COMPETITOR

MZHH - BBQ

HEAD COOK: Sean Young

COMPETITION: World Barbecue Championship

I grew up on a 10-acre ranch in southern Ohio, and we grew acres of vegetables and sweet corn. I fondly recall as a kid, harvesting fresh veggies for dinner. Many meals consisted of whatever was in season and ready to eat. Today it's called "farm to table", but growing up we just called it supper. My dad built a large concrete block open pit grill in the back of our property, and every Sunday morning we would load up the tractor wagon with coolers of food and cast iron skillets and head out to make breakfast. I'd help my dad build the cooking fire, and shovel coals to make a cooking bed. We'd spend those mornings cooking outdoors, fishing in the pond, and being together as a family. Those moments set the foundation for my love of live-fire cooking. At 18 years old I enlisted in the US Army and served for 6 years, with one deployment. After struggling with post-military-related trauma I discovered Competitive BBQ in 2008. The entire process of completing was familiar, it resembled the military. I found mission, purpose, and community once again. I felt at home. I immersed myself in competitive food sports and quickly realized this was therapy. Culinary arts therapy. Over the next 15 years, I cooked 120+ competitions, taught 78 BBQ Classes and passed on my knowledge to over 1,200 students. In 2019 I founded a non-profit charity called Mission Zero Hundred Hours, to help fellow Veterans find a renewed mission and purpose through competitive culinary arts. I'm proud of the work we do to save Veterans' lives with food sport, as food sport saved mine.