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On Thursday, July 1st at 8:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. CT), we're teaming up with www.ForWhiskeyLovers.com for a Zoom virtual tasting event with Smugglers Notch Distillery, and their co-owner and Head Distiller, Jeremy Elliot.

It's likely too late now to guarantee your kit will arrive in time to taste with us live, but you can still purchase the 5-sample tasting kit here and taste along to the recorded Happy Hour episode once we post it. Or you can hang out with us live, without a glass, and learn a little somethin' about bourbon. Either way, a good time will be had!

The Pitmaster Club launched in July 2014 and we've experienced steady growth ever since. Earlier this month we crossed the 17,000 member mark! Equally as thrilling is that, while some professionals say a retention rate of 75% is a common target, we maintain an 87% retention rate!

Pitmaster Club membership is our most important revenue stream and we thank each and every one of you, our dear members, for helping us not only survive but continue to grow and bring you more value.

To the future!

We often get asked such questions as "how will I know if I win your sweepstakes," and "have I ever won and missed it?" So, let's answer some of those common questions so you don't miss out if your name is called!

Each month, we announce the winners around the 7th-10th of the month. This varies slightly each month depending on when the weekends fall, holidays, etc. But set your calendar 'cause it will be around then unless otherwise announced.

All winners are shared in The Pit (our members' forum) in an announcement titled "[Month] 2021 "Great Giveaway" Three Sweepstakes Winners!" and we post it in the Announcements > Great Giveaway Winners sub-channel.

Remember, you can click Announcements from the main red menu bar to shortcut there, then click the Great Giveaway Winners sub-channel. Notice the two blue arrows & circle:

1. mention ("tag") each winner in the monthly announcement we make, and

2. email each winner at the email address they have in their account details. Check yours by clicking here. If it's outdated, update it by clicking here.

Tip: You'll also want to update your email with this newsletter service (Constant Contact) by scrolling wayyyy down to the bottom footer of this newsletter and clicking "Update Profile" link. They are separate systems so be sure to update both!

We do not send an email out to all members announcing the monthly winners. As noted above, there's 2 ways to find them- we post them in The Pit, and we email the 3 winners. That's it.

So to ensure you don't miss if your name is picked, make sure you check the monthly announcement, make sure our emails aren't ending up in your spam folder, and most definitely MAKE SURE you open any email you get from us!

There are only 37 members, 24 living, so it is quite the honor.

The other inductees this year are Ollie Gates of Gates BBQ in Kansas City, Rodney Scott or Rodney Scott’s BBQ in Charleston, Arthur Bryant of Arthur Bryant’s BBQ in Kansas City, and Lyttle Bridges Cabaniss of Bridges Barbecue in Shelby NC.

As announced over the last couple months, we had to cancel this summer's Meat-Up In Memphis 2021. But that gives us more time to make it better, and more time for Huskee to practice his duck march.

So we rescheduled for March 18-20, 2022. The contract's signed and IT'S ON!

In case you missed the last couple months' announcements, there's been a rebuild of the entire public non-member portion of the website, all 2,110 pages. AmazingRibs.com may look similar to the way it always has, but we have completely rebuilt the engine. We switched our content management system (CMS) from something called Drupal to something called WordPress.

We completely redesigned and vastly improved the navigation systems so you can sift through thousands of articles, recipes, ratings, and reviews much quicker. We also made our search features more powerful and more accurate.

Also, our recipes are easier to read, print, scale, and share with friends. You can even print a shopping list!

We've also redesigned the Pitmaster Club Forum's masthead. Click Meathead's mug to go to the free/public site of AmazingRibs.com, or click the cartoon pig mascot to visit the forum's Channel Page a.k.a table of contents.

Each month we draw 3 Pitmaster Club members' names out of the hat for Grand, Second, and Third Prize and add them to the winner's list, 36 winners each year.

Grand Prize winners get to choose a cooker from about 10 of our favorite Gold & Platinum medal-winning cookers, which range in value up toward $2,000.

Our first Grand Prize winner didn't respond, so give a congratulations to our fortunate second name out of the hat, Justin Hagemeier, a.k.a jhagem44!

Justin selected the Platinum Medal-winning Hasty-Bake Gourmet 256 Dual Finish Charcoal Grill, MSRP $1,599.

"Wow!...The knowledge I have gotten of this site has been invaluable. So happy to have won", Justin said.

June 2021's SECOND PRIZE winner is Dave Streeter, a.k.a. Bufflerman.

"This is a big WOW moment. I am thrilled to be this month's second place winner!" Dave said.

Dave selected the Pit Barrel Cooker, MSRP $350.

Third Prize winners get the Backyard Pitmaster Package with a variety of cool stuff:

June 2021's Contingent THIRD PRIZE winner is Steve Hecker. Congrats Steve!

Click here to learn why you must have a US address. Click here to see past winners and what they picked.

In April 3 Grand Prize winners forfeited their prize by not answering us, and last month 3 more did the same! Make sure the email address in your account settings is one you use regularly, and make sure you have us (@amazingribs.com) whitelisted or added as a contact. And when you get an email from us, OPEN IT!

NOTICE: If you change your email with us, YOU STILL NEED TO CHANGE IT WITH THIS NEWSLETTER SYSTEM HERE. They are different systems and are not automatically connected.

It's easy- just scroll to the bottom footer of this newsletter and click the "Update Profile" link as the red arrow shows in the example below. There you can change the email address to which this newsletter goes.

Charter Member Mark Garetz (mgaretz) has a nifty engraving machine and he is making some very cool Pitmaster Club swag that he is selling with our approval (we are not making a commission).

Options are:

All can be ordered on his website https://lightmadedesigns.com/pitmaster-club-items/

Order $35 worth of Pitmaster laser-engraved products and receive the Pitmaster Club Keychain (below) free! It will automatically be included with your order. Also sold separately for $7.95.

The team at Tappecue have created an exclusive 15% discount for our members!

To take advantage of this amazing offer, explore their various products in their online store here then use promo code RIBS15 at checkout.

Speaking of cooking, the following shots are member submissions from the past month from both our now-retired "Show Us What You're Cooking (SUWYC) Volume 21- Spring 2021" and our brand new "Show Us What You're Cooking (SUWYC) Volume 22 - Summer 2021" sticky topic, from our Show Us channel.

Kicking off this edition is a nice live-fire flat iron steak cook from USMCCrashCrew89

Here's an "insanely tasty dish" from Wallpapers, consisting of grilled calamari, shrimp, scallops, and haddock over mixed greens, yellow peppers, red onion and a homemade citrus vinaigrette.

TWBarbecue is serving up a kettle-fried Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich

A "little" crawfish boil from TripleB...

...and another from saneric38

Here's a tri tip from SheliaAnn with roasty potatoes and spinach/crab stuffed portobello.

treesmacker used this gorgeous turkey's leftovers to make some soup.

Putting his Weber Smokey Joe to good use, here's a lemon/garlic-marinated half chicken from rickgregory.

Here's a ribeye with morel mushrooms in thyme & garlic butter from Richard Chrz

Here's some grilled veggie red rice pilaf from rgriffeath. Colorful!

Red Man smoked up both St Louis & baby back ribs using Henrik's rub and Max Good's Black Swan sauce. You could say this was a very successful Pitmaster Club team effort!

While he might call himself new2smoking, his handiwork with these three spatchcocked chickens smoke-grilled on GrillGrates says he's a pro!

Our friend from Ireland known as MeatMonster serves up this 32 day dry-aged brisket that first spent 14 hrs in mesquite, and ended up accompanied by chimichurri and a bottle of Malbec. Definitely a happy ending.

A beautiful spread here from jfmorris consisting of a "pork brisket" and some black-eyed peas cooked underneath.

gboss delights us with some yakitori, bacon-wrapped asparagus, and skewered beef, with homemade teriyaki.

Here's 3 different racks of ribs from frailinryan, each with a different rub, cooked in his Pit Barrel Cooker. I don't remember seeing the taste-test invite, I'm sure it simply got lost.

More Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) ribs, this time from dtresca.

Coined & popularized by Pitmaster Club member mgaretz, here's some "Blasphemy Ribs" from Dewesq55.

Who says pitmasters can't cook some non-BBQ down-home comfort food once in a while? No one! As proof, check out these amazing looking lasagna rolls from pitmaster David Norcross!

Always delighting us with his photo-worthy creations, look at this plating of thick pork chops, new potatoes, salted watermelon with tagine, grilled asparagus and harissa mayonnaise from Attjack.

How about this rendition of wine marinated flank steak with pinot mushroom sauce from theroc? Stick to your bones goooood!

Next up we have another killer brisket cook from goosebr160. This was smoked up on his PBC. Great looking bark!

We had two meteors hit in North Carolina! How about these two pork shoulders smoked up by Hulagn1971. These were cooked on his Weber Smokey Mountain.

Let's head over to Sweden for an amazing presentation from Henrik. This roast was cooked on his offset smoker and served with a tabbouleh and some red wine.

Ending this month's edition is this sweet contribution from ofelles, peanut butter cheesecake, yes please!

Your assignment: sharpen your photography skills and set up some great poses to help your pic get in the running for next month's issue. Make sure to consider proper lighting and unique dishes to make your cooks really stand out. For help with food shots, don't miss Meathead's Food Photography article.

To share your cooks, please visit the current "Show Us What You're Cooking (SUWYC)" topic.

Father's Day might be a few days in the past now, but you can still share what you love about the Pitmaster Club with dear ol' dad, your other family members, coworkers, or your neighbor! Send them the gift of a 1-year Pitmaster Club membership. Next time you eat at their house you'll be glad you did!

Your gift recipient will be mailed a physical Visa card that they can use to join the Pitmaster Club, along with instructions on how to join. The card will go in the mail within 24 hours. Recipients must live in the US or Canada.

Price is $30 and includes one year membership plus printing, postage, and handling. Value of the card: $23.95.

The DigestThis.news Bulletin is the weekly newsletter from our companion website DigestThis.news.

Keep up on essential food news "from farm to fork", curated from credible sources by award-winning food journalist (and our chief editor!) Dave Joachim.

Add editor@digestthis.news to your address book so that it lands in your inbox, not your spam folder. The DigestThis.news Bulletin and its companion website, DigestThis.news, are published by AmazingRibs.com.

Don't forget about your FREE digital subscription to “Tailgater Magazine, Your Parking Lot and Backyard Entertainment Guide”. They feature great food & drink recipes, entertainment ideas, and cool gear and products to make your next tailgater super.

Founded in 1989, Barbecue News Magazine is the only magazine devoted to barbecue and it features columns from BBQ Hall of Famers Ardie Davis and Paul Kirk, recipes, news from BBQ associations, a calendar of events, a restaurant guide, book reviews, and ruminations by other experts including the team at AmazingRibs.com. Your FREE digital versions are especially cool because they're interactive. Many articles and ads are clickable linking you to more info.

The 'Cue Sheet, By Robert Moss - Want more tasty bites in recent BBQ news, events, and stories delivered to your email inbox each week? Sign up for The 'Cue Sheet, the email barbecue newsletter from Robert Moss. You'll love it!

Join Meathead on the last Thursday each month at 7:30 p.m. Central for his live monthly "fireside chats" on Facebook and YouTube. Bring your toughest questions and click the icons.

"HOT From The Pit!" is the exclusive members-only monthly newsletter of the AmazingRibs.com Pitmaster Club by Pit Boss Aaron "Huskee" Lyons

and Moderator John "Spinaker" Bowlsby.

For past issues check out the newsletter archive.

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