Reverse Sear Steak
Reverse Sear Ribeye and Lobster Tail
A backyard steakhouse cook with low smoke, a hot finish, buttered lobster tails, and plenty of room to dial in your technique.
Italian-American backyard BBQ recipes, smoke tests, and pit stories.
Red sauce roots.
Smokehouse attitude.
Italian Smokeshows is a backyard BBQ project from Sal and Nick — two friends chasing better Traeger recipes, bigger smoke flavor, and the kind of Italian-American food stories that make people pull up a chair.
The Two Goombas
Two friends learning BBQ one cook at a time.
We met in college, became instant paisans, and eventually turned a shared love of food, family, smoke, and a good laugh into Italian Smokeshows.
This is a hobby, not a restaurant — and that is the point. We are here to experiment with pellet grill recipes, learn from other backyard pitmasters, test new BBQ techniques, and share the wins, misses, and lessons along the way.
Sal cooks on a Traeger Silverton 620. Nick cooks on a Traeger Pro 780 and Weber Genesis II. Together, we are building a homegrown BBQ journal with Italian roots, modern smokehouse energy, and plenty of mangia e statti zitto.
Backyard BBQ Recipes
Start with the smoke-tested favorites.
From smoked pulled pork to reverse sear steak, these are approachable Traeger and backyard grill recipes built for learning, tweaking, and making again.
Traeger Pulled Pork
Classic Pulled Pork
Low-and-slow pork shoulder with a mustard binder, BBQ rub, apple juice spritz, good bark, and a rest that actually matters.
Burnt Ends Blog
The First Smoke
A cold morning, a full moon, a Traeger Pro 780, and the cook that turned a pork shoulder into a BBQ obsession.
Read the storyOur Backyard Rulebook
Cook the classics. Question everything. Share what works.
Respect the roots.
Italian-American food, family meals, Sunday sauce energy, and old-school hospitality shape everything we put on the pit.
Experiment with purpose.
We test pellet grill settings, reverse sears, rub combinations, spritzes, rests, and BBQ gear so the next cook gets better.
Keep it honest.
Good bark, bad weather, overdone edges, surprise wins, and lessons learned all belong in the story.
Collaborate With Us
Smoke, sear, learn, repeat.
Have a BBQ tip, a recipe idea, a local ingredient, or a backyard cook we should try next? Follow Italian Smokeshows on Instagram and jump into the experiment.