According to his personal website, cowboy Kent Rollins “is from a lost period in time and a dying state of mind, when life was simple and character was king.”
Once you start watching his YouTube channel, you will know this statement is true. Even if you haven’t seen his YouTube videos, you may have seen him on the Food Network!
He has appeared on Throwdown! With Bobby Flay, where he beat Bobby Flay with his chicken fried steak recipe, Chopped Grill Masters, Chopped Redemption and Cutthroat Kitchen.
He is also undefeated on NBC’s Food Fighters and was featured on CBS Sunday Morning. Rollins grew up in a ranching family and eventually took up cooking. In 1993, he bought a chuckwagon to be able to cook for ranchers in the area.
He created a YouTube channel to show off the recipes he has perfected in the “cowboy” style, which usually consisted of using cast iron skillets and dutch ovens!
In his most-watched YouTube video, with over five million views, Cowboy Kent teaches us how to make a cowboy version of a McDonald’s Big Mac.
The video starts with Rollins ordering a Big Mac in the drive-thru to make sure his version is comparable.
The first thing you do to make this cowboy-style Big Mac, is make the “special sauce,” which he says he “tunes up just a little” by adding adobo sauce. Next, you tackle the meat by using 1/2 pound patties of 80/20 certified beef.
He makes a point to say that you shouldn’t season the burgers until right before you throw them on the grill. If you do it too early, it could dry out the patties. The seasoning he used was his own line of seasoning which you can purchase here.
Rollins also wants his viewers to know one of his cardinal rules – “Don’t mash your burgers,” meaning don’t press down on them because that rids them of all the yummy juices and makes them dry.
He then builds his Big Mac with toasted sesame seed buns, special sauce, pickle, and lettuce and compares it to the McDonald’s Big Mac.
“This is a Big Mac McDonald’s style and THIS is a Big Mac cowboy style! You’ve gotta have a muscle to hold this one up,” he said.
We’re trying this recipe ASAP! Watch his full tutorial below.