The expanding role of the pitmaster
There was a time when the job of a pitmaster was relatively straightforward.
You showed up early in the morning to check the meat that had been placed in the smoker the day before. You then sat down at a desk to prepare orders for your meat suppliers. Later, you started pulling off briskets to let them rest. When the doors opened, you stood at the carving block waiting for orders to fulfill. After all the meat was sold, you cleaned up, placed another batch of meat in the smokers and headed home for a few hours of shut-eye.
Undoubtedly, this is still the foundational procedure followed by most barbecue-joint owners/ pitmasters. But the publicity associated with the national and international rise of Texas barbecue has added responsibilities to the pitmaster’s job description.
Some of these are administrative and can be handled in front of a computer screen or mobile phone. Responding to complaints on Yelp and tweeting the day’s specials are relatively straightforward tasks.
But other tasks are more timeconsuming and are usually associated with marketing and promotion. For example, many destination barbecue joints are swarmed with ad-hoc tour groups of barbecue fans looking for a fun experience in addition to an overflowing tray of barbecue. Pitmasters often spend more time out in the dining room talking to patrons or giving tours of the pit room than they do making the barbecue.
Another responsibility is that of barbecue ambassador. Pitmasters are asked to travel to distant locations to cook for an event or speak on a panel. In this case, the pitmaster isn’t just drawn away from working the pits — he’s often absent from his barbecue joint for days at a time.
Faced with these time-consuming job requirements, pitmasters have adapted in creative and resourceful ways.
I call the first adaptation the “divide and conquer” approach. Tejas Chocolate & Barbecue in Tomball uses this technique. Since being named the sixth-best barbecue joint in Texas by Texas Monthly magazine, Tejas has become a destination for both barbecue fanatics and media personalities alike.
Co-owners Scott and Greg Moore, who are brothers, and Scott’s partner and co-owner Michelle Holland have divvied up the responsibilities based on their own unique talents. Scott is usually holding court in the dining room, talking to customers and giving interviews to media. Greg is at the carving block fulfilling orders. Michelle is tasked with making the chocolate for which they have become nationally renowned. In the event that one of the co-owners has to be off site for an event, the others can pick up the slack.
Another management style is the “owner-operator” philosophy. Will and Nichole Buckman of CorkScrew BBQ in Spring espouse this management style. This is the belief that if the restaurant is open, one or both of the owners must always be on site. In fact, since its start in 2010, CorkScrew has never been open without Will or Nichole (and almost always both) there, overseeing operations. If for some reason neither owner can be on site, they make the sacrifice to close the restaurant for that day (which, in the case of CorkScrew, almost never happens).
For those owners/pitmasters who can’t always be on site, the “trusted lieutenant” approach is an option. High-profile pitmasters including Wayne Mueller of Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor are often away at events promoting both their barbecue joints and Texas barbecue in general.
To assure a consistent quality of product and service, Mueller delegates to his second-in-command, assistant pitmaster Jason Tedford, to oversee operations. Mueller is also known to close his restaurant occasionally to make sure his staff is properly trained and procedures are in place so that the operation runs smoothly in his absence.
The demands of running a barbecue joint have grown exponentially over the past 10 years, and will only expand as pitmasters take their place alongside traditional chefs as the celebrities of the food world. The ability to manage and delegate new responsibilities is becoming as important as knowing how to trim and cook a brisket.