Watch "Toughest Summer Jobs" on WTXL ABC 27 Wednesdays at 6 and vote for who you think has the Toughest Summer Job.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Summer time. Temperatures sizzling ... and so are the barbecue pits.
No matter where you live on the planet, when you think of Summer, you think of barbecue, and in the South, it's a way of life!
"Everyone loves barbecue, you know," says Lorenzo Sampson , the BBQ Extraordinaire at Smokin' Lo's BBQ. "It's America. Everybody likes barbecue."
Meet, pun intended, Lorenzo Sampson. He's a local pitmaster with over twenty years in the smoke. Cooking up food and serving it to the community is Sampson's passion that all started when he was just a boy.
"I've always been interested in cooking," explains Sampson. "My mom had me in the kitchen. She taught me all the basic essentials of cooking."
Those basic essentials are still being used today.
Smokin' Lo's has a TON of loyal customers, and for a lot of them, it was love at first bite.
"Whatever his recipe is for the potato salad and the baked beans is REALLY good! It's like my grandma used to make, so I love comin' here," says Michael Winn, a loyal Smokin' Lo's Customer.
Cooking up tasty foods on the barbecue pit isn't an easy task...especially since HIS grills are outside in the elements.
"It slows the cooking down a little bit as far as cooling the grills down when it rains," continues Sampson. "So it takes a little more heat and effort to make sure the food is cooked."
Rain isn't the only challenge. Sampson also cooks during those hot and humid summer days. If you live in south Georgia or north Florida, you know these all too well.
"I don't take breaks," says Sampson. "Anytime I'm idle, I just try to find a way to stay busy because there's always something to do."
And Smokin' Lo's stays busy. It's his grit, constant effort, and passion for cooking, that brings Lorenzo Sampson, into the running for the title of "Toughest Summer Job."
