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Jeff Riley, Pitmaster
Born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1951, Jeff was raised in
Lafayette. His mom was raised in New Iberia, heart of Cajun
country. That's where a lot of Jeff's influence comes from, with
cooking, Cajun spices, etc. For instance, He cooks chicken sausage
gumbo which came from his mom's recipe, using real homemade roux*.
His dad was in business and was also a BBQ nut. The
family had a huge brick pit and his parents threw a lot of parties
to entertain friends and business clients. Jeff's BBQ influence came
from mostly from his dad. No matter where they lived, he always
built a brick pit. The family moved to Texarkana, AR in 1959.
Unfortunately Jeff's dad passed away in 1966 at the age of 46.
While living in Texarkana, Jeff began doing backyard BBQ while still
in high school.
After graduating from high school and attending two years of junior
college, he moved to Houston, where his older brothers lived. Jeff
began really trying to perfect his BBQ techniques in the early 80's
through numerous cookouts for family and friends. His older brother
Mike, has considerable BBQ experience and was a great influence in
some of the techniques Jeff uses today.
Of course, Texas is BBQ country! Trying and tasting many other BBQs
at Texas BBQ shacks helped Jeff to crystallize his own unique
cooking style.
Jeff tells people, "I'm an Arklatexan (Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas)
redneck and when I kick up the pit, anything can happen!"
Style of Cooking: Texas Style BBQ is based on the use of cooking woods
such
as oak, hickory, and mesquite, which imparts a pleasant and
desirable flavor to ribs, pork, brisket, chicken, sausage and other
meats. The specialized woods, combined with the Texas tradition of
"Low and Slow" cooking in an offset smoker, yields meat that is
moist, tender, flavorful and Melt In Your
Mouth Delicious!
*roux: a cooked mixture of butter or other fat and
flour used to thicken sauces, soups, etc.
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