Big Apple Barbecue Block Party 2011

Just got the press release on this year's Big Apple Barbecue Block Party. It is to be held June 11 & 12th, 2011 in Madison Square Park and on surrounding streets. The list of 2011 pitmasters and their dishes is:

• Kenny Callaghan

Blue Smoke, New York, NY

Texas Salt & Pepper Beef Ribs

• Charles Grund Jr.

Hill Country, New York, NY

Beef Brisket

• Joe Duncan

Baker’s Ribs, Dallas, TX

St. Louis Style Ribs

• Jimmy Hagood

BlackJack Barbecue, Charleston, SC

Pulled Pork Shoulder

• Tommy Houston

Checkered Pig, Danville, VA

St. Louis Style Ribs

• Chris Lilly

Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q, Decatur, AL

Pulled Pork Shoulder

• Patrick Martin

Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint, Nashville, TN

Western Tennesse-Style Whole Hog

• Mike Mills

17th Street Bar & Grill , Murphysboro, IL/ Memphis Championship Barbecue, Las Vegas, NV

Baby Back Ribs

• Ed Mitchell

Raleigh, NC

Whole Hog, All Natural Whole Turkey Barbecue

• Myron Mixon

Jack’s Old South, Unadilla, GA

Beef Brisket

• Garry Roark

Ubon’s Barbeque, Yazoo City, MS

Pulled Pork Shoulder

• Drew Robinson

Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q, Birmingham, AL

Smoked Sausage

• Michael Rodriguez

The Salt Lick BBQ, Driftwood, TX

Beef Brisket, Sausage

• Mike Emerson

Pappy’s Smokehouse, St. Louis, MO

Baby Back Ribs

• John Stage

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, New York, NY

Pulled Pork Shoulder

• John Wheeler

Rack & Soul, New York, NY

Baby Back Ribs

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! Yummy! I love some whole hog BBQ by Ed MItchell luckily I can get that without coming to NYC! Although I'd love to come to NYC if working and money was no object.

So, basically the same lineup as last year, minus two vendors?

If you come out give a wave, I'll be slaving somewhere at Jack's Old South location.

It smelled good around Madison Square Park tonight at 11...

Looked good, too...

Mike Mills while separating ribs from the rack with his hands:

"If you need a knife it ain't ready."

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Huge lines for Ed Mitchell's. Smoked turkey was surprisingly delicious: moist, smoky, flavorful, tender. Whole hog just as good as previous years.

Long line for Big Bob Gibson, too. Also just as delicious as previous years. I love their sauce.

Surprisingly 17th St line didn't look insane (skipped as I was getting kind of full).

Desserts seemed kind of weak this year. Blondies, brownies, and root beer floats from Blue Smoke and a separate fried pie stand.

AVOID the fried pie stand. Ugh. Cash only (no FastPass cards), multiple entangled lines (general line consisted of three -- two to pay and one to pick up, in addition to the unmarked FastPass line), people cutting (or trying to cut in front of us, we told her off), slow fryer, overall confusion.

No mutton this year?

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the local places these days are very competitive. Blue Smoke, Hill Country and Dinosaur each produced 'cue that I thought was in the ballpark of what the out-of-town pitmasters were doing.

It rained some, but the upside was that it kept things cool.

The organization of the event is getting so good that it feels manageable despite zillions of people in attendance. I'll be interested to hear if numbers were down on account of the weather. At least one place ran out of product early yesterday, so that would indicate that there are still a lot of folks there. We'll find out later in the week when they release the estimates.

We only tried 3 or 4 items today. The best, by far, Mike Mills' 17th St. Bar and Grill.

Served to us, on the house, by Mike himself. Which was not, by any means, the reason they were the best...this guy knows rubs, mops, ribs and the smoking of them thereof.

Told us he did around 1,500 racks yesterday. Ribs coming out of Ole Hickory...

Mike "cutting up" the ribs himself...

Happy to have ribs...

docs, MikeM, MiamiD, johnder

Edited: To add photos.

Those pies were fantastic!

Basically, they had deep fried the pies at "home," then flash froze them.

They reheated them in ovens onsite.

Really nice people. Did not bring enough pies.

No mutton this year.

The pre-cooked and flash-frozen pie explains why the center of mine was cold.

since i didnt buy the fast pass this yr i only walked through. shake shack did have a special for the weekend though which i had. it was cheese fries with big bob gibsons pulled pork on it. that was very special. i hope one place in nyc has something like that on the menu.

after walking through a little my friends and i wanted some bbq, but we werent waiting on those lines. none of us having been to dinasour in harlem, we decided to go there. huge menu really enjoyed it.