Christopher B. "Stubb" Stubblefield

Christopher B. "Stubb" Stubblefield, Sr. (March 7, 1931 – May 27, 1995) was an American barbecue restaurateur and music patron known for his barbecue sauces, rubs, and marinades distributed nationally by Stubb’s Legendary Kitchen, Inc.

Early life and career

Born in Navasota, Texas, Stubblefield was one of 12 children, 9 boys and three girls. His family moved to Lubbock, Texas in the 1930s, where his father was a minister and sharecropper. Stubblefield was employed in his youth as a cotton picker. He later served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, where after being injured, he moved to the mess hall where he prepared meals for soldiers. After he left the Army, Stubblefield moved back to Lubbock.

Restaurateur

In Lubbock, Stubblefield found a mentor in barbecue restaurateur Amos Gamel. From Gamel, Stubblefield learned the art of smoking meats and complementing barbecue with sauce.

In 1968, he opened his first restaurant, “Stubb's Bar-B-Q” at 108 East Broadway in Lubbock. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the Sunday Night Jams held in his small restaurant hosted such musicians as Terry Allen, Johnny Cash, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Tom T. Hall, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Jessie "Guitar" Taylor, George Thorogood, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Muddy Waters. Regardless of who was playing, Stubb would get up on stage and sing "Summertime" before the evening was done.

Barbecue

Barbecue (also barbeque, BBQ and barby/barbies) is both a cooking method and an apparatus. The generally accepted differences between barbecuing and grilling are cooking durations and the types of heat used. Grilling is generally done quickly over moderate-to-high direct heat that produces little smoke, while barbecuing is done slowly over low, indirect heat and the food is flavored by the smoking process.

The word barbecue when used as a noun can refer to the cooking method, the meat cooked in this way, the cooking apparatus (the "barbecue grill" or simply "barbecue"), or to an event where this style of food is featured. Used as an adjective, "barbecued" refers to foods cooked by this method. The term is also used as a verb for the act of cooking food in this manner. Barbecuing is usually done out-of-doors by smoking the meat over wood or charcoal. Restaurant barbecue may be cooked in large brick or metal ovens designed for that purpose. There are numerous regional variations of barbecuing, and it is practiced around many areas of the world.