The Pitmaster's Podcast

Fresh from competing at the American Royal, Tuffy Harmon and Chris Dunyan tell us all about it!!

I've been eating barbecue all my life, but my first time on the grill was actually born out of a lie.
During my first Army assignment in 2006, I was bragging about how great I was on the pit. I'm from South Carolina, so naturally, I made it sound like I knew exactly what I was doing.
The problem? I'd never grilled a day in my life.
Then we had an organizational day with hundreds of pounds of free meat, and my First Sergeant said, "We're going to barbecue today, and we're putting Private Brown on the grill."
This was before social media and before you could pull out a phone and instantly find an answer. So I had to run to this foreign institution called the library, do the best research I could, and figure it out.
Somehow, I pulled it off—and some of the guys actually complimented me on how good the food was.
That experience traumatized me enough that I didn't light another coal until 2020, when the shutdown happened. I tried to build something around barbecue and social media back then, but honestly, I fizzled out and failed.
When I came back to barbecue, I came back with a different purpose. I wasn't trying to pretend I knew everything. I decided to be me, ask questions, experiment, and become a student of barbecue.
The name The Pit Specialist comes from my Army days—Specialist was my rank when I retired, and I'm proud of my service. The "Pit" represents the barbecue journey that started during that same chapter of my life. It's not a claim about my skill level; I'm still learning and striving to get better every opportunity I get.
And more importantly, I wanted to build something bigger than myself.
I want to create a legacy and, if my kids ever want it, a place where they can work and build something of their own. I want to create something that I haven't felt enough of in my own life: freedom. And I believe barbecue can be the vehicle that gets me there.
That journey has led me to where I am today: approaching 50,000 followers and community members across platforms, going from not understanding the competition BBQ world at all to competing once and becoming a Grand Champion and People's Choice winner, and discovering that what I really crave is a live environment where I can teach, learn, talk barbecue, and build community.
And through all of it, I've found the greatest following in the world.
Shout out to the Pit Crew.

Music Industry Legend • 2x BBQ Hall of Famer • World Champion Pitmaster Sterling "Big Poppa" Ball has spent a lifetime proving that greatness is not a single destination it is a way of moving through the world. As a founding force behind Ernie Ball, the most iconic independent guitar string and instrument company on earth, Ball helped shape the soundtrack of modern music. Ernie Ball's legendary Slinky strings have been the choice of Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, and Slash, while the company's Music Man guitars have become instruments of choice for a generation of world-class artists. What his father Ernie founded grew into a global powerhouse fiercely independent, passionately creative, and entirely on its own terms. Away from the music world, Ball channeled that same fire into championship barbecue. As head cook of the Big Poppa Smokers Competition BBQ Team, he has amassed over 150 first-place trophies and 90 Grand and Reserve Grand Championships across 12 states. He became the first team west of Oklahoma to win the American Royal Invitational and the first Western team to claim a World Championship — earning induction into the BBQ Hall of Fame not once, but twice. His Big Poppa Smokers rubs and seasonings have since been used to win every major BBQ competition in America. For Ball, achievement has always carried a responsibility to give back — and nowhere is that more evident than in his deep history of charitable work on behalf of children. Within the BBQ community, he created the Big Poppa's BBQ Family ambassador program, uniting competition teams across the country to raise funds for local children's charities through the sport they love. That generosity has never been confined to the competition circuit; Ball has consistently supported children's causes across the broader community with the same championship-level commitment he brings to everything he does. It is, by his own account, the work he is most proud of. Whether developing menus for national restaurant groups, producing premier competition events, building a content library of 300-plus recipes, or appearing on TLC's BBQ Pitmasters, Ball brings the same conviction to every room he enters: that passion pursued without compromise is its own competitive advantage. His is a story of mastery without limits, generosity without agenda, and the rare courage to be fully, unapologetically extraordinary at more than one thing. "When I realized that cooking could become a creative outlet for me… that's when I was hooked. " — Sterling "Big Poppa" Ball

Jess Pryles is an Australian-born, Austin-based live fire cook, author, and TV personality. She is the creator of the Hardcore Carnivore brand, author of Prime Cuts, host of Hardcore Carnivore and Feast by Fire, and a judge on Food Network's Pitmasters. With a Graduate Certificate in Meat Science from Iowa State University, Jess blends academic knowledge with hands-on expertise in butchery, barbecue, and live fire cooking, making the science and craft of great cooking accessible to everyone from backyard beginners to seasoned pros.

Rooster and Graybeard are back! They've been exploring different bbq dishes that each state is known for, and putting their own twist on them.