Our Process
The story
Each Leo’s Barbecue plate starts from a Vermont farm. We have so many farmers raising incredible meat here, and I’ve criss-crossed the state meeting with them to bring customers the best of what the state offers. The farms I source from include: Misty Knoll, Spring Hill Angus and Greylaine Farm, to name a few.
Once I have the meat, I use my training as a butcher to break down the bigger pieces, called primals, into cuts for barbecue. That process leaves me with some valuable by-products that make their way into my cooking. The trimmed bits, which are flavorful and rich, get seasoned and ground into homemade sausage links. (Some of my favorites are chorizo and Thai basil.) And I boil the bones and joints to make a rich bone broth that becomes the base of my barbecue sauce.
Finally, when everything’s ready to be cooked, I put it on my offset smoker, which I run 100 percent with wood — never charcoal or gas. The rig was custom-built by Golden Goose Smokers in Morrisville. The meat gets cooked for 8-10 hours, infusing a deep smoke flavor and making it perfectly tender by the time it’s ready to serve.
Every step in our process — from local sourcing, to hand butchery, to the slow smoking — is done with intention, and adds up to a delicious final product.
The philosophy
Whole animal
Buying a whole hog instead of a box of shoulders changes a lot: the farmer gets a fair sale, nothing goes to waste, and the menu stays interesting, with belly one week and cheeks the next. I do the butchery by hand, so I know every cut before it goes on the fire.
Local farms
Vermont is full of small farms raising animals the right way, and my whole business runs on them. All my meat comes from farms I know personally, and the sides follow their fields through the season, so it's cucumbers and dill in July and squash off the coals in the fall.
Wood fire
I cook everything over hardwood, never gas or pellets. I burn it down to coals in the barrel, shovel them under the meat, and tend the fire for as long as it takes. Long smokes are actually my only moments of quiet relaxation during the week, so I don't mind that it takes all day.