Monk: For this Pitmaster Profile, we are back in Charlotte to speak with Stuart Henderson, head pitmaster at Noble Smoke.I only recently met Stuart but could immediately sense his passion for barbecue. I was happy he agreed to answer some questions so our readers could get to know him a little better. Give him a follow on Instagram and then read our interview below.
If you know of a pitmaster who we should feature next, let us know!
How long have you lived in Charlotte and how did you get here?
I have lived in Charlotte my whole life, besides the years I was in college at Appalachian State University.
How did you become a pitmaster?
By chasing happiness. There was a point in my life after getting sober where I started only doing the things I love. I ended up running an Oyler while waiting on a sous chef position and fell in love with the process. Now, I can’t get enough!
What is your favorite meat to smoke? What type of wood do you prefer?
Beef. Hickory.
Photo courtesy of Stuart Henderson
What are your barbecue influences?
All those who have laid the groundwork for me to work with and continue to develop.
What is your favorite barbecue joint or style?
Barbecue is about community to me. I think it is important to support all Barbecue businesses. With that being said, I feel the atmosphere can be almost as important as the food. I do not discriminate, I like all styles.
(L-R): Monk, Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s BBQ, Stuart Henderson, and Michael Wagner)
What is your earliest memory of barbecue?
Man, I remember family gatherings and pig pickins from way back, I will always remember that first whole hog head!
Monk: For this Pitmaster Profile, we are staying in Western North Carolina. Jordan Smith is a second-generation pitmaster at Bar-B-Q King in Lincolnton, who we recently re-reviewed. Much like Spencer Purcell, our last profile, Jordan is a new and different voice in North Carolina barbecue, and I hope you enjoy hearing from him.
If you know of a pitmaster who we should feature next, let us know!
Courtesy Jordan Smith and BBQ King
How long have you lived in Lincolnton and what’s your family’s history there?
I’ve lived in Lincolnton my whole life, I was born and raised here. I only left for college where I played basketball. My dad Keith, has worked at BBQ King for 40 years. He started working for Steve (owner and founder) when he was 15 years old. Keith quickly became Steve’s right hand man and bought into ownership in the late eighties.
How did you become a pitmaster?
I started working on and off at the King at 15 years old. After college I became a full time pitmaster/manager. Barbecue has always been a passion of mine since I was a child and I was excited to dive right into the business after college. I’ve always said barbecue is a labor of love because it is not a quick process. Smoking ‘que the right way takes time but it is well worth it.
What other types of roles do you do for Bar-B-Q King?
Other roles than pitmaster/manager include social media manager and catering manager. I do a little bit of everything around here and I love it!
Courtesy Jordan Smith and BBQ King
What is your favorite meat to smoke? What type of wood do you prefer?
My favorite meat to smoke is pork shoulder over hickory wood coals. We’ve smoked over hickory wood for almost fifty years and have always used a pork shoulder for the restaurant. Although for caterings we have smoked whole hog and briskets and I thoroughly enjoy those meats as well.
What are your barbecue influences?
My barbecue influences are my Dad (Keith Smith) and Steve Abernethy. They have taught me everything I know about barbecue. I’ve read plenty of books about barbecue but nothing compares to someone actually showing you the process from start to finish.
Courtesy Jordan Smith and BBQ King
Courtesy Jordan Smith and BBQ King
What is your favorite barbecue joint or style?
BBQ King is obviously my favorite joint and I love Lexington style barbecue. Pork shoulders with a tangy sauce is my go to. I have an appreciation for all styles of barbecue though and have tremendous amounts of respect for old school joints that have been in business for many years. And I also appreciate the new school barbecue joints smoking barbecue the old school way!
What is your earliest memory of barbecue?
When I was around 5 years old I can remember riding up to BBQ King in the wee hours of the morning to “help” my dad smoke barbecue, and I’ve been in love ever since. There is nothing better than that primal feeling of standing in front of a fire and smoking meat. Many employees/friends that I met at BBQ King as a child still work here to this day. Employees like Kelly Lineberger and Charlie Reep, who have been here for many years, have played a pivotal role in my life and the restaurants success.
Courtesy Jordan Smith and BBQ King
What is the best thing about barbecue in western North Carolina?
Western NC BBQ has many great qualities but my personal favorites are the meat, sauce, and wood. The meat is usually pork shoulder or butts. The sauce has just enough vinegar with a hint of ketchup. And the wood is usually hickory or oak. These techniques are tried and true in this part of the state and I’m thankful to be a part of it.
What is a weakness or opportunity of barbecue in western North Carolina?
Weaknesses of western NC BBQ are restaurants that don’t smoke BBQ over wood. Oven baked pork is not barbecue. Another weakness is some restaurants use too much ketchup in the sauce and not enough vinegar. Barbecue smoked over live wood coals and a well-balanced sauce is a recipe for true success!
Courtesy Jordan Smith and BBQ King
Anything else you’d like everyone to know about you or Bar-B-Q King?
My younger brother, Jared, is also a pitmaster/manager and has a passion for BBQ just like me. My fiancée, Stephanie, works at BBQ King as well. Stephanie is great with customers and she is a staple up front at the counter. Her parents (Steve and Becky Abernethy) are the founders of BBQ King. My mother, Kelly Smith, does the payroll. Stephanie’s mother (my future mother-in-law), Becky, helps decorate the restaurant for different seasons. BBQ King is family run from all angles. It is a blessing being able to work with family and share the workload. We are excited to celebrate 50 years in September 2021!
Thanks again to Jordan for his time, and if you ever find yourself in the Lincolnton area stop by BBQ King and say hi.
If you know of a pitmaster who we should feature next, let us know!
Monk: For this Pitmaster Profile, we are branching out of Charlotte and spotlighting a pitmaster in Western North Carolina. Spencer Purcell is the pitmaster/fire tender/”BBQ guy” at Hubba Hubba Smokehouse in Flat Rock, who we recently reviewed. Thanks to Spencer for his time in answering my questions and I hope you enjoy hearing from a new and different voice in North Carolina barbecue.
If you know of a pitmaster who we should feature next, let us know!
Courtesy of Spencer Purcell
How long have you lived in the Flat Rock area and how did you get there?
The Hendersonville/Flat Rock area became my new home in 2017, after living in Chicago for roughly 13 years. For four summers prior to moving here, I worked at a summer camp down the street from Hubba that specialized in giving kids with Autism and/or ADHD an option to enjoy the beautiful western Carolina area. I fell in love with the mountains and vibrant culture of Asheville pretty quickly and made it a mission to make it here.
How did you become a pitmaster?
We are using a live and at-times large fire at Hubba. At least for our sake, if you think you’ve mastered fire or the ten foot brick mason pit (Starla), you are probably about to burn something important. I tend the fire and am known as the “BBQ guy” at our window. I had worked in BBQ in Chicago for a few years while in school but really didn’t fall in love with BBQ until moving here. The owner of Hubba, Starr Teel, convinced me that this is something that I would be good at and now I just try to learn more everyday.
What is your favorite meat to smoke? What type of wood do you prefer?
I’m originally from, and have most of my family in, the very cow-centric state of Wisconsin. Briskets, burgers – anything beef typically – will come first for me on an order. Brisket took a frustrating amount of time to understand, but now is something I enjoy cooking greatly. Red and white oak as a base and hickory to flavor have worked well for us at Hubba.
What are your barbecue influences?
Elliot Moss [of Buxton Hall Barbecue] is one of the most laid-back, creative, unique, can-cook-some-serious-BBQ dudes that I am inspired by. Billy Durney’s style [at Hometown Barbecue] of ethnic fusion into classic BBQ dishes is pretty awesome as well.
The biggest influence on me would have to be the five or six bad ass moms that we have working at Hubba. BBQ is a war of attrition that they put in place day in and day out.
What is your favorite barbecue joint or style?
One of the first meals I had when I moved to the area was a fried chicken sandwich and about 5 bourbon slushies from Buxton Hall. Since then I’ve gone back countless times and really value their kind of whole picture approach. Their burgers are unreal.
Courtesy of Spencer Purcell
What is your earliest memory of barbecue?
While I was growing up in Chicago there wasn’t a ton of great BBQ (much different now) so I rarely had a memorable moment. Maybe 2009 on spring break, my mom took me and a friend to Southern Soul BBQ on St. Simon’s in Georgia and I had a damn near spiritual bite of brisket.
What is the best thing about barbecue in western North Carolina?
BBQ and the food scene are both transforming pretty much in parallel with the new influx of people coming to the area. This Asheville-Hendo-Greenville (SC) corridor is blossoming with new diverse families that are bringing their unique traditions and dishes. These are then meshing with the tradition that Carolina style BBQ is steeped in.
What is a weakness or opportunity of barbecue in western North Carolina?
WNC is at a sort of crossroads that has begun a fusion between the traditional style of Carolina BBQ and other regional specialties. You can go to Noble Smoke and get Texas Style brisket. Elliot Moss does oysters and other oddities that you wouldn’t see on a BBQ menu typically. At Hubba Hubba, one of our most popular items are the burnt ends, which aren’t common to the area at all. Its a very exciting area to cook in right now.
Courtesy of Spencer Purcell
Anything else you’d like everyone to know?
Since Hubba is an outdoor patio/garden of a restaurant, when the temps drop we close up for the season. We will be reopening mid-March 2020. In the mean time we are focusing on opening a new pub and grill down the street from Hubba called Campfire. It will not be a BBQ joint but will have many smoked items on the menu that you can enjoy with a tall draft, inside from the cold. Opening Mid December.
While there is certainly good barbecue to be found in Charlotte, I wouldn’t quite say that it’s a barbecue city…yet. However, there are pitmasters out there doing great work, and I hope to spotlight that a little more in this series of posts called “Pitmasters of Charlotte.”
Monk: I was recently fortunate enough to interview Matthew Berry and Michael Wagner of Midwood Smokehouse in person at their Park Road location. Part 1 posted last week, so here is the second and final part of the conversation. And stay tuned to the Barbecue Bros Instagram page for an upcoming giveaway next month for National Barbecue Month. (This interview was condensed and edited for clarity)
So I’ll switch gears a little bit…a few years ago, Sam Jones came out here for a dinner at Central Avenue and I was actually at that dinner, because I just wanted to try that whole hog. Were you able to spend some time and learn from him?
MB: We took some things from that that we tried to implement here. We tried to do the whole hog – half hogs – for a while but logistically with the pits we have and the situation we have and all of the different other proteins we offer it just wasn’t something we could consistently do at the same level that it deserved and so we scrapped it not quite a year ago.
What’s the status of that – is it a trailer now? Is it more for catering? The whole hog trailer right – the BQ Grill?
MB: Even before we had the BQ Grill we were trying to do it over at Central Avenue but you’re taking a half hog and you’re sacrificing 8 briskets to fit that half hog
And you’re fitting it in the Oyler?
MB: Yea and that was a little nerve-wracking logistically which wasn’t great and Central Avenue is a busy store and you’re losing 8 briskets for that whole hog which isn’t a fair trade off.
MW: And the thing with the BQ Grill, we had it at this restaurant and you know, having what really was intended to be outside inside with the smoke and then how do you get the fire and how do you maintain the fire and where do you do that and you’re supposed to use a burn barrel but we don’t have that so we’re taking coals from the pit and taking from the fire…We couldn’t make it work.
MB: All the smoke was going up the one hood to the yoga studio next door so we had that issue to deal with too. They were like “it smells like barbecue in here” and we did it for a while but we learned a lot from Sam Jones where we add hot sauce to the pork which is something he did. Before the Sam Jones dinner we actually pulled the pork and then we started chopping.
With the cleavers
MB: It’s a coarse chop. Eastern NC its almost like minced but it’s more of like a coarse chop [for us]. But it’s fun just hanging out with somebody – like his family’s been doing barbecue for almost a hundred years and that kind of lineage. But he’s just a normal guy like you and me.
I think Midwood deserves a lot of accolades for bringing wood smoking barbecue back to Charlotte. If it was here before it had gone the way of gas-assisted smokers. Maybe you can clear something up for me – Lewis Donald of Sweet Lew’s BBQ has a Myron Mixon smoker and he’s saying he’s got the only “all wood smoker” in Charlotte. Now I know you guys use Oylers…
MW: I know Lew and I go to his restaurant almost every week and what he said was he had the only all wood, no electric assist. And I can’t argue that. I don’t want to start talking about what he does over there because that’s not what it’s about. If the electricity goes out, what can I do? We are very serious about the all wood, no gas. To cook at the volume we do in the locations our restaurants are, it’s not feasible to have a pit different than we have.
I did a little research and it seems like it really reduces wood
usage. I don’t know if its more than that.
MB: It probably does because its controlling it more. Let’s say you’re manually controlling the fire and if the fire gets too hot you’re pulling wood out and you’re wasting it. Whereas here, it’ll cut the oxygen off so in that regard it probably does.
Regardless, you guys are both doing your thing and putting out
some really good barbecue.
MW: I honestly remember the moment that post came and I had this whole thing and I was like…he’s not wrong.
MB: Our electric assist is the thermostat and let’s be honest, it’s gone down before. And we’ve had to go back. I’ve spent the night at Central Ave.
In that case you are manually
doing it yourself, maintaining the fire and keeping he temps.
MW: And also, it’s not a no-brainer like even during the day you have to maintain it and maintain it the right way. If you’ve put the wrong amount of wood in it at the wrong time, you’re going to black out all your meat or the fire can go out. It’s not like a gas assist pit where you can let the fire go out…
It’s not a set-and-forget
MB: Definitely not.
MW: It’s definitely not
I do want to talk about the new Midwood Smokehouse rub which came out a couple of weeks ago.
MB: It came out some time in March.
So what
kind of led to this, why are you coming out with a rub now?
MB: Well we’ve had the rub…we made the rub ourselves for the longest time and with the volume we’re doing we got RL Schreiber to make us big cubes of the rub. Save some labor, more consistent product. And I think it’s just brand recognition. Frank [Scibelli] and the team at the corporate office know what they’re doing, I haven’t seen them mess anything up yet. Just trying to get stuff out there…if you go to the grocery you see Mac’s [Speed Shop] has a rub and you see some other places that are probably inferior products in all honesty. I think we’re just trying to share…we had a lot of popular demand too at Christmastime but we’d just put it into a deli container. I think this is just something a little nicer, a novelty item.
So is it
truly just the rub you were using, it was being made by a manufacturer and you
saw the demand was there and it was an opportunity for brand recognition?
MB: Hell it’s worked out great for me. I bought a case of it and it’s got my face on it. I’ve got it to give to relatives for a Christmas present next year.
MW: And the cool thing is, it actually is the rub we use.
MB: It’s not like we altered the recipe or anything like that.
Is it an
all-purpose rub? It can go on anything? What do you use it most on at home?
MB: At home? I use it on burgers the most. I cook a lot of burgers at home.
Do you use
it a lot, Mike? What are you using it on?
MW: I would use it on beef and pork. I would use it on chicken with maybe a little more black pepper, just cause that’s the way I like it. I mean anybody that knows anything about dry rubs, if they make one its going to have all of this in it.
So there’s
no proprietary secrets or anything?
MW: Anybody has all of these spices on their shelf.
Are there
any thoughts or plans to develop additional rubs?
MB: We do have a couple of the rubs back in the kitchen. We have a separate rub for ribs and then a poultry rub and then like a little chemistry we’ll mix and match some of the rubs together. You take some of the brisket rub and the rib rub and then that’s what goes on the burger.
Any plans
to make them available? Will you just see if there’s demand for them?
MB: We’ll see if there’s any demand for them. Far and away, we use this rub the most in the restaurant. That’s what goes on the brisket and the pork. The volume we use on that is significantly higher than everything else. I know we are looking at sauces to get bottled up. That’s in the prelim[inary] phase right now.
Alright, well
I just had a couple of rapid fire questions to wrap it up. You guys have been
great with your time. So, favorite barbecue joint ever, anywhere?
MW: So here’s the thing we talk about “all time.” Your favorite barbecue joints are the ones that you remember. My favorite barbecue joint was whatever backyard it was happening in. For the first 2 decades of my life I can’t honestly say that I ever went to a barbecue “restaurant.” And if I did, it wasn’t memorable and until the Lockhart phase of my life I don’t recall eating barbecue at a restaurant that was as good as what we were doing at home.
MB: Growing up, Bill Spoon’s. That’s where I used to go with my dad when I was younger. The best barbecue I’ve had recently was this place called Green Street Meats in Chicago.
Yea in
Chicago, I ate there a few years ago. It was good.
MB: I walk in, the first thing I saw was an Oyler – the same
sucker we have – and well that’s a good start. My wife and I ate there about a
year ago.
I’ve
always heard – and I repeat it – is that your favorite barbecue is what you
grew up on. It may not be the best ever, but it’s what you grew up on and you
have a fondness for it.
MB: I still go to Bill Spoon’s once in a while when I’m on South Boulevard. Now it’s definitely not as good as I remember but it’s still there and the nostalgia makes it taste better.
What’s
your favorite meat to smoke? In your backyard, what do you smoke?
MW: I do a lot of burgers like Matt, a lot of chicken.
Actually,
do you do a lot of smoking outside of the job? If you have a day off, are you
going to smoke?
MW: I’ve got a Big Green Egg in the backyard. I have an offset
that I’m trying to get here from Texas. I do a lot of cooking on my Big Green
Egg. I do a lot of steaks, I’ve smoked some roasts. I haven’t done a brisket just
cause the amount it makes…
MB: …The amount of people to feed. I do a lot of beer can
chickens. I’ve got a sidecar smoker and a Big Green Egg. I do a lot of smoking
when I have yardwork to do. You can kind of check in on it and when you’re done
you have something delicious to eat.
So…the
question is eastern or Lexington style barbecue but having grown up here eating
Bill Spoon’s, which is eastern.
MB: I consider Midwood Smokehouse a mix of the two because you’re chopping it. We tried the whole hog thing for a little bit. Also, our vinegar sauce does have a little tomato in it.
Have you
had a chance to try both, Mike, since you’ve been in North Carolina?
MW: Not yet
What is the
best thing about Charlotte barbecue? The state of Charlotte barbecue?
MW: The fact that its still developing. Like, the two places we’ve talked about (offline) – Jon G’s and Sweet Lew’s – and others that are coming, can only make barbecue in general better and us the same.
MB: I don’t think there’s any constraints on barbecue in Charlotte whereas the eastern part of the state or like these places where the barbecue is very established and older and generational. Like this is what they do: “we’re going to have cornbread, pork, and slaw.” I think here you can do burnt ends, you can do pork belly, you can do other stuff.
I think if
you tried that out east depending on the location, you wouldn’t get any traction
if you tried to introduce burnt ends.
MB: Well if you want to have burnt ends, you have to have brisket.
To have brisket – some people in that area might not come to you because you
had brisket.
So what
would be a weakness of Charlotte barbecue? Or an opportunity, if you want to
think of it that way.
MW: One big difference that I see with what is going on here
versus what is going on in Texas, which I think is also an opportunity for what
is going on here, is in Texas all of the guys that own competing restaurants
all are friends with each other. They have a barbecue brotherhood. They go to
each others’ restaurants, they get up with each other at events and stuff
around and they…its just different. Since its so new here, its like we work for
people who are driven to be the best period, full stop. It’s a bit more of a
competitive nature here. I feel like it doesn’t necessarily need to be that cutthroat.
At the end of the day, all that we want to do is cook great meat and I’m
excited to see more people come around and do the thing. To me, it reminds me a
lot of what was happening in Austin when John Lewis started at La Barbecue and Franklin
started with his trailer and then all of a sudden everyone was like “oh my God,
barbecue” and I feel like that’s what’s happening here.
Would you agree? What’s an opportunity or weakness of Charlotte barbecue?
MB: I wouldn’t call I a weakness but Charlotte is still trying to find an identity for barbecue and part of that leads to, I don’t think there’s as much cooperation or cohesion to the people that are doing barbecue. Like, I had to ask you who you had talked to before. I know Lew (Donald of Sweet Lew’s BBQ), but outside of that I don’t know many people. I always grew up and barbecue had a community feel and in Charlotte it’s a little more isolated if that’s the right word. I think there’s an opportunity for Charlotte to really forge an identity.
Last
question – where do you want to see Charlotte barbecue in two years? We’ve
maybe touched on it with the last two questions but what would you like to see?
MB: I would like to see when people think of North Carolina barbecue,
Charlotte comes to mind. I would like for Charlotte to be the spot. Charlotte’s
more of a melting pot now and we have people from all different regions of the
country and I think we should be more regionally known and North Carolina’s got
good barbecue and Charlotte’s [could be] the center of all that.
MW: In Texas, everybody has known forever that Texas has good
barbecue joints and back in the day Lockhart was the place because it was home
to several. So you could go there and eat at three or four places but there
were hundreds of them. But you get a concentration and you’re like “Lockhart’s
the barbecue capital of Texas” and it has its own day. I think that’s kind of
what is happening here. Barbecue has always been in North Carolina but…
MB: …It’s been a very rural phenomenon. But it can be done in a very urban setting.
Again, thanks to Matthew and Mike for their time. And stay tuned to the Barbecue Bros Instagram page for an upcoming giveaway next month for National Barbecue Month.
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.