Seattle BBQ & Grilling School

I think the other reviews are pretty accurate, so I’ll just add a few things that I don’t see in the other reviews.
— it’s a lot of food, especially if the class isn’t full. it’s also two huge meals close together, maybe 90 minutes between the two chow sessions. Bring some tupperware as they recommend.
— The «class» is mostly focused on prep. It was useful to learn how to process your own ribs and brisket, and if that saves you a few bucks a pound then you’ll make the money for the class back after a few big cookouts. I learned a few tricks. As someone wrote, it wasn’t anything I couldn’t have found on YouTube (if I knew what to look for) but I find a little «food inspiration» watching other people cook — it sparks some new ideas.
— Even though most of the hands on was focused on food prep, the «grill engineers» were extremely helpful and I learned a lot hanging out with them. the only problem was that when I was hanging out with them, I was missing the prep stuff in the class. You almost need to take this twice — or come with a friend/​partner who can do the prep while you chat with the grillers. The recipes are pretty straightforward, so if you’re already a decent cook my recommendation would be to spend more time in the back with the grills. The engineers were more than happy to talk about how to use the various smokers & grills. I don’t own anything fancier than a standard 3-​burner propane grill at the moment but took this class as a way of exploring what’s available before I commit to buying something for smoking. I wasn’t disappointed.
— I had Cam for an instructor. He was pretty up-​front with the sales pitch — he started off telling us what he was selling and why (and admitted it was his shameless plug). I looked up prices on several of the items they were pitching and the prices the BBQ school was offering were cheaper than what came up on a quick search. So yeah, there’s a sales pitch. it was not high pressure.

The Seattle BBQ & Grilling School is an AWESOME way to learn the basics of BBQ, grilling, and smoking. My husband and I took the 6 hour grilling and smoking class. We got the deal for 2 off of Groupon. The deal was $ 144.00 for 2 for 6 hours. The original price was $ 340 for 2 without the Groupon deal. The deal was totally worth the time and money. You learn so much in 6 hours. Our grilling chef was Cam and his assistant was Preston. Both were awesome! Cam really knew his information and gave so much great information. Thank you! I definitely have a new respect for people that compete in competitions. It looks so easy but Preston is a certified judge for BBQ competitions and he was telling us some of the rules and it’s a lot of small details that go into it. Also, we met some other cool couples that helped make our experience fun and enjoyable.
The class is 6 hours of information and different hands on activities. While you do not do a lot of the actual grilling on the grill, you do learn how to prep your meat, season your meat, and what temperatures you should cook different meats at. It’s literally so much information that you stay busy the entire 6 hours. Cam is also funny and fun and makes the class interesting where you want to learn and don’t get bored. Cam also prepared some pulled pork and some brisket before class that we ate at the end of class and boy oh boy, that was some DANG GOOD BBQ! These were the best meats that were made the entire class. So tender and flavorful! During this class you make a ton of food and different vegetables to eat with the meal. To name a few if not all would be: chicken wings, pork tenderloin, brisket, pulled pork, chicken (butterflied), beer/​soda can chicken, ribs (style 1), ribs (style 2), stuffed peppers, potatoes (sweet and russet potatoes), squash (spaghetti squash & acorn squash), cabbage, and cinnamon/​sugar apples. I «think» that’s everything. Lol.
While this class was super informative and fun I do have one suggestion. During this class you make A LOT of food. It’s normally a class for 26 but our class only had 13 so it was double the food. The class started at 1 PM and we didn’t eat until approx. 5 – 5:30 PM for the first time and again around 6:30 — 6:45 PM the final time. My one suggestion would be to space out the eating a little better. One so your not waiting till 4 hours into the class to eat and second at the end you don’t have a ton of food to eat and your practically to stuffed to really enjoy the food. Most people will not eat a lot before coming into the class because it says you will make a lot of food therefore people are hungry. Maybe eating at sooner times would help a little more to space out the portions and all the food. Other than that I don’t have any complaints. It didn’t bother me to not do the actual «grilling» because it’s so much information to know about the basics of grilling before even putting the food on the grill. I was happy just to gain knowledge of the basics. You have to understand that while the actual grilling is fun it’s important to know the basics or you won’t come out with a good product.
Overall, this class is a great introduction to BBQ and grilling. Job well done by the team! I really appreciate the class and the information being given out during the class. Thanks a bunch Seattle BBQ and Grilling School for a fun afternoon experience for my husband and I and teaching a great class!

I was a little apprehensive at first in trying to schedule a date into a packed calendar to potentially have to spend hours with bunch of BBQ Bi… braggarts boasting about how much they know about grilling and smoking. This was not the case in my experience. The class was easy to reserve online. The Southcenter location is very central and yet out of the way from parking issues.
The class provided a packed and diverse group of participants, entertainment and most of all an extremely well-​rounded amount of information. Specifically, Stu gave a great overview of food and «kitchen/​smoker» safety, techniques with various type of foods preparation and smoking and grilling, and detailed information on the pros/​cons of equipment (specifically smokers). The class would be very helpful to anyone looking to purchase a smoker as the class provides a lot of hands-​on experience along with Stu’s insight.
The six hours goes rather quick and seems to pick up over the day. So, bringing a notepad along with a container for leftovers is highly recommended equipment to best extend your experience. Of course, DVDs and the whole spectrum of grilling equipment is available for purchase after the class in case you want to start or expand your arsenal. Stu’s delivery, humor, and ability to share his worldly expertise inside and out of the kitchen provides an atmosphere that even a vegetarian would love. He’s also very approachable throughout the entire class if you have questions regarding what your learning and doing and/​or with your domestic operation.
This is a great idea for something to do on your own, with some friends or even for a private party. There always deals online. But, it is a good idea to work with them directly as well.

Wow, that was a fun grilling 101 class. I learned a great deal about smoking and temperature and prep work. And, I learned how the mysterious «stall» works when a big piece of meat gets stuck at 160 degrees. The course covered cooking ribs, brisket and pork shoulder, it covered cutting meats. It was also quite hands-​on as we were given tasks in groups. Also, we got to have some sense of completion in our tasks in two regards. One was we fancied up some store-​bought bbq sauce, which I thought was a pretty stupid lesson, but then after it was left to simmer on the stove all day, it did make a big difference. And then we learned «steamed ribs,» which I had never thought of, but it’s a great way to get fall-​off-​the-​bone ribs without a smoker or spending 6 hours.
Some minor criticisms, though:
–The instructor taught from a PowerPoint. It was almost unreadable. Too many words, all too small.
–The smoked ribs came out dry and stringy. There was plenty of other good food to eat, but this would have been a good teaching moment as to what caused that and how to prevent it. But, I don’t think the instructor actually tried a rib himself. He seemed awfully rushed whenever he talked.
–The instructor did too much «selling» of items and methods. «If you’re doing it this way, well stop immediately because this is so much better.» And his «better» method or device might get you a 5 percent improvement, if you can notice it. Ok to talk that way once in a while, but it’s awfully tiring to hear for several hours from someone who already has your money. Was looking for more explaining than selling.

Spent some great time last Sunday with Stu learning some great smoking (and grilling) techniques. The atmosphere was laid back and we had a lot of fun while learning. I recommend this class to anyone who owns a grill or a smoker — you will learn something to make you better!

Attended the BBQ grill and smoker class today. What a fantastic experience! I learned so much to do differently to give my family and guests a better dining experience. Stu and Tom were awesome hosts and entertaining. Can’t wait to use my new found knowledge and tools! I will plan to take another class very soon. I also plan to purchase a pellet smoker now, been thinking about it for awhile and this experience convinced me to do it. Thank you guys for for a great Sunday!

Call Ashley for Groupon or Living Social pricing and then they dont have to deal with the third party making a large portion of their funds! This was a phenomenal BBQ class. We made so many different types of BBQ and we learned about various grills an grill settings. This class was full of valuable information. In fact, I hope to take another type of BBQ class soon since I had such a great experience. I am not one to BBQ, but after taking this class, it made me want to purchase a grill!

Did the Grilling and Smoking 101 class earlier today with Stu along with my wife who does not typically participate with the grilling and smoking but said she’d come anyways.
I wasn’t sure what we’d be doing for 6 whole hours, but there honestly isn’t much downtime. You do end up getting to eat what gets made which for us consisted of:
Ribs done two different ways (3−2−1 and steamed/​grilled)
Brisket
Pulled Pork
Chicken wings
Whole Chickens done two ways (standing up and spatchcocked)
Pork Tenderloin
Pork Loin
Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes
Grilled Squash
Stuffed cabbage
Stuffed peppers
Cinnamon Apples
It’s quite a bit of food really.
The information provided covers nearly all the basic smokers and grills on the market, with some tips for specific popular brands (Big Green Eggs, Traegars, Green Mountain, etc.). That said, it was class of nearly 30 so even for that much food not everybody is preparing every dish — generally you’re probably only going to be dealing with about a quarter of the dishes yourself and watching other groups work on other things. Fortunately they said they will email the recipes out later.
Pros:
–Lots of food, ability to try many different barbeque/​grilled dishes and see them made
–Engaging once the hands-​on gets going
–Stu really knows his stuff
–I’m definitely going to be able to use a lot of the stuff I learned to improve my own cooking
Cons:
–Stu right off the bat says he’s a conservative who is prone to telling off-​color jokes. I’d give him a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ on somewhat funny jokes to just bad jokes. He’s very charismatic and knows his stuff, but plan to take some things with a grain of salt from him — he’s like that older uncle at a family reunion (you know the one).
–The first hour is powerpoint and basics and covers very basic stuff and was a bit dull. Granted, it is a «101» class so they assume people may not know anything coming in. It does pick up a lot after that once you get hands-​on, and then just keeps going strong for the rest of the time
We did this on a groupon and felt it was a really good value for the money. If you see a groupon or other deal for this class give the school a direct call and they may be able to cut you as good a deal or better booking direct.

I should have read ALL the reviews before I booked this for my husband. He has been wanting to take a class to learn how to grill chicken so I thought this would be the perfect class based off of the high Unilocal ratings. When he got there he said he didn’t even get to touch a grill!!! WTH… He was left to prepare food while others got to watch the instructor grill the chicken. He was told things you could simply just google or YouTube. He also said that they talked a lot about products they wanted to sell. What a scam, this is NOT a grilling course. Do not waste your money.

My fiancé and I took the «Grilling and Smoking 101» class this weekend with Mike. While a lot of the information covered in this course was not new for us the class was well organized and contained a lot of information for the new griller. Mike was very engaging, knowledgeable and we were able to gain lots of knowledge around smoking, which was our great interest.
We were able to see multiple grills and smokers in use which was great for us. They have a lot of products available for purchase as well as answered lots of individual questions.
We enjoyed the group atmosphere, hands on cooking we were able to participate in and watch others complete prep. We took a lot of information away from the other participants who shared stories, tips and tricks of what they liked and didn’t like about their grilling and smoking experiences.
All in all a great experience and we will be back to take the 201 class in the near future! If you’re thinking about it, it’s worth it no matter what your grilling or smoking experience may be.

Great class, learned allot of new techniques on which type of grill to use, when to use it and most importantly why. Garrett was our instructor and for a man that owns 15 different bbqs, he knows allot and is gracious about sharing his knowledge.
Highly recommended great for beginners and even those who have been grilling for a while can learn allot.

This is a good basic smoker recipe class, but the actual cooking process still remains a mystery.
I had a good time. I mean how could you not have a good time; talking about smoked meats, drinking beer, eating smoked meats. The recipes were very basic. You are not getting anything crazy or mind blowing; just good rubs.
The food was fine. The prep techniques were good; some were new and some were old to me. I would have like a little more time with the smokers. I really was hoping to understand the nuances of temperate control. They touched lightly on the subjects, but I didn’t take any cooking techniques home, just prep. I do acknowledge that there are time constraints.
The staff was very friendly and engaging.
This was a great activity to do with friends and family.

I bought this as a gift for my husband and he did NOT get a chance to touch meat. I didn’t pay for him to sit through a PowerPoint class… His table prepared squash. This was not at all, what I thought it would be. They didn’t even have pulled pork or brisket! NEVER AGAIN!

What a day!!! I thought 6 hours, what the heck I am going to be doing for six hours. There was no end to the excitement and wow the food. I cannot say enough good stuff about these guys, I think my only recommendation would be slow down or cook a few less things. Most folks were given a job to keep a track of various food items, but the chef was still showing how to prepare other dishes. However they said they were sending out a email with all of the recipes, so I will update when that happens.
Anyhow the class goes like this… power-​point on the does and don’t of grilling, start prepping some dishes, get the grills going, talk about the types of grills and smokers and start cooking. Again the best way to go to one of these classes is to get a bunch of friends to go with. They let you bring your beverages and really is the most fun I have had with a bunch of strangers in a long time.
Ultimately I learned a bunch and will definitely be back for a few more courses and they even provide in home cooking too, so once I get my smoker I think I am definitely going to try that. Anyhow if you want to learn about BBQ and grilling plus much more definitely give them a try. What a blast, great job guys!!!

Great way to spend a day! I was given the 6 hour BBQ and grilling class (101) as a gift, and had a great time. Cam and Ashley do an excellent job of teaching and managing the class — very impressive considering the number of grills and BBQs they have fired up at one time. I learned a lot, and met some really nice folks — did not leave hungry as you get to chow down on all the great food that you prepare. Looking forward to the next class!

Lots of fun. Lots of great info. Lots of food! Our instructor Cam was a great teacher and a funny guy. We had a great time. I would recommend this class to anyone who enjoys cooking and wants to pick up some new skills.

Lots of fun. We came up as a group. We learned lots of great techniques. It is in a small group atmosphere so it is very interactive.
The greatest part is eating what you cooked.
Bring an appetite because there is lots of food.

Loved this class … learned a lot … ate a lot. Cam was a great instructor. My husband and I and two friends had the best time. Lots of really good and useful information.
This class is going to be a great wedding present for my brother. The only negative comment is they run the class March — October. now we have to wait until next year to get into another class!

My wife and and and two friends had the best time today. Lots of really good and useful information. Cam is a wealth of information. The class is not over and we are all stuffed! Bring your own beer or wine!

Just saying… buying this voucher for my husband for Father’s Day = HERO STATUS!
Craig loved, loved, loved the class! The instructors were amazing, the food was terrific, and he had a great time! Craig loves to grill and bbq and he still learned a ton. As he said, «They had something for everyone. They really helped tie up the loose ends. You know, those details you don’t see on the shows or read in the books». All I can say is that my Ahi tuna, using the little trick they told him about was INCREDIBLE! Please tell me there will be a second class? He would sign up in an instant! Thank you, thank you!