Santa Ynez Valley’s Alisal Ranch has announced the second iteration of its BBQ Bootcamp experience for 2023 to be held May 7-10. The tri-annual event brings chefs and grill masters to the ranch, where they will prepare barbecue feasts, demonstrate their approach to grilling, and share their barbecue secrets, tips, and tricks.

• Craig Riker (Alisal Ranch’s Executive Chef) – Riker will kick off the festivities with a cooking demo teaching guests who to properly cut and prepare steak for the grill, followed by a hands-on opportunity for guests to grill alongside the chefs and an al fresco barbecue dinner featuring local wineries and distilleries.
• Valerie Gordon (Valerie Confections) – The celebrated Los Angeles chocolatier and James Beard finalist cookbook author for 2013’s Sweet, founded Valerie Confections in 2004. In addition to MCing the bootcamp, Valerie will also be conducting her own cooking demonstration, sharing recipes and tips to grilling breakfast.
• Paula Disbrowe (Thank You for Smoking) – The award-winning chef and cookbook author will lead a cooking demonstration, sharing with guests tips for smoke-infused grilling recipes, followed by lunch.
• Burt Bakman (Slab BBQ, Trudy’s Underground Barbecue) – The chef behind “LA’s best-kept barbecue secret” and brisket, Burt Bakman returns to the ranch for a cooking demonstration.
• Jordan Kepler (Sasquatch Survival Gear) – Recognized as one of the Season 8 champions of the History’s Channel’s “Forged in Fire,” Founder Jordan Kepler will lead a knife making workshop, guiding guests through the entirety of the process from forging, heat treating, and tempering, to shaping and handle making, for guests to make their own creation to take home.
• Rachel Greenspan & Brendan Smith (Bettina Pizzeria) – The local Montecito neighborhood restaurant, offering farmers market ingredients and sustainable cooking, will put on a woodfire pizza demo and lunch.
• Joy Culley & Taylor Facha (Solvang Spice Merchant) – Co-owned by this female duo, the local spice shop will guide an interactive spice blending seminar, where guests will learn about the flavor profiles of various spices and create their own signature spice blends and rubs to take home.

For details and prices visit alisalranch.com.