Corinne Trang

Chris Lilly (in blue) injecting pork butts, me directly across occasionally squirting my neighbors...no syringe needles broken this year!

… here again at the Big Apple BBQ Block Party working alongside celebrity pitmaster Chris Lilly…

It’s that time of year when pitmasters from around the country gather at Madison Square Park to serve tourists and New Yorkers hungry for ribs, sausage, brisket, and pulled pork. I’m here again at the Big Apple BBQ Block Party working alongside celebrity pitmaster Chris Lilly of the legendary Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, AL, and best selling author of Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ Book (Clarkson Potter, 2009).

Reporting for duty last night, our assembly line was full of eager-to-learn friends. We unloaded pork butts from cartons. Weighing an average of 10 pounds a piece, we transferred close to 200 pieces onto our workstations where we injected them with a spicy and savory liquid concoction and rubbed them with a spice mix. By 9 PM, the cookers were fully loaded and I was on coleslaw duty, tilling shredded veggies including cabbage, carrots, onions, and peppers, with sugar and mustard dressing. Up to my elbows in sticky, creamy, deliciously sweet goo, my arms practically fell off by the end of the evening. I’m not complaining, and in fact I’ll be back at it again today, absorbing fine details of true barbecue, as I unload juicy, savory and sweet pork butts, chopping them for the much sought after pulled pork sandwich Big Bob Gibson is known for.

Now my Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker is at home waiting for me to fire it up for some serious Asian-inspired BBQ. I’ve not forgotten you “Smokey,” I’m just here learning from the best, only to return with the tools I need to load you up with confidence, YA hear…