Open a BBQ restaurant, they said. It will be fun, they said

caseydog said:

I would stack all, or at least a big pile of that wood in FRONT of the restaurant, where people driving by can see it. If you want to sell genuine BBQ, you need to show off your wood... er, um, you know what I mean.

CD

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That's actually a really good idea. There's a great empty spot along the front of the building where I could stack a good half cord or so. Not only would everybody see a pile of wood, but it would cover up some of that ugly blue vinyl siding. :twitch:

bigdstyron said:

Why didn't you end up going with the Ole Hickory SSM you originally planned to get? Because of the delivery delay you mentioned? After your description of the poor customer service, I'm kinda surprised you went to them.

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That decision was not an easy one. What it really came down to was the inability to locate the smoker inside. There is only one place to put one, that model or otherwise, and unfortunately it would have required redoing the entire HVAC system. After speaking to a few different HVAC people, it was clear there was no way around it without spending thousands.

So, it all came down to a through the wall installation. Again, only one spot in the entire kitchen where this would work. And unfortunately again, none of the Ole Hickory units would fit in that very tight spot due to their dimensions.

Yeah, not ideal, but just one of those things that you have to make the best of a situation. And I'll even say it again, Southern Pride's support, or at least the people who pick up the phone when you call them, are about worthless. That hasn't changed. BUT, the distributor they pawned me off to for this region, he is the absolute best. For this part of the country SP is handled by Miller Scales & Food Machines, and I've got to say, Murray Miller the owner, is just outstanding. He's installed dozens of these cookers and will talk your ear off all day about them. He knows everything there is to know, comes out personally to set them up, and even gave me his cell number the first time I got in touch with him.

So in the end even if SP's support sucks, having somebody somewhat local who knows these cookers inside and out and will jump through hoops to make sure everything is working right is a great piece of mind. I can live with that.

markrvp said:

So any status updates?

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I wish. :sad:

I can't wait for this to be over. Builder hit a snag with the client they were working on before me, so we're another 2+ weeks behind on the remodel. Smoker is still scheduled to be delivered next week, but with the delay I don't know if the wall and enclosure for the smoker will be ready in time so that may even get pushed back.

I've got people beating down the door wanting to eat and I'm sitting here with my hands tied, so it sucks.