Hello Readers! I’m Charles A. Shepherd from Defiance, Ohio. I’m passionate about food, A tad bit overweight, love country music, and I can grill a piece of meat in 64 different ways!
If you’re wondering why my name seems so familiar, then, let me clarify that for ya! I do share my name with a renowned English photographer, whose works were popular during the second half of 19th century. I haven’t checked if he’s a forefather, but it’s just one of the many pieces of trivia I’ve gathered about myself over the years.
I am slightly overweight, mostly because I eat up all the things I experiment with and make! If I have to pick a favourite kind of food, it’ll have to be grilled food. In fact, like I said earlier, I’ve tweaked and experimented and have come up with 64 grilling techniques.
I’ve travelled miles across the country to sample and savour some of the best barbeque the country has on offer. And you wouldn’t believe the places in which I’ve found perfect ribs, brisket and pulled pork at!
I’m hoping to own my own restaurant some day so I can share my passion for food and experimentation with the people of the world! Ain’t nothin’ like a great barbeque.
I find my inspiration while listening to music. Music and Food can be quite a heady combination, and this is definitely going to play a big part in the concept of my restaurant.
Before the internet, I was just a regular joe – contractor by day and foodie by night. My day job made sure that I had enough money to travel the length and breadth of this country to find the best barbeque money can buy. And trust me, I’ve had everything from the perfect pulled pork and smoked brisket, to stuff that is a travesty in the name of barbeque.
Do you want to know the biggest discovery of mine over the years? The best barbeque comes out of the American backyard. A grill, some beer, friends, and coal smoked meat on the 4th of July and lots of love in the food; it’s a kind of perfect storm of ingredients!
Food is central to all my other hobbies – music, photography and travel. Everything I do comes back to one thing – food. IF you’re here after reading one of my blog posts, you’ll realise that I love not just eating but also photographing my food for posterity. Why? It just makes me happy to be able to document the things I love and share it with the world.
Anyway, I digress. Let’s get down to business! Barbeque is an art form. It takes a lot of patience to find the right proportions of spices for your dry rub, the wood chips needed for the smoking, and the perfect grilling equipment you need. For a barbeque the grill is everything. IT doesn’t have to be some fancy some or other like the one that Phil got his father-in-law in Modern Family, only to have it go all crazy on him and waste all that good meat!
Even a basic outdoor grill can get you the best results if you know what you are doing and want to learn. Which is where I come in! This blog has detailed images, reviews, and tips and hacks about BBQ that you would usually find scattered all over the internet. Trust me, it’s not fun to have 20 tabs open when you are trying to figure out what to do with a brisket!
Barbeque is ultimately all about the recipe – a great dry rub will ensure that you get a perfectly smoked cut of meat that’s seasoned to perfection and has you leaning back in your chair in utter happiness. You know you’ve have excellent barbeque when you’ve had to loosen your pants.
Buying a grill is only part of the process. A grill is just going to sit around making you feel like you’ve wasted your time and are using up valuable space in your home. There’s so much more you need – like coals, lighting fluid, spatulas and forks to handle the bigger cuts of meat, a good cooler where you can keep your six pack so that you don’t have to leave the grill alone while you go inside to get a refill! – you know important stuff like that.
This blog has some fun posts about barbeques and grills, some serious technical posts about barbeques and grills, some tried and tested recipes that you can use freely with guaranteed success every single time. We even have a handy segment on barbeques in the winter.
For the record, barbeque is no longer confined to certain parts of the country. You’ll be surprised to know that even cities like New York have excellent barbeque. Surprising, isn’t it? In fact, there are plenty of food trucks that serve some excellent barbeque, and they have their own smokers too! It’s amazing how much people have embraced this slow cooking method and how popular it is.
All that being said, sometimes the best thing to do is to grill/barbeque at home. Although it is a tedious job there’s nothing more satisfying that grilling a steak to perfection with a perfect sear and seasoning the way you like it without having to send it back. It’s great to enjoy meals we love in the comfort of our home. Not only do they offer a great bonding experience, they also give you a better appreciation of what goes on your plate.
If you’ve read this far, I must say you are patient. This blog has a lot more to say about BBQ and Grilling that I can accommodate in this one page. So go ahead and take a look around – if you need ideas for accommodating a grill in your home (any size and shape), recipe ideas, all about cuts of meat, wood, smoking methods and tips – you’ve stopped at the right corner of the internet. I hope you enjoy this website and everything that we’ve put together! May the grill be with you!
