Great barbecue continues to boom with women taking charge of the pits and keeping their secret recipes for rubs and sauces hidden.
Smokin D’s BBQ in St. Augustine wasn’t established to be a restaurant. Instead, it’s a true smokehouse (without being pig-headed about their reputation for the best barbecued meats in the region).
Daryl Perritt’s authentic 24-hour smokehouse opened simply to smoke and sell the ultimate meats to take away. There wasn’t a seat in sight at the crossroads of U.S. 1 and State Road 206. But the smoky aroma filled the air and has led customers to his tiny rustic smokehouse that’s a landmark for folks hunting down his ribs, butts, chicken, turkey and beef for 20 years!
Yes, it’s been a male-dominated world for centuries, but today’s women are cranking out top-notch barbecue, working behind the scenes 24/7 to spread the gospel of smoking meat. With smokers burning throughout the night, most women can’t imagine themselves cutting the wood, tending the fires, carrying the embers, hauling a hundred racks of ribs, loading and rubbing a ton of pork butt, chickens and beef while talking to customers and still looking pretty! But at Smokin D’s, Amy Hinton and Christina Edwards have been four-star pitmasters for nearly a decade!
Since women have always played a crucial role in shaping the world of cooking, their patience is a virtue when slow-cooking meats in a smokehouse! Both Hinton and Edwards recognize that the smoker “Old Hickory” is their boss. Live fires, big knives, digging into huge vats of delicious secret rub to either pat or rub on the cuts of meat, keeping up to pace with how to shift various cuts in the smoker to ensure perfection — navigating around the smoky smokehouse — all are new job demands that they have mastered.
Being young women in this segment of the food industry, their work ethic is the secret to success.
Although the atmosphere at Smokin D’s seems laid-back to the customer, the rustic charm with a few tree trunk seats matches well with the casual family-friendly walk-up window. The menu doesn’t feature luxury trimmings of a fine-dining steakhouse. It’s truly a quick-order, fast pick-up meal where speed is essential in the “kitchen.” The pitmasters know just how to move with the rush, using their knives and choppers with great dexterity and passion for maintaining the superb quality of the smoked meats.
There is much to know about how and why Hinton and Edwards are so happy as the new generation of female pitmasters while stepping into the spotlight. Today’s barbecue is inclusive and bright. They bring exceptional skills and dedication to the artistry of smoking with an approachable and fun confidence that allows them to step outside their original restaurant comfort zones, pick up the tongs and explore this delicious universe of the barbecue smokehouse. Each day, they preserve the barbecue culture that being a pitmaster isn’t bound by gender.
Hinton’s role represents a broad passion for being part of the Smokin D’s “family.”
“I do everything from washing dishes to taking orders,” she said. “But being the pitmaster is the most intense position, involving not only cutting the meat but keeping temperatures in the pit perfect all day, reserving meat for planned orders and deciding how much meat to load in Old Hickory for the morning through dinner pick-up. After nine years, I know that I’m pretty good at my job!”
Spending time at both Smokin D’s locations is a wonderful escape from the tempo of 2025 life. The second, newer location is downtown St. Augustine on U.S. 1 where you can absorb the true history of the city when trains pass behind the smokehouse, and you glimpse rooftops of America’s Oldest City.
Here, the smoky aroma lures drivers out of their cars to occasionally stop and just savor the moment.
Barbecue is about more than fire and smoke. It’s about tradition, passion and community. The first indigenous tribes in America developed their method for cooking meat over indirect flame by using green woods to keep the meat and wood from burning. Books and stories are endless, and history can only go so far. Barbecue lovers appreciate what occurs when meat hits smoke!
When Edwards’ smile glows, it’s always about what might happen day-to-day.
“I’m involved in everything, too, from applying the meat rubs to loading into Old Hickory while managing how much meat needs to be in the smoker for the upcoming day,” she said. “The right temperature and quality to be pulled out is crucial. As a pitmaster, we hand-cut and weigh the meat for each customer’s made-to-order package, sandwich or catering order. Managing the fires in the pit so that the meat stays at the perfect quality throughout the day is rarely discussed. But our customers know that their orders are created with love!”
Perritt and his wife, Susan, are equally fascinated with the expertise and dedication of all their pitmasters. They knew that breaking the stereotype of barbecue pitmasters wasn’t about finding women who could do the job well. It was about finding committed people who are efficient, accurate and focused.
Hinton and Edwards are passionate about giving attention to every detail, something that the Perritts didn’t realize was possible until the “girl pitmasters” appeared at Smokin D’s BBQ.
When Daryl Perritt chose to bring a smokehouse and not a restaurant to St. Augustine years ago, it was a total accident. But on his first day he sold out the chicken and pork in 45 minutes. On the second day, it happened again. So, he put all his chips on the smoked meat!
The two smokin’ pitmasters of St. Augustine both agree that their roles at Smokin D’s have given them an incredible sense of career independence while being very rewarding. From early fears of venturing into a world of centuries where men ruled, they were taught well about mastering each step along the way and feeling comfortable while in charge.
The two identical smokehouses are small, and they can clearly hear customers’ comments. These gals agree that it’s gratifying to hear raves and see smiles from people who are intrigued by them as they work with pork butts, racks of ribs or tri-tip beef dripping with juicy goodness.
“We love what we do. We chose a unique career to work in, thrive and keep our customers happy that makes hard times well worth it. We have a unique wild boss who has a heart of gold and who created a business that is fun while we serve people darn good food. And boy, we feel pretty cool when someone says, ‘Wow, there are girls here!’”
