Those that have been here before order a to-go box before they even order their meal, because the portions are ample. Peterson and her husband, Mike, opened The Old Smokehouse in May of last year. The Petersons first got interested in smoke-cooked meats in 1984 when Mike, an electrician, took a construction job in Texas and discovered he loved the smoky flavor of the barbecued meat available there. They checked out manufacturers of the barbecue units, which have a firebox that vents hot smoke into a separate chamber where meats slowly roast without direct exposure to flame.
Cooking can take an hour or more per pound.
During this time, the smoke penetrates the surface of the meat, leaving a tell-tale reddish ring that's exposed when the meat is sliced or pulled apart. When they returned home to Eugene, Mike, who's also a certified nuclear welder, made a barbecue cooker similar to the ones he had seen in Texas. They experimented with it, began barbecuing for church and school functions and, in about 1990, began cooking professionally at special events such as the Filbert Festival, the Junction City Scandinavian Festival and the Oregon Jamboree. The restaurant is an outgrowth from that experience. Located next to the Emporium department store's distribution center on McVay Highway along Interstate 5 just north of 30th Avenue, The Old Smokehouse could be mistaken for a convenience store because it shares the site with an Exxon gasoline station.