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Photo Gallery: A Free Range Pig Pickin’ with Sam Jones

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For the second year running, Free Range Brewing and Order/Fire combined powers to host a premiere screening of an episode of the web series with a pig pickin’ to follow. While last year’s episode featured four NC breweries (Burial Beer Co., Fonta Flora Brewery, Fullsteam Brewery, and Free Range Brewing), this year’s episode was on Sam Jones and Skylight Inn. Sam joined the festivities and smoked a 230 pound hog the night before for the pig pickin’. The whole shindig and its $10 suggested donation for the barbecue benefited the Community Culinary School of Charlotte, so there was an abundance of reasons to make it out to Free Range on a Sunday afternoon.

The 40 or so minute episode of Order/Fire was primarily a discussion between Sam and host Mark Jacksina that took place at Skylight Inn with topics ranging from the history of Sam’s family and barbecue to his first experiences gaining exposure outside of Ayden and his involvement with the Fatback Collective. It was a casual conversation between the two, with Sam peppering in his usual mix of one-liners and idioms. The packed house enjoyed the screening and you can view it here once it is made available online.

Now the first time I tasted Sam Jones’s barbecue, it was at when he smoked a whole hog at Midwood Smokehouse’s Southern ‘Cue Supper in 2013 and the whole hog literally (actually figuratively) blew my mind. I had not yet tasted cracklin’ skin mixed in with whole hog barbecue and absolutely loved that texture. The whole thing was a “revelatory experience” I hadn’t been able to try in the 3.5 years since. That is, until this day, and it definitely did not disappoint in the slightest. I’m still thinking about that pork as I type this, as a matter of fact.

Afterwards, I made a resolution: I will visit Skylight Inn and Sam Jones BBQ in 2017. Mark it down.

 

Photos (and recipe): Smoking a Holiday Ham

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Smoking a Holiday Ham turned out not to be nearly as hard as I thought it might be going in. In terms of effort, it is nowhere near as intensive as smoking a Boston butt or pork shoulder. We’re talking 3 hours versus 9-12.

To begin, you are starting with an already cooked spiral cut ham, which you can pick up at literally every grocery store. Then, all you are essentially doing is giving it a smoke bath after covering it in rub containing brown sugar while also caramelizing that brown sugar to get a nice glaze.

It’s ridiculously easy, while also satisfying the itch to use my smoker for the first time in 4 months. Not to mention the ham came out so well that the compliments flowed throughout Christmas dinner and into the next day.

After doing some research, I landed on using this guide from Alabama.com (of all places) and it served me well. Here’s my modified version of that recipe:

Ingredients:

  • Spiral-sliced ham (mine was about 8 pounds)
  • 1.5 pounds of light brown sugar
  • Yellow mustard
  • Dry rub (I’ve had one prepared that I’ve used multiple times in the past but any homemade or prepared pork rub you have will do)
  • Orange juice

Directions:

  1. Place ham on foil-covered cookie sheet and cover with yellow mustard
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  2. Combine brown sugar and rub and apply to the ham (particularly in the crevices) while leaving about 1/3 for later
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  3. Fire up the smoker with the charcoal or lump briquettes of your choosing, aiming  to keep the temp at approximately 225 degrees. Once that temperature is stable, place the ham flat side down onto the smoker
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  4. Leave for approximately 1.5 hours, keeping the smoker temperature consistent along the way.
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  5. Once the ham has received a sufficient amount of smoke, remove it, spray the ham with orange juice and rub with the remaining brown sugar/rub mix, and then double wrap it with foil. Place back on the smoker for 1 hour or so until it reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees.
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  6. Remove the ham and allow it to rest for about a half an hour. Baste with the juices from the foil before serving. Garnish as your heart desires.
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  7. Brace yourself for all of the compliments of your guests
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Have you ever smoked a holiday ham? How did it turn out? Leave your notes in the comments.

Photo Gallery: Midwood Smokeshack and Pitmaster Michael Wagner

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Platter of little bit of everything
Another shot of platter
Plate
Pitmaster Michael Wagner
Michael cutting the meat
Slicing brisket
Slicing ribs
Counter service
Counter service
Sides for the salads
Wall menu (to be replaced soon)
Wood pile
Press clippings
Exterior shot
Exterior hot
Backside

I recently was invited by Frank Scibelli to meet new pitmaster Michael Wagner at the recently-opened Midwood Smokeshack in Matthews. Midwood Smokeshack is the fast-casual brother of Midwood Smokehouse, with cafeteria-style counter service and a slimmed-down menu. Which makes sense since Midwood Smokeshack is a Texas-style joint and as Frank pointed out to me, most Texas joints really are fast casual (and have been before that term was coined). Over a platter of all the meats and most of the sides  (including corn bread, a change from the hush puppies offered at the bigger brother) doled out by Michael himself, the three of us sat down for lunch and a conversation about barbecue.

Last fall, FS Food Group (the parent company of Midwood Smokehouse and Midwood Smokeshack) posted a job posting for a Texas pitmaster to relocate to Charlotte. After a lengthy interview process, they hired Michael Wagner who previously ran his own food truck before training at Black’s Barbecue in Lockhart and then working at Kent Black’s in San Marcos, TX for nearly two years. After hiring him, they met up earlier this year in Texas while Frank and Plaza Midwood location pitmaster Matt Barry were buying new smokers for both Smokeshack and the upcoming Park Road location of Midwood Smokehouse (this will be a larger capacity smoker than the current ones they use at each location; the Park Road location will open by the end of the year). Michael then made the move to Charlotte just a few weeks ago prior to the opening of Midwood Smokeshack.

So far, Michael says he’s really enjoying his time in Charlotte and spent the first couple of weeks trying new restaurants around town, not having a bad meal among them. He clearly knows his stuff when it comes to barbecue, and Frank hopes that in time he will be able to move between the Midwood Smokehouse and Midwood Smokeshack locations to help up-skill the staffs on the smoking process of the meats (particularly brisket). I look forward to seeing Michael’s growing influence on the franchise over the near future.

I also couldn’t waste the chance to ask Frank about President Obama and Hillary Clinton stopping by the original Plaza Midwood location back in July. He got to speak with the president for about five minutes (who he said was very friendly to him and the staff) and even got to hold his black card to pay for one of the orders (the Clinton campaign paid for the rest). Clinton spent most of her time speaking with patrons in the restaurant that day. Apparently the reason they stopped in was due to secret service personnel having stopped in a few day before and recommending it. They received a lot of exposure from the visit, with photos even appearing in London’s The Daily Mail.

Thanks to Frank and Michael for the opportunity to try out all of the meats at the 2-week old Midwood Smokeshack. I plan to be back soon.

–Monk

(Update: an earlier version of this entry incorrectly stated that Michael worked at Black’s Barbecue in Lockhart for 2.5 years)

Photo Gallery: More Photos from Buxton Hall Barbecue

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Foyer at Buxton Hall
Walking into main dining hall
Dining room
Buxton Hall menu
Buxton Hall napkin
Split logs
Split logs
Danny Taner
Fresh pies & desserts
Buxton Hall pitmaster Elliot Moss and me at Burial Brewing
Walk in cooler with whole hogs
Open kitchen
Elliot in the kitchen

After our meal at Buxton Hall on Father’s Day, I was able to meet up with Pitmaster Elliot Moss at nearby Burial Brewing. After chatting a bit over a beer, he was gracious enough to take me and the Monk clan on a short tour of the kitchen and offices. Here’s those photos.

–Monk