Who won the barbecue contest?

I was on the road this weekend and had to miss BBQ & Blues on Sept. 10 at the N.C. Music Factory.
But I got the winners bright and early this morning.

The big prize was kind of a double header: The Grand Champion crown went to a team from Jack's Old South BBQ. But since Old South already has a berth at Memphis in May, Charlotte will be represented by Rannucci's Big Butt BBQ of Belmont. Here are the remaining winners.

Pork shoulder:
1st - Jack's Old South.
2nd - Smoke Shack.
3rd - Black Jack Barbecue.
4th - Rannucci's Big Butt.
5th - Muck's.

Whole hog:
1st - Jack's Old South
2nd - Yazoo's Delta Q's.
3rd - Black Jack
4th - Uncle Mac's BBQ Crue.
5th - Rannucci's.

Ribs:
1st - Rannucci's.
2nd - Doc & Dicie's BBQ.
3rd - Uncle Mac's.
4th - Mountain Grillas.
5th - Smoke Shack.

In the Backyard Grillers category . . .

Boston Butt:
1st - Rocky Top Smokies.
2nd - QCQ.
3rd - Pork Busters.

Ribs:
1st - Moonswine Racers.
2nd - Fast Eddie's Lo & Slo.
3rd - Mad About Que.

Hot ticket for some hot barbecue

Tickets go on sale Saturday for a fun food event, the annual Matthews Community Farmers Market Barbecue. The actual barbecue is $5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 27.

The barbecue part is Grateful Growers pork cooked by Alex Ranucci of Ranucci's Big Butt Barbecue. That's served with sides by several Charlotte chefs. $12 gets you barbecue, sides, dessert and a drink; $10 gets you a pound of 'cue. Proceeds go to support the market and its upkeep.

You have to buy tickets in advance. Get them at the market, 188 N. Trade St. in Matthews, during market hours (7:15 a.m.-noon Saturdays) or at Renfrow's Hardware right up the street.

In other Matthews market news: The market hours will be short on Labor Day Saturday, because of the annual Matthews Alive festival. The market will only be open from 7:15 to 9 a.m., and the only parking will be in the open lot behind the market.

Barbecue fans, check out Saveur's special issue

Carolina barbecue makers get plenty of attention and some gorgeous pictures in Saveur magazine's June/July special issue "A Tribute to Cooking With Fire."

Executive editor Dana Bowen, a North Carolina regular, writes a tribute to great N.C. barbecue places in "East Vs. West," and John T Edge covers pitmasters and customers in North and South Carolina in his story "BBQ Nation." Kansas City, Texas, South Chicago and East L.A.'s barbacoa get attention, too, as well as barbecue books and barbecue competitions.

The issue is $5 and is on newstands now. If you're a barbecue fan, it's a keeper.

In the meantime, we have our own barbecue project coming up next week, on the dwindling art of wood-cooked barbecue. Stay tuned for that.

Barbecue road trip: B's Barbecue, Greenville, NC

As any barbecue troller knows, the places that look like the least are the ones you hear about most.

B's Barbecue has such a loyal following in Greenville, N.C., that it has its own street - B's Barbecue Road. But although I've managed to visit most of the major 'cue spots in North and South Carolina, B's had eluded me. I stopped there on one barbecue trip years ago: Just my luck, the giant fan that keeps the open-air cookhouse liveable had broken down, so they had shut down early.

I've heard that kind of thing happens a lot. They only make so much barbecue, and when it's gone, it's gone.

On Thursday, I finished up with an assignment near Greenville just before lunch and decided to try my luck again. This time, I pulled up to find cars crammed in the parking lot and along the road (yes, that would be B's Barbecue Road), and smoke puffing from the screen windows in the cookhouse.

B's is about the same inside as you'd expect from the outside. Floors slope, chairs creak, tables are covered with mismatched oil cloth. But it's a friendly place, and all that wear comes honest, from years and years of loyal East Carolina University fans. B's returns the favor with plenty of love for the Pirates.

As for the food, it's dished up steam-table style. You find chicken so rarely in N.C. barbecue places that I went with the combo plate, with slaw, green beans and cornsticks. The chicken was excellent, smoked slowly until it was falling off the bone, with good, chewy skin and sauce with just a touch of sweet. The barbecue was exactly what I expect: Moist, Eastern-style pork, chopped fine, with that pit-cooked flavor that comes from fat dripping on coals.

I should have skipped the green beans and asked to double up on slaw, which was milky with just a little sweetness. But I got plenty of cornsticks: Long and thin to give the maximum crust, they were crunchy with a corn-grittiness that tasted like a stick of grits. (Yes, non-grits fans, some of us like the taste of grits.)

I was glad to finally add B's to my barbecue roster. Maybe I'll find my way back when they're open again someday. Maybe.

B's Barbecue, 751 B's Barbecue Road, Greenville, NC.