April 11, 2025 • 40 mins
We dive into the inspiring story of Aaron Norris, member of Hog Addiction Team and winner at Hogs for the Cause 2025, where they raised over $50,000 for pediatric brain cancer research while taking home the Grand Champion title.
• Aaron shares his journey from growing up on an Indiana farm to launching innovative cooking equipment
• Rural upbringing instilled values of faith, perseverance, and finding joy in all circumstances
• Norris Thermal Technologies evolved from agricultural dryers to cutting-edge cooking equipment
• The Game Changer Smoker revolutionizes commercial kitchens with its unique smoke generator technology
• Participation in charitable BBQ competitions combines Aaron's competitive nature with his desire to give back
• Faith serves as the foundation for Aaron's approach to business and philanthropy
• Chef Paul explores culinary applications for the Game Changer in commercial kitchens
For more information about the Game Changer Smoker, visit livefireadnsmoke.com or follow @GameChangerSmoker on Instagram.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
hello food fam.
This is the walk and talkpodcast, where you will find the
perfect blend of food fun andcooking knowledge.
I'm your host, carl fiordini.
Welcome to the number one foodpodcast in the country.
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(00:31):
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Summit.
We are excited about thispartnership and as we dive into
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the US Culinary Open at NAFM wow, this just presents so many new
(00:54):
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Stay tuned.
Big things happening on ourplatform.
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Email us to learn more Info atthewalkandtalkcom.
Today's story is all about smokefire and heart Hashtag Hogs for
(01:14):
the Cause.
We love what Hogs does forpediatric brain cancer and our
guest today is Aaron Norris.
He's a member of the HogAddiction Team and winner at
Hogs for the Cause 2025.
He's the president of NorrisThermal Technologies Inc.
Which manufactures innovativecooking equipment for everything
(01:34):
from backyard fun to largeindustrial uses.
They've got your needs covered.
I sincerely appreciate goodpeople and family businesses.
Aaron and the crew at HogAddiction I mean fresh off this
killer run at Hogs for the Causein New Orleans last week.
Man, they didn't just show up,they took Grand Champion, placed
first in whole hog, second inshoulder, and they even snagged
(01:57):
12th and ribs.
I mean they killed it overthere.
But this you're thinkingtrophies.
It's not about that.
It's not about trophies at all.
These guys raised over $50,000for pediatric brain cancer
research and that's like realimpact.
It's fueled by flavor, sweatand soul.
I have to tell you this isn'this first rodeo.
(02:18):
They've been winning this eventfor the last several years.
We're going to get into thatlater.
Also in the studio, we welcomeback Chef Paul Gaskins, who's
cooked up, speaking of pork,some pork, cheek pozzoli and
sweet cornbread spoon pudding.
You already know it was amazing.
We're going to get into this ina second.
(02:38):
Be sure to follow along on theIG to see the photography and
film of these delectable dishesat walk and talk show.
That was a mouthful, okay.
Uh, let's get into this, chef.
Welcome back.
Thank you, welcome.
All right, let's, let's.
Let's talk about this.
Uh, there was some sexy foodmade in this building here today
(03:00):
do my best, let's talk about it.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Go.
What do you got?
So we made a pork cheek pozole.
Um basically took guajillo,chilies, onions and all those
wonderful flavors and built,built depth.
Um sliced some pork cheek,braised it in the in the broth
and then, uh, served it withsome goat cheese grits and then
(03:23):
topped it with a little, alittle slaw on top of that.
So it came out really good notreally good.
Talk about the rendering.
So yeah, we we rendered for theother dish, for the, the spoon
boy cornbread.
So we rendered some pork cheekitself and used the fat in the
cornbread to kind of create thatwhole crackling cornbread kind
of kind of feel.
(03:43):
So came out really, really good, topped out with, uh like a
nashvu hot syrup mounted withsome butter came out and that, I
have to admit, that was reallygood I thought they were both
great.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
But I mean that, that bacon, wow, I mean bacon.
Yeah, okay, no, but it was it'sspecial bacon, right?
And the fact is it was layeredso nice in that cornbread and it
was fabulous.
That's a menu item, or no?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
It will be a menu item Not quite yet, but I'm
working on it.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Where are you at right now?
Where are you?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
working All right.
I'm at the Inn of Celebrationin the city of the town of
Celebration, and our restaurantis the Lakeside Kitchen and Bar.
So yeah, come on by.
Come by and have dinner with usor have brunch, seven days a
week.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
You guys just went through a massive renovation.
Yes, we did.
Is it all done?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
It is all done.
If anybody's ever been to anykind of renovation, you're happy
to be on the other end of it.
So I'm glad to be out ofrenovation.
I'm glad to move forward andstart doing some wonderful
things.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
What people don't know and what you didn't see is,
when I just asked him ifthey're done, you should have
seen the joy in his face, likethe natural, real happiness to
be finished with that job.
It was a huge time.
How long did it take?
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Well, it was scheduled for about four months.
Like any other renovation, ithas its hiccups.
It turned out to be almostseven, about seven months by the
time we were out of it.
That's a small price to pay.
It was worth the wait.
Let's put it that way.
It was worth the wait.
So we're on the other end of it, have a beautiful restaurant,
beautiful vibe in the hotel.
Once again, if you're in town,you're in celebration.
(05:19):
Please, please, stop by, please, stop by.
What's your favorite menu itemright now?
Right now, you know what Icreated left from our last
conversation.
The last time I was here, Icreated a benedict section, so I
got like four differentbenedicts, everything from the
pastrami benedict that we kindof did during our show last time
.
We have a monocrystal benedict,which is like popular right now
we have a benedict, and then wehave what we call portobello
(05:42):
ben.
So instead of bread, we useportobellos for the base.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Is that like the vegan option?
Yeah, sort of.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Vegetarian, vegetarian.
We still use Swiss cheese andbechamel and all that wonderful
stuff for it, but our Benedictsare really.
That menu is really ticking off.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
You had me at Monte Cristo.
I mean, that sounds pretty.
I'm an old Bennigan's guy, soyou're talking monocrystals man.
That's like you're speaking my,uh, my blood pressure and, uh,
and all that stuff, my healthright there.
I love it, I'll eat the hellout of those, yeah you like?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
uh, you like that.
Like today's hot syrup, we usethat kind of science, almost the
same flavor profile on top ofthat benedict, so it gives it a
little a different flavor to itstop it coming up here soon.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
I would say, chef, maybe over the next uh I don't
know month I'm gonna come outthere, I'm gonna let you know
when I'm gonna stop in and we'regonna just, we're gonna just
record you making some, somefood, we're gonna do some
content let's do it right andwe'll show the, we'll show the
hotel some love too.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Oh, most definitely most definitely kitchen's open,
kitchen's open, kitchen's openOkay.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
All right, all right.
Well, without further ado,let's get the man of the hour.
Well, part of the team of thehour, mr Aaron Norris.
Sir, welcome to the program.
Yes, Thank you Appreciate itand congratulations on the win
for you and the team.
That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah, it's a special event.
It's a special group of guys,and to go in there against some
amazing teams I mean there'ssome new teams that came on
board, I mean there's some heavyhitters and for us to be able
to finish again with a grandchampion felt really good this
year.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Well, there's about 90 teams right, 90 plus teams.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Yeah, I believe so Quite a few.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
So, from the last five years, how many times did
y'all win?
Speaker 3 (07:30):
So we've won the grand champion three out of the
last four years.
So last year we did not westill finished in the top three
but yeah, three out of four.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Is there a secret, like literally a secret sauce?
What are you guys doing?
Speaker 3 (07:47):
I wish I could tell you, marcio, he goes in that
that trailer, he shuts the doorand he does his thing and he
works his magic.
So I've been, I've gotten in ona little bit of that, but I
don't even know the full secretsof everything that's going on.
But he's hot, you know.
He went on a streak therewinning 10 grand champions in a
(08:10):
row in the NBN circuit.
So he's got the formula down.
His whole hog is second to none.
So yeah, he definitely has themomentum going.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
How often is Mauricio doing hogs Not hogs for the
cause, but actually how often ishe in the barbecue pit?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Well, they were just about every other weekend in the
last cooking season.
This year they chose to focusin a little bit more on their
business.
So Hogs for a Cause is actuallytheir first event this year.
But going back in the lastyears, I mean, they were working
I don't know the exact number,but several comps throughout the
(08:56):
year.
So yeah, and all of them, manyor many of them, had a whole hog
.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
We're going to get into who you are and where you
came from.
In just a minute You're usingyour own equipment for some of
that smoking process and whatnotover there right the game
changer?
Really what I'm doing?
Speaker 3 (09:13):
at events like Hogs for a Cause is I'm going in to
support the team on thefundraising side.
So when it comes to competition, I don't have any competition
smokers for whole hog.
That's done on some other pits,but I'm coming in with my
trailer, my game changer, andwe're helping to produce the
(09:33):
food that we're selling to raisethe money.
That, along with University ofNew Orleans Chef Scott there he
has a game changer, so we arealso cooking out of the kitchen
at the University of New Orleans.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Well, we're going to get into, because the name Game
Changer it really is, and we'regoing to get into that in just a
bit.
But before can you share alittle bit about your background
and what kind of first sparkedyour passion for barbecue to
begin with?
Speaker 3 (09:58):
I kind of came to the barbecue world a little bit
later in life.
You know, I grew up where Ilive now here in Indiana, where
my factory's at.
We're a rural farming communityand you know we were all about
God, family, football andhunting, you know.
To add that fourth in there,you know you think Indiana is
basketball, but we were afootball community and so I was
(10:21):
heavily involved in all of thatand grew up on the farm.
We built a lot of the thingsthat we needed for, you know,
for the farming, day in, day out.
My father back in the 60s hestarted this business where we
were building agriculturaldryers and of course I grew up
around that.
I grew up in the welding shophelping out with the building of
(10:44):
the dryers and but you know,when you look at those things,
you know all those things leadto food.
You know whether that's whetheryou're at church with family on
a holiday, tailgating forfootball, and then hunting, and
hunting is really the the, thething that led me to the
barbecue world.
Because obviously, with that,the meat, after we do you know
(11:06):
the hunt, we're gonna preservethat meat, you know, into a
jerky and so, uh, not only do wedehydrate it.
But we wanted to add a littlesmoke flavoring to that.
So that was kind of that uh,that linchpin that got me into
that world of smoking.
After I you know uh was nolonger coaching in football
about 24 years of coaching, youknow I was looking for something
(11:29):
to be a competitive outlet, andthat led me then to the
competition world.
So it just seemed like a greatfit with the business, with my
competitive nature and reallywanting to be part of a team, a
part of a competition.
It just kind of all workedtogether.
So that's kind of you know howI, how I ended up here a little
bit later in life.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
You grew up on a farm and when you grow up rural,
you're fixing everythingyourself.
You had told me something aboutyou picking up a blowtorch for
the first time.
At what age?
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Oh my goodness, you know preteen.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Preteen and you're out welding.
I would say that the vastmajority of people, who
obviously didn't grow up onfarms, but the vast majority of
people listening to this, aregoing to like have both eyebrows
raised, not just one, like alltheir eyebrows Right on.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
It's a little different time.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
How did growing up on the farm influence how you live
your life today?
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Okay, Well, a lot about hard work.
It's a lot about you know ourfaith.
You know God providing our.
You know what we need in theday, and perseverance and
finding joy in all circumstances.
You know we didn't have a lot.
We could find joy in that andyou know it wasn't all about
(12:46):
money.
You know it was about family.
It was about friends gatheringtogether, joining together on
that you know, and a lot of thatwas done around food, not a lot
of barbecue in those days.
We were mostly kind of meat andpotatoes.
You know, indiana, we'd grow,you know we'd grow and raise our
food.
We'd have a big breakfast.
Lunch was called dinner becausethat's what our big meal but
(13:09):
we'd gather around the tabletogether and eat, and that still
influences us today.
You know we gather around thetable to eat together.
You know my mom.
A lot of the way she showed herlove was cooking for others and
she found joy in that andserving others.
So I think that's a big part ofwho we are.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
You jumped into the family business fairly early.
What's an important life lessonyou've learned through your
experiences just being on thefarm and being involved in the
family business?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Yeah, I think there was definitely a lot of
challenges we faced.
You know, through the yearswith the farm and the family
business, you know times couldbe tough.
You know, through the yearswith the farm and the family
business, you know times couldbe tough and you know maybe
businesses was in decline attimes and you know you have to
lay yourself off or difficultcircumstances with people.
(14:01):
But I think cooking was a giftthat was given to me later in my
life that through theseproblems, you know, I think
they're all meant to refine us,uh, and to become better in one
shape or way or form, you know.
And so, um, yeah, it's just thelife lessons is hard work and
(14:22):
preserve.
You know perseverance is reallyand finding joy and in all
circumstances of life, well whatis a significant challenge that
you might've faced Like.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
So you know I, where I grew up in South Florida, we
were surrounded by farms and youknow cattle, ranches and and
orange groves.
I had a really interestingupbringing because of that.
My family you know most of myfamily came from came from a big
city, but my great-grandparentsand where my family came from,
originally in Italy, they werefarmers and at the end of the
(14:55):
day, somehow or another inherentto me I feel comfortable around
that environment.
But I know that environment isvery difficult.
It's not an easy life.
It's a pure, a more pure formof life, but it's not easy and
we have friends today that youknow they're.
We're friends with plenty offarmers and if you hang out with
(15:18):
somebody for just a few hourson their farm, you realize that
there's always somethingbreaking, there's always
something that needs to bereplaced, always something that
there's a there's always.
You're always moments away fromwhat seems to be catastrophe.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Oh yeah, and it's the same way, even running a
business, I mean things, if you,if you know things, if you look
at things for what they are,sometimes they could, I could
get you down, but it's you gotto realize these are challenges
that are meant to to make usbetter and you know I can think
of.
You know it was actually on my13th birthday my father was in
(15:53):
an LP explosion and was severelyburnt and at that time and I
didn't really know it at thattime so much, you know, a lot of
things went over my head at age13.
But you know we didn't reallyhave much money at all at that
time and sales of our dryerswere really non-existent.
And you know he didn't havemoney to pay for the hospital.
(16:16):
You know he comes home thatnight and you know you just saw
the pain and suffering that hewas having and finally some
people talked him into admittinghimself to the hospital, which
was a good thing.
But you know, while he wassitting there in the hospital
bed, he sold two dryers and whatonce was looking like a dire,
(16:38):
like catastrophe, like you talkabout.
You know the perseverance youknow, or faith you know, and
holding strong and God providingour needs.
You know he was able to managethrough that and I think the
family learned a lot of lessonsthrough that time.
So that's an uncommon storywith a lot of families and
(17:03):
farming communities and business.
It's a love for what you do,it's a passion for what you do.
There's a connection to theland and what it provides.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
I love that you bring up faith and it's an important.
It should be more important tomore people.
But what a lot of folks don'trealize is life isn't supposed
to be easy, and a lot of the youknow call it struggles that you
have.
It's God reminding you that hey, don't forget about me over
(17:37):
here, you know.
So even the bad stuff is goodif you look at it from the right
perspective.
And I know that there'll be alot of probable flack on that
statement, but that's the truthand that's kind of what it is.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Yeah, how can I grow in this situation?
That's how you should do it.
It's not easy, by no means, butultimately that's what we want
to do.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Mr Norris, I don't know you from Adam, but just
hearing your voice and hearingwhat your your struggles in the
past and your, your successestoday, I could say as a
professional chef or just aperson believing in your story,
I really appreciate what you'resaying, because all of that is
(18:28):
it's basically my family valuesis the same way perseverance.
And family is very importantwith that whole process, so I
definitely commend you, thankyou, thank you.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Appreciate that, appreciate you saying that.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Aaron, old family businesses.
They're hard to come by and thefact that they still like what
you're doing, you're stillindependent, is admirable.
Can you give a little historyon norris thermal technologies?
Speaker 3 (18:59):
yes, absolutely.
My father started the businessin 1965.
Before that he was farmingexclusively, but then at that
time it was building drying andstorage systems for grain and
really began selling what iscalled the Beltomatic dryer to a
(19:19):
lot of the local farmers fordrying their grain, their crops.
Then he started developing thedryer into the food and feed
manufacturing and really sellingdryers all across the world,
not just in the wood fibers allkinds of products and market and
(19:59):
these are large industrialdryers.
But everything we do at NorrisThermal has something to do with
thermal energy.
Whether that's cooking a food,roasting, toasting, sterilizing,
we're using thermal energy totake product and convert it into
a useful product for oursociety.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Okay, aaron, for 60 years you guys have been nose to
the grinder, making thingshappen, living that farm life,
living that business life.
What sort of offerings, whatsort of manufacturing?
What are you doing?
Where would we see yourequipment?
Speaker 3 (20:30):
today.
So really, you look at, we'rein three different sectors.
We're in the industrial, thecommercial and the retail world.
We're more recently into thecommercial and retail side of
things.
So, as I mentioned, we docommercial dehydrators, dryers,
roasters, toasters, which arecalled Biltomatic.
We also offer a line of steamsterilizer for herbs and spices.
(20:55):
So all your herbs and spices gothrough a sterilizing step to
kill the bacteria or thepathogens.
So that is a line.
And then, when you come down tothe commercial, we have our Game
Changer Smoker, which is acommercial in the kitchen food
smoker, dehydrator, hot holdingcabinet, retherming cabinet.
It's the size of a refrigeratorand goes right into the kitchen
(21:18):
.
And then we are also on theretail side.
We have our Tribal Fire Grill,which is the only live fire
griddle on the market today.
And we also now are workingwith a brand called Cotton Gin
Smokers, which is a drum smokerand an offset pit, so anywhere
(21:42):
from 120 gallon to a thousandgallon offset pit.
So these are direct toumerproducts.
We are starting to have someretail outlets for these
products as well.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Mr Norris, this is Chef Paul.
Again, you mentioned the GameChanger.
Can you give me a little bitmore details about it?
It sounds very interesting,something that I can possibly
use in my kitchen, sure.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Absolutely so.
These are widely used incommercial kitchens.
We developed the Game Changerright now about 10 years ago is
when we started developing it,and what makes it a Game Changer
is its repeatabilityconsistency that it gives in
terms of flavoring to foodflavoring to food.
(22:27):
So what we have is a patent onour smoke generator.
So we utilize pellets any ofyour food, you know wood pellets
for food, and we're not burningthe pellets for heat, okay,
we're just smoking the pelletsfor food flavoring.
So this smoke generator justheats the pellets to a certain
(22:47):
degree and it does not combustthe pellets.
At the end of the auger itfalls into a water pan to
prevent combustion.
So it's safe to go right intothe kitchen because we have no
combustion of pellets.
Other than that, it's basicallyan electric convection oven
that we have the smoke generatoradded to.
(23:09):
So now I can hot smoke or coldsmoke, turn the heat off and
just use the smoke generator, orI can just turn the smoke
generator off and run theconvection fans and dehydrate,
or I can re-therminate.
Oh, I like that.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
I like that.
I like that a lot.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
It's on caster, so it can go under the hood or
adjacent to the hood, uh, and itcan pull, roll in, roll out.
All you have to do is plug itinto power and all you need to
do is evacuate the smoke outthrough the ventilation hood.
So there's, you can save moneyby not taking up hood space.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah I was going to ask you about it.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Yeah, just run a flex duct into the hood For the
audience, what you don't realizein a kitchen, in a commercial
kitchen, when you're talkingabout the hoods that suck all
the heat and smoke andeverything out of the kitchen.
They're so expensive and theyare so difficult to put up and
(24:06):
in a lot of cases, andespecially in older buildings,
older construction thecreativity that's needed to get
these hoods put in equals bigdollars.
So the fact is, this piece ofequipment can save potentially
save somebody tens of thousandsof dollars, probably more than
(24:28):
that in some cases, anddepending on what city or
whatever that you're living in.
But that's pretty amazing, chef.
Yeah, am I right about this?
I definitely agree with that.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
If you're out of, if you're out of hood space, I mean
, and you want to add a smoker?
I mean this is a way of doingit without you know,
retrofitting your kitchen, so,or more oven capacity.
I mean this is, uh, this is agreat way to do it.
Uh, right now it it's.
We have one model, one size.
I say it's the perfect sizebecause it's so efficient.
(25:00):
Uh, it doesn't matter whetheryou're doing one brisket or 10
briskets, it's a full baker'scart.
So you got 20 shells of 18 by26 inch pans so you can put in a
couple, you know, 250 pounds ofpork butt, for instance.
So you can do a lot, but it'sso efficient whether you're
doing a little or a lot, thecost is negligible.
We are within by the end ofthis year, we'll have a new half
(25:25):
size model out that will go toa 400 degree temperature.
So now it'll actually replaceyour combi oven, in addition to
being a smoker, so that we'rereally excited about, and it's
going to be stackable to whereyou can stack the units or have
them side by side to really bespace savings.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
When's that going to be available?
Speaker 3 (25:47):
I've got the first prototype.
We are doing testing on it.
We've got to build the finalmodel next.
I would say we'll have thatdone by May, June, and then
we're going to be off to UL fortesting.
So it's going to depend alittle bit on how long it's
going to take at UL, butsometimes that could take 10 or
12 weeks.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
What I found fascinating.
So when I have a guest on forthe show, I'll have a
preliminary call just to buildsome rapport, find out some
information so we can have anice conversation for the actual
episode.
So a few days ago I'm on thecall with Aaron and he just so
nonchalantly puts it out therelike well, yeah, you know, we're
putting patents here, patentsthere.
You know we put together someblueprints real quick and I'm
like you must have like a teamof 100 people.
And then, aaron, you told mewhat you got, like how many guys
(26:42):
you got on the team over there.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
We're a total of 16 here in the shop.
You know I have a chef that'san outside contractor and some
other people that are outsidecontractors, but right here in
Indiana I have my shop 16 people.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
We try I try real hard on this show not to be a
infomercial right, Like we'renot doing any work together on
the side where you're not apartner in the show or sponsor
or anything like that.
But I feel compelled to talkabout the product because I
heard about it through otherpeople who were at hogs for the
(27:17):
cause and they tell me about itand I was like, well, that
sounds really great, I want thatguy on the show because I think
it's really cool.
So, with that said, I kind ofwant to segue back to Hogs for
the Cause for a minute.
How has participating in thisevent impacted your perspective
(27:37):
on actually giving back to thecommunity?
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Well, I think giving back to the community has been
something that's been number onefor a long time.
I mean, going back to my fatherhas been very important and so
I've learned that at a veryearly age.
But you know, I think hogs forme, you know it's being together
(28:00):
with a bunch of like-mindedguys, because the hog addiction
team they do I bet they do eightdifferent fundraisers
throughout the year or moreEverywhere, from doing things
for homeless shelters tofirefighters, to Boys and Girls
Club.
I mean they're always cookingand doing fundraisers and
(28:23):
raising money, and so it's abunch of like-minded people,
minded people and, uh, you know,you're combining
competitiveness with charity,with being part of a team, uh,
with, with uh, fellow, uh, uhteam members.
I mean there's no better placeto be that weekend than hogs for
(28:43):
a cause with hog addiction.
I mean that's just uh, uh whereit's at.
So I wish I could be with themmore.
You know I'm up here in northernIndiana, they're down out of
south southern Mississippi, so Idon't get to join them on a lot
of other stuff.
But you know, I think it's just.
This is what we do, you know,and this is, you know, part of
(29:05):
the purpose behind the businessis to give back.
It's not only you know behindthe business is to give back,
it's not only you know.
Number one we do business, wewant to make money, we want to
provide for employees and theirfamilies.
That's the first goal.
But then after that, you know,we need to think about our
community and others and how wecan impact them.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
The fact that this particular charity event, hogs
for the Cause is for childrenwith cancer, brain cancer.
I can tell you right now, aaron, you can walk up to me and
punch me square in my face andI'm going to look at you and I'm
going to be okay with it.
You start talking about sickkids and I'm a big sissy.
You know what I mean.
(29:46):
It's a thing for me, right Inthe final analysis of that.
It's like thing for me, and youknow so, in in the final
analysis of that.
It's like all these, all these,uh, and real quick too.
So, clint from uh, dead Pork,you know the one of the other
teams, you know he said it best,he goes.
If you ever.
You know these events, you getthese.
You know fat guys with beards,old fat guys with beards, you
(30:06):
know all crying together whenthey're.
You know, yeah, I can see thathappening.
It's a, it's a, it's that kindof event and I, you know, all
crying together when they're.
You know, yeah, I can see thathappening.
It's a, it's a, it's that kindof event and I, you know, I'm
just glad that there's peoplelike you and all the other teams
that are, you know thatparticipate in this thing.
I mean, I think they did likewhat 10, 12 million last year or
something like that.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
This year.
This year was 5.5 and a quartermillion.
Some of those teams raisedoutstanding like $750,000, I
think was the top team.
I mean those guys worked really, really hard and that wasn't
just from like one large donor.
So you got a lot of guysworking really hard to help
(30:48):
these.
You know the children andfamily in need Hogs Her Cause,
is doing great things forfamilies just in the crisis time
of their life.
You know when they needcommunity to step up beside them
and help them the most.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Would you say that your faith is what brings you to
events like Hogs for the Cause?
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Yeah, ultimately, whether it's business, whatever
I do, I mean, ultimately myfaith is my guiding principles.
You know, the gospel iseverything to me and that's what
drives me to do the things likeHogs for a Cause.
Like hogs for a cause, you know, outside of that it's just they
(31:33):
would only be about ourselves.
But it's the looking outside ofourselves and being with
community and helping othersthat drives.
That drives purpose.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
I can sit here with assurance and I can tell you
that anytime you have acharitable event coming up, you
can.
You can give me a call and Ican tell you that anytime you
have a charitable event comingup, you can.
You can give me a call and youcan get on this program and you
know, you can put it out thereand and we'll be glad to uh to,
to herald it, uh to whomever islistening chef, his story is
(32:05):
amazing.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
I'm just listening to it.
Um, let's exclude the gamechanger, because that alone is
amazing, but the story about youknow, your business and your
faith and family and all thatwonderful stuff is, you know,
it's kind of heartwarmingbecause that's how I believe we
all should be living, buteveryone has their own way of
(32:28):
living life.
But once again, I do commendyou for all your hard efforts
and everything.
Stick it to your guns and stickit to your faith.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Thank you Appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Yeah, and we're here as a platform to support that
Chef game changer.
It sounds like a prettyinteresting piece of equipment.
How is that going to help youexecute those events?
Speaker 2 (32:57):
I believe.
Uh, first of all, let's startwith just the cold smoke.
I love the idea of cold smoking.
Um, you can smoke anything fromfish to all kinds of proteins,
and let's put it that way.
And then the fact that it's uh,it's literally just enhancing
the food with the smoke itself,instead of just, uh, it's almost
(33:17):
infusing those flavors into thefood.
So my thought is, after youstarted describing it, I was
thinking that, hey, look, howcan I use this?
Okay, first of all, it can fitmy kitchen without having to go
under the hood.
Let's just start with that.
So that's, that's big.
Um, or, if I do need to put itunder the hood for whatever
reason, I still can create spacethe other version of it is like
(33:39):
you had mentioned banquets.
Um, I'm working on banquet menusas religiously and my thoughts
are always how can I incorporatesmoke technology into the
banquets?
And then he said that it has aconvection oven kind of function
to it.
So I'm not necessarily giving upa convection oven in the sense
(34:01):
I'm I'm actually adding byhaving the game changer there,
because I can I can smoke, I canenhance, I can flavor profile a
lot of different dishes.
I can smoke, I can enhance, Ican flavor profile a lot of
different dishes.
Florida's the south, just likeanywhere else.
So my heritage being Norlings,hey, we can do many things.
I'm not going to do a big oldhog in it, let's not go that far
(34:21):
with it but definitely pulledpork things of that sort.
I want to add another Benedictto my Benedict section.
So smoking a pork butt orsomething like that would
greatly help to my menuenhancements.
So I believe a game changer canbe instrumental in the
improvement of what I do andwhat my team does as a cuisine.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Aaron, is that the sort of feedback you're getting
from other chefs?
Speaker 3 (34:49):
Yeah, absolutely it's .
You know, it's only limited bythe creativity of the chef, and
what you hear Chef Paul talkingabout is creativity.
His juices start to flow withthe game changer, and that's the
platform we want to provide.
Think about, you know, smokingyour soy sauce.
Think about smoking some creamfor a s'mores dessert.
(35:09):
Think about, you know, youcan't.
Actually, chef Paul, you can doa whole hog up to 150 pounds on
it.
We have a vertical spit andwe've cooked several whole hogs
on it for catering operationsand it comes out pretty darn
good.
So it is, we can, because therack in it is removable and I
can put a hog spit in it.
(35:29):
So there is a lot you can do.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
So you mentioned the vertical spit on like a
rotisserie.
Yeah, right on.
You just said Thanksgiving allover again.
Smoked turkey, smoked turkey,right I?
Speaker 1 (35:45):
got to tell you.
This is the third time todaythat we've been talking about
barbecue separate of you know,just randomly talking barbecue
and, uh, man, I, we ate, but I'mready already.
I'm ready, I'm ready to eatagain.
Yeah, all right, listen, aaron,chef, paul, I appreciate both
(36:06):
of you today, chef obviouslycame in.
You cooked some delicious stuff.
Can't wait to get john and thephotography and the video out
and and all of that.
Aaron, you're a gentleman,you're a good human being.
I sincerely appreciate whatyou're doing out there.
Uh, you and the rest of theteam at hog addiction, thank you
kindly for being on the show.
Why don't you guys both dropyour Instagram handles?
(36:28):
Aaron, why don't you go first?
Speaker 3 (36:31):
Yeah for the Game Changer.
Game Changer Smoker is whereyou'd find us on Instagram.
Check it out.
We've got some really coolepisodes called Tripping in the
Kitchen.
It's also on YouTube.
These are phenomenal episodeswhere we show some culinary
(36:54):
exploits of trip at somedifferent places around the
country.
Also, check out our live fireand smoke dot com.
That's where you'll find theGame Changer Tribal Fire Grill
and Cotton Gin Smokers.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Excellent, paul, real quick what you got.
My Instagram page is chefpaulg,so look me up.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Excellent.
I appreciate everybody.
Thank you, we are out.
hello food fam.
This is the walk and talkpodcast, where you will find the
perfect blend of food fun andcooking knowledge.
I'm your host, carl fiordini.
Welcome to the number one foodpodcast in the country.
We're recording on site at ibisImages Studios, where food
photography comes alive and Iget to eat it.
If you haven't heard, walk Talkpodcast is the official podcast
(00:31):
of Restaurant Events LLC, whichhosts the New York, california
and Florida restaurant shows,along with the Pizza Tomorrow
Summit.
We are excited about thispartnership and as we dive into
the food trade show space withthese wonderful folks and also
the US Culinary Open at NAFM wow, this just presents so many new
(00:54):
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stand by.
Stay tuned.
Big things happening on ourplatform.
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Email us to learn more Info atthewalkandtalkcom.
Today's story is all about smokefire and heart Hashtag Hogs for
(01:14):
the Cause.
We love what Hogs does forpediatric brain cancer and our
guest today is Aaron Norris.
He's a member of the HogAddiction Team and winner at
Hogs for the Cause 2025.
He's the president of NorrisThermal Technologies Inc.
Which manufactures innovativecooking equipment for everything
(01:34):
from backyard fun to largeindustrial uses.
They've got your needs covered.
I sincerely appreciate goodpeople and family businesses.
Aaron and the crew at HogAddiction I mean fresh off this
killer run at Hogs for the Causein New Orleans last week.
Man, they didn't just show up,they took Grand Champion, placed
first in whole hog, second inshoulder, and they even snagged
(01:57):
12th and ribs.
I mean they killed it overthere.
But this you're thinkingtrophies.
It's not about that.
It's not about trophies at all.
These guys raised over $50,000for pediatric brain cancer
research and that's like realimpact.
It's fueled by flavor, sweatand soul.
I have to tell you this isn'this first rodeo.
(02:18):
They've been winning this eventfor the last several years.
We're going to get into thatlater.
Also in the studio, we welcomeback Chef Paul Gaskins, who's
cooked up, speaking of pork,some pork, cheek pozzoli and
sweet cornbread spoon pudding.
You already know it was amazing.
We're going to get into this ina second.
(02:38):
Be sure to follow along on theIG to see the photography and
film of these delectable dishesat walk and talk show.
That was a mouthful, okay.
Uh, let's get into this, chef.
Welcome back.
Thank you, welcome.
All right, let's, let's.
Let's talk about this.
Uh, there was some sexy foodmade in this building here today
(03:00):
do my best, let's talk about it.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Go.
What do you got?
So we made a pork cheek pozole.
Um basically took guajillo,chilies, onions and all those
wonderful flavors and built,built depth.
Um sliced some pork cheek,braised it in the in the broth
and then, uh, served it withsome goat cheese grits and then
(03:23):
topped it with a little, alittle slaw on top of that.
So it came out really good notreally good.
Talk about the rendering.
So yeah, we we rendered for theother dish, for the, the spoon
boy cornbread.
So we rendered some pork cheekitself and used the fat in the
cornbread to kind of create thatwhole crackling cornbread kind
of kind of feel.
(03:43):
So came out really, really good, topped out with, uh like a
nashvu hot syrup mounted withsome butter came out and that, I
have to admit, that was reallygood I thought they were both
great.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
But I mean that, that bacon, wow, I mean bacon.
Yeah, okay, no, but it was it'sspecial bacon, right?
And the fact is it was layeredso nice in that cornbread and it
was fabulous.
That's a menu item, or no?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
It will be a menu item Not quite yet, but I'm
working on it.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Where are you at right now?
Where are you?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
working All right.
I'm at the Inn of Celebrationin the city of the town of
Celebration, and our restaurantis the Lakeside Kitchen and Bar.
So yeah, come on by.
Come by and have dinner with usor have brunch, seven days a
week.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
You guys just went through a massive renovation.
Yes, we did.
Is it all done?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
It is all done.
If anybody's ever been to anykind of renovation, you're happy
to be on the other end of it.
So I'm glad to be out ofrenovation.
I'm glad to move forward andstart doing some wonderful
things.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
What people don't know and what you didn't see is,
when I just asked him ifthey're done, you should have
seen the joy in his face, likethe natural, real happiness to
be finished with that job.
It was a huge time.
How long did it take?
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Well, it was scheduled for about four months.
Like any other renovation, ithas its hiccups.
It turned out to be almostseven, about seven months by the
time we were out of it.
That's a small price to pay.
It was worth the wait.
Let's put it that way.
It was worth the wait.
So we're on the other end of it, have a beautiful restaurant,
beautiful vibe in the hotel.
Once again, if you're in town,you're in celebration.
(05:19):
Please, please, stop by, please, stop by.
What's your favorite menu itemright now?
Right now, you know what Icreated left from our last
conversation.
The last time I was here, Icreated a benedict section, so I
got like four differentbenedicts, everything from the
pastrami benedict that we kindof did during our show last time
.
We have a monocrystal benedict,which is like popular right now
we have a benedict, and then wehave what we call portobello
(05:42):
ben.
So instead of bread, we useportobellos for the base.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Is that like the vegan option?
Yeah, sort of.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Vegetarian, vegetarian.
We still use Swiss cheese andbechamel and all that wonderful
stuff for it, but our Benedictsare really.
That menu is really ticking off.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
You had me at Monte Cristo.
I mean, that sounds pretty.
I'm an old Bennigan's guy, soyou're talking monocrystals man.
That's like you're speaking my,uh, my blood pressure and, uh,
and all that stuff, my healthright there.
I love it, I'll eat the hellout of those, yeah you like?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
uh, you like that.
Like today's hot syrup, we usethat kind of science, almost the
same flavor profile on top ofthat benedict, so it gives it a
little a different flavor to itstop it coming up here soon.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
I would say, chef, maybe over the next uh I don't
know month I'm gonna come outthere, I'm gonna let you know
when I'm gonna stop in and we'regonna just, we're gonna just
record you making some, somefood, we're gonna do some
content let's do it right andwe'll show the, we'll show the
hotel some love too.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Oh, most definitely most definitely kitchen's open,
kitchen's open, kitchen's openOkay.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
All right, all right.
Well, without further ado,let's get the man of the hour.
Well, part of the team of thehour, mr Aaron Norris.
Sir, welcome to the program.
Yes, Thank you Appreciate itand congratulations on the win
for you and the team.
That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah, it's a special event.
It's a special group of guys,and to go in there against some
amazing teams I mean there'ssome new teams that came on
board, I mean there's some heavyhitters and for us to be able
to finish again with a grandchampion felt really good this
year.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Well, there's about 90 teams right, 90 plus teams.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Yeah, I believe so Quite a few.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
So, from the last five years, how many times did
y'all win?
Speaker 3 (07:30):
So we've won the grand champion three out of the
last four years.
So last year we did not westill finished in the top three
but yeah, three out of four.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Is there a secret, like literally a secret sauce?
What are you guys doing?
Speaker 3 (07:47):
I wish I could tell you, marcio, he goes in that
that trailer, he shuts the doorand he does his thing and he
works his magic.
So I've been, I've gotten in ona little bit of that, but I
don't even know the full secretsof everything that's going on.
But he's hot, you know.
He went on a streak therewinning 10 grand champions in a
(08:10):
row in the NBN circuit.
So he's got the formula down.
His whole hog is second to none.
So yeah, he definitely has themomentum going.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
How often is Mauricio doing hogs Not hogs for the
cause, but actually how often ishe in the barbecue pit?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Well, they were just about every other weekend in the
last cooking season.
This year they chose to focusin a little bit more on their
business.
So Hogs for a Cause is actuallytheir first event this year.
But going back in the lastyears, I mean, they were working
I don't know the exact number,but several comps throughout the
(08:56):
year.
So yeah, and all of them, manyor many of them, had a whole hog
.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
We're going to get into who you are and where you
came from.
In just a minute You're usingyour own equipment for some of
that smoking process and whatnotover there right the game
changer?
Really what I'm doing?
Speaker 3 (09:13):
at events like Hogs for a Cause is I'm going in to
support the team on thefundraising side.
So when it comes to competition, I don't have any competition
smokers for whole hog.
That's done on some other pits,but I'm coming in with my
trailer, my game changer, andwe're helping to produce the
(09:33):
food that we're selling to raisethe money.
That, along with University ofNew Orleans Chef Scott there he
has a game changer, so we arealso cooking out of the kitchen
at the University of New Orleans.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Well, we're going to get into, because the name Game
Changer it really is, and we'regoing to get into that in just a
bit.
But before can you share alittle bit about your background
and what kind of first sparkedyour passion for barbecue to
begin with?
Speaker 3 (09:58):
I kind of came to the barbecue world a little bit
later in life.
You know, I grew up where Ilive now here in Indiana, where
my factory's at.
We're a rural farming communityand you know we were all about
God, family, football andhunting, you know.
To add that fourth in there,you know you think Indiana is
basketball, but we were afootball community and so I was
(10:21):
heavily involved in all of thatand grew up on the farm.
We built a lot of the thingsthat we needed for, you know,
for the farming, day in, day out.
My father back in the 60s hestarted this business where we
were building agriculturaldryers and of course I grew up
around that.
I grew up in the welding shophelping out with the building of
(10:44):
the dryers and but you know,when you look at those things,
you know all those things leadto food.
You know whether that's whetheryou're at church with family on
a holiday, tailgating forfootball, and then hunting, and
hunting is really the the, thething that led me to the
barbecue world.
Because obviously, with that,the meat, after we do you know
(11:06):
the hunt, we're gonna preservethat meat, you know, into a
jerky and so, uh, not only do wedehydrate it.
But we wanted to add a littlesmoke flavoring to that.
So that was kind of that uh,that linchpin that got me into
that world of smoking.
After I you know uh was nolonger coaching in football
about 24 years of coaching, youknow I was looking for something
(11:29):
to be a competitive outlet, andthat led me then to the
competition world.
So it just seemed like a greatfit with the business, with my
competitive nature and reallywanting to be part of a team, a
part of a competition.
It just kind of all workedtogether.
So that's kind of you know howI, how I ended up here a little
bit later in life.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
You grew up on a farm and when you grow up rural,
you're fixing everythingyourself.
You had told me something aboutyou picking up a blowtorch for
the first time.
At what age?
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Oh my goodness, you know preteen.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Preteen and you're out welding.
I would say that the vastmajority of people, who
obviously didn't grow up onfarms, but the vast majority of
people listening to this, aregoing to like have both eyebrows
raised, not just one, like alltheir eyebrows Right on.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
It's a little different time.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
How did growing up on the farm influence how you live
your life today?
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Okay, Well, a lot about hard work.
It's a lot about you know ourfaith.
You know God providing our.
You know what we need in theday, and perseverance and
finding joy in all circumstances.
You know we didn't have a lot.
We could find joy in that andyou know it wasn't all about
(12:46):
money.
You know it was about family.
It was about friends gatheringtogether, joining together on
that you know, and a lot of thatwas done around food, not a lot
of barbecue in those days.
We were mostly kind of meat andpotatoes.
You know, indiana, we'd grow,you know we'd grow and raise our
food.
We'd have a big breakfast.
Lunch was called dinner becausethat's what our big meal but
(13:09):
we'd gather around the tabletogether and eat, and that still
influences us today.
You know we gather around thetable to eat together.
You know my mom.
A lot of the way she showed herlove was cooking for others and
she found joy in that andserving others.
So I think that's a big part ofwho we are.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
You jumped into the family business fairly early.
What's an important life lessonyou've learned through your
experiences just being on thefarm and being involved in the
family business?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Yeah, I think there was definitely a lot of
challenges we faced.
You know, through the yearswith the farm and the family
business, you know times couldbe tough.
You know, through the yearswith the farm and the family
business, you know times couldbe tough and you know maybe
businesses was in decline attimes and you know you have to
lay yourself off or difficultcircumstances with people.
(14:01):
But I think cooking was a giftthat was given to me later in my
life that through theseproblems, you know, I think
they're all meant to refine us,uh, and to become better in one
shape or way or form, you know.
And so, um, yeah, it's just thelife lessons is hard work and
(14:22):
preserve.
You know perseverance is reallyand finding joy and in all
circumstances of life, well whatis a significant challenge that
you might've faced Like.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
So you know I, where I grew up in South Florida, we
were surrounded by farms and youknow cattle, ranches and and
orange groves.
I had a really interestingupbringing because of that.
My family you know most of myfamily came from came from a big
city, but my great-grandparentsand where my family came from,
originally in Italy, they werefarmers and at the end of the
(14:55):
day, somehow or another inherentto me I feel comfortable around
that environment.
But I know that environment isvery difficult.
It's not an easy life.
It's a pure, a more pure formof life, but it's not easy and
we have friends today that youknow they're.
We're friends with plenty offarmers and if you hang out with
(15:18):
somebody for just a few hourson their farm, you realize that
there's always somethingbreaking, there's always
something that needs to bereplaced, always something that
there's a there's always.
You're always moments away fromwhat seems to be catastrophe.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Oh yeah, and it's the same way, even running a
business, I mean things, if you,if you know things, if you look
at things for what they are,sometimes they could, I could
get you down, but it's you gotto realize these are challenges
that are meant to to make usbetter and you know I can think
of.
You know it was actually on my13th birthday my father was in
(15:53):
an LP explosion and was severelyburnt and at that time and I
didn't really know it at thattime so much, you know, a lot of
things went over my head at age13.
But you know we didn't reallyhave much money at all at that
time and sales of our dryerswere really non-existent.
And you know he didn't havemoney to pay for the hospital.
(16:16):
You know he comes home thatnight and you know you just saw
the pain and suffering that hewas having and finally some
people talked him into admittinghimself to the hospital, which
was a good thing.
But you know, while he wassitting there in the hospital
bed, he sold two dryers and whatonce was looking like a dire,
(16:38):
like catastrophe, like you talkabout.
You know the perseverance youknow, or faith you know, and
holding strong and God providingour needs.
You know he was able to managethrough that and I think the
family learned a lot of lessonsthrough that time.
So that's an uncommon storywith a lot of families and
(17:03):
farming communities and business.
It's a love for what you do,it's a passion for what you do.
There's a connection to theland and what it provides.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
I love that you bring up faith and it's an important.
It should be more important tomore people.
But what a lot of folks don'trealize is life isn't supposed
to be easy, and a lot of the youknow call it struggles that you
have.
It's God reminding you that hey, don't forget about me over
(17:37):
here, you know.
So even the bad stuff is goodif you look at it from the right
perspective.
And I know that there'll be alot of probable flack on that
statement, but that's the truthand that's kind of what it is.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Yeah, how can I grow in this situation?
That's how you should do it.
It's not easy, by no means, butultimately that's what we want
to do.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Mr Norris, I don't know you from Adam, but just
hearing your voice and hearingwhat your your struggles in the
past and your, your successestoday, I could say as a
professional chef or just aperson believing in your story,
I really appreciate what you'resaying, because all of that is
(18:28):
it's basically my family valuesis the same way perseverance.
And family is very importantwith that whole process, so I
definitely commend you, thankyou, thank you.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Appreciate that, appreciate you saying that.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Aaron, old family businesses.
They're hard to come by and thefact that they still like what
you're doing, you're stillindependent, is admirable.
Can you give a little historyon norris thermal technologies?
Speaker 3 (18:59):
yes, absolutely.
My father started the businessin 1965.
Before that he was farmingexclusively, but then at that
time it was building drying andstorage systems for grain and
really began selling what iscalled the Beltomatic dryer to a
(19:19):
lot of the local farmers fordrying their grain, their crops.
Then he started developing thedryer into the food and feed
manufacturing and really sellingdryers all across the world,
not just in the wood fibers allkinds of products and market and
(19:59):
these are large industrialdryers.
But everything we do at NorrisThermal has something to do with
thermal energy.
Whether that's cooking a food,roasting, toasting, sterilizing,
we're using thermal energy totake product and convert it into
a useful product for oursociety.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Okay, aaron, for 60 years you guys have been nose to
the grinder, making thingshappen, living that farm life,
living that business life.
What sort of offerings, whatsort of manufacturing?
What are you doing?
Where would we see yourequipment?
Speaker 3 (20:30):
today.
So really, you look at, we'rein three different sectors.
We're in the industrial, thecommercial and the retail world.
We're more recently into thecommercial and retail side of
things.
So, as I mentioned, we docommercial dehydrators, dryers,
roasters, toasters, which arecalled Biltomatic.
We also offer a line of steamsterilizer for herbs and spices.
(20:55):
So all your herbs and spices gothrough a sterilizing step to
kill the bacteria or thepathogens.
So that is a line.
And then, when you come down tothe commercial, we have our Game
Changer Smoker, which is acommercial in the kitchen food
smoker, dehydrator, hot holdingcabinet, retherming cabinet.
It's the size of a refrigeratorand goes right into the kitchen
(21:18):
.
And then we are also on theretail side.
We have our Tribal Fire Grill,which is the only live fire
griddle on the market today.
And we also now are workingwith a brand called Cotton Gin
Smokers, which is a drum smokerand an offset pit, so anywhere
(21:42):
from 120 gallon to a thousandgallon offset pit.
So these are direct toumerproducts.
We are starting to have someretail outlets for these
products as well.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Mr Norris, this is Chef Paul.
Again, you mentioned the GameChanger.
Can you give me a little bitmore details about it?
It sounds very interesting,something that I can possibly
use in my kitchen, sure.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Absolutely so.
These are widely used incommercial kitchens.
We developed the Game Changerright now about 10 years ago is
when we started developing it,and what makes it a Game Changer
is its repeatabilityconsistency that it gives in
terms of flavoring to foodflavoring to food.
(22:27):
So what we have is a patent onour smoke generator.
So we utilize pellets any ofyour food, you know wood pellets
for food, and we're not burningthe pellets for heat, okay,
we're just smoking the pelletsfor food flavoring.
So this smoke generator justheats the pellets to a certain
(22:47):
degree and it does not combustthe pellets.
At the end of the auger itfalls into a water pan to
prevent combustion.
So it's safe to go right intothe kitchen because we have no
combustion of pellets.
Other than that, it's basicallyan electric convection oven
that we have the smoke generatoradded to.
(23:09):
So now I can hot smoke or coldsmoke, turn the heat off and
just use the smoke generator, orI can just turn the smoke
generator off and run theconvection fans and dehydrate,
or I can re-therminate.
Oh, I like that.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
I like that.
I like that a lot.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
It's on caster, so it can go under the hood or
adjacent to the hood, uh, and itcan pull, roll in, roll out.
All you have to do is plug itinto power and all you need to
do is evacuate the smoke outthrough the ventilation hood.
So there's, you can save moneyby not taking up hood space.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah I was going to ask you about it.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Yeah, just run a flex duct into the hood For the
audience, what you don't realizein a kitchen, in a commercial
kitchen, when you're talkingabout the hoods that suck all
the heat and smoke andeverything out of the kitchen.
They're so expensive and theyare so difficult to put up and
(24:06):
in a lot of cases, andespecially in older buildings,
older construction thecreativity that's needed to get
these hoods put in equals bigdollars.
So the fact is, this piece ofequipment can save potentially
save somebody tens of thousandsof dollars, probably more than
(24:28):
that in some cases, anddepending on what city or
whatever that you're living in.
But that's pretty amazing, chef.
Yeah, am I right about this?
I definitely agree with that.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
If you're out of, if you're out of hood space, I mean
, and you want to add a smoker?
I mean this is a way of doingit without you know,
retrofitting your kitchen, so,or more oven capacity.
I mean this is, uh, this is agreat way to do it.
Uh, right now it it's.
We have one model, one size.
I say it's the perfect sizebecause it's so efficient.
(25:00):
Uh, it doesn't matter whetheryou're doing one brisket or 10
briskets, it's a full baker'scart.
So you got 20 shells of 18 by26 inch pans so you can put in a
couple, you know, 250 pounds ofpork butt, for instance.
So you can do a lot, but it'sso efficient whether you're
doing a little or a lot, thecost is negligible.
We are within by the end ofthis year, we'll have a new half
(25:25):
size model out that will go toa 400 degree temperature.
So now it'll actually replaceyour combi oven, in addition to
being a smoker, so that we'rereally excited about, and it's
going to be stackable to whereyou can stack the units or have
them side by side to really bespace savings.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
When's that going to be available?
Speaker 3 (25:47):
I've got the first prototype.
We are doing testing on it.
We've got to build the finalmodel next.
I would say we'll have thatdone by May, June, and then
we're going to be off to UL fortesting.
So it's going to depend alittle bit on how long it's
going to take at UL, butsometimes that could take 10 or
12 weeks.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
What I found fascinating.
So when I have a guest on forthe show, I'll have a
preliminary call just to buildsome rapport, find out some
information so we can have anice conversation for the actual
episode.
So a few days ago I'm on thecall with Aaron and he just so
nonchalantly puts it out therelike well, yeah, you know, we're
putting patents here, patentsthere.
You know we put together someblueprints real quick and I'm
like you must have like a teamof 100 people.
And then, aaron, you told mewhat you got, like how many guys
(26:42):
you got on the team over there.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
We're a total of 16 here in the shop.
You know I have a chef that'san outside contractor and some
other people that are outsidecontractors, but right here in
Indiana I have my shop 16 people.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
We try I try real hard on this show not to be a
infomercial right, Like we'renot doing any work together on
the side where you're not apartner in the show or sponsor
or anything like that.
But I feel compelled to talkabout the product because I
heard about it through otherpeople who were at hogs for the
(27:17):
cause and they tell me about itand I was like, well, that
sounds really great, I want thatguy on the show because I think
it's really cool.
So, with that said, I kind ofwant to segue back to Hogs for
the Cause for a minute.
How has participating in thisevent impacted your perspective
(27:37):
on actually giving back to thecommunity?
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Well, I think giving back to the community has been
something that's been number onefor a long time.
I mean, going back to my fatherhas been very important and so
I've learned that at a veryearly age.
But you know, I think hogs forme, you know it's being together
(28:00):
with a bunch of like-mindedguys, because the hog addiction
team they do I bet they do eightdifferent fundraisers
throughout the year or moreEverywhere, from doing things
for homeless shelters tofirefighters, to Boys and Girls
Club.
I mean they're always cookingand doing fundraisers and
(28:23):
raising money, and so it's abunch of like-minded people,
minded people and, uh, you know,you're combining
competitiveness with charity,with being part of a team, uh,
with, with uh, fellow, uh, uhteam members.
I mean there's no better placeto be that weekend than hogs for
(28:43):
a cause with hog addiction.
I mean that's just uh, uh whereit's at.
So I wish I could be with themmore.
You know I'm up here in northernIndiana, they're down out of
south southern Mississippi, so Idon't get to join them on a lot
of other stuff.
But you know, I think it's just.
This is what we do, you know,and this is, you know, part of
(29:05):
the purpose behind the businessis to give back.
It's not only you know behindthe business is to give back,
it's not only you know.
Number one we do business, wewant to make money, we want to
provide for employees and theirfamilies.
That's the first goal.
But then after that, you know,we need to think about our
community and others and how wecan impact them.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
The fact that this particular charity event, hogs
for the Cause is for childrenwith cancer, brain cancer.
I can tell you right now, aaron, you can walk up to me and
punch me square in my face andI'm going to look at you and I'm
going to be okay with it.
You start talking about sickkids and I'm a big sissy.
You know what I mean.
(29:46):
It's a thing for me, right Inthe final analysis of that.
It's like thing for me, and youknow so, in in the final
analysis of that.
It's like all these, all these,uh, and real quick too.
So, clint from uh, dead Pork,you know the one of the other
teams, you know he said it best,he goes.
If you ever.
You know these events, you getthese.
You know fat guys with beards,old fat guys with beards, you
(30:06):
know all crying together whenthey're.
You know, yeah, I can see thathappening.
It's a, it's a, it's that kindof event and I, you know, all
crying together when they're.
You know, yeah, I can see thathappening.
It's a, it's a, it's that kindof event and I, you know, I'm
just glad that there's peoplelike you and all the other teams
that are, you know thatparticipate in this thing.
I mean, I think they did likewhat 10, 12 million last year or
something like that.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
This year.
This year was 5.5 and a quartermillion.
Some of those teams raisedoutstanding like $750,000, I
think was the top team.
I mean those guys worked really, really hard and that wasn't
just from like one large donor.
So you got a lot of guysworking really hard to help
(30:48):
these.
You know the children andfamily in need Hogs Her Cause,
is doing great things forfamilies just in the crisis time
of their life.
You know when they needcommunity to step up beside them
and help them the most.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Would you say that your faith is what brings you to
events like Hogs for the Cause?
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Yeah, ultimately, whether it's business, whatever
I do, I mean, ultimately myfaith is my guiding principles.
You know, the gospel iseverything to me and that's what
drives me to do the things likeHogs for a Cause.
Like hogs for a cause, you know, outside of that it's just they
(31:33):
would only be about ourselves.
But it's the looking outside ofourselves and being with
community and helping othersthat drives.
That drives purpose.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
I can sit here with assurance and I can tell you
that anytime you have acharitable event coming up, you
can.
You can give me a call and Ican tell you that anytime you
have a charitable event comingup, you can.
You can give me a call and youcan get on this program and you
know, you can put it out thereand and we'll be glad to uh to,
to herald it, uh to whomever islistening chef, his story is
(32:05):
amazing.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
I'm just listening to it.
Um, let's exclude the gamechanger, because that alone is
amazing, but the story about youknow, your business and your
faith and family and all thatwonderful stuff is, you know,
it's kind of heartwarmingbecause that's how I believe we
all should be living, buteveryone has their own way of
(32:28):
living life.
But once again, I do commendyou for all your hard efforts
and everything.
Stick it to your guns and stickit to your faith.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Thank you Appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Yeah, and we're here as a platform to support that
Chef game changer.
It sounds like a prettyinteresting piece of equipment.
How is that going to help youexecute those events?
Speaker 2 (32:57):
I believe.
Uh, first of all, let's startwith just the cold smoke.
I love the idea of cold smoking.
Um, you can smoke anything fromfish to all kinds of proteins,
and let's put it that way.
And then the fact that it's uh,it's literally just enhancing
the food with the smoke itself,instead of just, uh, it's almost
(33:17):
infusing those flavors into thefood.
So my thought is, after youstarted describing it, I was
thinking that, hey, look, howcan I use this?
Okay, first of all, it can fitmy kitchen without having to go
under the hood.
Let's just start with that.
So that's, that's big.
Um, or, if I do need to put itunder the hood for whatever
reason, I still can create spacethe other version of it is like
(33:39):
you had mentioned banquets.
Um, I'm working on banquet menusas religiously and my thoughts
are always how can I incorporatesmoke technology into the
banquets?
And then he said that it has aconvection oven kind of function
to it.
So I'm not necessarily giving upa convection oven in the sense
(34:01):
I'm I'm actually adding byhaving the game changer there,
because I can I can smoke, I canenhance, I can flavor profile a
lot of different dishes.
I can smoke, I can enhance, Ican flavor profile a lot of
different dishes.
Florida's the south, just likeanywhere else.
So my heritage being Norlings,hey, we can do many things.
I'm not going to do a big oldhog in it, let's not go that far
(34:21):
with it but definitely pulledpork things of that sort.
I want to add another Benedictto my Benedict section.
So smoking a pork butt orsomething like that would
greatly help to my menuenhancements.
So I believe a game changer canbe instrumental in the
improvement of what I do andwhat my team does as a cuisine.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Aaron, is that the sort of feedback you're getting
from other chefs?
Speaker 3 (34:49):
Yeah, absolutely it's .
You know, it's only limited bythe creativity of the chef, and
what you hear Chef Paul talkingabout is creativity.
His juices start to flow withthe game changer, and that's the
platform we want to provide.
Think about, you know, smokingyour soy sauce.
Think about smoking some creamfor a s'mores dessert.
(35:09):
Think about, you know, youcan't.
Actually, chef Paul, you can doa whole hog up to 150 pounds on
it.
We have a vertical spit andwe've cooked several whole hogs
on it for catering operationsand it comes out pretty darn
good.
So it is, we can, because therack in it is removable and I
can put a hog spit in it.
(35:29):
So there is a lot you can do.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
So you mentioned the vertical spit on like a
rotisserie.
Yeah, right on.
You just said Thanksgiving allover again.
Smoked turkey, smoked turkey,right I?
Speaker 1 (35:45):
got to tell you.
This is the third time todaythat we've been talking about
barbecue separate of you know,just randomly talking barbecue
and, uh, man, I, we ate, but I'mready already.
I'm ready, I'm ready to eatagain.
Yeah, all right, listen, aaron,chef, paul, I appreciate both
(36:06):
of you today, chef obviouslycame in.
You cooked some delicious stuff.
Can't wait to get john and thephotography and the video out
and and all of that.
Aaron, you're a gentleman,you're a good human being.
I sincerely appreciate whatyou're doing out there.
Uh, you and the rest of theteam at hog addiction, thank you
kindly for being on the show.
Why don't you guys both dropyour Instagram handles?
(36:28):
Aaron, why don't you go first?
Speaker 3 (36:31):
Yeah for the Game Changer.
Game Changer Smoker is whereyou'd find us on Instagram.
Check it out.
We've got some really coolepisodes called Tripping in the
Kitchen.
It's also on YouTube.
These are phenomenal episodeswhere we show some culinary
(36:54):
exploits of trip at somedifferent places around the
country.
Also, check out our live fireand smoke dot com.
That's where you'll find theGame Changer Tribal Fire Grill
and Cotton Gin Smokers.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Excellent, paul, real quick what you got.
My Instagram page is chefpaulg,so look me up.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Excellent.
I appreciate everybody.
Thank you, we are out.
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