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A Thousand Words: Whole Hog, Take Two

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Monk: Last weekend, I cooked my second whole hog. I’ll be following up on my “Seven Things I’m Going to Do Differently” post in due time to update on how I did on each one, but in the meantime, here are some photos from the weekend.

I got the fire started shortly after 10 on Friday night and got the hog on about an hour later.

The Jon G’s Beer from Town Brewing was a good call for the cook on Friday night.

After an all night cook, the hog finished up early afternoon and I got ready to feed the 350 or so people who had RSVP’d to the event, which was officially the Second Annual Pig Roast for my neighborhood swim club. Last year, I had it catered but wanted to take on the official pig duties this year.

What a fun, tiring experience. I don’t know when my next hog will be, but I had a blast for this one.

A Thousand Words: Stopping at a Buc-ee’s in Tennessee

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Monk: A few photos from a stop at Buc-ee’s in Crossville, TN this past summer. Buc-ee’s is of course the Texas-based gas station chain with an almost cult-like level of following and support for its clean bathrooms, jerky wall, Beaver Nuggets, and on-site barbecue station.

Of course, Buc-ee’s is also known for their copious amount of gas pumps, nearly 200 in number.

Once inside, the Texas Roundup seems to be the focal point of the store, directing people to the team of pitmasters slicing, chopping, and creating pre-made sandwiches and tacos.

There is also a huge selection of both rubs and sauces for your backyard grilling and barbecue needs.

Even if you’ve managed to escape without buying food, rubs, spices, or Beaver Nuggets, there is a selection of backyard pits available from Old Country BBQ Pits as you exit the store.

Until next time, Buc-ee’s!

A Thousand Words: The 2024 Carolina BBQ Festival

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Monk: This year’s Carolina BBQ Festival changed locations from Camp North End to Uptown and became part of the Charlotte SHOUT! annual arts and culture festival. And Speedy happened to be in town, so he and I hit up the festival courtesy of new friend of the blog, Chigger Willard of the Low and Slow Barbecue Show. Shout out to him as well as Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s BBQ, who puts on the festival every year.

Our favorite bites will be featured in an upcoming issue of The Smoke Sheet, but for now, here were some of the bites we tasted including whole hog from Elliott Moss and pork spare rib from Bryan Furman,.

Plus hash and rice from the recently-named James Beard finalist, Robbie Robinson. I chatted briefly with Robbie and he was understandably excited to have just been named a finalist three days prior. The winners will be announced June 10 at a ceremony in Chicago, which will be livestreamed on Eater.

Some of the faces serving barbecue on the day:

The typical Jon G’s line plus the Lincoln log cabin of beef rib bones.

No seriously, it was a gorgeous day:

Did you make it out to the Carolina BBQ Festival this year?

Lunch at The Barbecue Center in Photos

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Monk: I recently stopped by The Barbecue Center in Lexington for the first time in a few years for a lunch with the Monk clan. Here was my experience in photos.

The barbecue tray with red slaw is the classic order.

A basket of fresh hush puppies comes with every tray or plate order (the plate comes with fries as well).

I wandered around the building to check out their wood pile for the first time, and this was just a couple of the piles of wood right off the smokehouse.

Another view of the stacked pile against the building.

There’s a couple different styles of signs on the property, and this is one at the far end of the parking lot along N. Main Street.

The Barbecue Center is my second favorite barbecue restaurant in town behind Lexington Barbecue and this was yet another great lunch. For my full rankings, check here.