Saturday, April 05, 2008

New Whole Hog Pit





Here are some shots of the pit. I've had two seasoning fires in it so far. I've got two more to go. Today I plan on wiping the inside real good with pig grease and then lighting another fire in it to "bake" that grease in the block. Lord willing tomorrow after church I'll light the fourth and final seasoning fire in it. Terry Harmon should have my grate made this week and Tom & Kenny are finishing my Hog box in the next few weeks. The pictures are of the pit before the first seasoning fire and a couple during the first one.

Friday, April 04, 2008

Yes......it has been a while.

I've been too busy to blog. This is the longest I've gone since starting this blog without a post. We brought the Aloha P.O.S. system in and things are going really well with it. The first week or so was a disaster but once we got used to it everything was o.k.......things at the Joint have been really hectic and that is the main reason I have not had any time for things such as the blog. Raul (Chocho), the main guy on the line in the kitchen left this week to go back home. We brought in a couple of new guys, one works lunch and the other works dinner. They have a lot of kitchen experience but like anything else its taking them a while to get used to our little nuances of doing things. Sergio is still there but heck he's still green since he's only been working in a kitchen now for about 6 weeks. So I've been pulling lunch and dinner at the Joint to make up for the slowdown. Sundays have been just for my family, but when you count my Mondays (thte other day we are closed) I've been clocking in about 70+ hours a week now for about 3 weeks to a month. Add that in with the fact that business is up over 50% from this time last year.....days and weeks are starting to run together.
Starting here in a few weeks we're about to start offering whole hog on Friday nights. I've had a pit built (finally!!) and now I'm just waiting on the grate and the holding box. We'll start off by just doing it every couple of weeks or so to see how it goes. I'll post pics later of the pit.

What is this Blog???

You ever been sitting around cooking for your family and friends and been told the following: "Hoss, this is the best I've ever had in my dadgum life.....you have got to open up a place of your own". The thought crosses your mind to do just that, but for whatever reason you dont. Well I'm "that" guy that actually went through with it and did it. I had absolutely ZERO restaurant experience! I decided to start this blog about my own experience hoping that it may be of some use and help to others who might be interested in opening their own place.
I learned this craft almost 20 years ago cooking whole hogs on brick & cinder block pits at a couple of little BBQ Joints in Henderson, TN. I learned from old, lifelong career Pit-Masters, working with them as an apprentice during school off and on for four years. Over the course of that time I learned the old, time-honored craft of REAL pit barbecue. At Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint I am trying as hard as I can everyday to bring that time-honored authenticity to my customers.
As you read you'll see I've made some stupid decisions, and I've made some good decisions. If you are thinking of opening a restaurant, especially a BBQ Joint, read this blog! Maybe some of this info can be of use to you. At the very least you will be entertained because I pull no punches.
Now listen, this is my blog to not only help with information but my blog to freely rant about my day to day experiences. There is no real "bad language" on this blog but there might be some things said that are very "tongue in cheek". If you are easily offended and/or cant see the satire in my posts then please just leave the blog. It will save both of us the annoyance of each other. For those of you who do like satire and are looking for good information about this experience, then by all means enjoy!