No Longer Taking Orders

The deadline to get your order in for a butt or brisket has passed. Thanks to everyone who ordered food. $5 of your purchase will go to the Children's Miracle Network. We had such a good response from this so we will likely do this again throughout the winter. The best way to keep informed of this is to follow us on Twitter and Facebook. We will advertise through these mediums. Thanks again!

Closing for the Winter

Well, I didn't want to do it, but I think I'm going to close for the winter. The few days of cold weather we've had so far have been really slow, and it doesn't make financial sense to stay open. Thanks to everyone who ate with us and made this season a great success! We learned a lot this year, that's for sure! A big thanks to those of you who ate with us even when it got cold these last few days. We appreciate everyone's support and feedback on the food, and are looking forward to next season.

We have some remaining inventory and will be having a end-of-season sale on Friday, December 11th. We will be selling whole pork butts for $30 and whole brisket flats for $40. Also, any of the cold pre-smoked meat I have I will be letting go for 1/2 off. I have ribs, brisket, tri-tip and pulled pork left. If you are interested in ordering a pork butt or brisket, you can place your order here. The pre-smoked orders will be taken as walk-up orders at our location on Friday between 11 AM to 4 PM.

We will still be available for catering over the winter, so give us a call if you need some good BBQ for your event. We will reopen in the spring, probably sometime in March. I will keep you all updated.

Thanks again and have a great winter!

Website Changes

I made some website changes this weekend. Here they are listed out:

• Updated the Catering section to reflect our current pricing and catering brochure, which is also available for download in PDF format
• Added the ability to leave a voice testimonial. You can now click a button on the website, enter your phone number (you can keep it private if you want) and you will get a call and the opportunity to leave a voice message commenting on your experience with our food/catering/etc. Your comments may appear on our website for others to hear.
• "Human" form submission verification. I was starting to receive automated form submissions from robots on the contact and feedback forms, so I've included a simple math question that a person must answer in the forms before the submission will be accepted. Don't worry, you won't have to break out the calculator!

That's about it. More changes to come in the future. If you have any ideas you would like to see incorporated on the site, let us know.

180 lbs of brisket flats

Some friends of ours got married this past weekend and they hired us to smoke brisket for their reception. They provided the meat and we smoked and delivered it to their reception. This is only the second time I loaded the Ole Hickory completely full of product. It took me 3 hours to prep the 22 brisket flats (I was interrupted a few times) and a little over 2 hours for me and my emloyee to slice it all. Here are a few pictures I snapped with my phone of the meat.

 

New Location

We've finally moved into our new location at Republic and Fremont. It
should be much easier for everyone to get in and out of. I didn't get
the trailer moved into position until late Monday night which put me
behind for getting everything ready for Tuesday, so we will be closed
Tuesday. We will be back open on Wednesday. Come out and see us at our
new spot!

Decisions, Decisions

This whole idea of operating out of a trailer was to be an experiment from the get-go. A temporary thing. It was the only way I could think of getting into the BBQ business and putting my food out there for people to try without the risks and expenses of a full blown restaurant. If the people liked the food, then I would move into a permanent restaurant. Well, the experiment worked. People not only like the food, they love it. Read the comments and reviews for yourself.

We've started seriously contemplating whether or not to make the move into a restaurant. I've had several of my customers asking "When are you getting a place?" The plan for now is to try going through the winter in the trailer. We will be offering a drive thru service as well as delivery service, so this will hopefully keep people eating through the cold months. With the economy the way it is, I'm still a little gun shy on going into a full blown restaurant. But still in the back of my mind I keep thinking it would work. That is just the eternal optimist in me. I can make anything work. But I can't help but continue wondering when the right time is to make the move into a permanent structure. Is there that right, perfect time? No reward comes without risk, right? Decisions, decisions...

We are moving

I'm not sure on the exact date, but we will be moving to a new location around the first part of October. The location will be the corner of Republic and Fremont. It's the same corner where Sno Biz and Pineapple Whip are currently located. This location should be easier to get in and out of, plus we should be a little more visible there. We aren't moving far, so hopefully all of you that have been eating with us will continue to stop in.

We are planning on staying open through the winter months. I know some of you may not want to stand out in the cold and wait for your food, so we will be adding a drive thru service. This means you will still be able to get great Q through the winter months while waiting from the comfort of your warm car! Also keep a lookout for delivery service coming in the future!

People's Choice Award Winner!

We competed in the Sertoma Summer Sizzle a few weeks ago and we found out a few days ago that we won the "People's Choice" award! We would like to thank everyone who came out and ate with us. We are looking forward to doing it again next year. Come visit us at our location and have some award-winning Q!

New Feedback tab

Got an idea or suggestion? We now have a new "feedback" tab that will allow you to easily share them with us.

Summer Sizzle 2009 Results

We had a great time out at Summer Sizzle this year! There was a lot of great teams that offered some stiff competition. This was only our second competition, and our first KCBS sanctioned event. I didn't do any research into what the judges look for in a sanctioned event like this. I only knew what I've seen from pictures of other teams' turn in boxes and what I've read here and there on various forums. It would've been helpful to have taken a judging class and/or talk to others with more experience competing. I will definitely do this before my next competition.

There were 33 teams at this year's competition. Here's how we stacked up:

Overall: 20th
Chicken: 13th
Pork Ribs: 18th
Pork: 16th
Brisket: 25th

With all things considered, I think we did pretty decent. Besides focusing on the competition meat, we were also slated to be one of the few teams to vend to the public. Teams have a 10 minute window to turn in for each of the 4 categories, and each category is turned in 30 minutes apart. Making sure we turned in for each category on time while also keeping an eye on the food for vending was a task. Also, in a sanctioned event such as this, teams aren't allowed to use any electric or gas heat source in their smoker. My smoker on the trailer is an Ole Hickory, which uses propane for it's main heat source and wood for flavor. It has a thermostat which controls the temperature. If the temperature drops, the gas kicks on and brings it right back up to temp. For the competition I had to disconnect the gas burner and use only wood which meant keeping a close eye on the temp and adding wood to maintain the right temp. I'd never cooked on this particular smoker using only wood, so I had to figure it out as I went. What made this challenging on this smoker was that it lacks intake vents. If too much wood is added to the fire and your temps get out of control, you can't just close of the intake vents. Needless to say I had to be really careful with my wood usage! Like I said, taking all of this into consideration, I don't think we did too bad for our first sanctioned event.

There is also a People's Choice award which is based on the sales of vendors. They haven't announced it yet but from what I've heard I think we have a good shot at this one! We served a lot of people and appreciate everyone that stopped by to try our food. Some of our regular customers also showed up to eat with us and we would like to thank them as well. It was a great event with good food and good music. We're looking forward to the next one!

Closed for repairs

I need to make some long-overdue repairs and alterations to the trailer. Unfortunately, to do this I will need to close down for a few days. We will be closed today, August 19th through Monday, August 24th. I apologize for this inconvenience. We will resume normal business hours next week.

Summer Sizzle, umbrellas, picnic table

We will be competing and selling our BBQ at this year's Sertoma Summer Sizzle event this Friday and Saturday at Summers at the River/James River Sports Complex. We will be closing early Thursday afternoon around 2 PM in order to prepare. We are moving the trailer out there for the competition, so if you drive by and don't see us at our normal location don't worry. We haven't went out of business or moved! We will be closed Thursday afternoon until Tuesday when we will resume our normal business hours. While we are closed you don't have to miss out on our BBQ! Come on out to Summer Sizzle! Tickets are only $2.50. There will be some great BBQ to be eaten and some great bands to listen to. Plus, the "People's Choice" winner will be determined by the team with the highest BBQ sales, so come out and show your support!

On another note, we have two new 9' umbrellas being shipped to us as I write this. We also will have a second picnic table. If you haven't been by in a while we now also have two benches made from large logs. We will have plenty of outdoor seating now with plenty of shade so come out get some Q and say hi!

Umbrella vs. Wind

Last week our picnic table umbrella and the wind got into a fight, and the wind won. I will be on the lookout for a tougher umbrella in the coming days. Until I get a new one, I apologize for those of you who have to sit under the hot sun while your eat your Q. Hopefully I will find a new one soon! If any of you know where I can find a good one please let me know.

"Contact Us" Form Now Working

For those of you whom have tried to contact us lately, I'm sure you received an error that the "Contact Us" form was having problems. I was recently made aware of this and it is now working again. Sorry, I really wasn't ignoring anyone :) Please feel free to resume sending your questions or comments.

Texas Rockets

Texas Rockets will only be available on Tuesdays and Saturdays from here on out. Stop by early and get 'em while they last!

New Hours

We will be opening at 11 AM starting tomorrow for those of you who need to get your lunch in early. Our closing time is still 6 PM. Hope to see you this week!

New home on Facebook

We have a new home on Facebook. When we originally set up our page we did it as a group, not knowing that a company page could be created. We've now done that and would like to migrate all of our existing members of the old group page to the new company page. If you aren't currently a member of the old group just come on over to the new page and become a fan. See ya on Facebook!

Grand Opening a Success

Our Grand Opening was a great success! Other than a few minor issues, like our 10' x 10' canopy tent almost tumbling into oncoming traffic on Campbell from a gust of wind, everything went great. Thanks to everyone for coming out to eat with us even though the weather wasn't ideal. We saw a lot of new faces that we hope to see again soon.

We want to congratulate Bill Manor for winning the drawing for the $100 Visa gift card! Thanks to all who participated in the drawing. We will be doing drawings frequently for all kinds of prizes, so be sure and stay tuned to find out more on how you can enter to win some cool stuff! A good way to stay informed on things like this is to follow us on Twitter.

Grand Opening Date Set

The official date for our Grand Opening is Saturday, May 2nd. Come on out and help us celebrate. The first 100 people will even get a free gift!

Picnic Table

We now have a picnic table set up by the trailer. You can now sit outside and enjoy the nice weather while eating some good Que. The weather is supposed to be awesome this week, so stop by for some food and try out the new table!

Facebook Group

You can now check us out on Facebook. This will be another outlet for news and events, as well as a forum for our customers to give us feedback and suggestions.

Twitter

Southern Smoke BBQ is now on Twitter. We will be using Twitter to provide our you, our customers, with real-time news, specials and other information. Our Twitter handle is SouthernSmokeQ. If you aren't a Twitter member join now to get real-time updates through email and text messages about what's going on at Southern Smoke BBQ!

Official Grand Opening

Even though we have been open to the public for almost 4 weeks now, we are planning an official Grand Opening. We are still deciding on the date, but it will likely be the first week in May. We will be running specials and other promotional offerings during that time, so be sure and stop in and take advantage of it all. Once the date is set in stone I will update this blog.

Closed Today

We will be closed today due to the less-than-ideal temperature. We have to leave the door open on our trailer and with the exhaust fan running it gets pretty cold in there when the temps are like they are today. We will reopen tomorrow. Thanks for understanding.

Website Content Changes

I will be changing the content of the website in the coming weeks. When I first built the site I was only doing catering, so this is currently the main focus of the site. Now that we've opened the vending side of the business I will be gearing the site more towards that.

The first order of business is getting our vending menu and prices up. I plan to get that done today, with the rest of the changes to follow in the next few weeks. Here is a preliminary list of changes to look for:

• New home page content describing our vending operation
• Location map with ability to get directions for out-of-towners
  
• Catering packages and pricing
• Anonymous comment box. This will be your chance to give your comments and suggestions while remaining anonymous. We have a testimonials section currently, but this was originally offered more for catering clients.

This is all I have planned at the moment. Feel free to post any ideas you might have and I will take them into consideration.

Second Week

Our second week in business is now behind us, and it was absolutely great! We had some of our busiest days this week. We are meeting and some days exceeding our sales goals so I am excited. Our lunch crowds have been awesome, with the line 10 deep at times. Thanks to everyone for being so patient! We are working as quickly as we can.

People are going out of their way to give us positive feedback on our food, and word is starting to spread. While waiting in line, friends have overheard others talk about how they heard all about our food and had to come try it. This is what it's all about!

For those of you who have come to eat and we are sold out, I apologize. We smoke our meat fresh everyday to make sure it is the best it can be. Some of the meats take 12 or more hours to smoke so when its gone, its gone for the day! I am still trying to figure out how much to cook everyday without having too much waste at the end of the day. The best advice I can give anyone is to come at lunch. We tend to start running out of certain items around 2 PM. Until I can dial in the amounts to cook everyday, coming at lunch is the best way to ensure you have your choice of the full menu. Thanks for understanding and I'll see you next week!

First Week

The first week being open was great! Thanks to everyone who came out and ate some BBQ (some of you multiple times)! I've received some really good feedback on the food from many people. This is what makes all the hard work worth it. We were open Tuesday through Friday this week and I think I only got about 17 hours of sleep total. I was totally exhausted but am looking forward to doing it all over again next week. We were closed on Saturday this past week but will resume our regular business hours this coming week, which are now Tuesday through Saturday, 11:30 AM - 6 PM. We are still working out a few things so thanks for having patience with us. Again, thanks to everyone for coming out and we look forward to seeing everyone again!

Opening Day

The day is finally here. I am opening to the public today! Hours will be Tuesday - Saturday from 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM. Stop by and say hi (and get some BBQ of course). OK, I'm off to bed now. Got to be up in 4 hours to put the ribs on!

Almost Ready for Action/Location Change

The pit and smoke evac are now installed, the holding cabinet mounted, alarm system installed, and other odds and ends wrapped up. The only real things left to do are to get the smoker door to stop leaking and get the graphics installed.

Both companies handling these two things are really dragging their feet. One of my flaws is that I'm too nice of a guy and sometimes let people take advantage of this. In dealing with the trailer company that built my trailer, I've learned to be more assertive and handle the people that do this to me a little better. The company installing the graphics is dragging their feet a bit, which is annoying because I've already given my deposit to them. It's almost as if they are saying "We've already got some of your money, so now you just have to wait until we get around to it". The guy contracted by Ole Hickory has been trying to fix my smoker door since October. I tried to be understanding of his schedule because back in October I wasn't in any hurry to get it fixed, but told him that I also didn't want my opening to roll around and it still not be fixed. Guess what. I'm ready to open and it's still not fixed. Hopefully with my new found assertiveness I can light a fire under both companies' a$$es in the next few days and get this stuff done!

The only other things I now have left to do are get the electricity hooked up in my name, get the plug installed on the temp pole and get the cord made that goes from the plug on the pole to my trailer. I've been using Beaman electric to do my electrical stuff and they have been a breath of fresh air. Very professional and most of all, when they say they are going to come out and do something, they do it! This is the way business should be conducted.

I passed my Health Department inspection today and got my business license. I am legal and once the things previously mentioned are complete I can finally start selling some BBQ! With all the roadblocks I've ran into along the way I sometimes thought it wasn't going to happen.

Speaking of selling BBQ, the location of my trailer is changing. Once I open I will be set up in the K-Mart parking lot on South Campbell. The electricity was going to cost too much to hook up at the Skate Port parking lot due to having to run it underground from the billboard on the corner. The temp pole is already in place at K-Mart. I just have to get it hooked up in my name. The only drawback to this location is the rent is more than twice the amount than Skate Port was going to be. On the upside, the traffic count is about 10,000 per day higher at K-Mart so hopefully I will make up the rent difference in sales. Look for us either the end of this week or sometime next week to be open!

Finally, the trailer is here!

After a very long trip from Missouri to Florida and back, I finally have my trailer. I am very pleased with the trailer overall. The workmanship is top notch. I can't say the same for the way the company that built it is ran, but we'll save that story for another time.

Once my dad and I got the trailer back to Missouri there were still a few things that needed to be done to get it ready for action. The tankless water heater needed to be vented, the Ole Hickory and smoke evacuator, the holding cabinet and alarm system all needed to be installed. A few other minor things like the paper towel dispenser and knife magnetic strip also needed to be mounted.

My dad helped me get the big items installed. The only big item that didn't get done was the smoke evacuator. I am having a local company do this for me. I got the holding cabinet and the other minor things wrapped up today. I started buying supplies and smallwares yesterday. I am getting really close to being ready to open! I still need to get the electrical hooked up on site and get my trailer inspected by the health department. I also will be getting my logo and information on the outside of the trailer sometime this week. I am hoping to open the first part of next month.

Here are some pictures of the trailer. The inside pictures I took with my phone, so they aren't that great. I will get some better shots later.

Almost Done!

I got word today that the trailer is almost complete. The steam table and deep fryer have been installed. There are only a few items left and when the axles arrive they will be the last thing to install. Here are the latest pictures.

Another Delay

I am generally not a patient person when having to wait on something I want, so waiting on this trailer for almost 5 months has been excruciating to say the least. I found out today that the trailer will be delayed again about a week due to the axles being on back order. They were ordered at the first of January, and typically take only two weeks to be manufactured and delivered. For whatever reason they took twice as long as usual. They are coming from Indiana and are being shipped tomorrow. The shipment is supposed to take about 3 days to get to the wholesaler, then another day to arrive at TrailerTech. I spoke with TrailerTech today and they said the trailer will be complete by the time the axles arrive, and the axles should only take a few hours to install. So, hopefully I will have a completed trailer next week. It's a good thing too, because my patience is long gone!

Fridge and freezer

The fridge and freezer are now installed, and it looks like stainless prep tables are installed.

Sinks are in!

The 3 compartment and hand wash sinks are in now. I am expecting the rest of the work to be wrapped up by Tuesday (crossing my fingers). I also purchased the upblast exhaust fan for the smoke extractor for my EL-EC today. The smoke extractor kit and wall trim kit for the pit should arrive in the next few days. Things are really starting to come together!

A few more trailer pictures

I spoke with the trailer manufacturer again today. They said they don't anticipate any delays with the trailer, so it should be ready to be picked up this Friday! I am so excited I can hardly contain myself!! Once I get it back to Missouri my Dad and I have a few more things to do to it before it will be ready for business. Some of the tasks we will need to complete are installing the smoker, smoke evacuator (from Ole Hickory Pits) and the upblast exhaust fan which attaches to the evacuator. We will also do a few other things, such as installing the sanitization system on the sink, the paper towel dispenser, soap dispenser and warming cabinet. I am in the process of getting bids on vinyl wrap for the trailer also, so that will need to be installed as well.

Mobile Kitchen Update

The mobile kitchen is coming along nicely. The frame appears to be completely finished judging from the pictures the manufacturer sent. I'm still anticipating the completion being the first of February.

Grand Opening Delayed

We had to delay our Grand Opening until sometime in February. The custom mobile kitchen I'm having built had it's completion date pushed back from the manufacturer. They are telling me it should be ready around the first of February, but I will know more in the next few weeks. Keep an eye out for us in the Skate Port parking lot in February!