He’s known as the “winningest man in barbecue” – and it’s not bragging when it’s fact.
Ever since taking first place in two divisions of the first barbecue competition in which he competed in 1996, Myron Mixon hasn’t looked back. He’s won the barbecue world championship an unprecedented five times. He has bragging rights to 200 grand championships and 11 national championships. More than 1,800 trophies crowd the shelves in his home. His team is the only one to ever win grand champion at Memphis in May, Kansas City BBQ Society and Florida BBQ Association contests in the same year.
Maybe you recognize him from the TV show “BBQ Pitmasters.” Or you know him from the barbecue empire he’s built with cookbooks, three restaurants and his own line of rubs and smokers.
The legendary pitmaster recently stopped in town to see his friend Harold Stockburger, manager of Elder’s Ace Hardware on East Brainerd Road, and sign his new book for fans, “Keto BBQ” (Abrams, New York, $25). After the meet-and-greet, he and his Jack’s Old South team gave a grilling demonstration with some of his favorite recipes.
The premise of “Keto BBQ” is that you can have your barbecue and diet, too. It sounds like an oxymoron, but Mixon says barbecue has gotten a “bad rap” over the years when it’s actually the sides and the sugary barbecue sauces that are the culprits.