“That helps it hold in the dry rub,” Julie said.
The Andersons prefer acquiring meat from sources where it’s visible prior to purchase.
“If you can look at it, you just kind of know,” Mike said.
The Andersons consider “Irish nachos” as their signature offering; it’s “ribbon fries” with cheddar cheese sauce and either smoked pulled pork, brisket or corned beef. They recently added “street tacos” to their menu (consisting of smoked meat with sauce, sour cream, lettuce and shredded cheese) and even offer cheesecakes as a sweet alternative.
Between their two main meat selections, Julie prefers the pork, while Mike is a brisket fan.
“I love it all, but I like the texture of the pork better,” Julie said.
“I think I basically just like beef better than pork,” Mike said.
Whether savory or sweet, the Andersons’ foods are built from the ground up.
“One of our main goals and what we pride ourselves in is the fact that we provide products that are made from scratch and are made fresh for every event,” Julie said. “Mike spends a good portion of the night before our events tending the smoker to make sure our meats are as fresh as possible each time.”
Julie said that so far, people seem to like that approach.
“We always look for constructive criticism and ask people what they would do better,” she said, “but we just hear a lot of ‘awesome’ and ‘fantastic’ and that kind of thing.”
The Andersons notice of peoples’ positive reactions and don’t take it lightly.
“It’s that look on peoples’ faces when we serve them,” Mike said.
“We do this because we just love serving people good food,” Julie said.
Mike & Julie’s Smoked Meats also does catering, with ribs, wings and prime rib as additional options. More information about the company can be found on Facebook.
MIKE & JULIE’S SMOKED MEATS
Mike and Julie Anderson can be reached by phone at 573-201-3132 or email at mikeandjuliesbbq@hotmail.com. Information about the company can be found on Facebook.