Behind the Pit interview with Kyle Matuszewski with Jealous Devil

This month we are focusing on a BBQ Brand that is Purer Than Heaven & Hotter Than Hell! Jealous Devil Charcoal!

 

Jealous Devil Headquarters: California

Made in: USA and South America

IG Handle: @jealousdevilcharcoal

 

What’s the story of JD?

The Jealous Devil team was assembled years ago to complete an impossible but totally noble quest: take fire back from the Devil and return it to its original, rightful owners - us humans. Really, it was less a "career choice" and more a "fulfill your destiny" situation.

 

How did you come up with the brand name Jealous Devil?

What better way to celebrate our victory than to build it into our name? The Devil was so jealous of our heat that he tried to steal it for himself. But humanity prevailed, leaving the Devil with all of his envy and none of our fire. We don't intend to let him - or anyone else - forget that.

 

What is your most popular product and why do you think that is?

Our tagline is "pure as heaven and hotter than hell". People love JD because we work damn hard to make sure that tagline is true. That fire we reclaimed is inside every lump of Jealous Devil charcoal. We spent years perfecting the methods we would use to share it with the world, and landed on a blend of traditional handcrafted touches and modern, cutting-edge technology. We use only pure, all-natural South American hardwood that's ethically sourced and incredibly dense - and then we carbonize the hell out of it so that it burns cleanly at over 1000 degrees with no sparking, popping, heavy smoke, or excessive ash. One could say it's a burn so good it'd make the Devil himself jealous. And we package it in a sexy, feature-packed bag.

We also are lucky to have talented BBQ competitors, pitmasters, and enthusiasts spreading the gospel of JD - people like Kyle from Your Behind BBQ. Guys like Kyle wield JD's heat with incredible skill, and in doing so, help share it with the world.

 

Closing Thoughts:Though our team's initial quest is complete, our ambition still burns as hot as ever. So we've been working on several exciting new products - and this the first public announcement we're making about them. There will be multiple additions to the Jealous Devil lineup in the near future, but here's the first appetizer: Blox. Blox are all-natural, 100% hickory compressed-wood logs for use in wood-fired pizza ovens, grills, firepits, and more that will deliver unbeatable flame roll and heat while eliminating the hassles associated with firewood. You'll also see our flagship charcoal will be getting a new name soon, so keep an eye out for that (though the awesome charcoal inside will remain the same, with bigger chunks than ever!)

 

If you thought the Devil was jealous before, just wait till he sees what we're cooking up next...

Read on to learn about Jealous Devil Brand Ambassador Kyle Matuszewski and Your Behind BBQ

 

JD Brand Ambassador: Kyle Matuszewski 

Age: 31

Location: Waddell, Arizona 

Brand Name: Your Behind BBQ 

IG Handle: @your_behind_bbq

 

Has BBQ always been your passion, or did you have a career before?

 I actually got into this whole bbq thing because of my dad. He’s my hero/idol. I was always playing sports growing up mainly football and my dad was my biggest fan. When my football career/college football career came to a halt after tearing my ACL/MCL the 5th game into my high school senior year, i was devastated, had no clue what i was gonna do since football was the only thing i knew! I Didn’t know what I could do to get that competitive edge like sports gave you. After recovering from surgery my dad and I found a show called “BBQ Pitmasters” a show that followed some of the biggest bbq teams at that time around the country at different contests cooking against each other. We both looked at each other after the season ended and said we could do that! My Pops always had a thing for cooking and creating new things. Since that show We would spend our free time together in the backyard smoking different things trying to be like the guys on TV. We would literally fire up the smoker and practice our recipes any chance we got! After a few months of practice i found us a local competition out here in Scottsdale Arizona. We loaded up and headed out to compete with the only goal of not coming in last place. We finished top 20 out of 100 plus teams. We were completely hooked after that plus that bond we shared between father and son finding something we both enjoyed doing and we can compete in is priceless! We both have full time jobs. I currently work for Honeywell in the Engineering Test Services department. 

 

How did you come up with the brand name Your Behind BBQ ?

Well its kind of a family joke. It started off sitting on the back porch drinking adult beverages with my old man watching the smoker roll. Once one of us were done with our drink and the other was still drinking, we would hand it to each other and say “your Behind” as we open up another drink. Kinda a weird family joke is how it got started.

 

What is your most popular product and why do you think that is?

Well as of right now we don’t have our own product lines yet that’s still a work in progress. My favorite bbq “tool” I would have to say is the BBQ Vortex! Check them out at BBQ Island  but we have teamed up with this AMAZING charcoal company called Jealous Devil Charcoal. “Pure as heaven, Hotter then Hell” it’s a hardwood lump charcoal and literally it’s hotter then hell. In the BBQ Competition world sleep is everything in my opinion. Usually I would have to get up around 1:30am to get the smokers lit and up to temp for my long meats (brisket and pork) Your basic charcoal would literally take about a hour or hour and a half to get the smoker to the temperature we needed usually 275-315 degrees. After long, early mornings of continuously adding charcoal and cleaning up the mess other name brand charcoal would leave behind after burning, I was done. It was time for me to find another solution, something better! I came across Jealous Devil at my local BBQ store, BBQ Island and put it to the test. At the time we were using WSMs (Webber Smokey Mountain smokers) they each had water pans and that was part of the problem getting my smoker to the right temperature was also getting the water hot. So I got the charcoal started and was letting it burn in my fire chimney before throwing it in the smoker. The first Thing i noticed was how pure, clean and HOT it was burning. Not a lot of smoke when i first lit it, just pure hardwood charcoal burning along. After throwing it in the smoker It took 30 minutes to get my WSM with a water pan installed to hit 275. I was amazed. I’ve never found a charcoal that burned this hot and get the smoker up to temp so quick! I Proceeded to cook that day and I would usually add more charcoal but noticed I didn’t have to with Jealous Devil. I finished my practice cook and let the smoker keep going at 275. I wanted to see how long It could really go and burn at that temp with out refilling. To my amazement it lasted a full 7 1/2 hours! Once it was time to dump the ash there was very little ash to dump. Just a real fine dust. I’m truly impressed with this stuff. No fillers or anything! Just pure hardwood charcoal! 

 

Closing Thoughts: Make it happen man! Follow your dreams! Being underestimated is one of the biggest competitive advantages you can have! \

 

Make sure you follow us on 

Facebook- Your Behind BBQ. 

Instagram - @your_behind_bbq

 

 

Thanks for reading!

BBQ Island

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