When a Favorite BBQ Place Goes Up in Smoke…

The initial scene photographed by the neighbor who heard the explosion. Photo by Tim Searchfield in The (Southern Pines, NC) Pilot.

 
A barbecue place on fire captures everyone’s attention and is the top news in a small community. In Carthage, N.C., a town of slightly more than 2,000, the favored Pik-n-Pig was destroyed overnight when a fire broke out early on Sunday, May 30, 2021. 

Firefighters work before dawn to put out the fire. Photo: Carthage Fire & Rescue.

Pik-n-Pig was one of my local favorite spots. (See an initial post here.) It was a place to savor slowly smoked barbecue cooked over hot coals in the traditional way. It was also where I took out-of-town company who wanted to have a real North Carolina barbecue experience. Nothing was more authentic than Pik-n-Pig, even though being located next to an active runway make it seemed like it was a gimmick made for a TV special. 

A photo of the entrance that I took in 2020.

Later in the morning when the fire had been extinguished, the owners posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page how devastating the destruction was. Soon, more than 1,000 people had clicked the “sad” emoji (no one clicked “like), more than 600 shared the post, and over 350 posted comments about how important the restaurant was to them and expressed their sadness. A Go Fund Me page was started by the community with an initial goal of $20,000. When it was quickly reached in a day as donations of up to $1,000 were contributed, the goal was raised to $40,000.

Damage is clearly evident in the early morning light. Photo: Carthage Fire & Rescue.

When barbecue is cooked slowly over hot coals, the risk of unintended consequences is always present: hot grease here, flare-ups there, floating cinders that can ignite anything flammable. Even after the cooking is over, danger can lurk undetected for hours. The Carthage Fire Chief estimated that 75 percent of the restaurant was on fire when the first firefighters arrived at 3:45 a.m. 

The fire caused extensive damage to Pik-n-Pig. Photo: Patrick Priest via WRAL.com.

The restaurant had survived more than a year of the 2020-21 pandemic restrictions. Inside service was suspended for a while, and it relied on takeout orders and later outside seating to stay in business. Now that restaurant limitations have ended in this area, the dedicated local following had been returning there in numbers that seemed greater than before the pandemic. Pik-n-Pig was appreciated that much.

Several hours later, the restaurant's property is secured by the firefighters. Photo: Carthage Fire & Rescue.

When a favorite BBQ place goes up in smoke, the whole community comes together. It tells stories about when they had been there and how important the food was to them, children blow kisses for good luck that the place will reopen, fundraising efforts start to provide seed money for the business to recover — and everyone mourns the loss. 

An aerial view shows that the fire spared little from destruction. Photo: Patrick Priest, Sandhills Sentinel.

Barbecue is more than simply food. It brings people together too.

My barbecue plate with two sides and a corn muffin last year when only outside dining at Pik-n-Pig was available.

Franklin, NC: Finally a Barbecue Cookoff

Teams were well-situated in an attractive setting.

The 2020-21 coronavirus pandemic shut down many activities, barbecue contests included. Traveling to new locations and judging barbecue in scenic locations has been a great hobby, and I was very disappointed when I had to suspend my judging activities. After being fully vaccinated and with contests being held again, I ventured on the road for another barbecue contest after an 18-month gap. The first opportunity to judge was in Franklin, NC. 

Franklin is a small town of fewer than 4,000 residents in western North Carolina that is only a few miles from the border with Georgia. Chartered in 1855, the town was developed on the site of the large Cherokee town of Nikawi after the Cherokee had been forced in 1819 to cede their land in this area to the United States. 

Cooking teams had plenty of space at their scenic sites to set up.

Contest Series 

The cookoff in Franklin is one of 20 events in the Rufus Teague Throwdown series this year. Top cooking teams at each cookoff receive cash prices. In addition, points scored at each contest determine the top winners of the series in two divisions—pro and backyard—which receive additional prizes. The title sponsor is Rufus Teague, a brand of BBQ sauces and meat rubs as well as specialty snacks.

The Rufus Teague brand of sauces is the series sponsor.

All events in the series are held at campgrounds and recreational vehicle parks in the Southeast where the teams are required to stay at least two nights. In Franklin, the event was held at the Great Outdoors RV Resort, which has 63 sites and three cabins built into the side of a hill on the outskirts of town. The resort is in an attractive wooded setting and has scenic mountain views. Its clubhouse served as the location for all judging activities. 

The clubhouse where the judges convened looks over many sites at the resort.

Throwdown in Franklin 

For the cookoff in Franklin, 17 teams completed, although usually at least 30 teams compete in events in this series. The small number of teams required fewer judges than usual, and I was fortunate to be one of them. Most judges seemed to be from North and South Carolina but a few were from Florida and Georgia. The teams also included a few from Tennessee. 

Rooters-N-Tooters, the team on the left, came in second overall in the contest and also placed first in the chicken category.

The contest adhered to the safety protocols of the Kansas City Barbecue Society, which sanctioned the event, and judges were wearing facemasks indoors when they weren’t actively judging meat. They were also separated by twice the “social distance” usually at a contest. 

All judging activities were held in the resort's clubhouse.

Being in Franklin was more than enjoyable after such as long wait to judge again at a cookoff. Seeing barbecue events slowly return to the schedule is encouraging to judges as well as the cooking teams. Hopefully, as the pandemic becomes less of a public risk, more activities can be held.

Was this sign made for judges, cooking teams, or other campers?