Award-winning chefs from around the state will serve up Southern-style pulled pork for a good cause at the fifth-annual Horsin' & Hoggin' Barbecue Cook-off on March 28, and at least four of them are local.
Jeff Smith, of Smokin' Stacks in Aiken, ranked No. 1 by the S.C. Barbeque Association; Gene Culbertson, of Backwoods Bar-B-Que in Trenton, No. 2; and Dewayne Jones, of Buckwheat's BBQ and Catering of Windsor, No. 4, will be at the event set for 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Newberry Street.
Tickets, which will be available at the gate, are $10 for adults and $5 for children. Proceeds will benefit the rehabilitative services at Hitchcock Healthcare.
"Having the top three out of four barbecue cooks in South Carolina, who all live in our area, makes us a pretty unique contest," said Jones, the organizer of the event.
Chris Fulmer's Ultimate Tailgaters BBQ, another team from Aiken, also will compete at the cook-off. "He's actually come in and won the first two events of the year, so he's going to be a high-stakes guy in the competitions this year," Jones said.
Jones said he expects 20-25 teams to participate in this year's cook-off.
For the price of admission, attendees will receive a wristband that will allow them to sample pulled pork from each team. "You can get a two-ounce sample from every team, so you could eat upwards of two pounds of barbecue," Jones said.
About 400 barbecue lovers attended last year's cook-off, Jones said.
"People really enjoy it," he said. "If we have good weather, we should have an even bigger crowd this year. If you want to come out and get some great barbecue, some of the best in the state, this will be your time."
Teams can register for the cook-off competition through March 20. For more information, call Jones at 599-8303.
A native of Aiken, Larry Wood is a general assignment reporter.