What's Summer Without Barbecue?
Saveur|June - July 2016

Who: Sam Jones. Where: Skylight Barbecue, Ayden, North Carolina. The Tradition: Whole-hog barbecue.

Tim Robison
What's Summer Without Barbecue?

My father used to say he put pig grease in my milk bottle when I was a baby to make sure it was in my blood. In July of 1945, my grandfather opened Skylight Barbecue, a joint specializing in whole-hog barbecue cookery, which means instead of starting with a Boston butt or a shoulder, you’re smoking a full pig, simply gutted and seasoned. I run Skylight today.

Whole-hog cooking is the most financially irresponsible thing you can do. The margins are bad—the ribs, the spine, the blade bones, the shanks—all of that is waste. Compare that to a butchered piece of meat, where the yield is almost 100%. Plus, there are more fuel costs than other barbecue methods, though, for me, not cooking over wood would be like Billy Graham starting a satanic church.

This story is from the June - July 2016 edition of Saveur.

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This story is from the June - July 2016 edition of Saveur.

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