The Pitmaster's Podcast

The origin story of Meat Rushmore could be that of many competition barbecue teams — a group of friends bonding over a beloved hobby. In this case, spouses Joel and Katie Fleetwood, along with longtime friends Eric Alfrey and Josh Wunner make up Meat Rushmore, the rare team that has stuck together as the number of competitions, and the stakes, have ramped up. This has led to opportunities such as being featured on the series premier of BBQ USA with Michael Symon, cooking in Tampa at a Super Bowl watch party for Chiefs fans, and at the FIFA Fanfest during the 2026 World Cup in Kansas City. Starting in 2012, they have been honing their skills on the BBQ circuit, and in 2024 won the Made for KC BBQ Championship, winning a contract for a restaurant at the Kansas City Airport for 18 months, which opened in September of 2025. This led to the release of their rub and sauce line, which is winning awards both in rub and sauce competitions, as well as on the KCBS trail with many teams using their products to please both the judges and their friends and family. BBQ just isn't a hobby for Joel. It's his passion. He spent 3 years on the Board of Directors for KCBS, including 1 year as it's President. He believes that if you love something enough, you will do everything you can to promote it and make it better than you left it, and that's what he wants to do with BBQ. Banker by day, BBQ guy by night, he's always figuring out ways to help, whether it's small business clients, his own small business, or the BBQ community as a whole, Joel is always looking to promote, teach, and help take people to new levels.

CJ Frazier is a producer, creator, and community leader with a passion for bringing people together through food and storytelling. He has played a key role in building and leading Blackstone's Griddle Crew, growing it into a nationwide community of creators who have helped shape the culture and personality behind the brand. From producing digital content and television to developing creator programs, live events, and brand experiences, CJ has built his career around the idea that the best content creates connection. For him, it's never just about what happens on the screen—it's about the people and community that form around it.

A born and raised New Yorker, Ruben Santana is the founder and pitmaster behind Bark Barbecue, one of New York City's most talked-about emerging barbecue concepts. Entirely self-taught, Santana developed his craft through years of experimentation, research, and conversations with respected pitmasters across the country, teaching himself the fundamentals of live fire cooking and Central Texas-style barbecue from the ground up. What began in 2020 as a backyard passion project in Ozone Park – smoking brisket from a makeshift rig in his garage and serving food curbside to neighborhood crowds – quickly evolved through grassroots pop-ups across Queens, appearances at Smorgasburg, and a breakout residency at Time Out Market New York. Today, Santana is recognized for bringing a distinctly personal perspective to American barbecue, combining the discipline and technique of Central Texas barbecue with the flavors and culinary traditions of his Dominican heritage. Bark Barbecue has become known for smoked meats infused with Dominican flavors and family recipe-inspired sides, from longaniza and chicharrón to arroz congrí and maduros. His approach expands the conversation around what American barbecue can look and taste like today, while remaining rooted in the craft and traditions that define great barbecue. In July 2026, Santana opened Bark Barbecue's first standalone flagship in Bushwick, Brooklyn – an ambitious 8,000-square-foot restaurant marking the next major evolution of the brand. The new space brings Bark beyond its pop-up and market roots into a fully realized dining destination centered around live fire cooking, hospitality, and the Dominican-American flavors and traditions that have defined Santana's journey from the beginning. Santana's work has earned growing national attention, with Food & Wine and Bon Appetit recognizing Bark Barbecue and Santana among a new generation of restaurants and pitmasters shaping the future of American barbecue. Santana is also featured on the debut season of Food Network's Pitmasters, bringing his approach to barbecue and live fire cooking to a national audience.

I got involved in competition BBQ back in the late 90', cooking with several teams. As a result, I became very interested in building competition smokers. Hence Pit O' Heaven was born. We built trailer mounted smokers from 2000-2004. My oilfield career became so busy that the competition BBQ and smoker building came to a halt. My desire to for competitive cooking was still burning inside. A good friend of mine got me involved in the SCA. Pam and I absolutely fell in love with it. We have traveled to Australia to compete and competed right on the beach in the Bahamas. Pam and I decided to create our own seasoning recipes for competition. As a result of these efforts we debuted of our PitGrit Seasonings Line to the public in March of 2021. The brand has been very successful on the SCA and BBQ competition trails around the world. Our seasonings have been included in the recipes of 4 European SCA Points Championships and 1 Australian SCA Points Championship. And also, SCA, Nationally and Internationally, with 100's of wins and 100's of top 10's and numerous BBQ Grand/Reserve Grand Championships and growing....AND that's just numbers that we are aware of. Also, The national and worldwide success has been way beyond our wildest expectations. Our seasonings have also won awards among the best most successful brands on the market today winning (6) NBBQA Awards of Excellence and with the (5) National Barbecue News Rubs of Honor. Our PitGrit Seasonings may not have a long bbq royalty pedigree behind them, but, our Seasonings are second to none. Our Pitgrit Seasonings record of success and winning absolutely verifies, it's one of the best seasoning lines on the market today, worldwide! Personally, Pam and I have won and walked dozens of SCA Steak Competitions in the USA, Bahamas and in Australia. Just to mention a few, I have personally finished 6th and 12th at the SCA World Championships, won the 2021 Arkansas State Championship and Pam won the 2022 Alabama State Ancillary Championship among other prime events on the SCA Competition Trail. ALL of our seasonings are Original Recipes! We use the finest ingredients to blend our recipes with no fillers and are low in sodium with the exception of the Ribeye Ranch PitGrit - All Purpose. It was designed with higher salt content to be a SPG base for any dish. The reasoning for lower salt content in our other recipes is to allow for the maximum addition of FLAVOR without adding saltiness. Each of our recipes are created to blend well with our other seasonings or some other outstanding brands. Most of all we are extremely blessed to a part of the SCA Family and the Worldwide Competitive Cooking Family. It has been a real blessing to Pam and I! Our story has just begun, GOD BLESS, Stay Tuned, Stay safe and always .........."STAY GRITTY MY FREINDS"

Kettle Krew was born from a simple, stubborn belief. Jimmy of Bearded Boar BBQ, Rick of 304 Smokehouse, and Brandon The Meat Alchemist had all grown tired of the notion that great barbecue demands expensive smokers and elaborate rigs. They set out to prove otherwise — that anyone, armed with nothing more than a basic Weber Kettle and real technique, could turn out barbecue worthy of the pitmasters. What started as a shared conviction quickly grew into a tight-knit community, and eventually into their flagship event: "Running of the Snakes," where they gather to smoke proteins low and slow using the snake method. No gimmicks, no shortcuts — just solid technique, great food, and good people.