Chris Orr credits an old friend for introducing him to the world of barbecue.

It was back in the late 1970s and Orr was working in the horse-race business. He would travel a race circuit that took him from the Deep South of Louisiana and Mississippi to the mountainous west of New Mexico. Orr met a lot of interesting folks in those days, including a groom who, in turn, introduced him to a tight-knit group of Louisiana Cajuns.

“If they liked you, you never had to buy a meal. I learned a lot from them. They are good people and life is nothing but a party for them,” Orr said.

Over the years, Orr, who returned to the Sarcoxie, Mo.-area farm he grew up on in 1981 and went to work for the Joplin Fire Department, turned that Cajun gift of food knowledge first into a hobby and later into a successful sideline business. When he’s not on duty at the fire department, you will likely find him toiling over the large custom-built smoker he uses for his barbecue catering company, Banned from the Ranch.

But Orr didn’t just decide one day to fire up his smoker and put his barbecue knowledge to use. Like a lot of folks, he began his barbecue career strictly on an amateur basis. He fooled around on an old Weber grill pretty much like your typical backyard barbecue fan.

“I played with it on the side. Here, there and yonder,” is how he put it.

It really wasn’t until a chance conversation with a high school student that he took the plunge into serious barbecue. The student needed a vocational agriculture project and asked Orr if there was anything he could build for him.

“I said, ‘Yeah. You can build me a smoker,’” Orr said.

The deal called for Orr to pay for the materials, but most of the labor was provided by his friend. That smoker, he said, would likely have cost him at least $6,000, but wound up costing him much less.

What the smoker allows Orr to do is keep a constant temperature when cooking, something that he says is crucial to good barbecue.

“You need low heat over many hours. You need to be able to hold a temperature of 220 degrees for up to eight, 10 or 12 hours,” he said.

Orr’s smoker, like most, has a side fire box that allows him to use indirect heat to cook his meat. The adjustable vents on the smoker allow him to carefully redirect the heat as needed. For fuel, he shuns charcoal briquettes, preferring instead to use hardwoods like white oak, hickory, pecan, dried cherry, peach and plum.

Like many barbecue enthusiasts, Orr is quick to hand out tips to anyone who asks.

After competing in a number of barbecue competitions, he found that most of the contestants he met were generous with their knowledge and readily passed on pointers to him. So he does the same.

Of course, the best tip he was ever given is the same one he gives to people — practice.