Stoke Stack is a BBQ trailer that embraces traditional Texas-style slow cooking, meaning that meats are seasoned simply with salt and pepper and the emphasis is on natural flavours not masked by eccentric sauces.
Owned and operated by hobbyist-turned pro pit master Adam Skelly and Alison Hunt, the mobile kitchen can be found operating irregular hours at Gerrard and Redwood between catering gigs. From afar the trailer resembles a shack, flanked by picnic tables and a billow of thick oak wood smoke.
The menu’s niche is pulled pork, brisket and ribs served up simply on butcher paper. When ordering a sampler platter expect a slab of white bread on the side, or try one of the meaty sandwiches like The Franklin, brisket and beef sausage on a bun that pays respects to the famous Texan pit.
When asked how it all came to be, Skelly recalls an unsatisfying career working for the family business (a plumbing and heating wholesaler), and how he volunteered to upgrade the annual company cook-out with his backyard-smoked pulled pork. The positive response spurred him on to start on this new path which has blossomed into a healthy catering business and one of Toronto’s most unique and delicious opportunities for curbside eating.