North Carolina State BBQ Championship in Mount Airy, NC

I hung out at the 2010 North Carolina state barbecue championship contest in Mount Airy until about midnight. Pig smoking is an all night affair. I told the barbecue guys to have good smokes and headed back home to do some barbecue writing and to edit photos.

That mobile blogging thing was harder than flipping pigs with the slow load speed up there in the NC mountains. I think I could have walked the 80 or so miles home before photos would have uploaded on site.

Fortunately, I met a Mount Airy local, Fred Parker, and he sent me some barbecue contest photos. So, now you can see a whole hog barbecue contest the morning after.



Wow. Now that's a pretty smoked pig. They definately look tastier in the morning after they are smoked than at night when they are raw pig.



Whole hogs call for big smokers - of course. There were a range of different smokers at the 2010 NC state barbecue championship. Some of them were store bought and others were handmade smokers.



The pitmasters watch those temperatures and check out the meat. There's done and there's ready. It's a talent to get smoked whole hog smoked pork just perfect.




Once the pigs are done, there's a lot of chopping. In North Carolina, barbecue pork is typically chopped (not pulled) and then sauced. When you have top notch pig smokers like at this state championship, the secret and the win can be in the sauce which in vinegar based with various amounts of red (tomato product) depending on whether you are east or west of the North Carolina barbecue divide line.

NC Pork Council BBQ State Championship 2010

North Carolina State Championship Pork Smoke Off

I'm reporting now direct from the 2010 North Carolina State Championship BBQ cook off in Mayberry, NC on September 20th. The event is sponsored by the North Carolina Pork Council - NCPC. The BBQ off moves around the state from year to year, and this year the contest is being held in conjuntion with Mayberry Days. Yes. Of course, Mayberry Days is a celebration of Andy Griffith (and this is the 50th year anniversary for that classic TV show that started before I was born).

The BBQ teams are all set up. There are 24 total, and they had to win some competitions to get a spot in the state event. So, we have here 24 of the best pitmasters across the state now waitng for the whole hogs to come in.

One guy to watch this year is Joe Peterson. He has taken the title the barbecue champ title the past two years, and that's a real big deal in barbecue circles. I hunted him up, and he and his wife and friends were just really super nice. They gave me chicken, corn, and beans and some bread pudding like Grandma used to make.


Joe Peterson

Before the smoking got started, the judges went around and checked out the set up displays. You may wonder why judges would go look at the tents and smokers. See one - seen them all. Nope. These guys (and a few girls go all out or maybe I should say hog wild on decking out the work areas).



Everyone was waiting for the meat trucks to show up except for maybe the lady who asked if they shoot the pigs there. Really now, it's in city limits. Of course, there's no pig shooting. The pigs come in on a big truck. They are not frozen either as woman asked. You know how long it takes to thaw a turkey. If the teams had to smoke frozen pigs, we'd be sitting there all week.



I don't do whole hog, because they are heavy. I heard weight numbers in the 120 pound plus range. That's a lot of meat and heavy. All hands were on deck as the teams began getting ready for an all night barbecue pig smoke.



I'll have to get some sleep, but I have more photos and stories. I'll share those after I get some shut eye.

Facebook Photo Collection from NC Barbecue Cook Off

If you'd like to read more about the annual NC Barbecue Cook Off, visit Yes You Can Grill where I talk about my first barbecue contest trip.