Do you know if there’s an assistant/backup/part-time pitmaster in addition to the main pitmaster? The regional managers running my interview said I would be good for a position they called “backup pitmaster”, who covers on the main pitmaster’s days off every week and any sick/vacation/PTO days they take. Has anyone on this subreddit worked at True Texas BBQ and heard of a position like that?
There’s an H-E-B (Texas grocery store chain and my personal favorite grocery store) opening up, and they have a restaurant inside most H-E-B locations called True Texas BBQ that actually makes really solid, well cooked BBQ. I went in for an interview with the regional managers yesterday, so I brought a “portfolio” of some of the homemade BBQ I’ve made. They seemed pretty impressed with the quality of the bbq and the slices I made, and they hired me as backup pitmaster which basically means that I’m pitmaster on the 3 days of the week the main pitmaster is out. I know it’s gonna be hard and exhausting as shit, but I’ve wanted to see if making BBQ is the right job for me ever since I picked up the hobby.
For context, I applied for pitmaster hoping it would show initiative and open the door for it in the future, but then they informed me about the backup pitmaster position and it sounded perfect. I’m 22, have a long gap in work/education between high school and now (started college but my living situation suddenly changed so I don’t really have anything to show for the last couple years except for my BBQ hobby), and I have dishwashing experience but no professional cooking experience, so I was only expecting a line cook/food prep job. When they offered me the backup pitmaster position on the spot, I was ecstatic. They’ll reach out about scheduling and training details in the next couple days.