Born to Grill Stories Meet Michael Hidalgo

Q & A with Michael Hidalgo

How long have you been in the industry?

MH: I’ve been with BBQGuys for almost seven years, but I've always kind of been into outdoor cooking, whether that be grilling, open fire or boiling seafood. If you grew up in the South like I did, it's kind of the same everywhere. You spend a lot of time outside. You eventually learn how to make a life out of cooking outside.

Before BBQGuys, I did some catering work, exclusively cooking on a grill. I also managed a marina, where I was actually the cook in its custom outdoor kitchen. It’s just always something I’ve been drawn to.

What area do you specialize in?

MH: I'm the Director of PRO Sales, which means I run our national territory sales team and all our Backyard Design Centers with a focus on builders, landscapers, architects, pool builders, and more in relation to helping them fulfill their customers’ dreams.

What trends or innovations are you seeing in the outdoor cooking industry recently?

MH: Technology is probably the biggest trend right now, but I’m also seeing a lot of streamlining taking place. We still have some companies that are focused on expansion, but more and more companies are streamlining, taking their bestselling products, keeping those and cutting out most of the others.

As far as tech, it seems like everybody is trying to innovate. Companies are asking, “What slight edge can I get, whether that be in looks, fit or feel, or actual function?” The history of grilling has always had a lot of copycatting, with everyone trying to get an edge on the others.

It's very much a copycat industry right now when it comes to technology—especially because there's only so much tech you can put into a standard gas grill. One example is thermometers for grill temperatures, with companies trying to figure out the most accurate way to measure the internal temperature of the grill and the surface temperature. Then you’ve got probes that let you test what you're cooking. There’s been a lot of innovation since the analog thermometer on the grill hood.

The next step is getting higher temperatures. For products like pellet grills, that means expanding where pellets fit in. They’re going to pellet-fire everything before it’s over. It's going to be pizza ovens, true smokers and your grill—all reaching higher temperatures.

How about trends specific to designing and building outdoor kitchens?

MH: It’s not just specific to outdoor kitchens but to home building in general: a very modern and clean look. With a traditional outdoor kitchen, we tend to think of stucco, brick or stonework—maybe granite countertops with multiple colors and more. Now what we're starting to see mirrors what we’ve been seeing on the inside of homes—these very clean lines. It seems like every house is white and gray or white and black on the outside, and everything on the inside is white or gray tones, and every handle is black.

It’s a much sleeker design than we've seen in the past, and where that trend is really kicking off is with self-contained outdoor kitchens—those that are very minimal in design and monochromatic.

How do you stay up to date on these industry trends and innovations?

MH: I tend to be a talker, not a listener, so I have to learn to shut up and listen to my sales reps and their experiences in all the different territories around the US. That also means listening to the Pro who actually builds the kitchen, asking, “What's hot in your area? What seems not to be working? What seems to be working?” I always listen to the end user. They're the ones, in all honesty, you're trying to please.

What is it that they want to see? What is it that they’re not seeing? What are they seeing? And then relaying that to the manufacturers and asking them similar questions. So I try to get with them, see what they're hearing and what problems they're trying to solve. It's all about asking questions and reflecting: Are we trying to solve these problems? What are we trying to get better at? That's key.

What’s your outdoor kitchen philosophy or design approach?

MH: My philosophy here is simple: Every outdoor space should be an extension of the user themselves, and not a mirror image of your neighbor’s space that you thought was cool. Use that as a measure to go against. But each outdoor space should be unique because not every person cooks the same things as their neighbor. Not everybody’s going to use their outdoor space the same way as their neighbor.

I find that to be one of the biggest complaints in the end: “Well, I did this exactly like my neighbor, and I don’t like this.” To avoid that, take the time to plan up front, because I believe that everybody’s space should be different.

How would you define the perfect outdoor space?

MH: I believe in function over form. For me, it doesn't always have to look like a bright, shiny object, but the function should always be exactly how I'm going to use my space.

I tend to be able to do everything I want on a grill. I don't necessarily need a side burner or anything else. I've got pots that I put on my grill and use them for most of what I need. I tend to like a huge grill but an overall small cooking area.

I do need a large bar area for serving and entertaining. I want my outdoor space to be where people gather. I like to cook, and I like for people to be around and share that time with me. That means a large area for serving and seating. So I would definitely add a big TV to my perfect backyard. I live in the South, and we're all about game day, which means a big TV and then maybe a little side space with a few Adirondack chairs and a real, wood-burning fire pit.

What do you enjoy most about working with homeowners and customers?

MH: From an industry perspective, we're probably one of the best industries to work in, in my opinion. That’s because we're focused on the most fun part of everyone’s house. Everything we do is about family, friends, and gathering. Seeing a smile on somebody's face while out back or during a game-day weekend—that’s what it’s all about. As an industry, we tend to know how to have a good time, and I’m confident there are very few other industries that have as much fun as we do.

Specifically, when working with the PROs, I really enjoy that everything is different all the time. When I worked in retail for a while, we were in a Louisiana base of operations where everything was always the same. You knew what every Louisiana customer wanted. You knew what the outdoor kitchen was going to look like. You knew what they were going to build it out of.

What I like in my current position with the PROs now is that I tend to work with them all over the US and help solve problems all over the US. That gives me insight into the problems they have in outdoor kitchens in Michigan and that they’re not the same problem as those in southern Florida. Doing that really kind of fulfills the job for me because it's always a different problem depending on what type of PRO base you're dealing with.

What’s the most memorable outdoor project you’ve worked on?

MH: It wasn’t a project, but it was actually the meals I cooked after Hurricane Ida, which hit hard in LaPlace and the surrounding Reserve area, so a lot of families were impacted. They were put out and actually had to move to other communities.

We actually went into LaPlace just a few days after the hurricane to feed people who couldn't get out. I went down there with a disaster relief crew and set up our BBQGuys trailer and their big cook trailer. We probably cooked close to 2,000 steaks in five hours between 12 of us, and by the time we were done, I was missing quite a bit of hair on my arms and eyebrows.

What’s your favorite piece of outdoor cooking gear—and why?

MH: The Meater Pro Meat Thermometer, by far. You can use it on every piece of cooking equipment you own, whether that's a standard low-and-slow smoker, an upright smoker, or electric, gas, wood, or charcoal.

The Meater Pro is where it's at if you want to monitor your cooking and do it well. Now, if you have a cheat code—which is what I would call a Traeger grill—I get it, because it comes built in with that app. But if you don't, and you're like me, and you have multiple grills and you have a big open fire that you like to cook over, a good thermometer has incredible value. I use it for everything, and everything comes out just right.

What outdoor product types and styles really speak to you?

MH: I use a Weber Kettle probably more than anything else, so probably that one. My Traeger is a close second. But the only reason I use the Traeger so much is because I can monitor it from anywhere. I can actually put something on for hours and do my work while I’m at it, or do something fun like boating, golfing, or go see my little girl’s ballet. And I can keep an eye on my cook the whole time.

But my Weber Kettle is probably the best all-around grill ever built for the price, bar none. The only way you can improve that experience is to either spend the money for a Kamado—and the only thing you get that’s better is you can do longer cooks with less charcoal—but you can do it all on the Weber Kettle all day.

What’s the most common mistake people make when planning their outdoor space—and how can you help them avoid it?

MH: Too much equipment in too small of a space is a common mistake. I see people cram a lot of storage that they're not going to use into their spaces. They tend to think they need every form of cooking equipment out back, and they don’t focus enough on entertaining and serving food.

For every piece of cooking equipment, you need at least that much prep space and at least that much serving space. So if you have 10 feet of cooking area, you need at least 8 to 10 feet of serving and prep space.

What is your go-to grub for grilling?

MH: My favorite thing to eat outdoors is steak. I eat steak more than anybody in the world. A few of my favorite things to cook outdoors are steak and turkey. I love to brine and spatchcock a turkey and smoke it.

My other favorite is pulled pork or—if you stop cooking it a little sooner and slice it up—pork butt, when it’s long-smoked rotisserie over charcoal on a pellet grill. There are so many ways to do it. Not only are pork butts delicious, but they're also one of the easiest, lowest-maintenance things to cook. Everybody should start with pork butts when they start cooking and trying to smoke. They're inexpensive. They're hard to mess up. You can add plenty of seasoning for a great taste.

Are you team charcoal, gas, pellet, or wood?

MH: Charcoal 110%. I have a pellet grill that I do use, but I prefer charcoal and wood, and I use wood in my charcoal grill—whether it’s chunks or chips. My outdoor fire pit has a huge swinging grate that goes over it, so I love game days when we throw pork chops or chips on it, or my friends will come over with their kids, and the fire’s what we just swing the grate over—like throw the hot dogs on there, whatever it may be.

For years, I had a huge offset smoker, and I love just spending my days on my back patio with friends, manning this super inefficient beast of a grill with wood all day. Charcoal to start it, and I just like that type of old-school, true-roots style cooking when it comes to the outdoors.

What’s on your grill playlist or backyard party soundtrack?

MH: So normally I just kind of throw on Pandora shuffle and let it ride out, but I tend to lean toward Zac Brown Band as a fan. I love his music. I like putting his Pandora station on because you get a little rock, you get a little Jimmy Buffett, that yacht rock–type feel. You get some good country, you get old country, and new country. But it's without shuffling my entire playlist. I feel like it's just a good vibe for an outdoor gathering.

If you could grill with any celebrity chef or pitmaster, who would it be?

MH: Be honest, only for one reason would I want to cook for Gordon Ramsay, and it's because I want him to roast me like he does on the show. That's the only reason. Growing up where I'm from, and the way my family was, we really went hard at each other all the time. We're all really thick-skinned. We're like that with backhanded compliments and stuff like that. So if it was purely for that, it's 100% Gordon Ramsay.

If I wanted to hang out with a guy, someone who's just a "guy's guy," great in the backyard, Fieri would be it. I think he'd just be cool to hang out with in the backyard.