Old School Barbecue Pits

Another barbecue fact I learned about in my visit to North Carolina was a brief explanation of the old school barbecue pits used when our grandparents and great-grandparents were around. Here is a picture of one of them:

I am not sure when this picture was taken, but it was supposedly taken in North Carolina. I also have pictures posted on the blog of similar pits taken in Georgia and another one in North Carolina. The setup for these pits was simple. A long, narrow hole was dug in the ground at three feet of depth. The hole was filled with an assortment of hardwoods which could burn long and slow. Remember, charcoal is a relatively new invention. Sticks were placed on top of the hole and meat was placed on top of the sticks. With this setup, a barbecue pitmaster could smoke a large amount of meat while additionally being able to baste the meat with the appropriate sauces. Fairly straightforward and efficient, is it not?

Also, the original pitmasters were slaves on the plantation. They would cook for the wealthy plantation owners and their family and friends. After the Civil War, many freedmen opened their own barbecue joints out of the back of their houses or on the side of the road. It was also after the Civil War when barbecue moved outside of the South to places like Kansas City and Whites experimented with being pitmasters.

I learned all of this barbecue history from a documentary I watched while I was chilling out in the cabin my family rented for the week. I am unsure of the name of the documentary, but I believe it came on the Food Network. Below are additionally pictures of old barbecue pits.