FAQue – Let’s Meet Don Schorder, Owner/Pitmaster of All Fired Up BBQ

By Amy Overbey, MABA Board Member and Co-Pitmaster of Team Meat Coma

In this first edition of FAQue, we get to know Don Schorder, Owner/Pitmaster of All Fired Up BBQ!

Amy Overbey:
Who is on the team? and Where are you from?

Don Schorder, All Fired Up BBQ:
Don Schorder, Alabama, Trish Schorder (wife), New York, Pete Enzor, Ohio, Ray Lippy, Maryland, and Rob Watkins, Washington

AO:
How long have you been competing?

DS, AFUBBQ:
We have been competing for the last 3 ½ years. I had decided that I wanted to get in to the BBQ competition world and give it a try, so I sold my 1968 Chevy Nova and used the money to buy my grill and some of the other much needed equipment to start competing. The first 2 years we did backyard competitions and moved up to the KCBS pro level competitions last year.

AO:
How did you come up with your team name/logo?

DS, AFUBBQ:
So, we always referred to starting the grill as “getting it fired up,” and it stuck and when we were thinking of names it came to me “All Fired Up BBQ” it’s what we do and we love getting all fired up for BBQ. The logo was a struggle, we went back and forth with it. We tried a couple of logos with pigs cooking on a fire, we were all over the place on deciding. Then my wife came up with the idea to use the grill as our logo, it was unique and would clearly demonstrate the idea of being all fired up, with the flames coming out the mouth, so we contacted an artist and told him what we were looking for based off of my wife’s idea and the result is what we see today.

AO:
What smoker(s) do you cook on?

DS, AFUBBQ:
We use an HBT reverse flow trailer smoker, it was custom built from Alabama.

AO:
If you could add a 5th category, and it can be anything, what would it be and why?

DS, AFUBBQ:
If I could add a fifth category it would be a dessert. In my off time, I dabble in making cheesecakes.  Last year I figured out a way to make an authentic New York style cheesecake on my grill.  So I made a candy bacon and maple cheesecake and turned it in at a comp that had a Chefs Choice category and we won, it was amazing they gave us a perfect score of 180.

AO:
Where is your favorite place to cook (can be a favorite comp, but doesn’t have to be, can be anywhere)?

DS, AFUBBQ:
We don’t really have a favorite place per say, but we do love doing the competitions that are in our backyard.  Competitions like Naptown, and the Beltway showdown are close and we can have family and friends there, it always makes it more fun and enjoyable.

AO:
What is your favorite beverage at a competition?

DS, AFUBBQ:
We love to have some Crown Apple when we cook. We drink it straight or mix it with some apple juice, it makes it taste like sour apple Jolly Ranchers.

AO:
Any competition superstitions or something you cannot do without at a competition?

DS, AFUBBQ:
So we do have one superstition. We don’t like to change our shirts after a cook.  We had a couple of comps in the beginning that we didn’t have the time to change so we have pictures of us winning awards with shirts all BBQ’ed up from cooking all morning. Ever since then we have been hesitant to change shirts after turn in.

AO:
What is your go to food after a competition?

DS, AFUBBQ:
BBQ, we love to cook us some bbq at a comp, anything that isn’t one of the four meats.  Big Bronco burgers, Cowboy burgers, jalapeno poppers, Scotch balls or smoked buffalo chicken dip. We make the fun stuff to BBQ, we are there to cook so we’re going to cook and have a good time doing it. But after the comp, we try to have some pasta or a salad, just something different or maybe a little healthy. Except Pete he eats bbq all the time, he doesn’t like vegetables. I think he is allergic to them, unless they’re wrapped in meat.

AO:
If you weren’t competing all weekend, what would you be doing instead?

DS, AFUBBQ:
Competitions and prepping for competitions can take up some time. When we are not competing, we are vending bbq or doing catering jobs to raise money for the competitions.  When there is no cooking going on we try to relax and spend time with kids. We love to go camping or just traveling to places we have never been.