MILFORD—In the parking lot of the former Milford police station on west Elm Street, smoke can be seen pouring out of a tiny log cabin-on-wheels several days a week as Phil and Kristin Bouchard prepare hearty take-out meals at Phil's Old Fashioned BBQ.

The story behind Phil's is a familiar one these days. In 2008, Phil Bouchard, who lives in Deering, suddenly found himself unemployed as his job in sales was cut to save his company money. After trying in vain to find work, he decided to create a job for himself.

“We always held these big barbecues at home and people loved the food,” he said, “so I decided to turn that into a business. I figured if I couldn't find good work, I needed to make it. Times were tough and people encouraged me to do it, and four years later, here I am.”

In a large cast-iron smoker at the back of a trailer than includes a sparkling clean kitchen, Bouchard smokes racks of ribs, beef brisket and pulled pork that has been dry-rubbed with a mixture of spices, sugars, and other secret ingredients. The Bouchards also added smoked sausage to the menu recently.

Kristin Bouchard takes orders at the front of the trailer and heaps piles of meat, cole slaw, potato salad, corn bread and beans into takeout boxes that folks either dive into sitting at a few picnic tables around the trailer, or take back home or to the office with them.

“I would say sixty percent of our business is local, repeat customers, but it isn't unusual to encounter people from all over the country,” he said.

The most popular item at Phil's is the pulled pork, part of the 350 pounds of meat that's smoked on site Wednesday through Sunday from 11:30 am to to 6:30 pm.

“People like the pulled pork because it's authentic,” said Bouchard. “We smoke it with a wood fire using nothing but oak and a dry rub that combines lots of different styles.”

Bouchard said he's taken his flavors from Memphis barbecue, to Kansas City cuisine, and a little bit of New England mixed in to create a taste that he likes, and he hopes his customers like as well.

But unlike the Memphis style, which calls for the rubs to be applied after the cooking is done, Bouchard said he prefers to put his meat in the smoker pre-rubbed so the flavors have a chance to really seep in.

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Nancy Bean Foster may be reached at nfoster@newstote.com.

He keeps his recipes close to his chest, and maintains a limited menu of nine items, but that combination has kept folks coming back steadily for four years.

“It's a struggle to make things work in this economy,” said Bouchard, “but we love what we do, and people seem to enjoy it too.”