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A love for outdoor cooking has turned a former Chicago truck driver and backyard-barbecue enthusiast into one of the world’s leading experts on grilling.
By CAROL DAUS
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| Ray Lampe a.k.a. Dr. BBQ |
How does a regular guy from Chicago become one of the hottest names in barbecue and grilling? For Ray Lampe, it was his passion for outdoor cooking that made him give up his job as a truck driver to focus on barbecue pursuits. Now, many years later, Lampe (more affectionately known as Dr. BBQ), loves and lives barbecue.
Not only is he a champion pit master and author of four best-selling barbecue cookbooks, but Lampe recently was hired as executive chef of Southern Hospitality, a new Memphis-style barbecue restaurant located in Manhattan and co-owned by Justin Timberlake. Lampe is also one of the featured barbecue chefs for The Greenbrier Resort, a national historic landmark in White Sulphur Springs, W.V. To top matters off, he’s the official spokeschef for Big Green Egg.
A Second Calling
Lampe’s second career was launched in 1982, when he entered Mike Royko’s annual rib cook-off in Chicago (Royko was a long-time columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune). Lampe didn’t win any awards in this competition, but he enjoyed the experience and remained persistent in perfecting techniques for preparing champion-style barbecue.
The turning point, for Lampe, was in the early 1990s, when he won third place in the poultry division of the first Illinois State BBQ Championship, sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society. Since then, Lampe’s life has not been the same. “This was a huge honor because these folks are extremely serious about barbecue, and they stay up all night cooking briskets and pork shoulders,” Lampe says. Even though Lampe has won countless trophies and ribbons since the Illinois contest, its trophy is particularly meaningful, since it inspired him to pursue his passion.
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| Ray Lampe's newest cookbook features receipes from some of his signature dishes, suc as Bloody Mary Chicken Wings. |
On the Road
When not in the Big Apple, greeting guests at Southern Hospitality, Lampe can be found all around the nation, competing in barbecue cook-offs or teaching cooking classes. Since he relocated to Lakeland, Fla., in 2000, he has been able to enter contests year-round, and he typically competes in about 10 to 12 a year.
Lampe also serves as a judge for many of these events. Now, he spends just about every weekend sharing his love for mouthwatering brisket, chicken and ribs. In 2007, Lampe’s barbecue-related travels took him to 32 states and Canada.
Lampe’s venture into publishing began in 2005, with the publication of his first barbecue cookbook, “Dr. BBQ’s Big-Time Barbecue Cookbook.” Containing recipes and tales from 20 years of Lampe’s barbecue pursuits, the book has been selling steadily to both novice and experienced backyard grillers. “I’d like to say that I spent 20 years writing it in my head and one year transferring it to paper,” Lampe says.
Due to the book’s success, his publisher asked him to write several follow-up cookbooks. Last year, Lampe was approached by a new publisher, Chronicle Books, to write “The NFL Gameday Cookbook,” which was just released in May 2008. Although this book features plenty of Lampe’s signature barbecued and grilled food, it also includes recipes for other tantalizing dishes, including Bloody Mary Chicken Wings, Ray’s Grandma’s Chicken Dumpling Soup and Grilled Apricot and Chocolate Tacos.
A Big Fan of the Big Green Egg
Since Lampe is a devoted user of the popular kamado-style Big Green Egg, it made sense that the company would select him to be its official spokesperson. In his spokeschef role, Lampe travels throughout the nation, meeting with Big Green Egg distributors and dealers to give them tips on how to use the Egg best.
“I feel if I can make them better cooks, they will sell more Eggs,” he says. The Egg is also Lampe’s grill of choice when competing in barbecue cook-offs. “People like seeing me grilling on my Egg while competing against others with big, fancy trailers with built-in grills, because they know the Egg is something they can own.”
Lampe adds that cook-offs allow him to show off the versatility of the Egg because he will grill burgers for dinner and then slow cook brisket for 12 hours overnight—all on the same piece of equipment. “There really isn’t anything else available that does both jobs so well,” he says.
Although Lampe has at least a dozen grills at home, he rarely uses them because of his preference for the Egg. “Since it’s made of ceramics, it’s able to retain heat like no other material, and its airflow is superior to anything I’ve ever used,” he explains.
Opportunities for Retailers
As Lampe travels around North America, competing in cook-offs or visiting different barbecue/grill retailers, he’s impressed by consumers’ knowledge about barbecue cooking techniques and specialized products. He recommends that retailers take advantage of this increased level of awareness by carrying a full range of barbecue accessories and food products.
“It was not very long ago when a rub was something only hardcore barbecue guys were using, but now they’re for sale everywhere,” he says. He adds that the same holds true for lump charcoal and exotic wood chips.
Lampe is also pleased with two growing trends: interest in year-round outdoor cooking and increased grilling by women. To cash in on both of these developments, he suggests that retailers help educate their customers (both men and women) about how grilling can be made simple, yet fun, throughout the entire year.
Grill demonstrations can be an effective way to provide this education, but Lampe stresses that handing out free samples of sausage or other meats is not always the best strategy. “Nobody buys a grill after sampling a bite of grilled sausage,” Lampe says. “Grilling interesting food that takes time and can be left unattended is a much better approach.”
For example, he notes that cooking a turkey on an upright stand is a stronger promotion than serving grilled sausage. This allows the chef to interact with the customers, since the food does not need constant attention. “I once had a dealer tell me that he doesn’t always give away the food he cooks during demos; he just wraps it up at the end of the day and takes it home to his family for dinner,” Lampe says.
With Lampe’s numerous projects, it’s hard to imagine that he could take on any new pursuits. That’s not the case, though, since his passion for barbecue and entrepreneurial spirit always seem to lead him down new paths. One of his new ventures involves culinary tourism. In the fall, he will conduct his first barbecue road trip in Texas. Can you think of anyone more appropriate than Dr. BBQ to lead a guided tour through the barbecue hotspots of Texas?
For more information on Ray Lampe (a.k.a. Dr. BBQ), visit www.drbbq.com.
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