J&R Manufacturing Tour

The folks at J&R Manufacturing were nice enough to give me a tour of their facility in Mesquite, Texas a couple of weeks ago, and I wanted to include some pics here. They manufacture the famous Oyler Pit, which to their knowledge is the only commercial, all wood-fired rotisserie pit on the market. When I see one at a BBQ joint, I can generally expect some good 'cue.

Several Oylers in production


A nearly complete Oyler Pit


In addition to the Oyler, J&R manufactures a number of other meat cooking apparatus including this upright smoker.

Model 250 FS Smoker


For Santa Maria style BBQ, the Woodshow broiler is what you need with its adjustable height grill surface.

Woodshow Broiler


After the tour was completed, we went into their demo kitchen where Keith was kind enough to share some beautifully smoked meat. Killer glazed ribs were served along with some fine brisket and great pulled pork. This was truly a testament to what those pits can churn out.



I really appreciated the tour, and the food was a nice way to cap off the long lunch hour. It was obvious that they take their pit building seriously. There are no assembly lines with robotic arms putting these pits together. They are essentially hand made to order with strict quality control, and high standards of construction. If only more local joints used these pits instead of the gas-fired wannabes, then we might be able to find great 'cue all over DFW.

- BBQ Snob