Called "The Ultimate BBQ Lovers Road Trip Event" from "the world’s leading outdoor cooking resource" by Forbes.com, join us July 31, 2020 through August 2, 2020 for the AmazingRibs.com Meat-Up in Memphis, home of great barbecue, blues, soul, and rock & roll. Hang out and toss a few back with the experts. And no, you do not have to be a member of our Pitmaster Club.
The Meat-Up will be based in the famous historic grand Peabody Hotel, just around the corner from Beale Street. Things will kick off with a a whole hog cooking demonstration Friday afternoon followed by a welcome dinner Friday evening at the famous Rendezvous. Saturday we will have a day of pork centric seminars in the hotel, with special porky meals because Memphis is most famous for pork. The hotel's kitchen is highly regarded and we have ordered their best meal packages. Sunday we will board buses and visit four or five BBQ joints for a deep dive into the historic tastes of Memphis barbecue before concluding the weekend with a bash on Beale Street!
ATTENTION: Event attendance is capped at 400 and we currently have fewer than 50 spots remaining so be sure to register here ASAP! The ticket price, which includes all events and meals, is only $687. To guarantee your space, make a $100 deposit now. The balance is not due until May 1, 2020 and payments are fully refundable until then.
Hotel rooms, adult beverages, and parking are extra. All meals are included. We encourage you join the the gang in the heart of the weekend's activities by staying at the Peabody. There you will be mere steps from all of the action including Friday's whole hog cooking demo and welcome dinner at the Charlie Vergos Rendezvous; all of the weekend sessions; access to our product Expo area; the whole hog dinner; the bus pickups; the Beale Street bash; and more! We will also be providing all attendees with a Meat-Up gift bag and will also have drawings for cool giveaways such as Gunter Wilhelm cutlery, GrillGrates, and more throughout the weekend as a special "thank you" for joining us for this exciting event. And if you have a copy of the book “Meathead, The Science Of Great Barbecue And Grilling” bring it and Meathead will personalize and sign it!
If you are buying more than one ticket you need to fill out the form for each person.
I Booked But I Can't Make It And I Need A Refund
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or call 1-800-PEABODY and tell them you are booking the AmazingRibs.com Meat-Up. If you plan to come in early or stay after and want the special rate, call for your reservation.
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Watch the video from our last Meat-Up in the Bahamas
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Here is the Itinerary
(Details are subject to change)
Thursday, July 30
4:00 p.m. Check-in at the Peabody opens.
Dinner on your own.
Friday, July 31
6:00 a.m. Complimentary coffee or tea in the hotel’s Deli.
Wakeup - 1 p.m. Explore some of Memphis' top attractions and grab a bite to eat at your leisure. Explore the numerous things to do and see while out on the town by visiting here.
1:00-3:00 p.m. "Whole Hog Demo" sponsored by BBQGuys.com. Watch Mark Lambert prepare three whole hogs for our dinner Saturday night. He will butterfly/spatchcock two and do one "running style" (standing upright like it is running). Mark is a Memphis in May Champion and former president of the National Barbecue and Grilling Association and he is justly famous for his hogs. Mark also owns Sweet Swine ‘O Mine, producer of award winning rubs and sauces.
3:00-10:00 p.m. Conference Registration, Product Expo, and cash bar in Grand Ballroom.
5:00-6:30 p.m. Dinner at Rendezvous sponsored by Hasty Bake.
We kick things off is style with the first of two seatings for a welcome dinner at the most famous BBQ restaurant in the world, Charlie Vergos Rendezvous. A Memphis landmark since 1948, it is just a few steps from the hotel. Meathead, Malcom Reed and our team will be there and we will be greeted by a member of the Vergos family who will explain their novel cooking methods and their fascinating history. Because seating is limited, we will have to split into two groups, the first seating at 5:30, second at 7:30. Conference registration will be at the restaurant. That's Nick Vergos in the picture above. Alas, he died in September 2019.
7:00-8:30 p.m. Second seating at Rendezvous.
10:00 p.m. Product Expo closes for the night.
10:00 p.m. - Whenever. Hang around the hotel bar or walk a block to Beale Street and the many famous night clubs and juke joints (BB King's is right on the corner).
Saturday, August 1
6:00 a.m. Complimentary coffee or tea in the hotel’s Deli.
8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. Product Expo
8:00 a.m. Breakfast buffet, Conference Registration, Grand Ballroom.
9:00-9:30 a.m. "Welcome" from Meathead.
9:30-10:45 a.m. "The Story of Memphis Barbecue" with Memphis residents Clint Cantwell, Malcom Reed, and other local experts.
10:45-11:00 a.m. "The New KCBS" with Candy Sue Weaver.
11:00-11:45 a.m. Break with refreshments in the Product Expo.
11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. "All About Compart Duroc Pork and Other Non-Commodity Breeds" with Jim Compart from Compart Family Farms.
12:30-1:45 p.m. Lunch with a Compart Duroc Pork chop from Compart Family Farms. Buffet served in the Product Expo.
1:45-2:30 p.m. "The Future of Pork and the Future of Cooking" with Chef James Murray of the National Pork Board. Chef Murray is is a Certified Executive Chef by the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) in Paris and the American Culinary Federation. He will talk about new breeds of hogs, heritage hogs, and how temperature controlled cooking will change how we cook.
2:30-3:00 p.m. Break with refreshments in the Product Expo.
3:30-4:30 p.m. "Boar Session and Q&A" with Meathead, Clint, Malcom, David, Max, Huskee, Spinaker, Jerod, Candy.
4:30-7 p.m. Reception with refreshments in the Product Expo.
5:00-5:15 p.m. The Peabody is famous for their ducks who, every morning at 11, march from the elevator to the fountain in the lobby, hang out in the fountain all day and head back to the roof at 5 p.m. where they overnight in the penthouse. Today, Huskee will serve as Honorary Duck Master.
6:00-7:00 p.m. Reception in the Product Expo.
7:00-10:00 p.m. Dinner featuring Compart whole hogs cooked for us by Mark Lambert. Buffet served in the Product Expo.
10:00 p.m. Product Expo closes.
10:00 p.m. - Whenever. At liberty on Beale Street or in the hotel bar.
Sunday, August 2
6:00 a.m. Complimentary coffee or tea in the hotel’s Deli.
8:00 a.m. Breakfast buffet in the Parisian Room.
9:00 a.m. Bus tours depart with each bus hitting four or five of Memphis’ best barbecue joints. At each stop the owner or manager will share with us the restaurant’s story, philosophy, and tastes of their specialties. If possible, we may get to tour the pits. Because none of them can handle a group of 400, each bus will be visiting different restaurants at different times. We can’t promise which restaurant your bus will visit.
4:00 p.m. Return to hotel.
5:00 p.m. Duck March with Meathead as honorary Duck Master.
7:00 - 10:00 p.m. Beale Street Bash. Party at Silky O'Sullivan's on Beale Street. They have live music, but bring your instruments and let's have a jam session when the band is on break! It is a very short walk from the hotel, but bring an umbrella just in case!
Monday, August 3
6:00 a.m. Complimentary coffee or tea in the Deli.
11:00 a.m. Checkout time.
Speakers & VIPs
MEATHEAD. Founder and publisher of AmazingRibs.com, author of the New York Times bestseller "Meathead, The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling" called “One of the 100 Best Cookbooks of All Time” by Southern Living.
JIM COMPART. Compart Family Farms is on its fourth generation of pork producers. What initially started as a 4-H project, has now grown to one of the largest family-owned swine genetics businesses in nation. Jim heads the family effort and he will share his experiences with breeding for improved flavor.
CLINT CANTWELL. Senior VP, named one of the "10 Faces of Memphis Barbecue" by Memphis Magazine, winner of Travel Channel's "American Grilled: Memphis.”
MAX GOOD. VP of Product Reviews & Keeper of the Flame. Max is the man in charge of finding the best products for our readers.
DAVE JOACHIM. VP and Editorial Director, author and collaborator on more than 50 cookbooks, four of them on barbecue and grilling, his Food Science column has appeared in "Fine Cooking" magazine since 2011.
MARK LAMBERT. Mark is the pitmaster for the Memphis in May World Champion Team “Sweet Swine O’ Mine” and operates a BBQ products business, Sweet Swine O’ Mine Distributing. With Malcom Reed, he runs one of the premier competition BBQ classes in the country, barbecuelive.com.
CHEF JIM MURRAY. Chef Murray is the chef for The National Pork Board, he is a Certified Executive Chef by the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) in Paris and the American Culinary Federation. He will discuss the future of pork and the culinary arts.
MALCOM REED. Malcom is one of the most respected men in barbecue and a genuine YouTube Star. He is also pitmaster of the Killer Hogs BBQ team.
CANDY SUE WEAVER. Candy Sue is one of the best known and most respected people in the world of barbecue. She is President of the Kansas City Barbeque Society and is President of BBQr's Delight, maker of food grade wood pellets.
AARON “HUSKEE” LYONS. Huskee is the manager of our Pitmaster Club and Moderato answering reader questions. A KCBS Certified Barbeque Judge (CBJ), he experimented for a few years with a cheap Brinkmann cabinet charcoal smoker before graduating to a Yoder Wichita offset smoker. His arsenal has since expanded to nine cookers and counting.
JEROD BROUSSARD. Jerod is a Moderator answering reader questions and maestro of the drum smoker and Texas barbecue in general. Born and raised in Southwest Louisiana on a rice farm, Jerod earned a Bachelor's degree in Animal Science and moved to Texas where he has been a food inspector since 2002. Don't be shy with your questions regarding chicken, Jerod inspects about 15,000 a day prior to them being chilled and processed. He's an enthusiast who can't stop smokin'.
JOHN “SPINAKER” BOWLSBY. Spinaker serves as a Moderator and answers a lot of reader questions. Spinaker grew up in the BBQ starved state of Minnesota where people are more likely to be eating lutefisk than brisket. In addition to his love of outdoor cooking, Spinaker is also an expert on cast iron cookware and how to restore it.
More things to do in Memphis
If you want to bring family or friends there is plenty for them to do in Memphis. Heck you might want to come in early or stick around a few days and visit Elvis’ Graceland mansion, the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was shot, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame, Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum on Beale St., Sun Studio, the Pyramid of Memphis, Mississippi riverboat tours, the Memphis Zoo, Brooks Museum of Art, Belz Museum of Asian & Judaic Art, Memphis Botanic Garden, Children's Museum of Memphis, learn the story of cotton in the historic Cotton Museum at Memphis Cotton Exchange, Mirimichi Golf Course founded by Justin Timberlake, concerts at FedEx Forum, Go Ape Shelby Farms treetop adventure, the original Gus's Fried Chicken, Memphis Redbirds AAA baseball is right across the street from the hotel, and more. Not to mention the many other BBQ joints that you won't have tasted on our Sunday tour and the many juke joints on Beals. The hotel will extend the discount for you.
Click Here To Reserve Your Ticket
If you are buying more than one ticket you need to fill out the form for each person.
Click Here To Book Your Hotel Room
or call 1-800-PEABODY and tell them you are booking the AmazingRibs.com Meat-Up. If you plan to come in early or stay after and want the special rate, call for your reservation.
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