KILLEEN, Texas — Many veterans often struggle with what to do after they retire from the military, and some choose to turn a passion into a business — people like Jeff Krenzer, retired U.S. Army veteran and owner of Grill Country BBQ Sauce & Rubs.
Though he now calls Killeen home, he grew up in the small town of Sonora, California.
”There might have been more cows than people there,” Krenzer said.
“People hear California and they think California but it’s northern California — it’s in the Sierra Nevadas, and [it's] a whole lot different that your typical California.”
Like his brothers, he joined the military after high school and continued a long family tradition of honorable service.
”My great grandpa was in WWI,” Krenzer said.
“Going down from there is my Grandpa Jack, also John. At Camp Hood, he was with one of the tank destroyer battalions, and he was in WWII — then you got my dad.”
Now after two decades of service, he is carrying on another family legacy and making BBQ sauce and rub.
Using his mother's recipe, he found a way to turn a trying situation and his passion into a way to give back.
”During COVID, I was a member of VFW down in Austin, and it hit us down there just like everybody else. We were looking for ways to make funds,” Krenzer said.
“I came up with the idea that I could make a bunch of this BBQ sauce and sell it at a farmer’s market.”
Now he has a small business on the side that just keeps growing.
His battle buddy, Jon Hernadez, who says Jeff is the best grill master he knows, couldn’t be happier.
”Some of my kids are pretty picky and whenever I'm like, 'We’re going to go to Uncle Jeff’s for a cookout,' they’re always like, 'What’s he cooking, is he going to have his sauce?', I’m like, 'Yes, he’s going to have his sauce',” Hernadez said.
"They get pretty excited to come over and have his cooking.”
There is one thing he wants the community to know about his friend behind the sauce.
”He’s just an all-around great guy,” Hernadez said.
“He's always willing to do more for others than himself. That's why his BBQ is taking off, because he helps a lot of veteran organizations.”
Jeff Krenzer served over 20 years in the Army before retiring as a Sergeant First Class, and now spends much of his free time behind the grill and perfecting his sauce and rub recipes to share with the Central Texas community.
