Why You Can Trust My BBQ Advice

I’ve spent years learning how to cook good food over fire, smoke, and heat. Not by reading manuals or watching other people do it, but by standing at the grill myself. I’ve burned things, fixed things, tested every kind of cooker I could get my hands on, and learned what really works in the backyard.

I’m not a chef. I’m a hands-on pitmaster who’s cooked hundreds of meals outside, in every season, on every type of grill you can imagine. Everything I teach comes from real experience, real mistakes, and real success.

Eddie van Aken – Dutch-born pitmaster sharing real backyard BBQ experience

Here’s what you should know about the way I work.

I Cook Outdoors Every Week

Some people write about BBQ from a desk.
I write about it from the grill.

I’m outside cooking almost every week — sometimes simple burgers, sometimes a long overnight brisket. When I talk about temperatures, fire control, or smoke behavior, it’s because I’ve watched it happen in my own backyard again and again.

I Test the Gear I Write About

I’ve cooked on:

charcoal kettles
offset smokers
pellet grills
Kamado-style cookers
gas grills
flat tops
small portable units
and a few strange gadgets that didn’t last long

I’ve tested thermometers, probes, rubs, tools, and accessories until I knew what was reliable and what wasn’t. I use gear the way a real pitmaster uses it — in wind, cold, long cooks, short cooks, and everything in between.

If I recommend something, it’s because I’ve used it or put it through proper testing.

I Learned the Hard Way

I have ruined briskets.
I have dried out ribs.
I have chased a grill across the yard when the wind caught it wrong.

Every mistake taught me something about how meat reacts to heat and how smoke changes flavor. Those lessons are the backbone of what I teach today. I’m not guessing — I am sharing what I have actually seen with my own cooks.

I Always Explain the “Why” Behind BBQ

Good BBQ isn’t magic. It’s science, patience, and paying attention.

I focus on teaching people:

Why low and slow works
How smoke actually sticks to meat
Why thermometers beat guessing every time
How to control fire instead of fighting it
Why does the “stall” happens
When to trust your senses over a recipe

Anyone can follow steps.
I want people to understand the process.

I Keep My Teaching Simple

I write at a level where anyone can follow along.

You won’t find fancy culinary terms or complicated charts. I explain things the same way I would explain them to someone standing next to me at the grill.

Clear. Simple. Straight to the point.

I Am Not Paid to Say Nice Things

Brands don’t write my reviews, and they don’t tell me what to say.

If a grill has problems, I point them out.
If a thermometer is junk, I don’t recommend it.
If something impresses me, I explain exactly why.

Honesty matters more than making a sale.

I Am Always Learning

BBQ is one of those things where you never reach the end.
There’s always a new technique, a new fuel, a new smoker design, or a new cut of meat to try.

I experiment, test, and adjust my cooking all the time. When I find something that works better, I share it.

Where You Can See My Work

My main BBQ site — TheGrillingDutchman.com — is where I publish:

detailed guides
gear reviews
step-by-step cooking articles
product tests
videos
and my newest experiments

Everything there is based on firsthand experience and real cooks I have done myself.

If you want to learn more about me personally, head over to my About page.
If you want practical BBQ knowledge, start at The Grilling Dutchman.