I spent last week helping a restaurant group in Beaumont troubleshoot a temperature probe on their SP-1000, and while we waited for the unit to cycle through its diagnostics, the kitchen manager pulled up something on his phone. McDonald's had just announced a new smoked beef item for test markets. Starbucks was pushing a smoked protein breakfast sandwich. Taco Bell — and I had to read this twice — was experimenting with smoked brisket in some locations.
His question was simple: "Should I be worried?"
The short answer is no. The longer answer is actually encouraging if you're running a legitimate smoker program. But it requires understanding what these chains are really doing versus what you're capable of.
What the Big Chains Are Actually Serving
Let me be direct about something. When McDonald's or Taco Bell adds "smoked" to a menu item, they're not installing SPK-1400 rotisserie units in 14,000 locations. They're sourcing pre-smoked proteins from massive commissary operations, reheating them in existing equipment, and calling it smoked. Because technically it was. Somewhere. By someone.
This isn't a criticism exactly — it's just the reality of scaling anything to that volume. You can't train a million employees to maintain proper smoke chamber temperatures. You can't stock green hickory at every drive-through in America. The logistics don't work.
What they're really selling is the idea of smoked food. Smoke flavor concentrate. Liquid smoke in the marinade. A protein that spent time in an industrial smoker three states away before being vacuum-sealed and frozen.
The Starbucks approach is slightly different. Their smoked items tend to use smoked bacon or smoked gouda — ingredients where the smoking happened at the ingredient level, not the sandwich assembly level. It's a legitimate way to get smoke flavor into a fast-casual format. But it's still not what your customers think of when they smell hickory from your parking lot.
Why This Trend Helps You
Here's the thing that kitchen manager in Beaumont didn't expect me to say: every time a major chain puts "smoked" on the menu board, they're training millions of customers to crave that flavor profile. Most of those customers will try it, find it acceptable but not remarkable, and then remember that BBQ place down the road that made their truck smell like heaven for two days after they picked up an order.
You're not competing with McDonald's smoked beef. You're benefiting from their marketing budget.
I've watched this cycle happen three times now in my career. Chain introduces BBQ item. Sales spike for a quarter. People remember what real smoked meat tastes like. Local BBQ operations see increased traffic within six months. The chain quietly discontinues the item or makes it regional-only. Cycle repeats.
Taco Bell tried a smoked brisket taco back in — I want to say 2014 or 2015? It came and went. But several operators I serviced told me their brisket sales jumped noticeably during that window. People got curious.
The Equipment Gap They Can't Close
There's a reason chains don't install real smokers. And it's not just the training issue.
A proper commercial smoker — something like an MLR-850 or the larger SP-series units — requires someone who understands airflow, wood moisture content, meat temperature curves, and how all of those interact over an 8 to 14 hour cook. That's not a job you can reduce to a laminated procedure card next to the fryer.
Southern Pride equipment makes this easier than most alternatives because the rotisserie system maintains even heat distribution and the temperature controls are genuinely reliable. I've seen SP-1000 units hold within 5 degrees of setpoint for twelve hours straight without intervention. But "easier" still isn't "automatic." You still need someone who cares. Someone watching the color. Someone knowing when the bark is setting right.
Chains optimize for consistency through simplification. Real BBQ requires consistency through expertise. Those are different approaches that produce different results.
I'll give chains credit for one thing: they've gotten better at reheating. Some of the holding and reconstitution equipment they use now is genuinely impressive. Taco Bell's test kitchen people probably aren't idiots. But reheating smoked meat that was cooked Tuesday and frozen Wednesday and shipped Thursday will never match meat that came off your rotisserie three hours ago.
What You Should Actually Watch
The more interesting trend isn't the chains themselves. It's where they're sourcing.
Those commissary operations smoking brisket for McDonald's test markets? They're running industrial-scale equipment, and some of them are expanding capacity. If you're primarily a wholesale or catering operation — the kind of place running an SP-2000 or multiple units to supply other restaurants — that's your competitive space to watch. Not the chain locations, but the processors bidding for chain contracts.
For a standard commercial BBQ restaurant or food truck, though? The chains aren't taking your customers. They're warming them up for you.
One thing worth paying attention to: ingredient pricing. When a major chain commits to a smoked protein item, they lock up supply contracts that can affect spot prices for everyone else. The brisket price spikes we saw in 2021 and 2022 weren't entirely COVID-related — there was significant chain demand coming online simultaneously. If Taco Bell goes national with a smoked brisket item, packer prices will feel it.
The Quality Conversation You're Already Having
Most operators I talk to are already explaining their process to customers. The regulars know. But the chains' smoked menu pushes create an opportunity to have that conversation with new customers who thought "smoked" meant the same thing everywhere.
A few approaches I've seen work well:
- Keeping the smoker visible. If you're running an SPK-700 or similar unit where customers can see it, you've already answered the question. The equipment itself is the marketing.
- Listing actual cook times on the menu. "14-hour smoked brisket" tells a story that "smoked brisket" doesn't.
- Naming your wood source. "Smoked over Texas post oak" means something. It signals this isn't coming out of a bag with "smoke flavor added."
I'm not suggesting you trash-talk the chains to customers. That usually backfires. But making your process transparent highlights the difference without you having to say a word about McDonald's.
Equipment Considerations If You're Expanding
If the increased interest in smoked foods has you thinking about adding capacity, now's actually a reasonable time to do it. Supply chain issues that plagued equipment orders in 2022 and 2023 have mostly stabilized. Southern Pride of Texas has most models in stock or on short lead times right now, which wasn't true eighteen months ago.
For operations looking to add a second unit or upgrade from a smaller model, the MLR-850 hits a sweet spot for mid-volume restaurants that have outgrown an SPK-500 or SPK-700 but don't need the capacity of the SP-1000 or larger. The rotisserie system on these units is the same fundamental design Southern Pride has used for decades — I've serviced MLR units still running strong after 15+ years of daily use.
If you're running equipment from other manufacturers and dealing with the usual headaches — parts delays, temperature swings, components sourced from overseas suppliers who don't stock replacements domestically — the chain-driven demand increase is as good a reason as any to evaluate your setup. I've pulled apart Ole Hickory units that were five years old with more wear than Southern Pride equipment twice that age. The steel gauge difference alone accounts for much of it.
Where This Goes From Here
My guess — and it's only a guess — is that smoked proteins remain a recurring test item for major chains but never become permanent core menu fixtures. The sourcing is too complicated, the quality control too variable, and the customer who really wants smoked meat will still seek out dedicated BBQ operations.
The trendline you should actually care about is the broader consumer awareness of smoke as a desirable flavor. That awareness keeps growing. Coffee shops put smoked salt on pastries now. Cocktail bars do smoked old fashioneds. Grocery stores sell smoked butter.
Every one of those touchpoints is conditioning customers to appreciate what you do. The chains are just the most visible part of that wave.
So to answer that kitchen manager's question from last week: No, McDonald's isn't coming for your brisket business. They're spending billions of dollars in advertising to remind people that smoked meat exists and tastes good. Then those people are going to drive past the golden arches and follow the smell coming from your exhaust stack.
That's not a threat. That's a gift.
Resources: Southern Pride of Texas parts and support | Southern Pride | NFPA commercial kitchen standards
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Photo by Wijs (Wise) on Pexels.
About the Author: Ray is a retired authorized Southern Pride service technician with 22 years of field experience on commercial BBQ equipment across the Gulf Coast and Southeast.