Deep Inside the Big Apple BBQ Fest
You are going to see a boatload of coverage today from this weekend's Big Apple Barbecue fest. All of it will be from the outside looking in. Only here will you find coverage from the inside out, as DBTH took the weekend off to work for The Pit, whole hog master Ed Mitchell's Raleigh, North Carolina restaurant.
We showed up for work at 9 AM on Saturday morning. The Pit had been segregated on the outpost of 26th and 5th Ave, away from the main area on Madison. At first, this seemed to be a poor location, but it would prove to be a strategic move. There were five cookers already going, fueled only by Kingsford charcoal. Inside each cooker was at 1 whole Carolina hog, with an average weight of 150 pounds. The hogs had been placed on the cooker at around midnight, and each was flipped twice. 3 had already been cooked and were resting in a warmer at the end of the line, and the rest were just about ready to come off. That’s where the fun began.
Our role was to grab each whole hog off the cooker and bring it to the chopping station. Once there, we would disassemble the pig, removing the shoulder, loin, bacon and butt and all the juic
y bits in between, throw it onto the chopping block, where two choppers would chop it up. Ribs would be thrown into the rib bucket, feet and others bones were tossed in the garbage, and skins would be saved for crackling. Once all of the meat was chopped, it was placed back on the stripping surface for “seasoning”. The recipe is top secret, but helps give the meat a sweet, salty, spicy taste that perfectly accentuates the whole hog meat.
We worked for 2 days in the sweltering heat, helping serve approximately 18 hogs,
with some additional shoulders cooked to please the crowd. The booth was once again the most popular, with lines forming at 11:15 each morning and enough customers each day that the Pit ran out of food by 4:30 each day. It seemed everyone wanted at least one taste of the Mitchell meat, and wanted to thank the man for coming to the City to share his southern love. An amazing sight to behold. By the end, we had stripped, chopped and seasoned so much pig that we are making the next two weeks meat free. But Ed, Aubry, Ryan and Reggie made us feel like part of the Pit team, and this once in a lifetime experience is something we will never forget.
Down By The Hipster
Reader Comments (1)
18 hogs! Damn and shit. that's so cool that you got the inside scoop. I went last year but couldn't bring myself to face the crowds again this year. now i am filled with regret. Do you have a favorite local bbq place? I've been to the Smoke Joint and had the Fette Sau pulled pork sandwich from one of their mobile units at McCarren Pool.