Business Partners Compete Against Each Other For Charities

Turn-in boxes contained four ribs and enough pork BBQ for four judges to take a sample.

Brew-B-Q

Now in its seventh year, Brew-B-Q continues to set high marks for raising funds for local charities and providing an outstanding format for local pitmasters to compete against each other in two meat categories: pork BBQ and pork ribs. The local charities benefiting from the contest this year were The Salvation Army of Wake County and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Business partners competed against each other for bragging rights.

Pork BBQ and Pork Ribs

Boston butts and ribs were provided to each cooking team for the judging. Three teams of judges followed the blind judging rules of the N.C. Pork Council for its Whole Hog Barbecue Series, although the event wasn’t a sanctioned contest.

Pitmasters await the results of the judging.

 

Subcontractors And Business Partners Compete

Sponsored by the general contracting company Brasfield & Gorrie, the competition pits teams organized by its subcontractors and business partners against each other. In addition to bragging rights, the prizes for winners are huge trophies and gas BBQ grills for the winners in each division: Boss Hog, Hog, and Piglet. Registration fees for these divisions, respectively, were $5,000, $4,000, and $2,000. The big prize for the Boss Hog winner was a 60-by-36-inch grill.

Huge trophies are ready for the winners.

I was a judge in the Piglet division, which had the most cooking teams registered. This event was the third time that I was able to participate; the contests in 2022 and 2024 were also great events.

The top team in each division also took home a highly coveted grill.

Funds For Charities

Brasfield & Gorrie has created an amazing community event that strengthens its business relationships as it raises funds for charities. The judges appreciate the superb organization of the event and the hospitality of the organizers. The atmosphere was lively, and the cooking teams were having as much fun as the judges.

Three tables of judges, with the Boss Hog judges in the forefront. Photo: John Gibbons.

N.C. Companies Cook Barbecue To Raise Money For Charities

A table of trophies is ready for the awards ceremony.

The general contracting company Brasfield & Gorrie does amazing work as they envision, build, and manage construction projects. It also does amazing work with rallying interest by corporate teams in cooking barbecue to benefit local charities.

Cooking teams stay busy for hours preparing their entries.

Pork Ribs and Pork Barbecue

For the sixth consecutive year, Brasfield & Gorrie held its annual charity cookoff known as Brew-B-Q that included two meat categories: pork ribs and pork barbecue. Boston butts and ribs were provided to each cooking team for the judging, and extra butts were cooked as well for a people’s choice contest. In addition to the BBQ cookoff, the charity event included a chicken wing competition. Additional events added for this year included a ribeye cooking competition and poker tournament.

A full schedule of activities.

Cooking Teams

Brew-B-Q has increased in popularity as a successful charity fundraiser, and about 40 teams participated. Subcontractors, business contacts, and other companies and friends in Brasfield & Gorrie’s professional network sponsored the cooking teams. The cookoff was held in three divisions: Boss Hog, Hog, and Piglet. Cooking teams contribute $5,000, $4,000, and $2,000, respectively, to register in a division.

The High Caliber Cue team, which won second place in the pork category of the 10 teams in the Boss Hog Division, unwraps and cuts ribs for their entry. Photo: Chad Farmer via Facebook.

Although the entry fees are high, impressive trophies awaited winners of each division plus a winner in each meat category for each division, and proceeds of the event—expected to be about $100,000—are contributed to The Salvation Army and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Blind Judging

Although the event wasn’t sanctioned by the N.C. Pork Council, the judges used its blind judging rules and scoresheets of its Whole Hog Barbecue Series. The judges didn’t know which teams had cooked the samples that they were evaluating. Each judge received a single sample box from each team in the division. Each box contained a Boston butt pork sample and a pork rib sample, and a separate scoresheet was used for each sample.

Scoresheets are ready for the judges.

Brasfield & Gorrie has created a great tradition of raising money while having a great time as cooking teams showcase their best talents for preparing pork ribs and pork barbecue. The cooking teams obviously enjoyed each other’s company as they seriously competed for top honors. For the judges, it was an honor to participate in this event.

Charity BBQ Cookoff in Raleigh, NC

Impressive trophies are ready for the winning Brew-B-Q teams to receive.

What is the best way to raise money for charities? Brasfield & Gorrie, a general contracting company, may have the best idea: Recruit companies that do business with them to compete in a barbecue cookoff and have them donate an entry fee for the right to participate.

Cooking teams were set up in the parking lot next to the Woman's Club of Raleigh.

Brasfield & Gorrie Recruits Brew-B-Q Teams

For four consecutive years, Brasfield & Gorrie has raised a lot of money for charities in the Raleigh, NC, area. Even during the coronavirus pandemic, its Brew-B-Q was not suspended. It continues to be very successful and now recruits 40 teams to participate. The charity BBQ cooking contest is its largest outreach program.

Several cooking teams brought large smokers to the contest.

Charity Event for Brasfield & Gorrie

In the Raleigh area for 30 years and with offices in 13 cities in eight states, Brasfield & Gorrie has a revenue of $4 billion annually and 3,000 employees. The cooking teams it recruited were sponsored by subcontractors, business contacts, and other companies and friends in the professional network of Brasfield & Gorrie. The event last year raised $74,000 for charities, which include The Salvation Army of Wake County and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

L.L. Vann Electric, a subcontractor to Brasfield & Gorrie, proudly displays its trophy for winning the Piglet division last year.

Cookoff Divisions

This year a new division — Boss Hog — was added to the contest. The other two divisions were Hog and Piglet. The Boss Hog section was reserved for teams that had placed among the top five teams in the other two divisions last year. It was limited to 10 teams, and each team donated at least $5,000 to enter. The Hog division had 15 teams; each donated at least $4,000. The Piglet division also had 15 teams; each donated at least $2,000.

Winners of each division also received a grand prize.

Judging Activities

Judging activities, coordinated by lead judge Lubin Prevatt who recruited the other 10 judges, were held in the Raleigh office of Brasfield & Gorrie. I judged in the Piglet division with Tim Croom and Owen Jackson, whom I know from previous whole hog barbecue contests. Each judge received a single sample box from each team in the division. Each box contained a Boston butt pork sample and a pork rib sample, and a separate scoresheet was used for each sample. 

Judging activities were held in the conference rooms of Brasfield & Gorrie.

The entries were quite competitive. An unusual surprise in a box was a pickle slice to “cleanse” the palate between sampling pork barbecue first and a rib next. Some boxes came with a green garnish; the most unusual one was a large collard leaf that covered the meat samples. It was intended to be on the bottom of the box. Because the box had been labeled upside down, it was on the top instead when I opened it.

Where's the meat? (Under the leaf.)

Blind Judging

Unlike whole hog contests sanctioned by N.C. Pork Council in its Whole Hog Barbecue Series where judges visit each site to evaluate a cooking team’s results, the judging for this event was “blind.”

Makela, the event coordinator, keeps a watchful eye over everything from team setup to judging activities.

The judges complied with the council’s requirements for blind judging (although the event wasn’t sanctioned by the Pork Council), and they used its blind judging rules and scoresheets. As a result, the judges didn’t know which teams had cooked the samples that they were evaluating. Boxes were randomly numbered to mask the identities of the teams.

Official scoresheets of N.C. Pork Council were used.

The cooking teams were obviously having a great time during the competition. They arrived early and stayed late, and the sounds of laughter and joking continued to echo throughout the cooking sites. The afternoon was a great one for the charities, Brasfield & Gorrie and its business partners, and the judges.

Cooking teams mingle as they wait to learn their scores.

Pik-n-Pig with a Flightline View

Pik-n-Pig in Carthage, NC, is known locally as the place to find excellent barbecue. It has also gained a growing reputation for being the place to fly into for great smoked pork. Not every barbecue restaurant can brag that it serves pilots and their passengers who simply walk over to it after they have landed.

Summer of Cue

My visit to Pik-n-Pig coincided with the Summer of Cue (#SummerofCue) promotion, launched on social media by the N.C. Pork Council to encourage barbecue fans to support BBQ restaurants during the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Although I visited Pik-n-Pig before I realized that the council had featured it on their blog, reading their comments later made me feel like I was visiting the restaurant again. (At the time of the post, fans had visited more than 50 N.C. barbecue restaurants.)

The order station outside the restaurant while interior dining is closed.

Family-Run Business 

Pik-n-Pig is truly a family-run business from the pitmaster to the servers and others in the kitchen that draws on four decades of smoking experience by three generations of the Sheppard family. They are well known in the Sandhills area for serving great food in an amazing atmosphere. The restaurant is located by the runway of Gilliam-McDonnell Airfield, which is privately owned but open to the public. (If you plan to fly in, be alert to the 75-foot trees that surround the airport.) Whether it’s time for lunch or dinner, you can always count on a few private planes to circle the airport, do touch-and go’s, or land and join the crowd eating barbecue.

My barbecue plate with two sides and a corn muffin.

Barbecue Restaurant 

To make their pulled pork, Boston butts are slowly smoked for up to 10 hours over hickory coals. The meat is always tender and juicy, and two sauces – one spicy, one sweet – were available. My pulled pork plate came with two sides—red slaw and butter beans (brown!) with corn—and a corn muffin. The choices of sides are extensive. The red slaw is unusual for this region of the state; it’s more traditional in western areas. I always order the plate, although I’m usually tempted by the BBQ sundae—pulled pork layered in a jar with baked beans and coleslaw—which has been served at the N.C. State Fair for years.

Normally served in a mug, the banana pudding is in a takeout container (the dishware of the pandemic).

Although Pik-n-Pig is first and foremost a barbecue restaurant, I’m not the only person who also comes for the banana pudding. It’s the perfect complement to a barbecue meal, whether it’s a sandwich, plate, or sundae. If only every barbecue restaurant would serve banana pudding that’s so good! Maybe it’s another reason that people fly here!

My wife's Pie Tin Nachos with pork and cheese.

With the coronavirus pandemic still not under control in this state, the inside dining area was closed. Not a problem for Pik-n-Pig! The covered patio outside is more than adequate and is the best spot to watch planes land and take off, and extra tables are next to it on the lawn. My wife and I usually eat outside anyway on a weekend to enjoy music by a local group, such as The McKenzie Brothers.

A photo taken in 2016 during quieter moments shows the covered patio with windsock and nearby aircraft hangers.

Watching the windsock near the covered patio flap in the breeze is also entertaining and a reminder than the airport has no control tower, so pilots have to be vigilant not only of the wind direction but any local traffic as well. After two planes had parked while we were eating, their pilots and passengers walked over for lunch. What a way to find a place to eat!

Smoking meat for hours over wood coals earns Pik-n-Pig a coveted sport on the N.C. Historic Barbecue Trail.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve eaten at Pik-n-Pig. In recognition of how Pik-n-Pig cooks using the old-fashioned pit method, it has been added to the N.C. Historic Barbecue Trail of the N.C. Barbecue Society. Visiting it is definitely worth a drive (albeit only a short one for me) or a fly-in.

A daily menu board supplements the regular menu.

Whole Hog Cookoff Makes a Festival Popular in Rolesville, NC

The winning pig was cooked by pitmaster Kevin Peterson, a past state champion.

Rolesville, NC, is a small town of only 6,074 residents in northeastern Wake County and is known for being a quiet but rapidly growing suburb of Raleigh, the state capital. In mid-September, it is also the scene a very competitive whole hog cookoff sanctioned by the North Carolina Pork Council.

Whole Hog Cookoff

Sponsored by the Rolesville Chamber of Commerce, the Rolesville BBQ and Bands Festival is part of the Whole Hog Barbecue Series conducted by the Pork Council. The festival occurs only a few days before the state championship is held in Raleigh to determine the Whole Hog Barbecue Champion, who has been crowned annually since the first championship was held in 1985.

Second place went to Kevin Wooten, who has already been a finalist in three contests this year.

Being in the top three of a contest is important because it qualifies a pitmaster to compete in the state championship. The top three finishers in Rolesville are:

1. Kevin Peterson, the 2017 state champion and a top-three finalist already this year (in Kenansville, Fair Bluff, Knightdale, Selma, and Raleigh)
2. Kevin Wooten, also a top-three finalist this year in Burlington, Burgaw, and Raleigh 
3. D.J. Stox, another top-three finalist this year in Goldsboro, Fair Bluff, and Smithfield 

A.J. Stox won third place in the whole hog cookoff.

Because I had also been a judge earlier this year in Burlington, Goldsboro, and Knightdale, I wasn’t surprised that these three pitmasters were successful in the Rolesville contest. Neither were the other judges—Charlie Martin, Tim Croom, and Paul Derrick.

Cooking teams set up along the perimeter of the festival grounds.

Festival Activities

After the judging was completed, the barbecue was chopped for sale to the public. Advance tickets for plates—at only $5 each—typically guarantee that the BBQ is sold out before the festival ends. On the day of the festival, plates with two sides and a drink are sold for $10 each or $15 for two. Although the festival continued until 5 p.m., the barbecue sold out around 2:30 p.m., so advance purchases were indeed important.

Festival grounds begin to show activity as vendors arrive early on Saturday morning.

Food, vendors, children activities, music and other activities also make the trip to the festival worthwhile after all the whole hog judging has been completed. Although the main contest of the festival is the whole hog competition, the event also included a separate competition for cooking chicken and ribs. What is impressive about the festival is that it is entirely conducted by volunteers. Several local community organizations also help to sponsor the event.

The festival stage is quiet until the first group—the Jimi King Trio—begins at 11:15 a.m.

The Rolesville cookoff was the 24th competition (on 14 weekends) so far this year sanctioned by the N.C. Pork Council. That’s a lot of cookoffs to determine the best of the best, and the cooking teams and judges keep a busy schedule when the series is underway.

Starting a Whole Hog Tradition in Knightdale, NC

When Boy Scout Troop 365 of Knightdale, NC, considered ideas for a community event that would also be a fundraiser for its projects, it thought that a whole hog cookout with a car show would be a winner. They were right. It was.

Cooking teams set up in the spacious Knightdale Station Park.

Held on Father’s Day at Knightdale Station Park, the inaugural Knightdale Classic Car Show and BBQ Cookoff attracted skilled pitmasters, classic cars, and an appreciative public, and it was a huge success. The park—a new community gathering space with trails, athletic fields, playground area, and dog park—was the perfect location. Cooking teams and exhibitors at the car show had more than adequate space.

Classic cars arrive early for their show (cooking teams are in the background).

Ten teams competed in the cookoff, which was sanctioned by the N.C. Pork Council and is an event in the series to determine the Pitmaster of the Year as well as the Whole Hog Barbecue Champion at the end of the year. The level of competition was very high because the participating pitmasters included past state champions, and seven had already been winners at regional events this year.

The pig at Chris Fineran's site is in shambles after the judges have finished their evaluations.

For at least two pitmasters, this event was their third whole hog cookoff in four days, an unusually demanding schedule that only the brave (and talented) would even try. Before they arrived in Knightdale to be ready for judging on Saturday, they had been in Burgaw (the event was N.C. Blueberry Festival BBQ Cookoff) for judging on Thursday and Louisburg (BBQ in the ‘Burg) on Friday. Surprisingly, no one showed signs of tiredness.

Teams await the result as their scores are tallied.

My fellow judges—Lubin Prevatt, Don Carlough, and Tim Croon—and I were impressed how well the pitmasters did. Kevin Peterson (state champion in 2017) placed in first, a few points ahead of Chris Fineran (the reigning state champion) and Roy Parker (state champion in 2006). All three qualify to compete in the cookoff this fall to determine the 2019 state champion. The pigs, supplied by Brewer Meat Products of Wilson, NC, were all within three pounds of 125 pounds, an amazing consistency that many contest organizers (and pitmasters) dream about.

A site after the judges' visit tells a story: the judges are very thorough in their evaluations.

Neil Barnhill, the event organizer, is a regular on the BBQ circuits as the pitmaster of Black Iron Cookin’, a team that competes in events sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society. The day before the event in Knightdale, Barnhill had competed in nearby Apex, NC, where 38 teams had entered the cookoff of the Peak City Pigfest.

Neil Barnhill, who competed in an event on the previous day in Apex, is the pitmaster of the Black Iron Cookin' team.

When the event ended, Barnhill had a lot of reasons to be proud. His son, a competing pitmaster, did very well in his first contest. Next, the cookoff attracted top talent, unusual for an inaugural event. Also, the weather cooperated; the weekend was beautiful. Oh, the barbecue was excellent.

After the judging was completed, the barbecue was prepared for sale to the public: $10 for a pound and $6 for a sandwich plate. All proceeds went to the Scouts to provide funds for a future bus, camps and trips, equipment replacements, and other activities.

A sense of nervous calm permeates the cooking area before the judging activities begin.

In only its first year, the Knightdale Classic Car Show and BBQ Cookoff has created a solid foundation for a great annual tradition, once again proving an old saying: If you want something done well, give it to the Scouts.

Celebrating Agriculture in Burlington with a Cookoff

Homegrown in the Park is an annual celebration of agriculture in Alamance County of North Carolina. A combined celebration and “agricultural experience,” it showcases the past, present, and future of agriculture in the county and is held in City Park in downtown Burlington by Alamance County Farm Bureau.

Cooking teams set up behind the YMCA  building.

The event includes antique tractors and other farm equipment, exhibits, demonstrations, live music, and other entertainment. The Farm Bureau once had organized tours of area farm. Because it decided that a farm day in the downtown area would attract a larger audience, it changed the format to bring “the farm to the city.”

Trophies are ready for the winners.

Although some people also come for the free ice cream that they receive after visiting the exhibits, more people probably attend for the free barbecue sandwiches that is also provided. The barbecue is prepared by pitmasters who compete in a whole hog cookoff that is part of the Whole Hog Barbecue Series sponsored by the N.C. Pork Council.

Judging gets underway at 8 a.m. Photo by Alamance County Farm Bureau.

All the preparations and cooking occur during the night to be ready for the judging that begins at 8 a.m. This year 12 pitmasters competed for the top prizes, and judging was finished around 9 a.m. However, because the public doesn’t start showing up until 10 a.m., the only part of the whole hog cook that they see (and taste) are the sandwiches. The activities of the event continue until 4 p.m.

After being judged, each pitmaster chops barbecue for the sandwiches.

The top three finishers qualify to advance and compete in the state cookoff in September to determine the Whole Hog Barbecue Champion among all contest winners this year. Chris Fineran, who already placed first in an event in the series earlier this year, won top honors at Homegrown in the Park. 

The line forms early for free barbecue sandwiches. Photo by Alamance County Farm Bureau.

Burlington is the place to be each April to celebrate farm history, experience agriculture in a park setting, and enjoy barbecue sandwiches (with ice cream). However, without farmers and pitmasters, this event couldn’t celebrate as magnificently as it does.

After all judging activities have been completed, it's time for a picture.

Starting Another Year of Whole Hog Barbecue Contests in Goldsboro

Pig in the Park is one of the early events in the Whole Hog Barbecue Series sponsored by the N.C. Pork Council. The series leads to the selection of the Pitmaster of the Year as well as concludes at the state cookoff for contest winners to determine the Whole Hog Barbecue Champion at the end of each year.

Judging started at 8 o'clock. Photo by Goldsboro Daily News.

One of Goldsboro’s largest festivals, Pig in the Park is the biggest fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wayne County. The clubs serve more than 660 children with programs to achieve academic and leadership goals. In addition to the barbecue contest, the event includes a special “Kiss the Pig” contest (which itself raised more than $6,000), a kids’ zone, live entertainment, and vendors. Barbecue cooked by the competing pitmasters is also sold to the public, and, for the first time in the ten years of the event, all the barbecue was sold this year. The 4,000 festival-goers who attended could probably have eaten more.

Musical groups add to the festivities at Pig in the Park.

I enjoyed being a judge at the cookoff because it was held at picturesque Old Waynesborough Park where the former town of Waynesborough was located. It served as the initial county seat from 1787 until 1847, when the seat of government was moved to nearby Goldsboro that was growing as railroads expanded into the area. At the park are nine historic buildings such as a school, lawyer’s office, and Quaker Meeting House that were brought from other locations in Wayne County to replicate a village setting during the era that Waynesborough was thriving.

Old Waynesborough Park preserves the area where the former town of Waynesborough was located.

The park includes more than 150 acres along the Neuse and Little rivers and is a popular spot for canoeing, fishing, hiking, birding, and special events such as weddings. More than 150 species of birds have been identified at the park, which is a site on the North Carolina Birding Trail.

Pigs for the contest were provided by Goldsboro Milling Compay.

Trophies are ready for the award ceremony.

The pigs for the contest were provided by Goldsboro Milling Company, a festival sponsor that was founded in 1916 as a feed milling business and expanded over the decades into turkey, swine, and blueberry operations. The top three pitmasters, who qualify to advance and compete in the state championship in Raleigh this fall, were Richie Fulghum, first place; D.J. Stox, second; and Lewis McDonald, third. In addition to trophies, first place received $500; second place, $300; and third place, $200. A People’s Choice award, a new feature this year, and a cash prize of $150 were won by Big Belly’s Cooking Team, led by Robert Radford.

In April each year the park is known for the excellent barbecue prepared by some of the state’s top pitmasters. Pig in the Park is even more important for how it supports the children of Wayne County.

The gift to each judge was a contest cleaver.