The Boy Scout Troop 33 Barbecue, Charlotte, North Carolina

Family is important. I can’t overemphasize that. Think of my nephew, Jimbo Tanner, telling me about Bum’s, B’s, and Grady’s, and his brother, Henry, telling me about the Captain’s Kitchen. Think about cousin Murray Johnston clueing me in to the Blue and White. I could go on and on, but you’d probably jump to a site that’s more intellectually stimulating, perhaps cat videos.

The latest iteration of Family Love was from my cousin Scott Griffin, whom you’ve met many times on the Blog, including here. Scott has introduced me to the annual barbecue of Boy Scout Troop 33 in Charlotte.

This is not an ordinary barbecue. It’s an all-year project for the scouts, who build the pits, cut the oak and hickory, burn the wood in barrels, and transfer the hot coals to the pits — enough pits to cook 12,000 pounds of pork for 12-14 hours. They also make their own sauce, and gallons of Brunswick stew. A video from 2013 is linked on their page here (scroll down). The funds the scouts raise support their various activities, including scout trips and sundry good works, such as building and rehabbing homes for low income people.

I recently wrote about Robertson’s, the place outside Tuscaloosa that sells pork shoulders and pounds of pork barbecue almost, but not quite, exclusively through charitable fundraisers. This post is about another charity fundraiser, the annual barbecue by Boy Scout Troop 33 in Charlotte. It’s coming up in February, with details on their Facebook page and website when the good day approaches.

Good works are all good and well, but how good is the barbecue?

Very. Scott brought me some when he and Nora were in Washington visiting family on both sides (including our mutual cousin Ann Thomas Johnston and Murray III), for Thanksgiving. We all met at the Botanic Gardens at the foot of Capitol Hill. It’s always well worth a visit, and this time one highlight was a display of models of Washington buildings, including the Capitol itself,

crafted entirely from plant parts. Some plants!

During the visit, Scott gave me some of the Troop 33 barbecue, and I took a break from turkey to test it. Here it is, accompanied by tinned black eye peas enhanced by some bacon grease, onions, and jalapeños (both for flavor and to get something green on the plate.).

The troop 33 barbecue was delicious. Although it had been frozen for months, it was recalled to life with a dab of bacon grease and some vinegar-pepper sauce I picked up at the outstanding Sid’s Catering, shown here in the lovely cruet in which Sid’s sells it.

Troop 33 far exceeded my expectations. Very little was lost in the freezing, thawing, and heating. The pork retained smoke flavor and the succulence of slow-cooked pork. This is very good barbecue.

It’s a pleasure to highlight Troop 33’s work. This is a public service Blog, and we like to publicize products connected to good work, as here, as well as top educational programs, and important health news. The organization and execution of the annual barbecue teaches the scouts many valuable lessons that they are unlikely to learn in school or, in many cases , alas, elsewhere. I highly recommend Troop 33’s barbecue for anyone remotely in reach — or who has a relative in reach.

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