Photos from a Real North Carolina Pig Pickin'

If you've never had a chance to see a whole smoked hog, this whole hog has been butterflied. That just means that the pig has been spread across the grate for quicker and more even barbecue smoking.

I'm in the Piedmont of North Carolina where we more often smoke pork shoulders or Boston butts, but folks around here (especially in the country) often do full smoked pigs and often on homemade barbecue smokers, since it takes a really big smoker to do a whole hog. This smoker is a little unusual in that it has the grate that flips, so there's not need to try to lift and turn the barbecue pig.

In the eastern part of North Carlina you can see and eat more whole hog barbecue as that's the popular style there. Whole hog means that you get a mix of meat rather than just shoulder.


This barbecue whole hog was just pulled off the bbq smoker after resting and cooling a bit. Whole hogs are hot, of course, when they come off the smoker. So, it's a bit of a challenge to get one over to a chopping table. But . . . well worth the effort.

Then, you wait a bit or get some chopping gloves (good ones) and either pull the pig meat (pickin as we say here with smoker chefs and guests doing samples off and on).


The barbecue gurus are all ready to start picking the pig here. It's a messy job, but it doesn't take as long as you might expect. The meat is so tender and moist that it just falls right off. Or, that's the way the barbecue is when it's done right, and these pigs were primo.



The pickin' begins, and the barbecue guys have this pig picked clean in no time at all. Helpers ran the meat into the garage where everything was set up for one heap good barbecue meal.


Right before I left the pig pickin', one of the guys asked me if I'd like a slice of the apple that had baked along in the pig's mouth. Well sure. I'd never had pig baked apple, so I was game. I wasn't sure what it was going to taste like, but I must say I've never had a tastier apple. It picks up some of the sweet pig flavor as well as the smoke. Maybe we need to stuff more apples in there next time. It really was yummy.

Southern Pig Pickin' - Yehaw - That's Some Great Barbecue

Ever wonder what a bontified Southern pig pickin' looks like?

My buddy, Jim, put on one hot pig pickin' last night. Seriously, he pulled out all the stops. I'd have to say it's the best pig pickin' I've ever attended. Great company. Great barbecue. Great sides. Great fun.

The guys had two big barbecue smokers going with whole hogs. The front smoker had a butterflied pig. In other words, the pig was split down the middle and put out flat - eastern style. The second smoker had a hole hog complete with an apple in the mouth.



I was quite impressed with the whole hog cooker. Note that the grate flips. One of the guys showed me how they could turn the pig with the flip of a lever. Pretty neat especially when I've stuck with smaller cuts like pork shoulders or Boston butts due to the weight of a whole hog. The flip grate would make a world of difference for anyone smaller. Guess I'd still need help hoisting a full pig up on a cooker, but that flip barbecue grate would be excellent.



Yum! I can't even begin to describe how good this pork turned out. The guys smoking knew their stuff. The barbecue meat just literally melted in our mouths. Very tender and moist.

The barbecue sauce was top notch too. A local fellow, Charles Barber, makes that, and I need to get over and buy some of his bbq sauce. It's as good as any I've had around here in an area where a lot of people make up vinegar based NC barbecue sauce. He's got THE recipe especially his hot version. I do love some hot barbecue sauce.

I even loved the slaw, and (shut my mouth) I am not a barbecue slaw fan. This made a believer out of me, and I'm going to have to hit Jim up for his recipe. That slaw absolutely rocked. It was the traditional NC red barbecue slaw, but Jim did something that made his really stand out.


The pig pickin was to celebrate Jim's 50th birthday, and he had a really cool cake with an Egyptian theme, since he just got from Egypt. The cake looked great, but I was too full of barbecue to eat any sweets. I forgot that "save room for dessert" once I got to eating that barbecue and the sides. Oh well, maybe next time I'll remember not to eat so much barbecue - or not.


We wrapped up the pig picking with a bon fire around back which felt great, since it was a rather chilly night here in North Carolina. Of course, it is November, but we've had some 70 degree days lately. Not last night though. Not sure how cold it got but cold enough that I wished I'd brought gloves. That's OK though. It was warm up next to the fire, and with this crowd, you get to talking and laughing and forget that it's cold outside.

Great pig pickin' Jim - and Happy Birthday!