Knowledge Is Power

When I went to Murphysboro, Illinois to take the seminar "The Business of BBQ" at Mike Mills' 17th Street Bar & Grill I met a young man who serves as Mike's Pitmaster at his BBQ joint in Murphysboro.

Philip Heern is his name and I believe he told me he was in his late 20's or early 30's. We had met two months before at another Mike Mills class in Cape Girardeau, Missouri at the Ole Hickory Pits Test Kitchens. When we'd met in October, I did not know what he did for Mike at his BBQ joint, but I remember thinking he knew what he was doing.

Somewhere along the way during our first day, I had the chance to visit with Philip during a smoke break. We were talking about the various woods 17th Street used and just general BBQ "shootin'-the-bull" and then it dawned on me. Does this kid know how lucky he is? I mean this kid in his 20's, already a Pitmaster and working with one of the greats in BBQ? I've been BBQing for eons and I feel lucky to be able to turn out the quality of BBQ that I do; but this kid!

So, I came right out and asked him, "do you know how fortunate you are, at your age, to work for and train alongside Mike Mills every day?" I was happy to learn that he was well aware of being in such a position and loves what he does. By the time this guy is my age, all of his BBQ knowledge will pay off in a huge way. After all, anytime you can tell someone that you are a Pitmaster for Mike Mills, your ticket has been written.

This photo of Philip was taken by a photographer on hand those two days to document the class members and all that we did. As you can see he's basting half chickens right at the end of the cooking process. 17th Street has many Ole Hickory Pits BBQ units, but Philip's favorite pit has the name of "Black Betty" and he looks forward to cooking on that one anytime.