Neither side of my family owned a car, truck or tractor. In 2023, Glen Benton's net worth was estimated to be $400 Thousand. BentonsCountryHams2.com, Melanie Young writes about wine, food, travel, and health. Allan maintains relationships with many people -- family, friends, . A poke around at some of the press clippings, photos and other knick knacks: While we were deciding what we wanted, Arthur told us hed been working at Bentons since before Allan Benton took over. Allan Benton, though, was the Neil Armstrong of small producers. The Bentons three children are all in the medical field. All night long chefs kept coming up to me and asking me if I could sell them that product. I can tell you Ive never gotten tired of cured pork in my life. Obsessed: Mastering Charcuterie in Coal Country, What "Selling Out" Allows a Craft Brewery to Do, A Fine Mess of Ramps: Tradition and Community Thrive at West Virginia's Ramp Dinners, How Does a Restaurant Last 35 Years? He was also the Assistant Editor, Food, for. For years, the business stayed small and localno e-commerce, not even a credit card machine. I can't tell you its better. At one point, he called and said hed been playing around with my product, and he wanted to develop a menu at Blackberry around our products and was wondering if it was OK to put my name on the menu. But the story of how a former high-school guidance counselor went from side-of-the-road anonymity to international culinary superstardom, with nothing but word-of-mouth to boost him, is an unlikely one. Tavern at the Highlands Country Club in Garrison, Sauces, Dressings, Marinades and Condiments. 505 Summer Place He is a white man, registered to vote in Wake county and affiliated with the Democrat Party since January 1 1984. Born and raised in Scott County, Virginia in Southern Appalachia, his family had little money and raised everything they ate, including their Heritage breed hogs. 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After earning a masters in psychology from Middle Tennessee State University, Benton intended to work as a high school counselor. "Everything was automated, and the only thing that human beings did was put something on a conveyor belt or take it off. I can just tell you that it works for me. But when he saw the salary range, he decided owning his own business would provide more financial security. What am I smelling? David told me it was love at first smell.. Impressive, to say . In her working years, Barbi Benton made significant savings, and she now leads a better lifestyle. "We were hillbillies, and we always killed hogs on Thanksgiving," Benton recalls. When I first tasted Bentons bacon, I thought, Wow! Id never had anything like it before, said Chris Shepherd, chef and owner of Georgia James in Houston, Texas. I told him, Ive been wanting to meet you! And he replied, Ive been wanting to meet you, too!. The company was founded in 2001 till its closure in 2016. Benton was born and raised in rural Scott County, Virginia. I had a team meeting of my three employees. For my grandparents, pork was sustenance. At the start of the school year in 1973, he had just earned his masters degree from Middle Tennessee State University. In a small roadside smokehouse in Madisonville, Tennessee, Allan Benton crafts what top chefs across the United States consider the gold standard of country ham and bacon. This is from his career as a footballer and manager. Benton has never advertised, instead relying on word of mouth. Then came a 2003 trip to a country-ham tasting in Oxford, Mississippi, hosted by the Southern Foodways Alliance, where Allan and Sharon Benton served their ham to hundreds of foodies, including many chefs, who were ecstatic. The precise net worth of the radio personality has not been made public. Around that time, he heard that local dairy farmer Albert Hicks, who'd made decent money selling country hams to tourists, had retired. With the Spanish master leading the way, Benton reviews processes, tracing the path from pink haunches of freshly butchered pork to two-year-old exemplars, rubbed with olive oil until they gleam beneath the lights. Our editorial content is not influenced by any commissions we receive. Famously known by the Family name Jerome Benton, is a great Singer.He was born on September 19, 1962, in Rock, pop, R&B, soul, funk, funk rock, funk metal, dance. Barbi is 70 years old. After wed made our purchases, we were toying with the idea of heading over to Blackberry Farm for lunch before going on the rest of our journey. They traveled on horseback and grew or raised what they ate. ", "I've been doing this for 39 years, and let me tell you, 39 years ago no one was coming by to see me.". Bentons grandparents cured country hams in a log smokehouse behind their house. Darrell Benton is a radiologist with the Abercrombie Group in Knoxville. I knew I couldnt survive on what they were paying, he remembers. A long time. "Unless it was raining. Jerome Benton's height Unknown & weight Not Available right. But despite all the recognition, Benton still describes himselfin his thick Southern drawlas a country hillbilly just trying to make a great quality product.. Angela Benton Wiki - Angela Benton Biography. $200 per post at $10/CPM. Wed give all the guest chefs a care package of bacon and ham as a thank you gift, said Fleer. From the first day I started, I wanted to make something truly extraordinary. The hams were salted by machine, they were re-worked by a machine, they were de-boned and sliced on a machine. Suzanne Benton is a psychiatrist in Raleigh, North Carolina. We have added controversies in this section. Can New Farming Technology Clean It Up? As of 2021, Dan manages Benton Capital . How to Order Allan Benton's Hams and Bacon, Down South: The Foothills Cuisine of Blackberry Farm, in Walland, Tennessee, The Wok Shops Tane Chan on Her Life and Business. March was previously married to chef and television personality Bobby Flay. Benton heard that, between Madisonville and Sweetwater, on Old Highway 68, a dairy farmer named Albert Hicks had decided to shut down his tiny ham-curing operation, where area farmers had brought their hogs since 1947. Benton was born and raised in rural Scott County, Virginia. In addition to its nice smoke profile, Bentons bacon is a little thicker and chewier, said Chris Spear, chef and owner of Perfect Little Bites in Washington, D.C. As for the country ham? In 1973, he approached Albert H. Hicks, a dairy farmer who had been curing and selling country hams out of a small building since 1947. This produced extremely fine-quality pork. I thought I might go to law school, so I figured Id do the ham thing until I got admitted to law school a year later. Allan McGraw has an estimated net worth of $1.2 million. But instead, as you can see here, see the smokehouse is just off a rural highway. We didnt see the smokehouse, but we sure did smell it. English actor who has appeared in the long-running Nationwide Building Society advertisements and played the role of Eddie in Early Doors. I love the complicated flavors you get from a piece of well-cured pork. The late 1960s. Share with #sourcherryfarm. On the first of September 1973, he leased me that little frame building. He is so hot right now. Going back 20, 25 years, he remembers, I laid awake many nights with a lump in my chest, wondering if I was going to make it.. Previous to Trevor's current city of Fort Worth, TX , Trevor Benton lived in North Richland Hills TX. The first time I met him, I was visiting Blackberry Farm Brewery in Tennessee, and Allan just walked in the door. We will update this section once this information is available. They were right; he might be. N/A. As I walked toward the door, Benton called something after me. Weve had opportunities, but our goal has never been to make a lot of ham or bacon. I ran my business in his back yard for five years.. Quality sells itself, even if it takes a while. The potent, provocative smell of hickory smoke draws in any visitorand anyone who tries the finished product. General Info. Before long, they were appearing on menus outside of the South. UT Institute of Agriculture Food Science and Technology Professors Sam Winfrey and Curtis Melton received Bentons letter and reached out. Wed give all the guest chefs a care package of bacon and ham as a thank you gift, said Fleer. Today Benton and his 21 employees at Bentons Smoky Mountain Country Hams on U.S. 411 in Madisonville cure and age some 18,000 hams and 50,000 bacon bellies a year. John started sharing my product with visiting chefs from all over the country. Around the same time, Albert Hicks retired his ham business. (Allan Benton says in the book that farmers today still bring him fresh hams theyve slaughtered for him to cure and smoke.). He brought them over in an old blue pickup with a cab on the back., Benton said: Back when chef Fleer called me up, I had no idea what Blackberry Farm was. How does Allan Benton cook his famous hams at home? He released his debut album, Used Heart for Sale, in 1996, under the record label Decca Nashville. That's what they told me at Blackberry Farm, the luxury resort just up the highway from Benton's cinderblock office in Madisonville, Tennessee. I wrote universities all over the country trying to learn more about what I was going to do, says Benton. 423-442-5003 Chef John Fleer, then of Blackberry Farm, was the first big name to catch on to Benton's hams and bacon. So we were checking the map, hanging out, just planning. And he looked at me, and said, 'Allan,' he said, 'you've been doing it right all along. One dish I remember he really liked [was] our wild sturgeon wrapped in his aged ham and seared.. The Shrimp Industry Is Dirty. Even now, Bentons still has only around 20 employees. Allen Benton is a Chief Executive Officer & Owner & Operator at McDonald's based in Chicago, Illinois. "I was over at Virgil's plant one time, and it was the most modern facility in the world," says Benton. Follow the food accounts at lohud.com, where I am a senior editor and oversee coverage.