🍕 Texas Inspired BBQ With A Canadian Twist
Meet Derek Morrison – Lumber Jack Grill Master. Currently residing in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, Derek has been blogging about BBQ for 5 years. Aside from being an expert on all things cheese, Derek runs an Instagram page with approx. 9,000 followers.
We sat down with Derek to get a sense of his history, experience, and inspiration.
How did you get into BBQ?
I got into bbq at a young age, always helping my dad when he was out cooking and my passion for great bbq has just intensified over the years. I started out with a couple of charcoal grills and a gaser but now I mostly use pellet smokers and a pizza oven.
“I find it just amazing how supportive the bbq community is with one another.”
What was one of your most memorable cooks?
I was asked to cook at the 2019 Toronto Smoke Show in which I took down over 75lbs of food and came home with nothing but amazing comments during and after the show. This was also the show where the phrase “Cheese Porn” was born.
What are you cooking these days?
Nowadays I cook every Saturday for JTK Farms Meat Shoppe. Every weekend we come up with something different to cook with customers walking away truly satisfied with their bbq eats.
What is your favourite thing to cook?
My absolute favourite thing to cook is wood fired desserts like donuts, cast iron cookies or s’mores in a cone.
What type of grills do you cook on?
I currently cook on a couple of pellet grills, a multi fuel pizza oven, flat top griddle and a gas bbq but nothing beats the taste of a wood fired grill.
What’s the most unique thing you’ve grilled or cooked?
I would have to say my Southern inspired dish I have made. It consists of a cornbread base, garlic mash potatoes smeared on top with southern fried chicken and gravy.
What’s your favourite Lumber Jack Pellet flavour?
Char-Hickory. I started using Lumber Jack Pellets a year ago thanks in large part to the fine people at Northern Swine and Steer. With having nothing but amazing results cook after cook and mixing and matching pellets to find the ultimate flavour profile I have really been able to find tune my craft.
Who are your BBQ idols?
Bbq idols is a tough one because I respect everyone who loves to Q. Some of my absolute favourites are Sam Jones who does whole hog bbq, Aaron Franklin who’s book is pure inspiration and Snows Bbq Tootsie Tomanetz who I absolutely adore and hope to still be making great bbq when I reach her age.
What’s your absolute favourite thing to grill?
I absolutely love making pizza from Detroit & Chicago style to New York thin crust right down to basic bread pizza.
Do you have any good tips for BBQ beginners?
A good tip I can offer is to rest all meat! Allow the meat to sit undisturbed and unsliced for 10 to 15 minutes after cooking, as this will allow the juices to redistribute. The bigger the piece of meat, the longer the rest time. Resting meat is an important key to juicy results.
Follow Derek
If you don’t already, be sure to follow Derek @morrisons_bbq on Instagram and Facebook to see what creative stuff he’s cooking up!
