Myron Mixon (born May 31, 1962) is an American
celebrity chef
A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in Books, printed publications. While telev ...
and competitor on the competitive
barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...
circuit. He is a five time barbecue World Champion and appeared as a judge on
Destination America
Destination America is an American cable television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The network carries programming focused on the culture of the United States—including food, lifestyles, a ...
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
show ''
BBQ Pitmasters''. He also appeared as a judge on the BBQ show Smoked as well as the show BBQ Pit Wars. Due to the number of accolades he has achieved during his
BBQ career, he has the nickname of "the winningest man in barbecue."
Career
Mixon started in competitive
barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...
in 1996 at a competition in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
.
[ He won first place in whole hog and third place in the pork shoulder competition.] He originally only took up competitive BBQ in order to promote his family's BBQ sauce which his parents, Gaye and Jack, had created. His father taught him how to barbecue, and Mixon named his BBQ company after him, calling it Jack's Old South.
During the course of his career, Mixon has won more than 180 BBQ grand championships and over 1,700 BBQ trophies. He has been named Grand Champion at the Memphis in May World Championship on five occasions: in 2001, 2004, 2007, 2016, and 2021. Mixon is a multi-time Big Pig Jig
The Big Pig Jig (official name Slosheye Trail Big Pig Jig) is a barbecue cooking competition held annually in Vienna, Georgia. It is the state pork cook-off of Georgia.
History
In 1982, a group of "pig cookers" in Vienna, Georgia, created the ...
Grand Champion, having won it most recently in 2012, his third victory in a row. He has so far failed to win the Jack Daniel's BBQ World Invitational, which he has described as the most prestigious competition in the BBQ circuit. He was runner up in 2004, missing out on first place by 0.1 points, and has come first in the whole hog competition there on three occasions. His achievements have earned him the nickname "the winningest man in barbecue."[
Mixon debuted on ]TLC
TLC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Television
* ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2
* TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network
** TLC (Asia), an A ...
's reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
show '' BBQ Pitmasters'' in its inaugural series as a contestant. Originally, it was a show that followed a number of BBQ chefs to several different BBQ competitions. Series two brought a change in format, with it becoming a competition-game show, and Mixon serving one of the three judges alongside Art Smith and Warren Sapp
Warren Carlos Sapp (born December 19, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played college football ...
. Series three saw the series move to the Destination America
Destination America is an American cable television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The network carries programming focused on the culture of the United States—including food, lifestyles, a ...
cable TV
Cable television is a system of delivering television broadcast programming, programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This ...
channel and a slight change in the format. Mixon was the only judge who remained on the show, being joined by fellow BBQ chefs Aaron Franklin and Tuffy Stone
George "Tuffy" Stone (born 1962/1963) is an American chef and competitor on the competitive barbecue circuit. He has appeared on the Destination America reality television show ''BBQ Pitmasters''. He runs the team "Cool Smoke". His nickname is "T ...
.
He signed a cookbook deal in 2010 with publishers Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in ...
.[ It was published in 2011, with ]Paula Deen
Paula Ann Hiers Deen (born January 19, 1947) is an American chef, cookbook author, and TV personality. Deen resides in Savannah, Georgia, where she owns and operates The Lady & Sons restaurant with her sons, Jamie and Bobby Deen. She has pu ...
providing the foreword
A foreword is a (usually short) piece of writing, sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between th ...
. In May 2012, he appeared on NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
's ''The Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...
'' in a BBQ cookoff against Pat Martin of Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
restaurant Martin's Bar-B-Que. Mixon cooked a brisket
Brisket is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of beef or veal. The beef brisket is one of the nine beef primal cuts, though the definition of the cut differs internationally. The brisket muscles include the Pectoralis major, superficial ...
recipe while Martin cooked "red neck tacos
A taco (, , ) is a traditional Mexican dish consisting of a small hand-sized corn- or wheat-based tortilla topped with a filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and eaten by hand. A taco can be made with a variety of filli ...
."
Mixon was elected mayor of his hometown of Unadilla, Georgia
Unadilla is a city in Dooly County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,118 in 2020. Dooly State Prison is located in the northeast corner of the city.
History
Unadilla is a name derived from the Iroquois language meaning "council pl ...
, and was sworn in for a four-year term in January 2016.
Published works
*''Smokin' with Myron Mixon''Myron Mixon, Alexander, Kelly (May 10, 2011) 192 pages New York: Ballantine Books.
*''Everyday Barbecue: At Home with America's Favorite Pitmaster''Myron Mixon, Alexander, Kelly (May 7, 2013) 320 pages
*''Myron Mixon's BBQ Rules''Myron Mixon, Alexander, Kelly (April 19, 2016) 240 pages
Restaurants
In January 2017 Mixon, along with business partners Joe Corey, a certified BBQ judge, and Bill McFadden opened Myron Mixon’s Pitmaster BBQ (now permanently closed) in Alexandria, Virginia. The restaurant features some of Mixon’s famous menu items such as Jack's Peach BBQ Baked Beans, Baby Back Mac and Cheese, Dry Rubbed Wings, and many more of Mixon’s favorites cooked up by head pitmaster John Bennett.
References
External links
*
Jack's Old South BBQ official website
Myron Mixon 100% Organic BBQ Pellets: Harvested in the USA
Where tradition meets innovation — Myron Mixon handcrafted Smokers: Made in the USA.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mixon, Myron
Living people
1962 births
People from Vienna, Georgia
American television chefs
Barbecue chefs
Chefs from Georgia (U.S. state)
American chefs