Own The Fire

Own The Fire Mike Riddle | Executive Chef & Founder
Live fire, taught the way it's done in professional kitchens. Custom grills. 🔥 Executive Chef. Fire Mastery. Marketing Pro.
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Forged knives.

20+ years on the line.
25+ years building brands. Top 1% Reddit • 2.2M+ views

Where Professional Cooking Meets Live Fire Culinary Experience. Master fire cooking techniques forged in 20+ years of professional kitchens. At OWN THE FIRE™, we teach Argentine asado, Brazilian churrasco, and live-fire culinary excellence — backed by hand-selected artisan knives, custom-built equipment,

and premium education through Fire & Steel Academy. This isn't BBQ content. This is culinary mastery. Crafted in Smoke. Forged in Fire. Built for Masters.

08/11/2026

Chairman’s Reserve Picanha over live fire.

Picanha is one of those cuts that was made for this kind of cooking. That fat cap renders over the coals, the outside takes on a serious crust, and the center stays rich and juicy.

Just good beef, a hot fire, and the slice at the end.

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08/11/2026

Most people know picanha as beef.

This is pork picanha, and that fat cap makes it an incredible cut for live fire.

I cut it into thick steaks, folded them onto skewers, seasoned them with Patagonia, and cooked them slowly beside the fire on the Santa Maria.

The fat rendered. The outside developed a beautiful crust. And when it was finally time to eat, I didn't even need the knife anymore.

A little Pinot Noir, a piece straight off the board, and I almost called it pork Wagyu.

After tasting it, maybe that wasn't such a crazy mistake.

Have you ever tried pork picanha? You can pick up a nice cut Wild Fork Foods they have a great selection!

08/10/2026

This is why I love cooking vacio over live fire.

The vacio cooks slowly on the iron cross, using radiant heat instead of sitting directly over the flames.

But look underneath it.

Those potatoes are cooking in cast iron with beef tallow, catching the drippings from the vacio and the salmuera as everything cooks together.

That’s the beauty of this style of cooking. Nothing is happening independently. The fire, the meat, the drippings and the side dish are all working together.

And yes, this time I included the reveal.

Vacio or those potatoes. Which are you going after first?

Most people hear picanha and immediately think beef.But pork picanha deserves some attention.For this cook, I cut the po...
08/10/2026

Most people hear picanha and immediately think beef.

But pork picanha deserves some attention.

For this cook, I cut the pork picanha into thick steaks, folded them onto skewers, seasoned them with Patagonia, and cooked them slowly beside the fire on the Santa Maria.

That's where this cut shines.

The fat cap slowly renders. The outside builds color. The pork stays incredibly juicy. Then I hit it with charred lemon before slicing.

And that slice...

Like butter.

This is what I love about live fire cooking. You're not just cooking over a flame. You're controlling distance, radiant heat, and time to get exactly what you want from the meat.

If you've never cooked pork picanha, put this one on your list.

Would you cook this before a traditional beef picanha?

08/09/2026

Vacio is one of those cuts that was made for live fire.

This one cooked slowly on the iron cross, with the fire working across the meat instead of blasting it with direct heat.

You get that deep crust on the outside, rendered fat, and a juicy center.

But the best part is always taking it down and making that first slice.

If you’ve never cooked vacio over an open fire, put it on the list.

08/08/2026

This is my therapy.

There’s something about spending a day around a fire that shuts everything else off.

Build the fire. Make the coals. Hang some meat. Move things around as the heat changes. No timers telling you what to do. You watch, smell, listen and cook.

I could do this all day.

What’s your version of therapy?

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08/07/2026

There’s a reason you’ll see pineapples hanging over the fire at an asado.

When you’re eating a rich, fatty cut like Wagyu, you need something to cut through that richness.

That’s exactly what the pineapple does.

Over the fire, the outside caramelizes, the sugars concentrate, and you pick up some of that smoke and char. But you still have that acidity to balance the fat in the beef.

Take a piece of Wagyu, add some chimichurri and a bite of that fire-roasted pineapple and you get fat, acid, sweetness, herbs and smoke all working together.

That pineapple isn’t just hanging there because it looks good. It has a purpose.

With Wild Fork Foods – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉
08/04/2026

With Wild Fork Foods – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

08/03/2026

This Iberico pork loin deserved a little more than salt and fire.

Butterflied, stuffed, wrapped in bacon, tied, and cooked over live fire until the bacon rendered and the pork picked up that color.

Then the slice.

That’s the payoff. Juicy Iberico pork wrapped around that center with the bacon holding everything together.

Would you stuff an Iberico loin, or leave a cut like this alone?

08/03/2026

Prime aged tri-tip on the Big Green Egg at New England Eggfest.

Wild Fork hooked me up with some beautiful Prime aged tri-tip for the event, and this was a fun cook from start to finish.

I seasoned it with Ember & Salt Co. Patagonia, brought it slowly up to about 130°F on the Big Green Egg, then moved it over high heat for the final sear.

Fresh chimichurri, smashed fingerling potatoes, grilled zucchini, asparagus and mushrooms alongside it.

A huge thank you to Wild Fork Foods for taking care of me for The New England Eggfest Chatfield Hardware. Their selection is impressive, from everyday cuts to Prime, Wagyu, seafood, game and plenty of proteins you don't always find locally.

And thank you to Big Green Egg and everyone at New England Eggfest for having us out. Great crowd, great food, and a full day around the fire.

If you've never cooked a tri-tip, put one on your list.

How are you cooking yours?

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