Wisconsin Life

[bright string music] - Jon Riemann: There's the mountain pie, the pudgy pie, the jaffle, the toasty, all kinds of them.

I've always been a pudgy pie guy.

I think this area is pudgy pie land.

– Angela Fitzgerald: Whatever you call them, Jon Riemann is passionate about pudgy pies.

– Riemann: We always went camping in the summertime.

You know, I should ask my parents where it came from, but one day, they showed up when we were out camping.

They had the Tonka Toasters, and we started doing it, and, you know, it was great!

[laughs] You know, a lot of fun to just be at the fire.

Every kid wants to be at the fire.

And to be able to make your own sandwiches and such, it was just fantastic!

- Jon started teaching pudgy pie making in 2013.

He created a website, a Facebook group, and a YouTube video, and the 'Pudgy Pie Guy' was born.

– Riemann: It isn't anything I ever set out to do.

It isn't... [chuckles] You know, this just came to me one day.

When I wanted to start, you know, the Facebook group, needed to come up with a name, and just 'Pudgy Pie Guy' came to me immediately.

It was just one of those kinds of things.

You know, it just rolls off the tongue, and it's nice, and it works, and whatever else.

So, I just picked up the moniker of 'Pudgy Pie Guy.'

I made a how-to video on seasoning pie irons because it just seemed like there was nothing out there, and actually shot it in the park.

Pudgy Pie Guy: But cast iron isn't ready to go straight off the store shelf, so in this video, I'm going to demonstrate the simple yet necessary steps of seasoning your cast iron cookers.

- Thirteen years and 56,000 views later, the Pudgy Pie Guy's video is still helping people season their pie irons.

– Riemann: The people at the park saw it, and the person who does the volunteer coordinating said, "You know, you did such a great job in this video.

Would you be interested in doing this?"

And I did it, and it, you know, just went so well.

The people were so into it and interested.

So, I just started doing it.

I know I've done over 25 classes.

I've never actually counted them up.

Been the headlining act for Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend, you know.

So, it's just been a lot of fun to be able to continue on with that.

– Woman: Perfect!

- He continues to find joy in teaching people how to make pudgy pies and care for their pie irons.

– Riemann: To me, that is why I like to do this-- just that interaction with the people.

I lay out the whole spread and the irons and go through it with them.

And they just light up!

They jump right in.

I mean, they go right for it and start building sandwiches.

And just enjoying the overall experience of watching somebody new do this.

We've all had that experience of seeing children try something new and how excited they get for it.

And as an adult, you lose a lot of that.

You lose that wonderment.

You lose that excitement in a lot of things.

- Following in his dad's footsteps is Jon's 'Pudgy Pie Little Guy.'

– Riemann: William gets always, you know, the sweet pudgy pie.

I shouldn't say always, but usually, that's where he'll head to.

He really enjoys it.

He likes, you know, the two of us just kind of, you know, nested in front of the fire.

Obviously, he's too young to be doing it himself.

The rule of thumb I've always used is that if the iron is too heavy for them to handle it on their own, they're too young to be doing it to begin with.

- Whether it's savory, sweet, or salty, there's a pudgy pie recipe to chow into.

– Riemann: The pudgy pie is perfect for camping.

You can come up with a pretty good combination that becomes, you know, hot and toasty and juicy and delicious.

Going to the campground and making a pudgy pie, it's whatever you want it to be.

Whatever concoction you want to dream up is the perfect sandwich.

- With his extensive collection, Jon always has the perfect pie iron to use.

- They're all the same thing, but they all have their own look to them, their own design and their own artistic flair to it.

But there are over a hundred, at least, in the collection.

Right here in Wisconsin, we have Rome Industries.

That's the best pie iron.

- No matter the type of pudgy pie maker Jon uses, it's all about bringing people together around something he loves so much.

- It's been 10 years of just a constant evolution of this.

I never thought that I would collect them.

I never thought I'd be giving a presentation about them.

I never thought I would have this many of them.

And so, it's really just been a great, you know, opportunity to bring it all together.

That is, like, perfect!

Well done!

It's so exciting.

It's so much fun; it really is!

– Family: Yay!

[laughing]