Big Apple BBQ Block Party at Madison Square Park!
June 12th, 2011 by Mr. C
The BBQ fiend team at Planet Chocko descended on the 9th annual Big Apple BBQ block party this past weekend! Top pitmasters from 18 restaurants brought their smoke, spice, & everything nice including their respective OINK’s, MOO’s, & CLUCK’s! We tried 6 different bbq plates out of the 18 in the lineup which included Ed Mitchell’s (Whole Hog sandwich), Pappy’s (St. Louis style baby back ribs), Big Bob Gibson’s (pulled pork shoulder sandwich), Blue Smoke’s (Texas salt & pepper beef ribs), Jim ‘n Nicks (smoked sausage), & Salt Lick BBQ’s (Beef brisket & sausage)! We had Rack & Soul in our GPS line of sight, but the line was a tad bit longer than our patience!
The BBQ fiend team agreed that Ed Mitchell’s whole hog sandwich was one of our top two favorites of the day! The finely chopped whole hog meat was real tender, all lightly tossed in a vinegar based sauce! We only wished that pork skin/cracklings were part of the sandwich party! Our other top favorite was Big Bob Gibson’s pulled pork shoulder sandwich! The meat wasn’t as tender as Ed Mitchell’s, but we really liked the charred up, hand pulled shoulder meat which included some burnt ends mixed in! The slightly spicy sauce paired up real nice with the pulled shoulder meat! The layers of bliss with the tender, charred, & then crispy texture of Big Bob Gibson’s pulled pork meat when my tooth met sandwich was divine as a swine can get! I really dug the tangy-spicy slaw as well!
Big Bob Gibson’s pulled pork shoulder sandwich served with a tangy-spicy slaw!
Ed Mitchell’s whole hog sandwich served with slaw!
Ed Mitchell & his team getting ready for pork-topia!
Ed Mitchell smoked turkey, too! 
Our next victim was the deliciously smoked sausage from Jim ‘n Nicks! It was served with a rich & creamy pimento cheese tainted with some jalepenos! A Ménage à trois of crackers was served as a companion! The sausage had a snap, crackle, & pop effect when my fangs bit into it!
Pappy’s Smoke House provided us with some sweet & delicately smoked st. louis style ribs! I loved the fact that it wasn’t swimming in sauce so you can taste the superiorly smoked flavor! I loved that their assembly line included a rib master with a torch to creme brulee the rack of ribs to seal in the flavor!
Hi Pappy! Thank you for the tasty ribs!
Having too much fun with the torch! 
Salt Lick BBQ from Texas provided a nice snappy sausage with a sweet smokey flavor parked alongside a tender beef brisket sitting on top of a happy piece of white bread waiting to get sopped up by the juices! Is it too much to ask Yankee stadium to carry these Salt Lick sausage delights? Wishful thinking!
Last, but not least was Blue Smoke’s Texas style salt and peppered beef ribs! The beef rib was chopped up in three inch squared chunks & sort of reminded me of oxtail pieces. The meat was real tender, encrusted with a layer of pepper and salt which gave it an initial coating of crunch when my molars attacked it! Look at that smoke red! Attack mode, y’all!
More pics from the Big Apple BBQ festival below!
An emergency whole hog run to Martin’s BBQ joint!
The staff at Blackjack BBQ pulling shoulder meat to greet the 11am customers!
Pitmaster Mike Mills of 17th St. Bar & Grill mingling with a fan!
Dinosaur BBQ with their pork shoulder meat!
Baker’s Ribs with their St. Louis style Ribs!
All in all, it was a great weekend to be had at the Big Apple BBQ Block party! The organizers of this event should be thanked & thanked again for a job well done! And of course, the 18 pitmasters and their unsung BBQ team, local and from afar should be given a standing ovation especially with the lightweight bout with mother nature on saturday! Cheers, y’all to a blissful weekend of porky heaven at madison square park with many more future pork-topia BBQ Block parties to come!
Tags: 2011, big apple bbq, bob gibson, ed mitchell, jim nicks, pappy
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