A couple years ago, my partner, Dwight Harrington and I were invited to a barbeque by our friend Steve Welton. While the food was delicious, Steve's equipment left a little something to be desired. Dwight owns West Alna Welding, a metal fabrication and welding shop. So we spent a little bit of time discussing the design of a smoker and quickly realized that we could build a custom barbeque that would slow smoke food, and it would look great doing it. In a matter of weeks, we had "Oake," our first barbeque smoker which we named after after my Swedish grandfather, Oake Swanson. 
We fired up Oake the following weekend, and served the best barbeque our guests had ever tasted. Since Dwight, Steve and I enjoyed barbecuing so much, it seemed that perhaps we could share our passion with others, and get paid to do it! We took our time, practicing our barbeque skills on friends and family and it gave us the chance to really dial in an exceptional recipe for the rub we use. Once we had a winner, we started offering our services officially, as "Barbarian Barbeque."
We purchased a retired fire truck, put some flames on it, lettered our Barbarian brand on the side, and took our gig on the road! We have since cooked for hundreds of people at events all over the state. Our specialty evolved as "not so formal events," and we have impressed the heartiest of barbeque connoisseurs at holiday parties, weddings, company parties and private functions. Eventually, we decided we could have fun building these things and maybe make a little money. We have designed and built custom grilles and barbeques for local restaurants and homeowners. The Barbarian fleet of smokers now includes Oake, the Vandal, the Mongrel, and Hagar. The Vandal, pictured on this website, is a Harley inspired cooker that is for sale. Think of it... you could be your own pitt boss! Matt Dorsey Co-Owner |
