Hank Whitfield

Hank Whitfield runs the smokehouse and cured meats program at Vaughn Family Meat Co.—bacon, jerky, brisket, and anything else worth a slow fire.

Since joining the shop in 2005, he has built a smoking schedule that keeps the case stocked and competition pitmasters coming back. If it can be smoked, cured, or cooked low and slow, Hank has an opinion about wood, time, and finish.

On the blog, he writes about smoking technique, curing basics, and how to bring butcher-shop flavor to the backyard smoker.