Meat Church Enters the Charcoal Chat + The Business Behind the Smoke
what’s the best food scene from a movie or TV show?
Because barbecue is always a mix of serious and silly. It’s headlines and side-eyes. It’s culture and commerce. It’s tradition, and then somebody shows up with a new way to do an old thing and suddenly we’re all standing around with our arms crossed like judges at a county fair. That’s where this week starts. We have a personality shake-up in the barbecue universe: Unc, also known as Mr. Tendernisim, also known as Walt, reportedly fired from Destination Barbecue and reportedly opening up shop in Houston with help from a local rapper. That’s a reminder that barbecue is not just food anymore. It’s media. It’s brand. It’s who owns the story this week. Then you’ve got Meat Church officially entering the charcoal chat with a line of briquettes, lump, and wood chips.
If you’re paying attention, you can see what’s happening: the audience is the asset, and the fuel is part of the ecosystem. That’s not just a product move, it’s positioning. At the same time, the business side is getting heavy. Carey “Pegleg Porker” Bringle is sounding the alarm again about local tax increases in Nashville, calling out how it’s hurting the local economy and pushing small independent businesses toward the edge. That’s the part that matters to me, because the culture doesn’t survive if the people doing the work can’t afford to stay open.
And since it’s The Fireside, I’m going to ask you the same question we put on the table: what’s the best food scene from a movie or TV show? That question always reveals something about a person.
We took a detour for National Tootsie Roll Day, too. Leo Hirschfield created it back in 1896, trying to make an inexpensive chocolate that wouldn’t melt in the heat, and he named it after his daughter’s nickname, “Tootsie.” I love that origin story because it’s practical. It’s built for the real world. That’s barbecue energy. Then we got into “News You Can’t Use,” and I’m not going to lie, this one made me smile: Char-Broil launched a new dual electric and charcoal grill in the UK. Electric grilling and charcoal smoking in one unit. “Fast burger grilling and charcoal smoke for brisket all in one unit.” Where does that land for the everyday cook? I don’t have a one-size-fits-all answer, but I do know this: convenience is not going away. And neither is the need for craft. The tension between those two forces is exactly why people argue about barbecue like it’s religion. Which brings me to the moment that really lit up my brain.
Texas-style brisket is making a splash in Korea. Imported offsets. Real brisket. The tray with pickles, onions, and even white bread. As Korean BBQ conquered America, brisket is making a run in Korea. We joked about it being a cultural handshake, and even joked about coming up with a snappy name like Lone Star Low, T-Cue, or TXQ. We also laid out what we all know and agree on: BBQ is regional. Black pitmasters built American BBQ. Techniques were passed down and earned, not downloaded. Wood matters. Time matters. The craft matters.
So yes, protecting tradition matters.
But we also said the quiet part out loud: pellet grills might not be the tool of choice for everybody, but they’re making smoke accessible. Backyard cooks are learning through YouTube. AI is beating down our doors. BBQ is evolving, and if innovation is blocked, culture stagnates. Then we asked the kind of question that makes people uncomfortable in the best way: if a Korean pitmaster smokes brisket better than a Texan, is it still Texas BBQ? And here’s the filter I want to leave you with, because it’s the one that cuts through all the noise:
Before you call something “not real BBQ,” ask yourself one thing. Did it bring people together? If it fed family, created community, made somebody smile over smoke, that’s barbecue. Period. Now I want to hear from you.
Where’s your line in the sand, and why?