Melissa Cookston's journey is steeped in the traditions of Southern barbecue, evolving from a childhood passion to world championship titles and a dedication to fostering the next generation of pitmasters. Her story is one of perseverance, skill, and a deep love for the art of barbecue.
Roots in Memphis-Style BBQ
Growing up in Mississippi, Cookston developed a passion for "cue" around pit-fire grills and Southern Delta cooking. She considers Memphis-style barbecue the best, a preference rooted in her Mid-South upbringing where Memphis in May (MIM) reigns supreme. While others may champion the American Royal or Houston Livestock Show, for Cookston, MIM has always been the pinnacle.
Conquering Memphis in May
Cookston's competitive journey at Memphis in May began in 2008. Before that, she had been cooking contest for years. The expense of entering MIM had been a barrier. MIM is a culinary spectacle that draws teams from across the nation and the world.
Memphis-style BBQ contests, like MIM, differ significantly from other BBQ competitions. First, they focus exclusively on pork. Pork reigns supreme in this region. There is also a preference for baby-back ribs over St. Louis ribs. Memphis-style contests incorporate on-site judging where judges visit the team's booth, listen to the pitmasters, and score them on their presentation and BBQ knowledge. This on-site judging has led to teams focusing on elaborate booths and setups. Teams create extravagant booths, beautifully decorated and exceptionally clean areas for the judges. The Thursday and Friday nights before judging are filled with huge parties, catering, DJs, and tons of people.
Cookston has made a name for herself as a whole-hog cook. While her career boasts more rib awards, whole hog cooking is her true passion because of the challenge that you’ll never perfect. Each hog presents unique challenges due to variations in fat content, muscle structure, and weight. Judges evaluate the shoulder, loin, and ham separately. The ham, being a large piece of meat with less fat and collagen, cooks quickly and can dry out. Loins are very lean and exposed to heat. Shoulders have lots of fats, connective tissue, and collagens that must be broken down to get tender, juicy meat. Balancing these factors is key to cooking a whole hog successfully.
Read also: Explore the comprehensive guide to massage therapy
From 2008 onwards, Cookston competed in 15 consecutive Memphis in May contests, consistently achieving top 10 finishes. She managed 5 first places and two overall grand championships, a record she holds with pride.
Beyond the Competition: Businesses and Giving Back
Cookston's focus has shifted towards her businesses, including Memphis BBQ Company and The BBQ Allstars, where she sells her sauces and rubs and ships food across the nation. More importantly, she wants to dedicate more time to her non-profit foundation, The World JR BBQ League (WJBL). The WJBL organizes BBQ events for young people, teaching them cooking skills and life skills such as leadership, teamwork, planning, and focus.
Debunking BBQ Myths with an Expert Touch
The world of barbecue is full of assumptions, but Cookston helps debunk some common myths.
Smoke is Just Another Ingredient
The purpose of barbecuing meat is to make it taste smoky, so it might seem like you should try to maximize that flavor at all costs. Not so, says Cookston - when it comes to smoke, there's a real danger of having too much of a good thing and that smoke should be treated like any other ingredient. Certain woods put out more smoke flavor than others, and certain meats taste better with more smoke. "If you have white meats like chicken or pork you need to use lighter woods for smoking," notes Cookston. In those cases, she recommends fruit woods such as apple, cherry, or peach.
Meat Stops Absorbing Smoke
Meat stops absorbing smoke long before it's fully cooked. "Once meat reaches an internal temperature of around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, it really doesn't take much more smoke - those pores close up," she says.
Read also: Weight Loss and Community: Melissa Radke's Experience
Soaking Wood is a Misconception
Soaking chips would be great if it worked, but Cookston doesn't recommend the technique. She told us, "When you soak wood, it really won't smoke until it's dry … soaking wood is really kind of a misconception." Rather than giving you a long, controlled burn, soaked chips merely steam until they finally catch fire. During the steaming process, they're not imparting any smoke flavor to your meat. Fortunately, there is a strategy that actually works if you want to add wood less frequently: smoke over larger chunks of wood.
You Don't Need Fancy Gear
You can make excellent barbecue on a Weber kettle grill that only costs a little over $100. "I think you just have to know your equipment and treat each piece of equipment for what it's designed for," she says.
Smoke Rings Don't Guarantee Flavor
A smoke ring is the pink border that often shows up in slices of smoked meat. The pink ring around a piece of barbecue is created by a chemical reaction between the nitric oxide in smoke and the myoglobin in meat. Cookston knows this, and that's why she doesn't pay much attention to smoke rings when she judges barbecue.
Basting is Optional
While Cookston isn't opposed to basting, it isn't part of her repertoire. She eschews basting in favor of other strategies for adding moisture to her barbecue, including injecting her meats with broth before cooking. "If you're opening that door you're losing all your heat, which you have to gain back," she notes.
Tailor Rubs to the Meat
The same as she does with wood, Cookston likes to tailor her seasoning mixes to the specific meats she's preparing. Different proteins obviously have different flavors, so it doesn't make sense to season them with a one-size-fits-all approach. "Pork and chicken are delicate meats, and just like smoke, you don't want to have any forward flavors," Cookston says. "You need a well-balanced flavor, so I try to get a little sweet, a little salty, a little umami, maybe a little heat in the back.
Read also: Weight Loss Strategies of Melissa Gorga
Sauce is a Personal Preference
While Cookston has very specific ideas about the types of woods and rubs to pair with specific meats, sauce choice comes down much more to the individual preferences of diners. "Moving from chicken to pork to beef, I think we like what we like … barbecue is very personal," she reveals.
Memphis Barbecue Isn't Only Dry Rub
Some resources claim that Memphis-style barbecue uses a dry rub with no sauce, but Cookston insists that's dead wrong. "There's one restaurant in Memphis that serves dry ribs, but the region itself does wet barbecue," explains Cookston. "We may cook the sauce down on the meat for 10 or 15 minutes, but we like sauced ribs."
Wrapping Can Help with the Stall
When smoking a large piece of meat like a brisket, the internal temperature tends to increase at a regular rate until it reaches around 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, all of a sudden, it stops getting hotter and the internal temperature plateaus for up to six hours before it starts rising. Cookston embraces wrapping, as it not only means her meat finishes cooking at a predictable time but also gives her an opportunity to add more moisture and flavor inside the wrap.
"Falling Off the Bone" Isn't Always Ideal
"Mouthfeel is very important when you're eating barbecue," she says. Cookston associates that extra-soft texture with parboiling ribs before putting them on the grill, which is not a method she recommends.
Barbecue Encompasses Grilling
Cookston has an inclusive definition of barbecue: "If you're cooking on fire, even if it's gas-assisted, that's barbecue."
Start with Larger Cuts of Meat
Cookston gives the opposite advice for beginners, suggesting, "If you can be patient, large cuts of meat are more forgiving, so try a pork butt or a brisket."
"American Barbecue Showdown"
As one of the two judges on "American Barbecue Showdown," Melissa Cookston has a plethora of titles and adjectives attached to her name. Even though Cookston might be the grill's best friend, she doesn't shy away from being a woman in a male-dominated field. Southern Living categorized her as the "Winningest Woman in Barbecue" in their female pitmasters discussion, and Cookston has a passion that drives her to make the best barbecue possible. As shared in the article, she even looks to enhance the ingredients put on the smoker.