Barbecue, for the most part, is a young man’s game. Long hours in a smoky pit room shuffling 20-pound slabs of meat from cooker to cutting board is the norm.
From the moment they go commercial, veteran pitmasters are counting the days until they can hire an assistant pitmaster to take over the day-in, day-out tasks of making barbecue.
Indeed, startups and pop-ups are mainly associated with younger, up-and-coming pitmasters who are willing to pay their dues for smoked-meat stardom.
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Which makes Charlie's Craft BBQ, a relatively new catering and popup operation, even more unique. Unlike some pitmasters who start with visions of barbecue celebrity as their goal, 67-year-old co-owner Mark “Charlie” Howell started his small operation as a way to stay busy and active after retiring as a minister.
GUIDE: The Top 30 best barbecue joints in Houston
“Part of why I do this is the challenge of making food that is really delicious. When people pause on their way out and tell us how good (the barbecue) was, that’s what motivates me,” says Howell. “I don’t see that happening if I’m playing golf or sitting in a lawn chair.”
Powell grew up in Southern California and got his first taste of Texas barbecue when he attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.
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Check Facebook page for popup dates and times.
For 35 years, he traveled the country working with different churches, including a stint at Woodlands Church in the early ’00s. During that time, he cooked barbecue in his backyard for friends and family.
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He got serious about barbecue at his most recent posting in Las Vegas, where he and his wife, Deb, cooked for as many as 80-90 people in his backyard. Some of these friends then asked if he’d cater their family event or cook a turkey for Thanksgiving.
Howell had previously gone down the rabbit hole of barbecue videos on YouTube, learning everything from how to cook a brisket to sausage-making. In 2013, he saw a credit card commercial on TV that featured pitmaster Aaron Franklin. This inspired a trip to Franklin Barbecue in Austin in 2014 where Howell became inspired to make the best barbecue possible.
After retiring in 2021, he and Deb moved to the Conroe area to be near their kids and grandkids. In recent years, visits to The Woodlands always included trips to CorkScrew BBQ in Spring and Tejas Chocolate & BBQ in Tomball.
After making the permanent move, barbecue seemed like a natural calling.
In true Texas barbecue tradition, he and Deb set up a table and a tent at an intersection near their home on Lake Conroe and started selling barbecue on weekends.
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They’ve since progressed to opening at breweries in the northern part of Houston, like Southern Star Brewing Co. in Conroe and Ingenious Brewing in Humble.
Howell cooks all the meats, including stellar handmade sausages in various flavors like the traditional jalapeño and cheese as well as the more creative blueberry and Gouda.
Deb cooks the sides, including a great Hatch green chile corn pudding as well as a classic mac-n-cheese. The big draw, though, is her Terlingua-style Texas red chili, which is great on its own or even better as a topping on a Frito pie.
For now, the couple is happy to follow the itinerant barbecue lifestyle, hopping between breweries on weekends and taking private catering orders. The next step, though, may be a truck or trailer with a permanent location somewhere near The Woodlands.
Charlie’s Craft BBQ takes a former minister's hobby to the...
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14.12.2023
Barbecue, for the most part, is a young man’s game. Long hours in a smoky pit room shuffling 20-pound slabs of meat from cooker to cutting board is the norm.
From the moment they go commercial, veteran pitmasters are counting the days until they can hire an assistant pitmaster to take over the day-in, day-out tasks of making barbecue.
Indeed, startups and pop-ups are mainly associated with younger, up-and-coming pitmasters who are willing to pay their dues for smoked-meat stardom.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Which makes Charlie's Craft BBQ, a relatively new catering and popup operation, even more unique. Unlike some pitmasters who start with visions of barbecue celebrity as their goal, 67-year-old co-owner Mark “Charlie” Howell started his small operation as a way to stay busy and active after retiring as a minister.
GUIDE: The Top 30 best barbecue........
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