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ORAL HISTORY

Curt Blankenship

Trained by some of the great pitmasters on the Lexington whole hog scene, Curt Blankenship is a young smoked meat specialist on the make. He grew up on a farm not far from the site of his restaurant, where every July 4th family and friends would gather for a whole hog feast. His grandmother would make the extra-hot sauce.

Curt bought the Smoke House from Dennis Hays in the spring of 2007. With the purchase, he inherited one of the most extraordinary whole-hog smokers in barbecuedom. Built from the shell of gas-station fuel tank, this smoker operates as a rotisserie within a massive drum. Its immensity allows him to cook a whopping fifteen whole hogs at once.

We first visited this location in 2003, when it was known as Hays Smoke House, as part of our initial foray into documenting rural Tennessee ‘cue. Visit the original Hays Smoke House page.