Pig Pickin' at Three Creeks Farm

I grew up in rural Eastern North Carolina. Like most families, we grew most of our vegetables and raised our meat or purchased it "on the hoof". We had chickens, cows, hogs, fish from local ponds and seafood from nearby coastal towns. Each fall it was a tradition to have a Pig Pickin' around Thanksgiving when all the family would return home. A whole pig would be cooked slowly on a wire grate over hardwood coals pulled from the bottom of an oak fire in a 50 gallon drum. This typically took from Friday morning until late afternoon Saturday. Friends and neighbors would gather Saturday evening and "pick" ribs and other choice pieces. Afterwards, all the fat would be removed and the remainder chopped on a wooden table and mixed thoroughly, resulting in the famous North Carolina Style Chopped Barbecue. The only sauce was apple cider vinegar mixed with coarse ground red pepper in a pint jar with holes punched in the lid. The meat is extremely tender with a smoky delicate flavor, which is totally lost under tomato based barbecue sauce. Neighbors and family would bring favorite dishes to share. There was always a wide variety of vegetables and desserts, along with cornbread, baked sweet potato, and biscuits. My Dad eventually had a "custom" gas fired grill made just to cook whole pigs and sometimes whole chickens for church social gatherings. During a visit home, I asked him to have one made for me, which he did for Christmas one year. I have used it to cook pigs on many occasions for over 30 years.

This site was last updated 08/22/07