Gettin' Basted & Getting Real: Brad Leighninger on BBQ Domination

Brad Leighninger is the pitmaster, co-owner, and founder behind the award-winning barbecue brand Gettin' Basted, based in southwest Missouri. He launched the team in 2012, originally as a competition barbecue outfit, and quickly built it into one of the most successful teams on the professional BBQ circuit before expanding into full-scale restaurants in Branson and Nixa, Missouri. Leighninger is widely known in the BBQ world for helping popularize the "hot and fast" cooking style, using direct heat and drum smokers rather than traditional low-and-slow methods. This approach became a signature of both his competition strategy and restaurant menu. As a competitor, he has accumulated an elite résumé, including multiple world-class titles such as a Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue Grand Champion, King of the Smoker Grand Champion, and multiple Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) Team of the Year honors. He has also earned over 100 major competition wins and numerous grand championships across the United States. Beyond competition, Leighninger co-owns several Gettin' Basted restaurant locations and is active in the broader barbecue industry as a pitmaster, educator, and public figure in BBQ media and events. In short, he's considered one of the most decorated and influential modern competitive pitmasters, known for both his innovation in technique and his dominance on the competition circuit.