Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Westervelt.
Hi Eric , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I have always enjoyed cooking starting when I was young. My bbq journey started by my father-in-law who bought me my first bbq smoker. I learned how to cook various cuts of meat, ruining plenty of meat long the way. Several years went by and I thought my bbq was pretty good and I jumped into the world of competition bbq. I ran the Kansas City Bbq Association circuit for about 10 years competing in 20-30 contests a season. There is a big learning curve in competition bbq which we over came and had several calls and winning several contests over the years. A few years we were top 25 in several categories even a 2nd place Brisket at the worlds larges bbq contest the American Royal. Competition bbq lends its self to do catering and other events. We vended our first fair borrowing a friends trailer and we felt we were successful with what equipment we had at the time. So with what we felt was success I started ChickHoovenSwine Bbq in 2010. Where did the name come from? In competition bbq you are required to cook chicken, beef and pork. I took the name of all three and ran it together. Chicken which is obvious, Hooven for the beef and swine for the pork. Yes is sounds German but its just bbq! We started small and bought a 16ft trailer and with our success we were blessed to be able to reinvest in the business and grow what it is today with a 40 ft trailer and larger smoker. We don’t do any bbq competitions any more we are busy doing local events in KC and travel doing music festivals. We are almost cost to cost but we have been west to Montana and as far south as Key West Florida.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Restaurant and small business is not for the faint of heart. I have no real business experience! I work in healthcare as my day job. I read books etc to help educate myself of running a business. Covid heart bad! We ventured into brick and mortar by opening into a kitchen at Parlor KC. Nobody could for see what was going to happen we were lucky to open March of 2020 and forced closed 14 days later because of restrictions at the time. We survived and came out the other side. We reverted back to our roots and worked the food truck during the continued restrictions. We are still here so must be doing something right! With bbq protein is king and with ever rising cost of meat is a constant struggle to make a profit and still be fair to the customers.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Bbq wise I cook what I like, I don’t stay with one region of bbq. My brisket is more of a Texas flavor profile with basic salt, pepper, garlic, and onion. Ribs- I would say along Memphis style just dry rubbed. Pulled pork we use dry rub along the lines of KC style. We make our own meat rubs and bbq sauce. We have 3 sauces. Sweet and Saucy which is along the lines of KC style sweet. Sweet and Heat- Kc style with a little heat. Sweet Caroline which is a mash up of vinegar base blending a little kc with the Carolinas.
We cook fresh daily starting with top quality meats and using our original recipes. My wife is a great cook so I steal some of her recipes. She often calls me out when I tweak the recipe a bit to make it mine!
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
What’s the saying if it weren’t for bad luck I would not have any luck at all? Seriously business is not easy! You have to do the grind because nobody’s going to give you anything. I tend to be very critical of myself when things don’t go quit right or have a touch of bad luck but my wife is my biggest cheerleader keeping me grounded reminding where I started and where we are today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bbqrules.com
- Instagram: Chickhoovenswine
- Facebook: Chickhoovenswine bbq catering and vending
- Youtube: Chickhoovenswine Q
