Octavius Nelson is a man who makes some of the best BBQ in the entire Caroline. Yet, he is not flashing any credentials that came from fancy cooking schools. If you want to be like him and nail the next time you make ribs, pulled pork, or brisket, he shares some of the YouTube tutorials that helped him reach his BBQ glory.
More commonly known as “Tay” in his neighborhood, Octavius Nelson grew up with good food and cooking. Booby, his father, worked as a diner chef at Fountain Inn, a tight-knit town in South Carolina.
Tay was 12 years young when he got his first restaurant job. That time, he washed dishes in the same kitchen where his father cooked to feed the hungry folks in the area. He can still recall how much his father loved his chef job. Also, Tay remembers the joy plastered on the faces of those who his father cooked for.
As if day-long shifts in front of a hot stove were not enough, Boby would spend most Sundays with Tay and his brother, cooking together for their friends and family. What’s more, they do the cooking in the long-living tradition of American backyard BBQ. Needless to say, food is the way of life for the Nelson family.
When Tay’s father died in 2008 and his brother in 2009, his life was upended. But not long after, he came with a decision to carry on their tradition in the loving memory of his father and brother. However, Tay did not have any formal culinary training, and his upstart resources were only limited. For this reason, he had to get seriously creative when it comes to where he should begin.
Tay Recreated his Father’s Recipes from His Vivid Memory
One of Tay’s vivid memories about his father’s cooking is its complex blends of spices that he adds to his recipes. In 2010, he set out to re-create one of his father’s recipes without any cookbooks, but only from his memory. Once done, he will bottle it to sell.
Tay began asking some of his father’s former co-workers about what they thought the mix might be consist of. From what they said, recreating the mix became a simple game of trial and error. After his countless attempts, he perfected the mixture, and Bobby’s All-Purpose Seasoning became sold like crazy. After some time, Tay added two more blends– a BBQ rub and a citrus blend. They began selling those three seasonings in stores as well as his online website.
Yet, Tay was far from being finished. Just like his father, his ambition was to cook for people more than anything else. His father stayed as his guiding light in terms of his culinary endeavors. However, he was no longer beside him to share how the culinary world goes with his son. For this reason, Tay relied on online tutorial videos. He also began studying video tutorials about the techniques for searing, smoking, seasoning, and more created by pitmasters.
The BBQ Show That Always Buys YouTube Views
One of the very first videos that Tay watched was an in-depth tutorial about making pork ribs from Aaron Franklin. He was a legendary pitmaster who owned the Franklin BBQ in Austin, which always buys YouTube views in the form of tasty ribs and sauces!
According to Tay, he did the video steps, and he came up with a ribs recipe that is similar to what the video showed. Does this truly count as someone who buys YouTube views if it comes in a BBQ format?
There is no doubt that Tay’s first few tickets were the most challenging to make. However, he did not shy away and began personally reaching out to the pitmasters from the videos he watched. Fortunately, most of them were generous enough to give him tips and advice. This helped him get his BBQ just right. Tay also said that he has since forged meaningful relationships. Until now, he still corresponds with many of those BBQ professionals for advice. They also share some general industry chatter. On top of that, Tay met some of them in person when he went to Texas for a research trip.
The Birth of Bobby’s BBQ
Back when Booby Nelson was alive, he began a humble and small catering business. But after his death and due to Tay’s dedication, that small catering business became a full-fledged restaurant named Bobby’s BBQ. Tay named the restaurant after his late father and brother.
Bobby’s was opened in 2018. Up to this date, it has already fed the hungry stomachs of more than 35,000 South Carolinians. It has also employed more than 60 locals.
Tay said that Bobby is still up and running while adjusting their operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the lockdown restrictions, Tay said that the restaurant is still doing well.
Conclusion
It is quite obvious that Tay fells responsible for both his staff and the community to keep going amid restrictions. However, the restaurant plays a significant role in keeping him happy and sane during these difficult times. He loves BBQ since it was a part of his childhood and his father’s memories. But according to him, he loves being with people even more.
Tay’s advice to those trying to break into the business is to be flexible, pray, and work hard. He also said that they should make sure that the business they are trying to put up is something they really love to do. It must also be something that they really care about because it will cause them everything.
As mentioned Tay relied on online video tutorials to help him with his endeavors. Some of the videos that really enabled him to reach his BBQ glory are Aaron Franklin’ BBQ with Franklin.