WORDS Tara Crutchfield
PHOTOGRAPH Amy Sexson + Max Miller
Blue Dog Craft Barbecue Whether you’ve tried his food or drooled over it on Instagram, if you live in Polk County, you’ve heard the name Blue Dog Craft Barbecue. The man behind the meat, Max Miller was born in Michigan but grew up in Polk County. He worked in retail management for about ten years before setting off to make the best damn barbecue around. “Barbecue came out of left field. It came out of the blue,” Miller said. Max has watched food shows on television for as long as he can remember and followed culinary content online. He came across “barbecue god” Aaron Franklin, owner of Franklin Barbecue in Austin, Texas, and leader in Central Texas barbecue. Like kindling to a grill flame, it sparked something in Miller – he had to cook barbecue. “I remember I instantly called my dad and was like, ‘Let’s cook barbecue.’” His dad, Leroy Miller, was in. With no previous restaurant experience or culinary background, Miller watched videos online and scoured Instagram for inspiration and guidance. “It consumed every bit of my time before we even cooked,” he said. First thing was first – Miller couldn’t make barbecue without a smoker to cook it on. He commissioned his cousin Patrick Miller, owner of All Pro Mechanical and Fabrication for the task. “He and I pieced it together in his garage,” Miller said. It is an offset style smoker with a 500-gallon propane tank, a popular style on the Texas barbecue scene, said Miller. He and his dad got to work grilling, at first feeding friends and family on days off. Miller liked the idea of a barbecue pop-up as he thought it would be easier than cook-to-order, though he’s come to find there’s nothing easier about it. There’s a ton of time involved. He cooked any chance he got for the last year of his retail management job. “It came to the time where if I didn’t leave, I’d probably never take off with it,” he said. He started Blue Dog Craft Barbecue officially in January 2019 with the continued help of friends and family, including his mom and dad, girlfriend, Erin, cousin, Brooke, and friend, Vannia. “We thought the food was good then,” he smiled. “But looking back on old photos – it wasn’t ever bad – but we were honing in and perfecting what we were doing,” he said. Miller used social media as a sort of meat metric. He knew what he liked on Instagram and what he thought was good. He pioneered his own Texas-influenced Blue Dog style by recreating what he saw to fit his taste. - CONTINUED ON PAGE 37 -
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