Author Tim Brown Discusses Nolan Ryan | County Smoak's Ken Hess Discusses Virginia BBQ

Episode 355 features Ken Hess of County Smoak BBQ talking about his culinary journey and building a destination for barbecue lovers. Author Tim Brown discusses his new book Nolan, an in-depth look at the life and legacy of baseball legend Nolan Ryan. Ken Hess is the championship pitmaster and co-owner of County Smoak in Lynchburg, Virginia. Ken shares his journey from classically trained chef to award-winning barbecue pitmaster, discusses why he believes Virginia deserves more recognition in barbecue history, and explains what it takes to build County Smoak, one of Virginia's most celebrated barbecue restaurants.  County Smoak is a family-owned barbecue restaurant founded by Ken and his wife Jessica.  The restaurant combines classical culinary training with traditional wood-fired barbecue techniques, emphasizing Virginia-sourced ingredients and regional barbecue styles. The restaurant has been recognized multiple times as one of Lynchburg's top barbecue destinations.  Go to https://www.countysmoak.com for more information. Tim Brown has covered baseball for more than 30 years and has written two New York Times bestsellers: The Phenomenon with Rick Ankiel and Imperfect with Jim Abbott. He also wrote The Tao of the Backup Catcher. His reporting has earned numerous industry honors, including recognition from the Associated Press Sports Editors.  His latest book is Nolan:  The Singular Life of an American Original which traces the remarkable life of Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan—from his upbringing in Alvin, Texas, through his record-setting 27-year Major League career, and into his life after baseball. More than a sports biography, the book explores themes of family, faith, perseverance, and the enduring legacy of one of baseball's greatest competitors.  Go to https://www.bytimbrown.com for more information. We recommend you go to Rogue Cookers website, https://roguecookers.com/ for award-winning rubs, Chef Ray Sheehan’s website, https://www.raysheehan.com/ for award-winning saucess, rubs, and cookbooks, Baseball BBQ, https://baseballbbq.com for special grilling tools and accessories, Magnechef https://magnechef.com/ for excellent and unique barbecue gloves,  Mantis BBQ, https://mantisbbq.com/ to purchase their outstanding sauces with a portion of the proceeds being donated to the Kidney Project, and for exceptional sauces, Elda's Kitchen https://eldaskitchen.com/ To team up against prostate cancer go to https://fansforthecure.org/ for Fans for the Cure, and to subscribe to Bill Chuck's newsletter, Billy-Ball go to  https://billchuck.substack.com/    We conclude the show with the song, Baseball Always Brings You Home from the musician, Dave Dresser and the poet, Shel Krakofsky. If you would like to contact the show, we would love to hear from you. Call the show:  (516) 855-8214 Email:  [email protected] Twitter:  @baseballandbbq Instagram:  baseballandbarbecue YouTube:  baseball and bbq Website:  https//baseballandbbq.weebly.com Facebook:  baseball and bbq       Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.