Q&A With Instagram Chef @yardcorebbq

Our next Q&A is with the amazing Dave Caswel from Canada, AKA @yardcorebbq, who has an awesome Instagram account full of BBQ, and has been an amazing friend on Instagram. I love following Dave's carnivore creations, full of colours, cooking style, and a lot of meat! He is an amazing cook, and I have seen him cook in many methods, and styles, and I will eat whatever he cooks any day of the week!

Thanks for taking the time to interview Dave, looking forward to more amazing cooking!

Dave was excited to announce to me that he is the New Brand Ambassador for @BroilKingBBQ - more information in the interview.

Culinary Partner with Caribeque Seasoning and Rub Co. - If you are interested in getting some Caribeque for yourself head to @caribeque and use YARDCORE at the check-out for a 10% discount.

Here goes:

Q. You are an amazing cook, and have an awesome Instagram profile. Can you please tell us a little bit of where you are coming from, and how you obtained your cooking passion and inspiration?

A. “My mom always encouraged me to cook for myself so I’ve always felt comfortable in a kitchen but my first real inspiration came about 6 years ago at a local ribfest event. Not really sure why ...probably because I wanted to eat bbq ribs more than once a year, but I thought to myself “I could do this”...which got me started playing around with some low and slow bbq on my gas grill…(lol)....The next inspiration came a year later I watched the first season of Mind of Chef with David Chang. At first I was not into it all. He cooks with some weird sh*t, lots of kimchi (which I didn't’ like at the time, and to me he really had some odd biases. Shortly after watching it I went to a local Ramen Shop and all the elements that I recalled in the Mind of Chef episodes were in that bowl and I went home and re-watched the whole season.

And that was it...I’ve been full on in the kitchen ever since. Lots of inspiration comes from a wide range of influences but that I think have some of them really similar parallels,... like when you think about the time it takes to smoke a large cut of meat or the time it takes to make an amazing ramen broth and all the subtlety of layering all the flavours. You can’t fake the time investment.

After that I’m really inspired by the community on instagram and seeing the amazing food and food photography. I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of trying to get a great food picture. I love looking at great pictures and trying to figure out how they did it. Super challenging for a total amatuer with no equipment, but I think I’m improving. I do have a few pictures that I’m proud of.

Q. Tell us a bit of your Hardware:

A. “So my whole hardware section has just been turned on its head and I couldn’t be more excited. Over the last few years I’ve split my cooking between pellet grilling, gas grilling and an offset smoker until now. I am very proud to announce for the first time here on your Q&A my Brand Ambassador partnership with Broil King. Broil King is an North American grill company, but really they are so much more than that. They have a huge range of accessories for bbq and grilling and for cooking styles I’m super excited to try! Broilkings have all North American (and lots of Canadian - yay Canada) steel, aluminum construction which I’m proud to be associated with. So the partnership will really support me to do more of the same..low and slow - hot and fast, grilling - flat top cooking etc. but with emphasis on the More! Broil King is also working on their portable grilling equipment which I’m also pumped to get out in the wild and try! Suffice to say I’m getting a whole new set of tools that will support me to bring more Yardcore BBQ to my family, friends and IG community!”

Q. What is your favorite meat to cook, and why?

A. “Hands down it has to be brisket. Salt and pepper based rub, cooked low and slow and just kept simple. The texture is really like nothing else. It’s really challenging to cook also, but what a reward when you finally get it right”

Q. What is your favorite way to cook, and why?

A. “Low and slow smoking is my favorite way to cook. To me its therapeutic, and relaxing. Just sitting there, with the smell of the smoke in the morning with your coffee, followed by the smell of the meat and the beer in the afternoon. Of course you have to rest your meat for at least an hour when you are doing this type of cooking so when you unwrap it you really haven’t seen it for hours and it’s been an all day investment so there is that bit of nervousness that it didn’t turn out. But most of the time its like Christmas day unwrapping presents!”

Q. Can you share your favorite dry-rub/marinade/sauce recipe?

A.“Since i've been all about low and slow and brisket it only seems right to share a beef rub recipe. This is kind of a classic beef recipe with a kick:

1 cup GOOD Seasoning salt

1 cup semi coarse ground pepper (not to fine, but not too coarse if you get my drift).

⅔ cup garlic powder

⅓ cup onion powder

2 TBL GOOD chipotle

2TBL Caribeque Island Thyme seasoning

Quality seasonings are always important but in this recipe don’t skimp on the salt or the chipotle. It’s important. The Caribeque Island Thyme adds some nice savory and island flavour and its secret ingredient that people will be wondering about. “

Q. Can you share your #1 all-time favorite meat dish?

A. “Well after brisket because that would be too obvious.It would probably be porkbelly burnt ends - I shudder to think how much of those I can eat in single sitting”

Q. What non-obvious cooking tip can you share?

A. “Use the best meat you can afford - Let the farmer do the work! Good meat is good on its own. And you will be happier with your end result...And to that end maybee this is a second tip, but get to know your butcher, once you know what you are looking for they will be able to serve you better and have more patience for you when you are having a hard time choosing...lol kid in a candy story right?”

Q. What will you never ever cook or eat and why?

A. “I probably wouldn’t eat anything that is still alive, like wiggling around on the plate….Also I probably wouldn’t eat/cook tongue.”

Q. Must Have, can’t live without Grilling Accessory? Digital or non-Digital, other than thermometer.

A. “Kinda basic but probably my cast iron skillet - can’t beat it for searing steak or burgers, but also in the smoker for some chilli or direct in the fire for that matter. Also makes a perfect grill press for sandwiches as well. “

Q. Name 5 awesome inspiring cooks we must follow on Instagram and feel free to elaborate.

1. @andy_low_n_slow - Andy is a British pop up pitmaster. He pays full respect to Texas bbq then twists up some killer creations and gets great shots of his work.

2. @jtblue44 - James is obviously a great chef. He cooks a lot of protein, has excellent plating, and great pictures.

3. @karenbunal - Karen doesn’t just plate..she tables! She does a lot of Filipino cooking and mixes it up with some American bbq so that is probably also why I like her stuff so much! And she cooks it for her family I might add!

4. @bbq_bboy - Beto gets super mouthwatering shots of perfectly cooked meat. His pics have great color, perfect grill marks...you can tell he cooks a killer steak.

5. @dennistheprescott - probably not telling most people what the don’t already know but Dennis is highly carnivorous, is a great photographer and on top of that is Canadian eh!