Whole Hog Highlights at NC’s BBQ Fest on the Neuse

NC’s BBQ Fest on the Neuse Puts Whole Hog In Spotlight

This past weekend, an estimated 100,000 attendees showed up for the BBQ Fest on the Neuse in Kinston, North Carolina. The annual BBQ Fest — held alongside the Neuse River — featured food trucks, vendors, live music, rides, family fun activities, and more on Friday night and Saturday day.

The BBQ Fest on the Neuse attracted tens of thousands this past weekend in Kinston, NC. (Photo by Sean Ludwig)

But the real star of the show for die-hard barbecue fans was the 42nd Wil King Hog Happenin’ BBQ competition — the world’s largest whole hog cookoff. The competition, sanctioned by the North Carolina Pork Council, featured 40 Professional and 47 Backyard teams that cooked hogs on Friday night into Saturday morning. This whole hog competition is one of the top competitions held annually in North Carolina, alongside events like the Newport Pig Cookin Contest.

“This is the largest whole hog competition in the country,” Chris Fineran of the highly decorated Beach Boys BBQ team said. “And at the Newport competition, they have 68 cooks, and every one of them has to compete in the same Professional category. Here it is broken into two different groups. … But everybody shows up. There are probably six to eight prior Pork Council champions competing.”

The BBQ Fest hosts the world's largest whole hog competition. (Photo by Sean Ludwig)

Competitors select their hogs using a lottery system on Friday starting at 8 p.m. and then go to work cleaning and prepping them. No special seasonings can be used, only salt. Teams cook for roughly 10 hours before judges begin tasting and testing hogs at 8 a.m. Just four judges were in charge of evaluating the 40 Professional team hogs, and four judges scored the 47 Backyard teams.

Employees from Kings BBQ Restaurant prepare chopped whole hog for the public at the BBQ Fest. (Photo by Sean Ludwig)

Almost all of the hogs and hog parts that are cooked during the cookoff end up being chopped up and served for BBQ sandwiches during the main event. The crew from Kings BBQ Restaurant in Kinston, North Carolina, is in charge of selecting what meat and parts go into the pork and chopping it up in style. The BBQ sandwiches and “bulk BBQ” in plastic containers sell out each year, with this year being no exception.

Around the U.S., traditional whole hog cooking is not easy to find, with only a handful of restaurants still serving it weekly. It takes a lot of hard work but the result is special.

“You can get some of the bacon, you can get some of the ham, the shoulders, the loins, and all that is chopped up together,” Fineran said. “With whole hog, when you put it all together, you got all the flavor profiles with the white meats and the dark meats. There's no better barbecue.”

Fresh whole hog sandwiches for the public are prepared Saturday morning of the fest. (Photo by Sean Ludwig)

During the awards ceremony, cooks who had been up for 40+ hours finally found out the results. In the Backyard category, Kenneth Clark of Backyard Bubba won first place, earning him $300. In the professional category, Billy Narron of Wicked Pig took first place and won $500. (See more winners from the event from the Neuse News.)

Billy Narron of the Wicked Pig team from Middlesex, NC, won the top prize in the Professional category. (Photo by Sean Ludwig)

The strangest thing about the BBQ Fest on the Neuse may be that you could go to it and not experience what makes it special. On both Friday and Saturday, thousands of attendees bought tons of non-BBQ food from street vendors, watched popular country artist Easton Corbin put on a show, and checked out classic cars.

But the whole hog competition, which has teams putting in so much effort Friday night and Saturday morning, is not really meant for the general public. That said, I did see a lot of people in the know walking around before the event kicked off on Saturday, and they were able to get some fresh whole hog bites from teams after they had been judged. And the masses can at least try some of the whole hogs in the form of tasty sandwiches throughout the day.

Whole hog is a special type of barbecue. (Photo by Sean Ludwig)

I certainly was glad I showed up early on Saturday morning so I could see teams finish up their hogs, observe the judging, listen to stories from pitmasters, and taste-test a few hogs. If you do find yourself near the BBQ Fest on the Neuse, you should check it out. Just be sure to make friends with the teams cooking whole hogs, and you’ll be able to get the full experience.

Sean Ludwig
Co-Founder, The Smoke Sheet

—This week, the American Royal announced the semi-finalists for the 2023 Class of the Barbecue Hall of Fame.—

HOT OFF THE PRESS

This week on a special episode of The BBQ Central Show, the American Royal announced the ten semi-finalists for the Barbecue Hall of Fame Class of 2023. Inductees to the Hall of Fame are recognized for making significant contributions to the barbecue community. This year’s list of semi-finalists includes a diverse group of candidates, many of whom have been involved in multiple facets of the barbecue world. The final list of inductees will be voted on by the current members and the selection committee of the Hall of Fame and will be announced in the coming weeks. The semi-finalists are: Byron Chism, Steve Grady, David Kose, Fast Eddy Maurin, Roger Mooking, Flora Payne, Malcolm Reed, Donny Teel, Darren Warth, and Dave Raymond. READ MORE.

The highly anticipated opening of Barbs-B-Q by a trio of women in Lockhart, Texas, will be anything but a traditional barbecue joint. They want the restaurant to be a safe space for all, particularly those who are not accepted at many barbecue joints around Texas. "We want to make it a place where everybody feels comfortable and accepted," owner Haley Conlin said. "We've even noticed in our pop-ups like the people that come and lineup; it's not like your normal barbecue crowd. It's people that don't normally feel comfortable ordering barbecue in Lockhart." READ MORE.

The original location of the Bodacious Bar-B-Que chain in Longview, Texas, is a gem once again, according to Texas Monthly’s Daniel Vaughn. The East Texas chain was founded at the Mobberly location in Longview in 1968 by Roland Lindsey. Lindsey’s wife, Nancy, still runs the company. After a short hiatus, her son-in-law Spencer Halling re-opened the restaurant last June. Vaughn writes, “It was good to be back at the original Bodacious and taste what I loved about the joint when it was first resurrected by Roland Lindsey and Jackson back in 2015.” READ MORE.

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ADDITIONAL READS

WRAL News shares ideas on how to celebrate National BBQ Month in North Carolina and the six best Raleigh-area BBQ restaurants.

St. Louis Magazine recently featured over forty different local joints in this month’s issue, highlighting the city’s best BBQ restaurants.

Steven Raichlen’s Barbecue Bible shares some favorite May recipes to start getting ready for summer.

Speaking of Raichlen, this year, his Barbecue University will include a weekend of live-fire cooking at Alisal Ranch in California.

Here’s your official guide to this year’s BBQ and Barrels festival in Owensboro in May.

This past weekend the Omaha BBQ community came together to feed the homeless in a special event organized by Jackie Robbins of Rib Shack Smokehouse.

Wichita by EB visited Buck Tui BBQ in Overland Park for some delicious Thai-inspired Kansas City barbecue.

Here’s how Daddy Duncan’s brings creative barbecue to historic Katy, Texas.

King’s Famous Barbeque closed early, officially shuttering on Saturday, April 29.

—In the latest episode of The Pit Stop, Erica Blaire Roby visits CorkScrew BBQ in Spring, Texas. (Photo by Wai Chan)—

WATCH

CorkScrew BBQ — The Pit Stop with Blue Smoke Blaire
CorkScrew started as a part-time backyard BBQ and catering gig, then moved into a food truck, and now is dominating the barbecue scene in Spring, Texas, at their iconic brick-and-mortar location. Join Blue Smoke Blaire and see how CorkScrew came to be one of the biggest players in Texas barbecue. WATCH HERE.
 

LISTEN

Christie Vanover of Girls Can Grill — The Pitmaster’s Podcast
Christie Vanover is a well-known pitmaster, grillmaster, and founder of the popular website Girls Can Grill. Vanover is a self-taught grilling expert who has honed her craft for over a decade and is known for her creative and flavorful recipes and expertise in grilling and smoking. Vanover is a sought-after speaker and educator on all things grilling and has appeared on numerous television shows. She is also a regular contributor to barbecue and grilling publications and has won several awards for her recipes and techniques. In this episode of The Pitmaster’s Podcast, Vanover runs through her rib recipe step by step and lays all her techniques out there. LISTEN HERE.
 

READ

Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling — Bricia Lopez and Javier Cabral
In millions of backyards across Southern California, an asada means a gathering of family, friends, great music, cold drinks, good times, and community—all centered around the primal allure of juicy, smoky grilled meat with flavors and spices traditional to Mexico. The smell of asada is a cloud of joy that lingers in the streets of Los Angeles. With Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling, Mexican food authorities Bricia Lopez and Javier Cabral share more than 100 recipes that show you how to prepare the right dishes and drinks for your next carne asada gathering. Divided into the eight crucial elements of any carne asada: botanas (appetizers), carnes (meats), mariscos (seafood), side dishes and vegetables, salsas, aguas frescas, cocktails, and dessert, Asada walks you through every step. From Lopez’s secret “michelada marinade” to game-changing salsas that will elevate any grilled meat, this cookbook is the ultimate guide to making and beginning to understand the magic of asada. ORDER HERE.

—These Pork Belly Street Tacos will be a huge hit at gatherings with friends and family. (Photo by Brad Austin)—

Pork Belly Street Tacos

By Smoke ‘n Magic BBQ

This week’s Recipe of the Week comes from Breana Via of Smoke ‘n Magic BBQ in Kansas City. Via is a mother of three teenagers, a special education teacher, a competition pitmaster, and a new restaurateur, so this recipe for Pork Belly Street Tacos fits her family’s busy lifestyle. Now that warm weather is here and grilling season is upon us, these tacos will be a huge hit with your friends and family. 

mphis in May is back this month at Tom's River Park.—

May 17-20, 2023: Memphis in May — Memphis, Tennessee
Recognized as one of the world’s most prestigious barbecue contests, the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is a four-day competition held in Memphis. Teams representing the best of barbecue that have been honing their craft for years compete for the title of World Champion and a share of the more than $145,000 in prize money. The event will be held again at Tom’s River Park after a hiatus. However, based on the reduction in space in the new Tom Lee Park the event organizers expect the contest will be limited to 150 teams. MORE INFO HERE.

May 27, 2023: Rib King NYC — Brooklyn, New York
Food Karma Projects – the producers of Pig Island NYC and Brisket King NYC – are bringing you the ultimate memorial day barbecue and picnic with Rib King NYC. The event will feature amazing ribs from joints all over the NYC metro area, a Sauce King NYC showcase, Hard Cider Alley, plus many other food products, spirits, and drinks. It’s all happening at Industry City in Brooklyn. BUY TICKETS HERE.

May 27-28, 2023: Denver BBQ Festival — Denver, Colorado
The Denver BBQ Fest, held at Empower Field at Mile High (where the Broncos play), is a huge event that brings barbecue fans together to get a taste of great local and national barbecue bites. On top of the top-notch food, there’s also live music and great drinks to enjoy. To get a taste of this event, be sure to read writer Ed Reilly’s recap of the 2022 Denver BBQ Festival. If you’re near Denver, don’t miss this. MORE INFO HERE.

June 16-17, 2023: Discovery Fire at Settlers Creek — Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
The Discovery Fire event (formerly From the Ashes Idaho) returns June 16-17, 2023, with the big food, flavors and fun that you've come to expect from this annual summer Smoked and Fired Foods Adventure. It will include a Light the Fires Dinner on Friday night and a Pitmaster Showcase Event on Saturday. MORE INFO HERE.

July 13-16, 2023: Windy City Smokeout — Chicago, Illinois
Get ready for beer, BBQ, and country tunes, because the Windy City Smokeout BBQ & Country Music Festival is returning to Chicago. The Windy City Smokeout is one of the largest barbecue festivals in the U.S. and typically features the world’s best pitmasters and more than 15 musical acts. MORE INFO HERE.

September 4-7, 2023: Barbecue University 2023 — Solvang, California
BBQ master Steven Raichlen will once again be hosting Barbecue University this year. This time, it will be held at Alisal Ranch in Solvang, California. You'll get a chance to experience Steven’s inimitable teaching style designed to help you take your grilling to the next level and much more. Get ready for Steven’s spontaneous improvisations, the Instagram-worthy presentation table, the final exam, and of course, the coveted Barbecue University diploma. MORE INFO HERE.

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