A pit room by the railyard

Low Creek Smokehouse (sample) is three smokers, a stack of oak, a counter and eighty seats outside. We cook one way: low, slow and over wood.

A stack of split oak logs for the firebox

It started with one smoker in a yard

We cooked on weekends for friends until the line went round the block (sample). In 2017 we took over the old freight shed on Railyard Road and built a pit room on the back.

The rules have not changed: wood only, no gas, no shortcuts. We cook as much as the pits hold, and when it is sold, we close the counter for the day.

Three smokers, one fire each

Each pit has its own firebox and its own job. Between them they hold about 600 pounds of meat a night (sample).

The big offset

1,000 gallons, post oak

Brisket and pork shoulder overnight. Forty briskets on two racks.

The rib pit

500 gallons, hickory

Ribs and turkey in the early morning, hotter and faster.

The upright

Vertical, post oak

Sausage hung on rods for the last hours before the doors open.

A page from the pit log

Every hour, the cook on shift writes the pit temperature and what they did. This is a usual Friday night.