Southern Thunder BBQ Cooking School
About Southern Thunder
Teaching BBQ Since 2014
From Competition BBQ to a Cooking School
Southern Thunder began as a competition BBQ team in 2012.
Like most competition teams, we were always looking for ways to improve. Over time, we developed simplified, repeatable cooking processes that produced consistently good results — and helped us win BBQ competitions.
Then we realized something.
If the process could be made repeatable for us, it could be taught to someone else.
In 2014, Southern Thunder BBQ Cooking School was born.
We Decided to Teach BBQ Like a Skill
From the beginning, our goal wasn't simply to have accomplished pitmasters cook great BBQ while students watched.
We wanted students to understand what was happening.
Why does one technique work better than another? How does heat actually reach the meat? What does smoke contribute? How do time and temperature work together? How can you tell when meat is really done? And what do you do when a cook isn't going according to plan?
Those questions shaped the way Southern Thunder teaches BBQ.
A School Designed for Learning
Southern Thunder isn't a restaurant that occasionally offers classes or a pitmaster demonstration held in a borrowed space.
We have a dedicated BBQ cooking-school campus in Marietta, Georgia.
Students begin in a classroom with seating, work surfaces and large-screen demonstrations. Concepts and techniques are explained before students move outside to the smokers and put what they've learned into practice.
Detailed instructional materials give students a place to follow the lesson, take notes and refer back to what they've learned long after class is over.
Our teaching process is straightforward:
Understand → See → Do → Reproduce at Home
Understand
See
Do
Reproduce at Home
Experienced Pitmasters. Experienced Teachers.
Knowing how to cook great BBQ and knowing how to teach someone else to cook it are two different skills.
Southern Thunder instructors bring both to the classroom.
Our pitmasters have extensive BBQ cooking experience, and our instructors understand how to break that knowledge into principles and techniques students can understand, practice and reproduce on their own.
That combination is important to the way we teach. We don't want you simply watching an expert cook. We want you to understand what the instructor is doing, why it works, and how to do it yourself.
The Goal Is What Happens After Class
We've taught thousands of students from across the country since opening the school in 2014.
But the measure that matters most to us isn't whether the BBQ tasted great while you were here.
It's whether you can cook great BBQ when you get home.
That's why we teach principles instead of simply handing out recipes.
Smokers differ. Weather changes. Meat varies. Cooking times aren't always predictable.
Understanding the principles gives you the ability to recognize what's happening, make adjustments and become a more confident cook.
That's what Southern Thunder BBQ Cooking School was created to teach.
Teaching BBQ Since 2014
Today Southern Thunder offers classes ranging from BBQ and grilling fundamentals to our full-day Pitmaster Apprentice class, whole-hog cooking and competition BBQ.
Different classes. Different skills.
But the objective remains the same:
Understand what you're doing, understand why you're doing it, and be able to do it again at home.