Huggins residents Mike and Julie Anderson have turned a love for smoking meats into a mobile business, “Mike and Julie’s Smoked Meats.”
It all started with some people they knew prodding them to share their food with the public.
“Our families were starting to say that and then some friends,” Julie said.
“So we decided to give it a roll,” Mike said.
The Andersons acquired their now familiar trailer from Salty Jack’s in Eminence in March 2014. Prior to that, they set up a booth at a couple of festivals and noticed that folks seemed to like what they had to offer.
“We really weren’t a business until we got the trailer,” Julie said.
Now the Andersons bring their trailer to events and festivals several times a year in the general area. They’re a fixture outside the Piney River Brewing Company’s BARn in Bucyrus, often serving food there on weekends when a live music act is playing at the venue.
Last Saturday, the Andersons worked Piney River’s 7th annual “Aleiversary – their sixth Aleiversary.
“We like breweries,” Mike said.
Julie is a Rhode Island native who grew up in Nebraska and came to Texas County in the early 1990s, while Mike is a Columbia native and a former Marine who has lived “all over the place.”
Mike’s past includes lots of work in lumberyards, while Julie has worked for years with a Licking-based government contractor involved in high-tech projects.
In a large smoker at home, Mike smokes plenty of brisket and pork for their popular sliders and other dishes. To produce their mouth-watering meats, the Andersons use a dry rub and “injectables” they created and two of their own barbecue sauces.
“Then it comes down to slow smoke and low heat,” Mike said.
The smoke and heat are provided exclusively by fruitwoods, mainly apple.
“Hickory and mesquite are kind of bitter to me,” Mike said.
When it comes to smoking brisket, Mike said it’s about being attentive.
“The injectables and rub give it a lot of flavor, but the key is keeping an eye on it because all cuts of brisket are different,” he said. “Some cook up faster, but with some you just have to cook the heck out of them to get them where you want.”
The Andersons’ pork is coated with a bit of mustard before it’s smoked.