When Kurt Mueller isn’t crunching numbers for clients at Apollon Wealth Management, you can probably find him flipping ribs on a smoker.
“I know a lot about a little, including financial planning and barbecue,” he said.
You don’t usually hear barbecue and talk of money in one sentence unless you own a restaurant that serves the South’s revered food of choice.
“I fell in love with grilling as a kid when my dad taught me to grill on an old-school Weber, the kind found in just about everybody’s backyard. Then a few years ago, I won a Recteq smoker,” Mueller explained.
Recteq is like the Mercedes of grills and cooking on it ignited a bigger fire for all things barbecue. He became passionate about experimenting with all cuts and kinds of beef and poultry. Last year, a friend told Mueller that grilling and smoking were his creative outlet.
“I thought about that for weeks and took the plunge into catering and competitive barbecue,” he said. “We named our crew the Atomic City Smokers which pays homage to the CSRA, home of the Savannah River Site.”
Barbecuing, whether competitive or gathering in the backyard with family and friends, is popular in the South because it’s more than a way of cooking. It carries sentimental values and forms a means to communicate and create communities.
“The connection to our communities and giving back is a driving force for me, my crew, which includes my adopted brother, Aleki Fualau, and our entire family,” Mueller said.
This is why Mueller frequently fires up his smoker for fundraising events including to help Duke’s BBQ after a fire destroyed their restaurant. He’s raised money to help Stay. Social Tap + Table with their legal battles and most recently he joined other smokers to prepare turkeys for the Salvation Army’s One Table event to feed more than 2,000 people.
It’s hard to know where Mueller finds the time for fundraising and a host of volunteer efforts, including coaching his son’s YMCA soccer, tee ball, and basketball teams and serving as a volunteer firefighter with the Belvedere Fire Station. Perhaps his secret is in the sauce.
“Competition barbecue teaches time management and working under pressure, and you can always make time for what’s important,” he said.
As his father did for him, Mueller has passed his smoking skills down to his sons. In their first year of competing, the boys were named Grand Champions in the 6- to 10-year-old division at the Georgia BBQ Championship.
Meanwhile, dad has a chance to catch up with his sons’ title when the Atomic City Smokers head to Lakeland, Fla., at the end of January to compete against 100 teams. You can follow their adventures on Facebook.
Editor’s Note:
Mitzi Oxford is a veteran broadcaster and features writer who also worked at the same television station in Columbus, Georgia as Augusta’s Brad Means!
If you have a South Carolina story idea for Mitzi, please email her at mitzioxfordcreative@gmail.com.
