An Elvis Presley impersonator who once ran the popular 'Cod in a Trap' fish and chip van has teased a new Texas BBQ business is coming to town with a state-of-the-art smoker.
Lee Newsome is a fully qualified chef who can be found tending to his low-and-slow barbecued meats over one of his expert smokers throughout the day, and, by night, performing to sell-out shows as as a professional Elvis tribute act.
Lee is also known across his hometown for his once popular 'Cod in a Trap' fish and chip van.
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However, as a side hobby, Lee said he's been 'obsessed' with barbecues and roasting meat over fires and is now looking to kickstart his next venture, Pit Gangasta's Texas BBQ, early next year.
Speaking to The Oldham Times, Lee said: "The idea first came around about seven years ago.
"I imported £50,000 of custom-made smokers from Texas and we went all in on it.
"We did our first event and we were blown off our feet with it."
However, Lee was running another business at the time and suffered a medical episode, with the doctor advising him to take a step back.
The scare prompted Lee to sell his smokers and emigrate to Spain with his wife, Donna.
When Covid hit, the couple returned home and started the mobile fish and chip van, which they ran for three years before closing it for good in December last year.
Lee continued: "I've always been in the barbecue, dabbling in the barbecue at home.
"I've always had two or three barbecues and it got a bit serious - with all the money I've spent, I could've bought a terraced house.
"I found a guy in Texas called Rich Robin on YouTube from a company called Gator Pit and he makes his own smokers.
"I must have spent £35,000-£40,000 on smokers with him, had them shipped over, and it went from there."
Lee is hoping that, with his full-time commitment in singing, he could host a monthly pop-up from his home on Leith Place, "so there's no pressure on it".
Pit Gangsta's Texas BBQ will be serving authentic Texas and South Carolina barbecued meats as well as a range of homemade goodies and sides, from pickles to homemade bread.
Lee said: "The potato bread is to die for. It's the nicest bread - if you tasted this bread, you'd never buy a loaf from the shop again.
"We did sausages at the weekend. We bought the sausage grinders, the stuffers, everything and the batch turned out absolutely beyond my wildest dreams, they were absolutely fabulous."
Lee is keen to make sure the venture doesn't become a full-time demand, adding: "Sitting there and tending to a fire is a long, tiring business.
"It takes anything up to 12 to 14 hours."
However, as tiring as it may be, Lee says he finds comfort by the barbecue and a fire pit, describing it as a "therapeutic" and "peaceful" experience that he looks forward to with "great rewards" at the end.
Lee has also learnt everything there is to know about perfecting the meat and the precise science involved in the smoking process.
He's spent a "good few thousand pounds" towards his latest barbecue, the Leviathan Fractal 140 Smoker, which is currently being made out of 8mm steel.
Lee said the contraception will weigh more than a tonne and can reach scorching temperatures of up to 700 degrees, though he said the perfect temperature for low and slow barbecuing is between 250 to 275.
He continued: "Looking at all these techniques Texas pit masters do, it's just a fantastic learning curve.
"A lot of smokers in America are made out of old propane tanks so the pits can look absolutely knackered.
"But I saw these smokers that are being made at Leviathan Pits, and this smoker that they've introduced now is one of the most advanced smokers in the world.
"They have a bit of an apocalyptic look but the technology and the data points that have gone into building that pit are truly phenomenal, about how fire reacts with food and with the metal and everything.
"The good thing is, you wouldn't even know the smoker was running because the smoke burns clear - in Texas, they call it blue smoke because you can't really see it.
"I've got hot holding cabinets, where your meat might be done at night, say they come off at midnight or one o'clock in the morning, then they go into the holding cabinet where they will sit for 15 hours to give the meat chance to improve in flavour and sit at the perfect temperature.
"The collagen will break down and it's like nothing you've ever tasted.
"When the food comes out the day after, it just takes it to another level."
Customers keen to get an order in with Pit Gangsta's Texas BBQ can rest assured that there is plenty to go around too, as the Leviathan Fractal 140 Smoker can cater for up to 300 people and fulfil as many as 30 to 40 orders.
Lee added: "I've created a Facebook page where customers can order.
"We'll start with set tray offers, say of three different meats like beef rib, pork rib, chicken or turkey, and then a variety of sides with pickles.
"We'll be looking at charging around £40 for the platter - you can get a good three or four meals out of it.
"The ordering will open up a week before and we'll have a pick-up spot every 10 minutes where we can come out, hand it to you in your car, and off you go."
Lee is hoping to kickstart the pit around the last week of January next year, but he also has a jam-packed schedule with his own Elvis show throughout 2025.
He has studied Elvis "morning, noon and night" and his shows have rocketed in popularity from club shows to his own theatre performances, called Up Close and Personal.
The show focuses on Elvis' love songs and power ballads and has been a hit sell-out already - with 29 more booked ahead next year.
Lee added: "To be honest, I was just buying the smoker for myself.
"I'm not looking to take over the world, it'll just be something a little bit exclusive as there's nobody doing it in this area other than The Old School BBQ Bus, which is run by Mark who is one of my friends.
"I just want to do something on point and freshly made and to give people the chance to taste something that they wouldn't usually experience.
"But hopefully - well you don't know what it leads on to."
Got a story? Email me Olivia.bridge@newsquest.co.uk
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