From backyard smoker to competition champion to your Saturday morning ritual.
It started like most obsessions - with a cheap smoker and way too much confidence. Josh bought a beat-up offset from a yard sale, convinced he could figure it out. First brisket? Shoe leather. Second? Somehow worse.
But he kept going. Weekends disappeared into smoke. His backyard became a testing ground. Friends stopped by, stayed for hours, came back the next week. Something was happening.
A friend dared him to enter the Maryland State BBQ Championship. "You'll embarrass yourself," they said. "Probably," Josh agreed. He entered anyway.
42 teams. Professionals with custom rigs and sponsorships. Josh showed up with his yard sale smoker and a cooler full of Prime brisket he'd spent his rent money on.
He took first place in brisket. Second overall. Standing on that stage, trophy in hand, he knew backyard barbecue wasn't enough anymore.
The smoke doesn't lie. You can't fake your way through 14 hours of fire.Josh Harrison, Pitmaster
Old Smokey isn't trying to be everything to everyone. No giant dining room. No franchising plans. No cutting corners to save thirty cents a pound.
It's about one thing: the best smoked meat you've had this year, maybe ever. Every Saturday, same spot, same commitment. Pits fire at 3 AM. Briskets come off at dawn. You get it fresh or you don't get it at all.
That's the whole business plan. That's the whole point.
$75. Rusty. Perfect. Josh's obsession begins.
First place brisket at Maryland State. Everything changes.
First Saturday at Kensington. Sold out in 90 minutes.
Lines form at 8 AM. Regulars know each other by name.
Same commitment. Same quality. Same 3 AM wake-up.
Every Saturday at Kensington Farmers Market. Get there early - when it's gone, it's gone.
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