A Conversation with Texas Ranches
Forged by Fire: Mill Scale Metalworks And The Craft Of Ranch Cooking
Mill Scale Metalworks was founded by brothers Matt and Caleb Johnson in Lockhart, TX. They build high-quality, live-fire cooking equipment with a focus on craft, intention, and tools that encourage gathering. Our conversation with them covers lineage, craft, fire, and food, exploring what it means to work with intention and contribute something lasting to a place. Enjoy.
TXR: Let’s start with your background, your relationship with Texas, how you got into this unique space. Tell us about your upbringing and how you got here.
Matt Johnson: It started truly as two brothers with a dream. Caleb, my partner and co-founder, is my brother. We grew up working together with our hands our entire lives. We got into the trades because we worked alongside our dad growing up — everything from woodworking, metal fabrication, electrical. If there was a job to do and something needed to get fixed, we were there to learn how to do it and eventually get it done.
We moved to Austin from our small town in 2007. We spent a long time in East Austin doing a lot of different jobs, mainly metal fabrication at architectural steel design shops. We’re self-taught welders, so we learned a lot of different design elements and fabrication processes.
Matt Johnson: It started truly as two brothers with a dream. Caleb, my partner and co-founder, is my brother. We grew up working together with our hands our entire lives. We got into the trades because we worked alongside our dad growing up — everything from woodworking, metal fabrication, electrical. If there was a job to do and something needed to get fixed, we were there to learn how to do it and eventually get it done.
We moved to Austin from our small town in 2007. We spent a long time in East Austin doing a lot of different jobs, mainly metal fabrication at architectural steel design shops. We’re self-taught welders, so we learned a lot of different design elements and fabrication processes.
TXR: When we spoke last, you mentioned your mom was Portuguese and had a connection to live fire cooking. How did this impact you?
Matt Johnson: My mom was born in Madeira, a Portuguese island close to the Azores. She grew up in a small house with her mom, and every meal was cooked on a live-fire stove — one-pot meals cooked with fire, very primitive cooking. They used the resources of that region: vegetation and seafood they foraged and fished themselves. They were potato farmers, and they would barter potatoes for one hog a year, which they used every component of throughout the entire year.
We grew up hearing those stories. We’re first-generation Texans and were removed from a lot of our family because we were so far away. We were constantly searching for those roots that grounded us through those stories.
At the same time, we truly identify as Texans. We grew up around our dad grilling steaks, fajitas, Tex-Mex food, and Mediterranean food from my mom’s side. Our early memories were around fire, cooking food, and sharing meals.
When we moved to Austin, it was during a renaissance of Texas barbecue. People had been cooking barbecue for a long time, but Central Texas and Austin were leading the way globally. That sparked a deep interest in low-and-slow cooking, convection, time, and experience — taking tough cuts and earning what ends up on the plate. That influenced our brand and how we develop products.
Matt Johnson: My mom was born in Madeira, a Portuguese island close to the Azores. She grew up in a small house with her mom, and every meal was cooked on a live-fire stove — one-pot meals cooked with fire, very primitive cooking. They used the resources of that region: vegetation and seafood they foraged and fished themselves. They were potato farmers, and they would barter potatoes for one hog a year, which they used every component of throughout the entire year.
We grew up hearing those stories. We’re first-generation Texans and were removed from a lot of our family because we were so far away. We were constantly searching for those roots that grounded us through those stories.
At the same time, we truly identify as Texans. We grew up around our dad grilling steaks, fajitas, Tex-Mex food, and Mediterranean food from my mom’s side. Our early memories were around fire, cooking food, and sharing meals.
When we moved to Austin, it was during a renaissance of Texas barbecue. People had been cooking barbecue for a long time, but Central Texas and Austin were leading the way globally. That sparked a deep interest in low-and-slow cooking, convection, time, and experience — taking tough cuts and earning what ends up on the plate. That influenced our brand and how we develop products.
At one point we looked up and asked, “What’s next? Where can we go? What can we do?” We had a big interest in the culinary industry. We grew up where the dinner table and the family element were central, important moments in busy schedules happened at the dinner table, and food was what connected people.
We had a strong foundation and appreciation for food and sharing meals and experiences, and we applied that to developing culinary products.
We founded Mill Scale in 2018 and we specialize in live-fire cooking — analog cooking — residential and commercial. That sub-categorizes into traditional offset smokers for what we consider Central Texas barbecue and live-fire grills. From there we explore how people cook with fire around the world — Japanese yakitori, South American asado, Scandinavian cooking techniques.
It’s been an incredible journey of constantly learning and pushing the boundaries of the brand and the products. Ultimately, we’re looking to connect people and bring people together over food.
We had a strong foundation and appreciation for food and sharing meals and experiences, and we applied that to developing culinary products.
We founded Mill Scale in 2018 and we specialize in live-fire cooking — analog cooking — residential and commercial. That sub-categorizes into traditional offset smokers for what we consider Central Texas barbecue and live-fire grills. From there we explore how people cook with fire around the world — Japanese yakitori, South American asado, Scandinavian cooking techniques.
It’s been an incredible journey of constantly learning and pushing the boundaries of the brand and the products. Ultimately, we’re looking to connect people and bring people together over food.
TXR: You work across residential and commercial worlds. Who are you building for?
Caleb Johnson: One of the most gratifying parts of what we do is the conversation between Matt and me on the design and fabrication side and the operator. We’re enabling chefs, pitmasters, and artists by building tools to their specifications. Live fire supports theater. Being able to support that experience is satisfying. We’re discipline chasers. We see it in fabrication, culinary work, and our personal lives. We’re process-driven people.
The lowest common denominator of humanity is people getting together, cooking food over fire, and sharing that event. Whether it’s the rancher, the farmer, the chef, or us building the tools, we’re all contributing to that moment.
We all have limited time and resources. Knowing we’re contributing to those moments with friends and family is incredibly gratifying....
Caleb Johnson: One of the most gratifying parts of what we do is the conversation between Matt and me on the design and fabrication side and the operator. We’re enabling chefs, pitmasters, and artists by building tools to their specifications. Live fire supports theater. Being able to support that experience is satisfying. We’re discipline chasers. We see it in fabrication, culinary work, and our personal lives. We’re process-driven people.
The lowest common denominator of humanity is people getting together, cooking food over fire, and sharing that event. Whether it’s the rancher, the farmer, the chef, or us building the tools, we’re all contributing to that moment.
We all have limited time and resources. Knowing we’re contributing to those moments with friends and family is incredibly gratifying....