Carivore writes: Frank Jordan, a disabled Vietnam Veteran and a welder by trade spent more than two years and countless hours building his baby, “Old Smoky.” Starting with a 250 gallon propane gas tank, Frank hand-fabricated each piece of Old Smoky from the smoke stack to the spoke wheels. He crawled inside the “Steam Chamber” to fasten each of the more than 130 rivets that gives Old Smoky his strength. Constructing Old Smoky was a truly miraculous achievement when you consider that Frank has both a broken back and neck, has more metal plates in him than an armored Humvee, was paralyzed for three years, and survives each day through the graces of a pain pump surgically implanted into his chest. Frank put his heart and soul into a piece of metal he shaped into a Masterwork. He toiled long and hard because that is what a craftsman is put on this Earth to do and to build a machine to help him make a living. Unfortunately, soon after completing Old Smoky Frank realized he simply was not physically able to work it, and he would have to let his pride and joy go. Frank has sole custody of his daughter, Rachille, and because of his disabilities has been out of work. He fell behind on his house payments and the Bank foreclosed on his trailer. We at Carnivore BBQ made a deal with Frank. We would purchase Old Smoky, make certain it would turn out only the finest BBQ, and find a way to “pay him back” for his tremendous contribution to our success. That’s why we take special pride in our BBQ. We make our own sauces and rubs from scratch, raise our heirloom livestock on our own farm, roast with the best, hand-selected hardwoods, and cook with precision, care, and passion. If we didn’t, we’d have to answer to Frank.
