OUR STORY
I remember when I was young, my dad would throw a brisket or a turkey on a water smoker. He always talked about how great it was to smoke the meat, which wood was best, how long to cook it, basically, he talked about the process to get the perfect end result. As I grew into my teens, smoking meat was put on a back burner. Not to worry though, I had influences to support my curiosity. I had the Amercian Royal, Aurthur Bryant's, gate's and Sons, Zarda's, and Rosedale's to name a few. My dad then began to show me how to use the grill, both charcoal and gas. We used that grill year around, several times a week. In Missouri, winter is really cold and windy. I spent many hours cooking. I think he was just tired of cooking outside in the winter. My first big cook was when I cooked steaks for a family gathering. I was 16, it was summer in North Kansas City, the grill was fired, steaks ready, and about 15 hungry people. I was terrified of messing all of this up. I did it! That was the begininng of something I have really enjoyed.
Over the years into adulthood, the smoking process created a life of it's own and morphed into what it is today. I have always used a grill and smoker to cook. In fact, I developed quite a knack for the grill. I would never share my products with anyone outside my household until I felt it was perfected. Sometimes, two or three years later, I would let someone taste it. The smoking bug really caught on in 2003. Amy and I owned a restaraunt in Centralis, MO. We had a great following and developed many good friendships. One in particular for me was, L. T. Easton from the BBQ cooking team "The soggy Bottom boys". We talked and LT was trying to explain to me how it all worked. I wanted to try it and then it happened. LT gave me a small offset stick burner. Gave it to me for free. And some words of wisdom. I have never looked back since then. I worked hard on the whole process. I worked on my BBQ Sauce for well over 3 years. I have three varieties today and the wait was worth it. My rubs, over 5 years. In fact, I worked so hard once that i spent nearly 12 hours smoking a "Pork butt". Man it was a thing of beauty. It felt tough, but it was pretty. Come to find out, it was a ham. Yes, I had cooked my first uncured ham. That was the best damn ham that I had ever eaten. But, it still was not a Pork Butt. Fast forward 10 years, you can bet, if I am serving you something, I have put a lot of time and effort into it and am proud to serve it to you and your family. After MANY years of trial and error, I am starting to cook special events, catering, and roadside set-ups in November 2014, and then, the competition circuit in 2015. This should be interesting!