Craig Verhage

Craig started his professional bbq career in 1994, then in 1997 joined forces with his mentor Garry Roark with Ubons BBQ of Yazoo. With my cooking partner Leslie Roark Scott they have made Ubons a worldwide name in the BBQ community cooking in festivals across the country and even in Australia. They also were showcased at the famous James Beard House as they brought a taste of southern cuisine to New York.

Craig is an avid outdoorsman that loves to hunt for duck, deer, alligator, and fish. His philosophy is to have the utmost respect for the animal harvested throughout the process. From the beginning of planting crops of high quality for food so the animal will be healthy to the hunting, harvesting, and processing of the animal to provide food for my family. I love to cook wild game it is my favorite protein to cook.

Carig’s BBQ identity, the BBQ Ninja came while filming a documentary The United States of BBQ. His sunglasses and bandanna were a look that got me tabbed with that name and my ability to lead my team and handle any issue in any situation that came up is what made it stick.

Currently Craig is working for Royal Oak Charcoal as their Marketing Coordinator and Pitmaster with Ubons BBQ of Yazoo.