Happy Friday festivalPass Stories family! We love to switch it up on this show to give you guys a taste of everything. For our 40th episode, we take you inside the mind of a Grand Champion Pitmaster. Welcome the one and only barbecue extraordinaire, Jay Tinney.

Jay fell in love with cooking back in his college days at Texas Tech University. He figured if he was going to be on his own, and he wanted to eat well, he might as well learn to cook those home-cooked meals for himself. Turns out, this was a great choice, as Jay started to entertain family and friends with recipes that he was developing at the time. Finding your passion by accident seems to be a running theme on festivalPass Stories. We hear it all the time where someone starts in one industry, and almost by mistake ends up in live events and entertainment. Jay was building a career in technology before transitioning to a master’s in BBQ.

Not only does Jay Tinney have classified knowledge of the culinary arts, but the man knows a thing or two about festivals. What kind of festivals you ask…food competitions. Tinney Barbecue is not only renowned for its catering service, but it’s also a household name in the food competition circuit. Jay’s food has placed in the top 10 in brisket, ribs, and chicken; even his beans made the top of the list in a few events. In 2004, Jay’s ribs placed 5th out of over 100 participants in his very first sanctioned competition. He also mentions one of his best moments; when his brisket claimed 1st place in his home state of Texas, at the San Antonio BBQ Cook-Off.

We talked about the catering service and food competitions, but we can’t speak about Tinney Barbecue without acknowledging the infamous trailer. As it states on their website, this “is not your everyday food trailer.” The Tinney Barbecue trailer comes equipped with a seven-foot wide grill, and rotisserie with a 500-pound capacity, and that’s just for the cooking. He’s also decked it out with flat screens, and everything else one would need for the best tailgating experience ever. The trailer is so important Tinney Barbecue because it’s at the heart of why Jay does what he does. He loves to travel the country to meet new people and to cook meat for new people.

With some hope on the horizon at this stage of the pandemic, Jay in his team is gearing up to get back on the circuit. We wish Jay the best of luck, and we hope to see him at a festival soon. No matter how much it changes, Tinney Barbecue will be a staple in Austin, Texas for years to come.

“When you’re cooking on everything from pits in the ground to commercial level pits…if you master them all, I think that gives you the right to be called a pit master.” - Jay Tinney

**Catch the interview on Festival Pass Stories! ** https://festivalpass.com/stories

**You can find Jay on: **

Jay Tinney’s Website- https://tinneybarbecue.com

**Twitter- ** https://twitter.com/tinneybarbecue

**Instagram- ** https://www.instagram.com/jaytinney/

Tinney Barbecue’s Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/tinneybarbecue/

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