Mayberry Days 2010 NC Pork Council BBQ Championship - Photos - Night of Smoke

On Friday night I reported live from the North Carolina State BBQ championship sponsored by the North Carolina Pork Council. The official state barbecue contest was held in Mount Airy, NC this year in conjunction with Mayberry Days. The contest rotates year to year.

Here are some more photos from the night of the barbecue smoke off in Mt. Airy.



Before the pigs arrive for smoking, the judges check out the various barbecue booths and judge them for showmanship. As you can see, Elvis was in the house (or parking lot) and apparently the king of rock and roll helped decide the king of pig this year.



Joe Peterson and crew had a booth that I called Pigs on a Blanket. They also had flying pigs overhead as we all found out when the judges stopped by. Peterson took second place in showmanship. Plus, the guys had a bed to nap on during the competition. Now, that's some good thinking there.



There are times to work and times to kick back. These guys were taking it easy here, but they were on their game once the pigs arrived. You take what rest you can get on an all night pig smoke, and yes it does take all night to smoke a whole hog.



Things did not get too out of hand at the overnight barbecue smoke, because duputy Barney Fife was on hand to keep order. He wrote some tickets, but those were for minor infractions like looking guilty of something.



This little girl was loving the barbecue contest and also loving getting her picture made. She was saying cheese, but she was not giving up that pacifier so that I could actually see her cheese smile. Bless her for effort and a first place for making me laugh.

North Carolina 2010 State BBQ Champion - Carla Sweet

Husband and Wife - Larry and Carla Sweet Get Their Pigs Ready to Smoke

One of the men at the North Carolina BBQ Championship Cook Off told me that I didn't look like a pig cooker. He probably did not think Carla Sweet looked like one either. So, the joke is on him. Bless his heart (our Southern snark comment).

The big barbecue boys were down in Mount Airy, NC last night for the NC Mayberry Days BBQ Championship contest. The state contest is sponsored by the NC Pork Council and moves around the state year to year. This time, Mt. Airy got the draw and during their annual event to celebrate the Andy Griffith TV show. Gotta love Andy and the gang and North Carolina barbecue too.



The Sweets were set up front of house or right on the main road there in Mount Airy. They didn't go all fancy with all the pig decorations and stuff. And, in fact, they were real down to earth and quiet. I had to ask one of the other contestants where the husband/wife contestants were set up.

Yep. There they were right in front of me all the time.

You may be thinking they were working together, but they weren't. They were side by side with each entered in the contest.

Husband, Larry, took second place last year at this same North Carolina barbecue competition (which came to a draw and was decided on the blind taste test), so he was definately one to watch. He uses charcoal rather than gas, so he is old school and had a labor intensive night. Props on that.



Anyone who overlooked Carla wasn't keeping up with barbecue news. She'd recently won a big contest with her husband (a master of the sport of barbecue smoking) in the dust.

Well, hey, it could have been a fluke. Carla confesses that's she only smoked seven pigs so far as far as she recalls. In the barbecue circuits, that's really green. So, she probably would not have been the money pick if it had been Las Vegas versus Mount Airy NC (where they don't much go for gambling).



The proof is in the pig, and Carla Sweet went home with the gold as the North Carolina state championship pig smoker.

Those North Carolina barbecue boys are great. They treated me great and fed me fine. But, I must say I'm kind of tickled that the girl trumped 2010 and proved that barbecue isn't all brawn and bluster.

Read all about the NC Barbecue Championship at Yes You Can Grill - my grilling and barbecue web site.