Steal this job: Barbecue pitmaster

Melanie Kurtz of Old Glory Bar-B-Que cooks meats low and slow for a juicy, tender result. (Jason Hornick/For Express)

Name: Melanie Kurtz, 31
Title: Executive chef and pitmaster, Old Glory Bar-B-Que
Salary: $67,000 a year

What she does

As the lead chef at this Georgetown stalwart, Kurtz oversees a staff of 20. She’s responsible for everything that comes out of the kitchen, from a simple plate of Kurtz’s potato salad to start the meal to a deep-fried apple pie for dessert. The bulk of her time, however, is spent supervising two wood-burning smokers that churn out heaping portions of slow-cooked meats. Just how slowly cooked? “We throw our briskets in at about 6 p.m., and they’re ready at 6 a.m. the next day,” says Kurtz. The smokers require Kurtz to constantly add firewood. By keeping heat low and slow, this laborious method breaks down connective tissues in meats and produces juicy, tender cuts.

How she got the job

Kurtz earned an associates degree at the Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts in 2004, though her interest in barbecue dates back a tad bit further. “I remember being little and standing up on a chair to watch my dad prepare dinner on the counter,” Kurtz says. “He would make his own barbecue pit in the ground and cook with charcoal.”

During culinary school, Kurtz landed an externship as a line cook at Paolo’s Ristorante in Reston and after graduating worked her way up to sous chef in three and a half years. (The Italian joint is owned by the same restaurant group that owns Old Glory.) She was transferred to the Paolo’s in Georgetown in 2010 where she was named executive sous and in 2014 was offered her current position.

“I learned from everybody,” she says. “Dishwashers, prep cooks. You can always learn something new in cooking.” And Kurtz says being a woman in the male-dominated world of barbecue was both a blessing and a curse. “Some people tested me because I’m a female. Some chefs who worked below me thought it was OK to cut corners because I’m a female, and a woman’s role is to be soft,” Kurtz says. “I’ve been in this industry for 11 years and I’ve made it this far because I am a woman and I am who I am.”

Who would be good at this job

Do you like the smell of smoke? Good. “Even my wallet smells like smoke,” says Kurtz. “My hair smells like barbecue every day, all day. If I go home and try to lay down, I can’t until I shower because my couch will smell like barbecue.”

Being a pitmaster also requires a lot of patience — both for the long cook times and the often-hectic restaurant industry. “You can’t just be like, ‘This meat’s going to be done in an hour,’ because that’s not realistic,” Kurtz says. And, she recalls, “I remember during the first week of culinary school a teacher said, ‘If you don’t want to work long hours and weekends and holidays, this is not the profession for you.’ ”

How you can get the job

Kurtz’s love for food was born at home, but if you’re serious about making a career out of it she suggests professional schooling. “You’re going to be in debt, but you learn the fundamentals of stocks and sauces and your basic cuts,” Kurtz says. Most culinary schools offer day or night programs as well as part-time learning opportunities.

Kurtz says her first pick would be Johnson & Wales’ prestigious College of Culinary Arts with campuses in Providence, R.I.; Miami; Denver; and Charlotte, N.C. She also recommends the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. Locally, the D.C. area offers culinary training at the Art Institute of Washington and L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, Md.

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