Passionate about all things associated with BBQ and grilling, Chris Gentry is owner of the Gentry's BBQ General Store in Orlando. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Willie J. Allen Jr.)

Father’s Day is June 19, and for the fathers who enjoy smoked meat, Central Florida is the place to be. Whether your father figure smokes his own, or enjoys heading to the local BBQ shop for a rack of ribs, Orlando’s smoked meat experts have great tips for gifts for dad’s special day.

Gentry’s BBQ General Store,a high-end grille shop in Winter Park open since 2016, is owned by award-winning pit master Chris Gentry.

“We do grilles, we do accessories, we do outdoor kitchens ...and really importantly, we do education.” Gentry said, adding that employees live, eat, and breathe what they do on a daily basis. “We don’t just work here...we use all of this stuff.”

Gentry said if he was going to commit to spending money on products, he would want to talk to somebody who uses the product on a daily basis. “That’s what differentiates us from anybody else,” he said. “This is very, very unique.”

Though the store offers a variety of different products, many of them from local companies, Gentry’s Father’s Day gift lineup has “dad” written all over it.

“Number one would obviously be a new grille.”

PKGO Grill and Smoker is all aluminum, cooking meats evenly from Gentry's BBQ General Store in Orlando. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Willie J. Allen Jr.)

Gentry’s assortment of grilles include pellet grilles, charcoal grilles, gas grilles, and pizza ovens. The grilles range from $400 to $5,000 in price.

Gentry said the pellet grilles are the number one seller in the store because they are wifi-enabled. “You could be fishing out on Lake Kissimmee and have a pork butt going and control the temperature on your phone,” he said. “That’s where technology has gotten in this industry.”

Yoder Smoker is Wi-Fi enabled, automatic pellet feeder and a top-of-the-line grill from General Store in Orlando. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Willie J. Allen Jr.)

Thomas Ward, who owns Pig Floyd’s in Orlando, also recommends the pellet grilles due to the technology.

“Anything that is technologically related to smoking meat,” Ward said. “I think that’s the best gift for them.”

If a grille is not in the budget, Gentry recommends a Smithey Cast Iron Pan, which ranges from $80 to $325 in price.

Smithey skillets and pans are made of carbon steel and the next level when in need of a cast iron skillet. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Willie J. Allen Jr.)

Smithey pans get very hot and cook evenly from corner to corner while also having the ability to withhold and retain temperature at a constant temperature. “That’s really what you are looking for in anything you are cooking with,” he said, adding that the nonstick features of the pans make them “a lot more user-friendly.”

Up next, Gentry recommends the Icemule Coolers, ranging in price from $80 to $350.

The IceMule coolers are light weight and keep ice cool and meet warm from General Store in Orlando, FL, Thursday, June 2, 2022. (Willie J. Allen Jr. Photo/Willie J. Allen Jr.) (Willie J. Allen Jr./Willie J. Allen Jr.)

“Being soft-sided and lightweight, you can fit a 12-pack of beers or whatever in there.” Gentry also highlighted the portability of these coolers.“You can take it to the beach, you can take it on the road trip, you can sling over your shoulder and take camping.”

Gentry’s store employee Keith Dixon said his top gift recommendation is his Victorinox Natural Competition BBQ Set. “My wife loves them,” Dixon said. “She’s ended up using my barbecue knives everywhere else.”

[  Father’s Day: 30+ Orlando gift ideas for every type of dad ]

If you want to smoke meat, then you have to know how hot the food is, which is why Gentry recommends the Flame Boss Wifi Thermometer. “That thing is $129 bucks, but you got to have it...It’s the most important tool in your arsenal.” Because the thermometer is wifi-enabled, temperatures can be viewed on the LCD display or the Flame Boss mobile app.

Chef Ian Russell, who owns Smoke & Donuts in Orlando, also said a wifi-enabled thermometer is his first gift recommendation. “Being connected to wifi means you can go inside and you can still monitor.”

If your budget is under the $50 mark, the Gentry’s BBQ Rub or Sauce Holiday Gift Box is a nice option, with prices ranging from $35-$45.

Seasoning rub gift boxes feature homemade rubs. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Willie J. Allen Jr.)

The Rub Box includes the BBQ Smoke Stack, BBQ Beef Brigade, BBQ Ham Bone, BBQ Loosey Anne and BBQ Pollo Caliente rubs.

The Sauce Box includes the Roscoe’s Mop, Bird on Fire, TenneSweet, TenneSweet HEAT and Marshall’s Mustard Carolina Gold sauces. Gentry said the mustard in this box has special significance as it was the sauce that initially put him on the map after It won Best Mustard at Memphis in May in 2018.

BBQ sauces in gift boxes with homemade sauces. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Willie J. Allen Jr.)

Pig Floyd’s Director of Operations Jenna O’Sullivan also suggested a marinate rub as a gift option as it allows dads to “play around with different recipes.”

For the fathers who are just starting out smoking meat, or would like to learn more,Gentry’s also offers educational classes.

Jonathan Hughes, who struck up a friendship with Gentry after taking a class, said he would absolutely recommend trying out a class. “It really allows you to gain a fundamental for cooking,” he said. “And, even if you have a lot of experience, there’s always something you will take away.”

The next class will take place on Saturday, June 25th 5-7 p.m. Pricing is $100 per person.

And, if your father figure would rather have his smoked meat served rather than making it himself, Central Florida has a variety of BBQ shops to choose from.

Pig Floyd’s, which opened in 2014, is a barbecue fusion restaurant with Asian and Latin flare. “We’re not traditional barbecue,” O’Sullivan said. “We’re kind of a combination of all three.” O’Sullivan recommends ribs and brisket or the Big Floyd sandwich for the father who comes in on Father’s Day.

Pig Floyd's, located on Mills Avenue in Orlando, offers a wide variety of smoking meat options with traditional as well as Latin and Asian flare. (Maddie Lane)

“Those are the two number one sellers,” O’Sullivan said.

For the father who likes something sweet with his smoking meat, Smoke & Donuts offers a variety of savory smoked meat and handmade donuts.

Smoke & Donuts, owned by classically trained chef Ian Russell, offers a sweet spin along with traditional smoking meat. The shop, located in UCF's Student Union, also offers catering and gift cards. (Maddie Lane/Orlando Sentinel)

The shop, which started as a pop-up in 2016 and has grown into the Student Union on UCF’s main campus, is owned by classically trained chef Ian Russell. Russell’s wife, Liliana, was the one who suggested he do a pop-up on the weekends.“She said we should make doughnuts, and I said we should do barbecue,” Russell said. “We went back and forth, and at one point, we just kind of went doughnuts and barbecue.”

Russell said there is a mixture of fathers on Father’s Day — those who want to fire upon their grilles, and those who want to relax. “For them, for the father whose relaxing does not include grilling or barbecuing, we cater to that,” Russell said.

The restaurant also receives a lot of catering requests for the day. “We do very simple catering where it’s just meats, sides, sauces, and donuts,” he said. “And then we also do more intricate ones where we will send a donut action station.”

Catering orders can be made up to 20 hours in advance. “We accept pretty last-minute stuff,” Russell said.

Email me at mlane@orlandosentinel.com.