In 2010 I became a stay at home dad after the birth of our daughter Riley. Durning the long hours in the Newborn trenches I began to search for a new hobby to fill the time between naps. I decided to try my hand at BBQ and bought a cheap offset smoker. It turned out to be more testy than a newborn and required far more attention. At the time my father sold oil and at one of his dealerships a guy by the name of Wayne came to the rescue. During one of their conversations it came up that I was trying to get into the Bbq world and how frustrated I was with the process. Wayne told my father that he would build me the “last smoker I would ever use”. A few weeks later the smoker showed up and I was doubtful to say the least, it looked to me like a simple 55 gallon drum. I cautiously fired it up the first time, being sure to follow the instruction Wayne had sent along. I was amazed, on a simple barrel I had managed to cook up some decently edible BBq. no more struggling with temperature inconsistencies, flares ups, or struggling to keep the fire fed, it was just a simple process that always turned out with amazing results. A few weeks pass and my father in-law had scheduled a trip to come in town for the weekend. He was a bbq guy, and knew his way around the kitchen with some award winning Chili under his belt. Excited to show off my new smoker I told him that we should smoke a brisket while he was in town. He shows up and wants to see this new smoker I’d been telling him about. I excitedly take him out back to show him. He takes one look at it and says “ you can’t cook in a trash can”. I only laughed and promised that I would prove him wrong. Though wary, he went along with the process, certainly intrigued by the method and curious to see how in the world such a simple thing could achieve the results I had been bragging on. A short 6 hours later and with a belly full of excellent BBQ , he decided that he had to have one!! By the time he left town he had already sold both of my Brothers-in-laws on the magical barrels. And as they say the rest is history!!!
When we first started making barrels they were unbranded. About 2 years into making and selling our pits, we decided it was time to come up with a name. Dad to the rescue again and he says how about Riley Smokers! Had I not become a stay at home dad, with some free time our smokers would not exist. Only fitting to call them Riley Smokers.
We look forward to getting you Up anD Smokin’