Smoke Signals

The next generation takes over Benton’s

- CHRISTIANA ROUSSEL

Last year marked 50 years since Allan Benton took over the operations of a modest ham-making business in far east Tennessee. Visiting that same Madisonville cinder-block building today is like stepping back in time.

The only telephone at Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams is a rotary version on Allan’s desk. The walls are lined with Post-it notes that curl at the edges with age. Old calendars with local advertisements, from a time when seven-digit phone numbers were all we knew, can be found in stacks. It may feel like time stands still here, but to be sure, changes are afoot. Really good changes. Raised in Scott County, Virginia, Allan Benton grew up watching and helping his mother and father cure hams, slathering the meaty legs with a mixture of sugar, salt, and spices that naturally cured the meat before it hit the hardwood smoke that sealed in the unctuous flavor.

As a young adult, Allan had a brief career as a high school guidance counselor before deciding he had more of a mind to work with hams than teenagers. After all, hams don’t talk back or roll their eyes when given advice. All kidding aside, crafting great Southern hams and bacon is just what Allan Benton has always done best. Fine-tuning his craft and producing a superior product are all he’s ever wanted to do. That his Smoky Mountain hams have been lauded by everyone from chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants to rural home cooks is lagniappe to him.