What Would I Change About My First BBQ Smoker? – Forrest Dilmore, Jr.

This response to my one question interview series comes to us from Mr. Forrest Dilmore, Jr. of Forrest’s Fine Foods.  Currently ranked 6th nationally by NationalBBQRankings.com, Forrest is well known and highly respected by BBQ folks both here in Florida and across the country.   The Florida Bar-B-Que Association is lucky to have him as our current President, and you’ll find no nicer and more welcoming presence at any big time BBQ competition than when you amble up to the Forrest’s Fine Foods BBQ Team Trailer.

Providing a cool twist on our “What would you change about your first BBQ Smoker Setup?” question, Forrest provides us with some insight into what he’d do if he had to get his competition BBQ team up and running all over again.

Having recently reviewed George Hensler’s Startin’ the Fire book detailing how to start up a competition BBQ team, it’s cool to be able to provide some info that both jives with and adds to what I read there.

Here’s what Forrest had to say…

When I started competing, I was cooking on two smokers that I had custom built locally by a friend of mine. One was an offset type cooker with a vertical cooking chamber….a really unique design and a good cooker. The other cooker was an indirect heat water cooker made totally of stainless steel…this cooker ran extremely hot.

The reason I had got these cookers was that my buddies and I were always in constant competition with each other trying to cook something faster than the other. We turned out some good BBQ but not by competition standards by no means. I competed using these cookers for probably about a year and then bought my first Stump’s Smoker.

Over the next four years….unknowing to me….I would collect thirteen Stump’s Smokers….along with several others of various flavors. I competed exclusively pretty much using the Stump’s Smokers until just recently. I now exclusively compete on Lang smokers….bringing together my flavor profiles, a pleasing wood aroma and taste, and the unique “sizzle” that’s produced only by a Lang….all married together into a great tasting prize winning product.

The Stump’s smokers got me through the time in my competition career when I was developing my own personal prize winning flavor profiles and critiquing them, and now the Langs are taking them all to a higher level.

If I were to have to start over at the beginning, knowing what I know now, I’d definitely start out competing using Lang smokers.

In terms of my competition camp setup, I’d certainly do some things different now that I know what I know. Instead of playing with pop-up tents and folding tables like I did in the beginning, I would go ahead and invest the extra money in more permenant equipment. I would have everything trailer mounted and include contest luxuries such as a sleeping area, bathroom, shower, refrigerator and maybe a freezer as well.

Five years ago I started with pop-ups. After a year or so I graduated to a 20′ X 6′ trailer. A year later I realized I needed more room and moved up to a 40′ X 7′ trailer, and I now cook in a 40′ X 8′….I guess that too much room is something that don’t exist. The next move will probably be a tractor trailer.

Do you love that last part about a tractor trailer, or what?

That’s friggin’ cool!  And don’t think you won’t see Forrest pulling up to a competition in one at some point down the line.  I wonder if International or Peterbilt can hook him up?

Thanks for sharing your insights with us here, Forrest.  For those of you who’d like to connect with Forrest Dilmore, Jr. and the good folks at Forrest’s Fine Foods, give them buzz via their website.  You can also email Forrest’s Fine Foods directly.

Lastly, if any of you are into Dutch Oven Cooking, check out the great collection of Dutch Ovens at Forrest’s Fine Foods.  Seems like this would be right in the sweet spot of folks like Chilibrown from the Mat Meat Genius blog!

UPDATE: See responses we received from those interviewed here.

Related posts:

1. What Would I Change About My First BBQ Smoker? – William “Bubba” Latimer
2. What Would I Change About My First BBQ Smoker? – Larry Gaian
3. What Would I Change About My First BBQ Smoker? – Scottie Johnson
4. What Would I Change About My First BBQ Smoker? – Rod Gray
5. What Would I Change About My First BBQ Smoker? – Danielle Dimovski of DivaQ BBQ