Pitmaster Profile · Georgia Competition Barbecue
Myron Mixon
A Georgia competition pitmaster whose team has won the Memphis in May world championship five times, and whose name is tied to one very specific backyard idea: chicken thighs smoked in muffin cups so every piece comes out the same size, shape and shine.
- Speciality
- Competition barbecue
- Region
- Unadilla, Georgia
- Cooker
- Water-pan smokers
- Known for
- Cupcake chicken, whole hog
Muffin-cup chicken thighs
Water-pan smoking
Uniform, judge-ready pieces
Cooking school
Independent editorial resource. This page is an independently written profile and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to Myron Mixon or his representatives. The chicken thigh method linked further down is our own independently developed adaptation, informed by the muffin-cup technique publicly associated with him and scaled to a backyard grill or smoker. It is not his recipe and not an “official” version of it.
Who he is
Myron Mixon is the chief cook of the Jack’s Old South Competition Bar-B-Que Team from Georgia. His father, Jack, ran a barbecue business that Myron helped manage. After his father died in 1996, he started entering contests to promote the family’s Jack’s Old South sauce. His first was in Augusta, Georgia, that same year, where he took first place in both whole hog and pork ribs.
The team went on to win grand champion at the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in 2001, 2004 and 2007, and in 2021 he took that title for the fifth time. The Barbecue Hall of Fame, run through the American Royal in Kansas City, inducted him in 2013 in its pitmaster category.
Outside the contest circuit, he has appeared on the television series BBQ Pitmasters, co-wrote the 2011 cookbook Smokin’ with Myron Mixon (Ballantine Books, with food writer Kelly Alexander), runs a barbecue school at his cooking pavilion in Unadilla, Georgia, and sells a line of water smokers under his name. In January 2016 he was sworn in as mayor of Unadilla.
Recognised style & region
Competition barbecue is its own discipline, with rules that shape the food as much as any regional tradition:
Judged on three marks
Kansas City Barbeque Society contests score each entry on appearance, taste and tenderness, across four meats: chicken, pork ribs, pork and brisket.
Built for one bite
A judge tastes a single piece from a box. Every piece has to look identical and eat the same, which pushes cooks toward trimming, shaping and repeatable process.
Whole hog in Memphis
Memphis in May runs separate divisions for whole hog, shoulder and ribs. Mixon’s team has also won that whole-hog division.
The style is about consistency under scoring more than one region’s sauce. For the Carolina whole-hog tradition, see our Rodney Scott profile.
Signature techniques
Cupcake chicken
The dish most backyard cooks connect with him. Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are trimmed to a matching size, seasoned, and cooked in individual muffin-style moulds, then glazed. The cup holds each thigh in a neat round shape and keeps it sitting in its own juices while it smokes. His own store sells the moulds and describes them as the ones he uses in competition, at his cook school and at home.
Uniform pieces as a habit
Pieces that start the same size finish at the same time and look the same in the box. At home that means no undercooked thigh hiding next to an overdone one.
Water-pan smoking
The smokers sold under his name are insulated cabinets built around a water pan with an automatic fill, sold on steady temperature and moist heat. A pan of water under the meat in any home smoker works on the same principle.
Whole hog on the contest stage
He won whole hog at his first contest, and his team later took first in the Memphis whole-hog division in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2007, which ties his name to whole hog as a contest category.
Equipment, wood & flavour profile
Typical equipment
Insulated cabinet smokers with a water pan, on the contest circuit. At home: a kettle set up for indirect heat, a pellet grill, or an offset, plus one ordinary 12-cup muffin tin.
Wood for this style at home
We have not confirmed his wood choices, so we leave that out. For chicken we suggest a mild fruitwood such as apple or cherry, which colours the skin without turning bitter on a short cook.
Flavour profile
Contest chicken usually leans sweet and glossy: a savoury rub underneath, a sticky glaze on top, and enough smoke to taste without masking the chicken.
Food safety: two different numbers
- 165°F is the USDA safe minimum internal temperature for all poultry, thighs included. That is the safety line.
- 175–185°F is where thighs turn tender and the meat near the bone loses its rubbery bite. That range is a texture target. Thighs at 165°F are safe to eat; you cook them further only because they taste and chew better there.
Colour is not a reliable sign of doneness. Use a thermometer. Source: USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service minimum internal temperature guidance.
Our independent adaptations
The muffin-cup idea needs little more than a standard muffin tin, a sheet pan and a cooker that holds 275°F. Our version adds a dry brine, our own pantry rub and glaze, and an optional direct-heat finish to firm the skin.
Related BBQ guides
FAQ
What is cupcake chicken?
Chicken thighs trimmed to an even size and smoked inside individual muffin-style cups, then glazed. The name comes from the shape. Each thigh comes out as a tidy round portion, which is why the technique took hold with contest cooks who need identical pieces.
Do I need a special mould?
No. A regular 12-cup metal muffin tin or a disposable foil muffin pan does the job for a backyard cook. Purpose-made moulds exist and are sold for this, but they are optional.
Is this exactly how he cooks chicken in competition?
We can only describe what is publicly documented, and we have no inside knowledge of any team’s contest process. Our method is an independent take on the muffin-cup idea, written for home equipment and our own seasonings.
Sources & further reading
- USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service: safe minimum internal temperature chart for poultry
- American Royal: Barbecue Hall of Fame inductee list and 2013 pitmaster-category inductee biography
- Daily Memphian (May 2021) on his fifth Memphis in May grand championship
- Penguin Random House publisher page for Smokin’ with Myron Mixon (Ballantine Books, 2011)
- Cordele Dispatch (January 2016) on his swearing-in as mayor of Unadilla
- Kansas City Barbeque Society FAQ on contest categories and judging criteria
- His business websites, for the chicken moulds and the water smoker line