Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Culture

Feel Good Friday – Cowboy Charcoal Partners with Operation BBQ Relief

Cator Sparks
By

With grilling season upon us, you are going to be hearing a lot of experts pontificate on the best charcoal to use for the perfect summer grill. While there are a plethora of options out there, we are saddling up to Cowboy Charcoal. Not only are they a premium charcoal maker, but they have partnered up with Operation BBQ Relief to support victims of disaster across the United States.

Made in America, Cowboy Charcoal comes in a variety of styles from Southern Lump Charcoal, which uses the highest quality Southern hardwoods, to BBQ Wood Chunks, which burn more slowly to provide steady smoke and a robust flavor.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Founded in 2011, Operation BBQ Relief grew from the relief efforts in Joplin, Missouri after their terrible tornado, which killed 140 and injured more than 1,000. It was the second deadliest tornado in U.S. history.

Recommended Videos

In response to the need to feed countless displaced families, police, firemen and the National Guard, competition barbecue teams from eight states came to the rescue. The group, headed by Stan Hays (County Line Smokers), Jeff Stith (Big Creek BBQ) and Will Cleaver (Sticks N Chicks BBQ), was able to serve more than 120,000 barbecue meals in less than two weeks during the operation in Joplin.

Related: Sweetwater Spice Makes Brining a Breeze

“We are incredibly proud to be partnering with Operation BBQ Relief, it is an organization we’ve long admired, and we couldn’t be happier for the opportunity to come together to help people in need,” said Don Crace, Vice President of Sales. “The goal of the partnership is to increase resources and awareness for disaster victims and first responders across America.”

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Stan Hays, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Operation BBQ Relief explained that, “As a nonprofit, Operation BBQ Relief relies on partners and volunteers for success in living out our mission, and our partnership with Cowboy provides a phenomenal opportunity to further that success. At the end of the day, our goal is to be able to react faster and with greater force to support disaster victims, and the Cowboy team is helping to get us there.”

The Operation BBQ Relief and Cowboy Charcoal partnership will be kicking-off its 2015 program in conjunction with barbecue season by traveling to barbecue events and competitions across the U.S. to raise funds and spread the word about its mission, sharing incredible food, recipes and tips along the way.  Follow them on Twitter (@OpBBQRelief) and see if they will be smoking in your neck of the woods this summer.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Cator Sparks
Cator Sparks
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Cator Sparks was the Editor-in-Chief of The Manual from its launch in 2012 until 2018. Previously, Cator was covering…
How long should you let new cigars rest in a humidor?
Cigar humidor

Looking at those beautiful, oily cigars you've just unboxed or unwrapped, the calling to light up is real. I get it. I always want to smoke my cigars right away, too. But you shouldn't. Mail day is always exciting after you've ordered a slew of new cigars. When they arrive, the real fun begins. You'll probably need to organize your humidor to make the new sticks fit or arrange them for optimal humidification. As you're handling them, it's difficult to resist the temptation to crack open the cellophane or boxes and smoke one right away. While you can do that in most cases, I would recommend against it. Depending on where those cigars came from, where you live, and how they traveled, they might need a little time to rest in a humidor. They'll need to replenish some humidity and moisture or dry out a little.
How long should you let your new cigars rest?

When you put cigars in a humidor, especially one that's filled, they'll soak up and release humidity over time until they reach the average RH (relative humidity) that you have set inside your humidor. If you have a device like a that does this automatically, it will produce moisture and humidity to keep the levels optimal. You can also achieve the same thing with in smaller humidors, which release and soak up the humidity to match the levels on the label. Boveda packs come in a range of RH levels, from the low to mid-60s to the mid-70s.

Read more
The 11 best Kevin Costner movies, ranked
He has a full resume of films, but if you're a Costner fan, then you must see these movies
Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves

An all-American, blue-collar working man turned Hollywood essential, Kevin Costner has lived a life full of experience and dreams that some can only imagine. Starting out as a small kid -- 5'2" at high school graduation -- who moved around a lot, Costner was fond of things like poetry, writing, and singing in his Baptist choir. Outside of the arts, he was also very interested in sports of all kinds, which is reflected in his film career to this day. Also a man of the outdoors, Costner built his own canoe at 18 and paddled it through sections where Lewis and Clark ventured. Fun facts aside, Costner had a full and interesting life before the world got to know him as the charming and eloquent movie man we know him to be today.
From his past life, accomplishments, and hobbies, Costner was fully prepared to write, direct, and act for the screen as he fulfilled yet another lifelong dream. A man who was once called "The King of the Sports Movie," Costner has been able to act in films of a subject matter near and dear to his heart that became the films he is best known for. And that doesn’t include his many other successful movies having to do with politics, crime, and romance that also make for some of his best roles. Luckily, we’re here to talk about all of those films at once as we celebrate the man who has accomplished more in one lifetime than some could in many. Here are the best Kevin Costner movies of all time.

11. Open Range (2003)

Read more
The best Quentin Tarantino movies, ranked – Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and more
If you haven't seen these films at least one time, you need to ... and then watch them again and again
Scene from Pulp Fiction, John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson

Of all the contemporary film auteurs, perhaps no one’s work has permeated pop culture as thoroughly as Quentin Tarantino's. This director’s hyper-stylized, retro fantasy worlds have come to define cinematic coolness. His clever mashups of genres, exquisite sense of aesthetics, impeccable editing, uproarious suspensefulness, and impossibly quippy dialogue have been endlessly imitated.
Given the current political landscape, Tarantino’s work has undergone a serious critical re-evaluation from Black and feminist critics and scholars who point toward both his allegedly abusive behaviors and the offensive politics and rhetoric of his films. It’s true that in this new light, for many, there may be nothing redeemable about his entire oeuvre. 
However, to discard all Quentin Tarantino movies would discount the impossible talent of his frequent collaborators and stars, such as Sally Menke (who edited all of Tarantino’s movies until her death in 2010), Uma Thurman (who not only played the protagonist of Tarantino’s most iconic movies but was also credited as a co-writer on Kill Bill), Samuel L. Jackson (a frequent Tarantino star), and many more.
With that in mind, here’s our (subjective!) ranking of the greatest directed Quentin Tarantino movies of all time.

9. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019)

Read more