In charge of making sure that all Schwab Meat is smoked to perfection with real hardwood hickory smoke, our two smoke masters have been a part of the Schwab family for over 70 years combined. Tom Jackson, TJ, and Lamere Joseph have dedicated decades of their lives to smoking amazing meats and have literally smoked tens of millions of pounds of meat. Now it’s time to give them the shout out they deserve!

Tom Jackson

Starting with Schwab in July of 1972 as a bacon hanger and sausage grinder, TJ has been with the Schwab family for 45 years! In the 70s, TJ was a part of our pork cutting team, and by the 80s, he had taken over the entire curing process. By 1992, TJ was promoted to chief sausage maker, which is actually one of the most important production positions. Fast forward to 2005 when we officially made TJ a Schwab smoke master.

Lamere Joseph

With 29 years under his belt, Lamere started with Schwab as a ham sacker for the busy holiday season in 1988. Then from 1989 to 1995, Lamere worked exclusively on Schwab’s famous chili, eventually becoming our lead chili cook in 1992. In 1995, we brought Lamere on as our curing master, however, he had a huge interest in our smoking process. Now for the last 20 years, since 1997, Lamere has been a Schwab smoke master, using his passion for great meat to drive our continued success.

My dad taught me the value of sticking with a job – especially a good job, with good people – like is the case here with Schwab.

I’ve been fortunate to work alongside the Schwab family all these years. As a father of 5, family is important to me. Above all else, this is what I share in common with this great family.

SCHWAB MEAT CO. HAS BEEN BEYOND BLESSED TO HAVE THESE TWO GREAT GENTLEMEN BE A PART OF OUR TEAM AND FAMILY FOR AS LONG AS THEY HAVE, AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO MANY MORE YEARS AND MANY MANY MORE POUNDS OF SMOKING MEAT!