and camped out. Dresch and his son William also stayed until about 5:00 AM. Having my firebox man there was a huge help. We cooked 56 Butts and 50 racks of ribs.

Overall, I stayed up from about 9:30 AM until 12:30 PM on Saturday. Needless to say, I was exhausted. I am sure that Dresch was too. We drank some beers and bourbon and ate some oysters. The highlight was when Dave braved the coyotes at Radnor to ride his bike over to the church at about 7:00 Am in the morning. He then topped it off by drinking a big bourbon drink. It was BBQ at it's finest. Only Episcopalians can have such a good time at a church BBQ.

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20 Boys for 4 hours

My two boys, Carey and Connley have birthdays 2 weeks apart and today we celebrated both birthdays with a capture the flag party at the house. They brought home 10 boys each and we had them from 3 to 7.......Delaniah and I are exhausted. We never could have done it without the help of my good friend and fellow teammate, Greg Hamilton. Thanks Greg.

Boys 10 and under can be a handful....Multiply that by 20 and you can have chaos. Thank goodness everyone was well behaved and we got by with minor to no injuries.

Happy Birthday Carey IV and Connley.....you are the next generation of Peg Leg Porkers. Tomorrow we cook for 500 at the church BBQ.

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The Church BBQ

Well, this weekend is my Church BBQ. It is always a great time and I really enjoy the fellowship of all of the men in our Men's Club on Friday night while we are cooking. This year we will be cooking about 58 Butts and about 60 Lbs. of Chicken. That will feed a few hundred. On Friday night we will cook 3 cases of Baby Backs..........Ohhh Boy.

The actual BBQ is Saturday Oct. 13th. It is Church of the Advent on Franklin Road in Nashville, TN. There are games for the kids and live music. People generally come in and out between 11:30 and 4:00. We will be selling to go packs for all of the football fans that need to get their fix and go watch a game.

This week, I uploaded some new photos to the website and Mike added a video from a few weeks ago. It looks great. We are about to add the storefront and will begin selling merchandise. Things seem to be really coming together. I am meeting with a food broker this afternoon to talk more about distribution.

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