It's time for Barbecue Nation with JT So fire up your grill, light the charcoal, and get your smoker cooking.

Now from the Turnito Burnett studios in Portland, here's jt.

Hey, everybody.

Welcome to the nation.

That's Barbecue Nation.

I'm JT along with my co host Leanne Whippen, and we're coming to you today from our respective studios.

But we've gained a person in this process.

For today, Jess Priles for Hardcore Carnivore.

Jess has not been on the show for, gosh, I think, like four years or five years or something.

It's been a while, but it's great to have her back.

We'd also like to thank the folks at Painter Hills Natural Beef, Beef the way nature intended, and also the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission from sea to plate.

Okay, we got that out of the way.

Hi, ladies.

How are you?

Hi.

Great.

Doing great.

I'm excited to have Jess on.

She's been, like, gone for months and months, and I want to know what she's been up to.

I do, too.

I've been doing all the things.

Yeah, well, what things are the things?

It's very.

It's very exciting.

So I have actually.

It sounds so weird, but I've been traveling.

I was down in Australia doing a couple festivals down there, and then the last couple of months on the road, I have been filming season two of my show, which sounds really weird because I haven't been able to tell anyone what season one is until now.

So it's amazing timing that I get to talk to you guys.

But I guess I'm really excited to share that.

I have a show called Hardcore Carnival coming out on the Outdoor channel.

It premieres September 23rd at 8:30 Central.

It's 10 episodes.

We filmed them last year.

It is a little bit of hunting, a little bit of meat, a little bit of cooking.

If you love meat, this is the show for you.

And I guess it's also a great sign that we already got greenlit for season two, I'll say.

Without even one being out.

That's incredible.

And it's the appropriate channel, I believe.

Yes, it seems.

It seems right.

We're doing a lot of live fire out there.

And, yeah, it's been.

It's been awesome.

I, Outdoor Channel have been really exceptional to work with, honestly, because Leanne, you know as well, like, sometimes when you do traditional network stuff, it's a very, very narrow scope, and you're told that, you know, this is where to stand, this is what to say.

Don't worry that the competition isn't very authentic, because this is how it has to be for TV and.

And, you know, or whatever.

And in this case, it was okay.

What do you want your music to sound like?

Where do you want to go?

Who should we feature?

You know, you want to swear, go for it.

So.

Wow, that's great.

It's a really, really unique.

It's going to be more natural, I reckon.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

Good.

Good for you.

I think that deserves a golf clap.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

Yeah, There you go.

It's.

It's tough to record and to produce a show and to be on a show like that.

What.

Share some of your experiences.

I know you can't give away the secrets of the.

Of the segment contents or episode contents, I should say, but what did you learn doing this?

That's a big learning curve.

It is.

I mean, this is, you know, I guess traditionally Outdoor Channel has been populated by people who film their own stuff and then.

And then provide that to the network.

This was a little different because it.

We actually were.

I'm working with Andrew Zimmerman's production company, who are.

Who are producing this.

So first of all, I got to learn, know really the ins and outs of what it takes to bring a show together with a.

With a full crew and traveling and what's really reasonable and feasible.

But we had some amazing episodes.

I went on my first elk hunt, took my longest shot to get the animal.

There are some episodes where I have great friends along for the ride, kind of teaching me things.

In this case, it was my hunting mentor, Shaundi, and, you know, really, I get to travel to places.

You know, some of it's familiar in Texas, like, there's an episode where I'm dove hunting with my husband, and then some of it is that real exploration piece like a bison ranch that I'd never been to before, and understanding more about bison and how they work and, you know, what it's like to raise them.

So we try and feature everything from what it's like to ranch and raise these animals, be it in a wild state for hunting or for commercial.

You know, I think the world we live in with barbecue, you know, like, we rely on grocery store meat and commercially processed and farmed meat.

But most hunters that I know will still also eat both.

You know, they're their last meal on earth.

If they could have, it would still be a ribeye steak.

So I love that idea of.

Even though it's traditionally a very outdoor hunting channel that we can still say, I think everyone here still Loves meat in all its forms.

So let's talk about it in all its forms.

How did you like elk hunting?

It was awesome.

It was very challenging.

Yeah, it was beautiful.

We were hunting on this extinct volcano crater because they have all of these incredible volcanic landscapes out there in, in eastern Idaho.

And I mean, I just took a cow.

The, the, the elks are massive.

And so I like trying to butcher my own elk, my own animals where possible.

I, this was, this was a challenge.

Oh, yeah, Yeah.

I, I've taken a few of those over my career and once they're on the ground, that's when the work starts, as they say.

And it's a, it's a full day.

And plus getting those at just so you can get them off the hill.

Right.

You know, it's tough like that.

What does your husband think of all this?

Not trying to be too personable, but personal.

But he's got to scratch his head once in a while and go, just, what in the hell are you doing?

Yeah, I think, I think he's used to my BS by now, Jeff, if I'm going to be honest.

But, you know, I think, I know he's proud of me and I think, you know, he always tells me that, that I'm doing a great job and that, you know, I, I think he's been along for this ride with me.

I met him just a couple years after I immigrated and, and it's been, it's been a crazy ride and he's got to watch so much of it happen and be alongside me for a lot of it, so.

Plus, you know, his, his nickname on Instagram is well Fed Chris.

And there's a reason.

So he gets a lot of collateral benefits from this too.

Yes, I think that's great.

I think.

Do you ever do any fishing?

He's the big fishing guy.

He loves saltwater fishing.

I'm very much a land based mammal, so I could definitely see myself doing like a lake or a river somewhere.

But I, I, I need either to be sponsored by Dramamine or to keep my two feet.

Got it.

Something.

Yeah, got it on land.

Well, you can always, guys can always come up here to the Northwest.

We have some great salmon fishing and if you go out far enough, halibut fishing.

Leanne, if you go to Florida, she'll take you bone fishing and some of that stuff.

So.

That sounds awesome.

She's a big fisherman.

Leanne's a big fisherman.

Yeah.

You obviously don't get seasick then, Leanne?

No, not at all.

Never have.

But I, I'VE seen people go through it and it is a horrible thing.

So I get where you're coming from.

They do question her, her method of fishing.

Sometimes when she throws those what we used to call Dupont spinners, which are little quarter sticks of dynamite in the water, make the fish float up.

So I have a question for you.

I mean, you're gone and on the road, how are you managing the business with your meats that you sell?

It's a lot.

It's a lot of work.

It's a lot of organization.

I have a daily planner.

I have notes on my apps.

We have a great team at Hardcore Carnival.

I still do all the R and D and product development and very involved in marketing.

We have an amazing team who take care of the execution of everything else and getting orders fulfilled.

But it takes being organized.

But I think I'm just a naturally driven person and I hate the idea of missing an opportunity.

So I just keep telling myself, sleep when you're dead.

Sleep when you're dead.

You know, you get out on the road, you take your laptop with you, you do what you can when you can.

And.

And there's honestly also a challenge.

Like, you all know, like filming a TV show is enough of a job on its own.

Then I run an entire company on top of that, then I have all of these social media content that I need to create.

And then you have to take calls about stuff that's coming up.

And I'm, you know, giving a talk at a sheep and goat expo next week that has to be written.

So there's always, always something on the go.

But I also feel like I wouldn't have it any other way.

Oh, that's good.

You know, I like, I like the fact that, you know, you are one.

Like you said, not missing an opportunity, but also the old cliche, striking while the iron is hot.

Because opportunities can be fleeting if you're not used to making them for yourselves.

Yeah, they come around and if you don't act on them, there's a whole lot of shoulda, woulda, coulda that people live in their lives.

I've been guilty of that at times when I was overloaded with work.

And I don't have a lot of regret about it, but I look at it and say, I probably should have done that.

I passed on that and I should have taken advantage of it.

So.

So, yeah, I don't want to live with regrets, I guess is a great way of putting it.

So I'm probably nearing a stage where I might need to seriously look into a PA of some kind, even a virtual assistant.

But I just see that as another, like, great sign that things are going right.

Yeah, yeah.

When we've got about a minute left, Jess, before we go to break, so just give you a little heads up there.

But when I first start talked to you, I don't know, seven years ago, six years ago, whenever it was, it was a while, did you think you would.

This is where you would be in 2024?

Did you have any idea?

No, I.

Let me put it this way.

I always had the ambition and never really had a firm plan.

So I don't know that I ever knew exactly where I was headed.

I just knew that I was hungry for it and also mainly just loved what I did.

I love cooking over live fire.

I loved learning about meat science.

So it's easy.

Well, and it's, you know, if you do that road, you're not going to starve.

That's the main thing.

A lot of people take avenues where they want to, you know, be creators on the web or insurance agents or whatever.

But when you work in the food world, you normally will not go hungry, I'll put it that way.

Yeah, that is a plus.

We're going to take a quick break.

We're going to be back with Jess priceless and Ms.

Whippen, hall of Famer.

She's got some stuff coming up too.

We'll talk about a little bit later.

But you're listening to Barbecue Nation on.

Well, what are we on?

We're on all kinds of things.

Our own radio network and all the pod platforms.

So stay with us.

Hey, everybody, it's Jeff here.

I want to tell you about something really cool.

Heritage steel cookware.

I just got mine.

I do a lot of cooking and it's got five ply construction, stay cool handles.

It's titanium strengthened.

It's got all the great stuff.

Just go to HeritageSteel us and find out more.

You'll love it.

I guarantee it.

Welcome back to the nation.

That's Barbecue Nation.

I'm JT along with my co host, Leanne Whippen, hall of Famer.

As I always like to just kind of throw that in there.

You can find us on all the social media platforms and pages between the show and Leanne's personal platforms and that and mine and Facebook and Twitter and Instagram.

And as soon as they invent another one, we usually end up on it.

So we'll do that.

Today we're talking with Jess Priles, Hardcore Carnivore.

How much time do you actually get to work on your R and D.

You mentioned that of the middle of the last segment, but I'm curious because are you actually, if you're out there, let's take the elk trip again.

You're out there and you knock down a cow.

You know, there's always a camp meet aspect of those types of trips.

Were you able to cut up the tenderloin or anything and do it with that or live fire with.

It's definitely harder to get more creative when you're on a shoot because there's always a schedule.

There's.

And things need to happen in order so you get less opportunity to mess around.

But I think what travel does let you do is take the inspirations that are part of the R D.

So it's not merely just recipe testing, but, you know, within hardcore Carnival, we've got nine seasonings, we've got a sauce, we've got a chili mix.

And I'm always thinking about more seasoning flavors and also more innovative products because we also have a bunch of accessories.

So it's like.

I mean, I remember when I brought out our trimming knife as part of the line when I first moved to this country.

I knew that a 6 inch semi flexible boning knife was what every butcher in the world used.

Everyone who works in a processing plant.

But I didn't see it as much in the meat world.

You know, a lot of people still just use a chef's knife to trim or, um, you.

It just.

It just wasn't as prevalent.

It certainly wasn't in hunting kits.

And it's the best thing to take a backstrap out with.

So it's not just the products, the, the can, the consumable products.

It's also the grilling accessories.

But you know, I think that travel helps create and spark inspiration.

And then there are just ideas.

I was on the phone to someone a couple of weeks ago and I.

I hatched this idea for a completely new concept of how to use a seasoning.

And within 24 hours I had some calls out to get some ingredients in.

You know, like a mad scientist in my kitchen, weighing out the amounts and putting it to the test and putting it through it.

So I think when you.

When you're hit with that bug and you're hit with the idea, you just make the time.

And if I'm on the road, I write down furiously until I can get back to the kitchen to experiment with it.

Does the production company look at you sometimes and go, now what she doing?

100%.

So what's your best selling spice, our.

Black Seasoning, is easily a bestseller.

And that was the first one that I came out with.

I, I, you know, the chances are for, for, for your listeners that if they use anything that has charcoal in it, that's a seasoning they can probably attribute to the popularity of, of our line that I launched.

I had seen it being used, charcoal being used at the time in like, a lot of health food products like shakes and smoothies and muffins and stuff.

And I was like, wow, that shade is so interesting.

I wonder if you could put it in a barbecue rub.

And that's sort of where that whole idea came from.

And then everything else that we've added to the line has also just been, oh, I feel like I could make a really good jalapeno salt.

What do I want fajita rub to taste like?

So instead of sitting down and, and I think my business has done well because I've sat down and created products that I've loved rather than sat down at a big whiteboard in a corporate office and said, what do we need to strategically move into in the market?

What's selling, what flavors are selling right now?

So at the end of the day, if people like your product, they're going to keep repurchasing.

It's easy to sell something once, especially in today's environment on social media, where people are willing to give everything kind of a try.

But I think the fact that we're here, you know, eight, eight, nine years later, still in business, is a testament to the actual products and the actual recipes.

And I just make them the way that I think meat should taste.

I like the way you slipped into the Valley girl thing there when you were talking about smoothies and stuff.

I thought that was great.

My accent's all over the shop, guys.

It's all right.

Do you think a little insight from.

You've had really good success with everything you've done, Jess.

But you were just talking about whiteboard versus actual applications of what your thoughts are.

Do you think that sometimes people.

There's a lot of rubs and spices out there now.

Tons.

I mean, all you have to do is watch any social media feed saturated, and it just gets piled on daily.

Do you think people are actually putting the time into it?

And I'm not being critical of them.

It's just like Leanne said, it's such a saturated market.

Do you think they're putting the time into it to actually make theirs different respectively, or do some people are doing it just because they've gained to a certain level in maybe competition, barbecue or whatever, and they feel they need one.

It's a great question, honestly.

I mean, I, I think I should start by saying there are certainly some people out there that are, you know, there's a lot of people out there that are putting products out because they believe in them.

They, they, that's, that's their special seasoning that everyone that they have over and cook for loves.

And they really believe that others will love it, and that's a great place to come from.

I think that it's, it's gone well beyond competition barbecue, and now it's just about, I guess, social influences, like a lot of the main brands now, you know, I'm not going to name them, but there's two very big influences with multiple millions of followers who all started off using hardcore carnival black.

And they all have their own spice line now, and they all have a black seasoning in their spice line.

Slightly different flavor profile, but you can trace where that came from and that when that happens, that's purely a money thing.

Right?

Social media is a very dangerous, scary place.

I always call it building your dream house on rented land.

A lot of people can get really sucked in by it.

You can get tempted by it.

It's easier than ever to go viral.

Meat is always a popular, popular topic.

And then you get excited and you start making more videos.

I mean, and I feel like a dinosaur on there.

I've been on Instagram for over 10 years, which is considered, you know, an ancient throwaway account at that point.

But all of these newer creators are given a taste of it, and then they realize, like, oh, I think I can sell things to people, or I used someone's seasoning, therefore I should have my own seasoning.

It's an easy thing to get into.

It's got a long shelf life you're not going to get.

You've got lower risk, like dealing with fre meat, for example.

So there's a low barrier to entry.

And I think that's why we're seeing that huge, huge spike in it.

And like I said, I think that all consumers are willing to try anything once, but it's about coming back to those brands, and not even the brands, but the flavors they like.

So whether you're an influencer or a competition winner or a Hall of Famer or whatever it is, if you have a product that you created because it tastes great, you resonate with people and they enjoy it, you, you ultimately, I think, will enjoy some success.

But there's a lot to wade through.

Like you said, Leanne, we've got to take another break.

We're going to be back with Jess and Leanne right after this on the Nation.

Stay with us.

Hey, everybody, it's JT And I have eaten.

If you've ever looked at me, you know that.

But I have eaten seafood all over the world and I can tell you there's place better than here in Oregon and our Dungeness crab.

If you want to learn more about Oregon Dungeness crab, just go to oregondungeness.org and find out how to cook it, how to catch it, where to buy it, and the sustainability of what they're doing there in the Oregon Crab Commission.

Check it out.

Welcome back to Barbecue Nation.

I'm JT along with my co pilot, co commander, co conspirator, Leanne Whippett.

And today we're very pleased to have Jess Priles with us from Hardcore Carnivore.

And again, we'd like to thank the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission and Painted Hills Natural Beef.

Great people to work with, both of them.

Put on your Kreskin hat if you know who Kreskin is.

He was an old character on Johnny Carson show, so that I'm dating myself there.

Okay.

We didn't have Johnny Carson in Australia.

Sorry.

You did have some funny people the times I was down there.

You had some very hilarious people on the airwaves down there.

We did.

Apparently we have very funny break dances as well.

Oh, my goodness.

Yes, yes, I saw that.

Where do you see yourself in say, five years, ten years, Jesse?

Ooh, definitely.

Still in Texas.

I don't know.

I don't have a good answer.

It's an extension of what I said before.

I'm constantly looking to put stuff in the development pipeline, like what projects can I get involved in?

What food festivals can I get involved in?

What R and D can I do?

But in terms of an actual thought out game plan, still somewhat lacking.

So I don't know, I mean, maybe I'll, maybe I'll have a little ranch somewhere that, that, that I'll be on or have my own beef brand.

Who knows?

Well, there you go.

Yeah.

I will comment and say I am impressed that you have a record player in the back there, a turntable for lps or albums.

I love that.

I love to see that.

I'm, I'm, I'm a vinyl guy.

I don't have too many anymore like that.

But whenever I see my husband's, I'll be honest with you.

I do have like two Metallica records still on vinyl.

But I will say that all of these are.

All these skulls are mine, so.

Okay, I ate, I ate all of these.

Anybody ever give you a hard time about your, your prowess for big game harvesting?

That's a very nice way to put it, I might add.

That was very nice.

Thank you.

Yeah, I mean, I'll.

I'll call it killing.

That's fine.

Jeff.

I.

So I will say something.

I'm not a big game hunter in that I've never want.

I don't think I would have hunted elk if it weren't for the show.

I'm glad that I did it, but I love hunting whitetail.

I love hunting dove.

I love hunting things in Texas on low fence ranches.

I've never had any desire to go and, you know, go to Africa and kill a lion.

Yeah, yeah, that's just not, that's not of interest to me.

You know, mad, mad respect to anyone who wants to do that, but that's just not my thing.

Everything that I've hunted is just stuff that again, I processed everything myself except that elk, because we were in Idaho and that still annoys me to this day.

We did some of it, but it was very hot that day.

But, yeah, you have to move quick on those two.

Yeah, you do.

So you don't.

I mean, it's, it's such a big part of, you know, the safety, but also the quality of the meat and that, that eating experience as well.

But I learned to hunt when I moved to Texas and I think it's a really important part of being a meat eater.

I don't like dispatching the animal.

I work really hard to make sure that, that death happens as instantly and as quick as possible.

And I think Anthony Bourdain is famous for saying there is a direct correlation between animal welfare and how good meat tastes, which is great because everyone's happy, you know, it hits everyone's ideal.

And yeah, I'm, you know, I love my dogs, I love my squirrels.

So I'm, I'm an animal lover, but I'm also a carnivore.

And I think you can do both with a really humane attitude.

Oh, yeah.

I, you know, don't get me wrong, I used to call it Bambi blasting, and that raised a few, few eyebrows when I.

They'd say, where are you going?

Oh, we're going to eastern Oregon.

Go Bambi blasting for a week.

Yeah, But I was the same way.

I don't.

Even though I hunted a lot, I don't do Very much of it anymore.

Excuse me.

But it was to.

It was to get the meat and to utilize the hides for whatever and, and that I never killed anything like that unless it was to put it out of its misery.

If it had been wounded or something by somebody else and it was, you know, that was a kind thing to do, I always thought.

But yeah, I don't like people who just like to go shoot them.

To shoot them.

Yeah, just to, you know, do that anyway.

Do you have a favorite kind of game animal that you like to consume?

I mean, probably just whitetail.

I, I've, I've shot an axis or two in my time because they're now feral here in Texas.

They've gotten out of a lot of high fence ranches and they breed twice as fast as the whitetails.

I don't think there's such a stark difference between the meat.

A lot of people like axis is the best you can get.

They do eat different, differently to whitetails.

And as we all know, you know, what the animal consumes is going to affect that flavor profile as well.

Right.

But I love, I love hunting whitetail.

You know, we live such busy lives.

Even though I hunt on a feeder here in Texas, I go out to my buddy's ranch, we get up before the sun comes up, we sit in this tiny little wooden box together, and you just watch the sun come up and you watch the shadows play.

Is that a mesquite bush?

Is it an antler?

And it's one of the only times, I think, in a very busy urban life, aside from maybe cooking over a campfire at night, that you can zen out and really be present and really hyper focused in nature.

So I do love that aspect as well.

Yeah, ours was always.

Well, we have two different styles here in the Northwest.

You have the western where we live, which is a lot of dense forest, that type of thing.

I preferred to go to eastern Oregon where you were in the taller timber or the sagebrush country.

And that was my, really, my favorite is hunting in the sagebrush and you crawl up on the rim rocks and, you know, sometimes you could spook a nice buck out of the.

Their bed in the mornings and all that, but.

And check for ticks later too, right?

Yeah, oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, you had to do that.

But the great thing about that over there too was there was always quail or chukar or pheasant hunting to go along with it.

And as the deer were cooling in the cooler, we were, we were pretty spoiled.

But I, I could go out and Harvest.

I love the way people say that.

I'd go out and harvest a couple of pheasants or something, and we'd have them for dinner.

I could take them in and cook them for dinner.

Okay.

So to me, it was a.

This grand experience.

Experience all the time to.

Even though we were staying in a house that had satellite TV and et cetera, et cetera, you could still eat off the land.

And I love that.

Yeah, it's a.

It's a.

It's very empowering.

It's very empowering to one thing.

It feels great to be able to cook meat well.

It feels great to know where the cuts came from on the carcass, and it feels great.

It feels great to be able to know that if push came to shove, you know, you could absolutely do the.

The full gamut of it.

I grew up very urban, no agricultural background whatsoever.

And so it really reconnects you back.

To your food when you go back to Australia.

And I know you go back there and you've judged and you film stuff and you've given talks, et cetera, et cetera.

And I'm sure you're more than well received when you get down there now.

But do some people that you, like, maybe grew up with think that you've really changed and expanded or, you know, you can't really hunt in Australia that much.

You can.

It's really not common because we.

We have much stricter firearm laws, but we also have access and fallow deer in Australia that are not native and have gone wild.

And they also have to hunt and cull kangaroos.

Right.

They eat the farmer's crops.

But I never.

Yeah, it's.

It's not as prevalent in the culture.

And as part, you know, you need to go and find the hunters.

They're not going to just be around.

We don't have a bass pro, you know.

Right.

Right.

Anywhere near us.

So.

Yeah, I think it was really weird for my mom, especially where she was, like, the first time that I showed her pictures of, you know, hunting or skinning a deer.

She's like, what happened to the girl who used to watch the Barbies, you know, play with Barbies?

And like, that's still me.

I still love to dress up.

And Leanne could probably attend answers to this, too.

I think that's the beautiful part about being a woman.

You know, we can get our hands dirty and excel at something we're really passionate about, but also want to dress up and go out on the town, and it's okay to be both things.

Yeah, absolutely.

Leanne, did you ever hunt?

No, just fish.

You just like to slay the scaly things.

Yeah, I just was not raised around it, like, I didn't know any hunters and.

No, I just wasn't around it.

Yeah, well, you know, one now.

You know a couple of them now.

Yeah, I definitely would have tried it.

I think.

I know I would.

But again, you know, until you do something, you don't know how you're going to feel about it, so.

Well, you can go down to the glades and hunt the wild pythons or boa constrictors.

They pay a bounty on them.

Yeah, the gators.

Yeah.

I think there's wild iguanas somewhere in the canals down there, too.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I was going to tell you, Jess, my first trip down under this long time ago, they had just changed the gun laws.

There wasn't.

Okay.

But they wanted to take me kangaroo hunting.

Bear with me.

I'll make it quick, though.

So the people I was staying with, they didn't have any firearms, but a guy knew a guy knew a guy.

All right?

So they show up and they give me this bolt action.22.

It's not a.22 mag, it's just a.22 long rifle.

And we go out on the quote unquote Queensland, right?

And I'm tromping around out there in the bush and, you know, you see the little guys, the wallabies, whatever, and some smaller ruse like that.

And then there's a couple of big reds, and they wanted me to shoot a big red.

And I'm standing there and I'm looking at this thing.

It's about 25 yards away from me, and I'm a pretty good shot.

And I think, you know something, big guy, if you shoot that thing, you're just gonna piss him off because this.22 isn't big enough to do anything but, like, be a little fly nick on his.

So I just turn around, made my way back to the.

The car and great adventure like that, but.

And then I went and bought a couple of kangaroo skins the next day and had them shipped home.

So there's.

There's my kangaroo hunting story for you.

But that, I mean, I love it, Jeff, because that's responsible hunting.

You know, if you know that you're going to do more harm than anything else, don't just take the shot.

That's why, you know, I started on a.243, which can take care of a lot of stuff here in Texas.

But there were one or two instances where I just wasn't happy with how quickly it went down.

And initially I picked 243 because it had lower kickback.

And, you know, I was new to all of it.

And now I hunt on a 6, 8 Western, which can knock down absolutely everything.

And that also that confidence behind knowing, like, I would rather lose some meat from the shoulder and have that animal expire immediately.

Right.

And cause suffer issue.

Right.

Yep.

Yeah.

I just had these visions of that big bugger coming over and wrapping his paws and rocking back in his tail and.

Yeah, no, I was good.

Anyway, we're gonna take a break.

Come back with Jess and Leanne on the Nation right after this.

I hope you're enjoying the hunting stories today.

I am, yes.

Hey, everybody, it's jt.

You know, I talk about Painted Hills all the time, and we always say beef the way nature intended.

But it's more than that because each bite of Painted Hills will make your taste buds explode.

Put a big, bright smile on your face, and whoever's at your dinner table will have a big, bright smile on their face.

And you can thank me for that later.

Just go to paintedhillsbeef.com and find out more.

You won't regret it.

Hey, everybody, J.T.

Here.

I want to tell you about Hammerstahl knives.

Hammer Stahl combines German steel with beautiful and functioning designs.

They're part of the Heritage steel group, which also does their pots and pans.

So go to heritagesteel us.

Check out the Hammer Stahl knives.

If you're really into cooking, I think you're really going to like them.

Welcome back to Barbecue Nation.

I'm JT along with Leanne Whippen and also Jess Priles from Hardcore Carnivore.

Jess is going to stick around for after hours.

I don't even think we did after hours when the first time she was on the show on, I.

I don't know how far back we started that.

She doesn't know what she's in for.

No, but it'll be a.

It'll be a treat like that.

So.

So from the first time I talked to you to now, it's been a bit of time.

What do you think?

Let's go back to the live fire cooking for a second.

What do you think is the biggest thing you've learned?

Because we always learn.

We're always learning something.

You know, every day we're learning something.

But when you're in the middle of it, like you are and Leanne is you, you learn more faster.

So what is the biggest thing you think you've Learned about live fire cooking.

I mean, honestly, two things.

One is it's actually all personal preference, and if that, like, cooking style, finishing, doneness, I know what I like, and that's what I'll always promote.

But I.

I know that others disagree sometimes, but the biggest thing has probably been the jkf, which I'm.

I'm sort of semi infamous for, which is just keep flipping.

When I started to learn to grill, I was kind of mainly doing reverse sear because it's.

I call that like cooking with the training wheels on, because you're going to get that perfect coast to coast medium, which is which.

Which for a long time, especially as the rise of, you know, visually cutting your meat, showing your steak online became more popular, the internal doneness was nearly more popular and important than the crust.

And then I found myself naturally starting to cook with this flipping style that started, honestly, just out of impatience, but also because I was never getting a great sear like I wanted from that reverse sear because I was so paranoid that I could only sear it for a minute so that I don't overcook it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And so I naturally started cooking in this, like, very, very high heat, quick, fast moving.

I.

I will say, like, arguably some of them go towards being charred, but I love that flavor.

And that's what I'm saying about personal preference.

Like, a perfect Maillard is delicious, for sure, but I'm not afraid of, like, pushing it towards that really dark brown char.

So that's just been something that I guess I.

I shared with people more as, like, hey, this is just how I cook it.

It happens faster.

You get a great crust, and you're not waiting as long as you would for reverse sear.

But honestly, focusing on the meat science had probably the most impact for me because I think since last time we spoke, Jeff, I've got that little certificate behind you, behind me there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Which is my.

My graduate certificate from Iowa State University in meat science.

Who would have thought that I would have gone to school in Iowa?

Right?

Another.

Another golf clap for Jeff.

Thank you.

You know, our.

Our motto here on the show is turn it, don't burn it.

Yeah.

So going with the theme of things.

Yeah, it is, it is.

And I find that interesting.

Leanne and I have talked about this tons over the last few years, but I think there was this misnomer, if you will, that you couldn't turn it.

You know, you couldn't.

You couldn't adjust it on the, on the fire.

You couldn't adjust it on the grill.

You were once.

It was there.

It was there.

And then, you know, you, you only turned it alone.

Yeah.

Leave it alone.

And, and, you know, and personally, I don't give a rip about grill marks.

That's, that's just me.

I don't care about that.

I'm not, I'm not.

Every steak I cook or whatever is not going to be a photograph and out on social media, you know, so I don't care about that really.

I care about.

What you were just talking about and Leanne has talked about for a long time is the quality and the flavor and to get it just right.

That's, that's kind of my gig.

I posted a video recently, Jeff, where I said, the reason that I don't care about grill marks is because you're only getting that Maillard sear on the areas where those grills are touching.

I want a full.

See it.

If you go to any high end steakhouse in this country, and I'm not talking about, you know, a longhorn steak and cattle or what, you know, Texas roadhouse or whatever, a real good quality steakhouse is always going to have something that they cook with that's going to give them a complete sear over the whole surface.

Usually it's a really, really high heat, like salamander style grill that they finish in.

But I, I think that's just universally accepted by, you know, by people who are more into culinary that you want more of that Maillard, you want more of that flavor, you want more of that crust in addition to that beefy flavor within.

Right.

No, I agree, I agree.

I just, I think we're progressing now.

Enough with the actual cooking and the science, not just the barbecue of wow, we threw it on the smoker for 15 hours and it was great.

Nothing wrong with that.

But I think people are getting wiser because one of the positive advents of the Internet and social media is there's a lot of information out of there, out there.

Some of it's not very good, but a lot of it is.

And if you pay attention, I think it can really help people.

Yeah, if you just pay attention to you or Leanne.

No, I mean, it's serious for a second, which is unlike me, but, you know, with the amount of work that you two have done and Leanne has done tons and tons of it, I think people can wrap their head around that instead of always just having to be, well, my grandpa did it this way and so I'm going to do it this way.

Yeah, I Mean, all they have to.

Do is try it like with.

With Jess's method and taste it and they're hooked.

It's just a matter of getting to do it once, one time.

Yeah, no, that's true.

That's very true.

And I.

And I think that.

I think that both of you being women and that garners its own audience in a way and the experience.

Works.

Out really well for people.

That's kind of one of my big things.

Meathead and Leanne and I talked about this a few shows back where it was like, yeah, this show is partly entertainment, but it's also educational, hopefully at times when I don't go off the deep end.

But it is because meat is expensive for people and for some people it's actually kind of a luxury.

Let's take care of it and serve it properly and do all that.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox there.

Sorry about that.

I think it's great.

We just got a minute or so left here.

Jess, will you tell people where they can find you in the vast sea of information?

The good news is it's just under my own name.

So my website and all my social handles are Jess Priles, J S S P R Y L E S and you can find me through the hardcore carnival channels.

We do post different stuff to each.

So.

Yeah, come say hi.

I'm looking forward to seeing your show.

Thank you so much.

I'm so excited.

That effect, effectively.

You guys got the first release of.

This is the announcement.

So very exciting to be talking about it.

Another golf.

LAUGHTER Another golf.

Okay, here this is.

Do you have hats for your show?

You have production hats?

Yeah, I mean, we sell.

We have high quality hats anyway.

Okay.

So you.

I will expect and so will Leanne, a signed hat from you about the production.

And I'll be.

I'll proudly wear it on this show and even the golf show.

Done.

I'll even wear it on tv.

So there you go with all our free time.

Sure.

Yeah.

That'll be the new PA's first job.

Job, right, yeah, do that.

You know, I don't know what they have to pay them these days, but back when we were getting started in this stuff, PAs were not that very expensive because we always told them they were kind of like interns, so you could really abuse the hell out of them, you know?

Yeah, I don't think they fly with that anymore.

But, you know, it'd be nice.

It's worth the sanity.

Yeah, well, give it a try.

Give it.

You know, all they can do is say no.

So, you know, you know, do that.

Jess Priles, thank you.

Jess is going to stick around for after hours, and we're very grateful that she took the time out of her busy schedule, literally, very busy schedule, to be with us today.

Yes.

Just got home and try to get some rest at some point.

We'll be back.

We'll be back next week with another edition of Barbecue Nation.

So for Leanne and Jess and myself, we thank you for listening.

Remember our motto here.

Turn it it, don't burn it.

Take care, everybody.

Barbecue Nation is produced by JTSD LLC Productions in association with Salem Media Group.

All rights reserved.