the pitchopping block

A thick wooden block and a pair of cleavers, on which cooked pork is turned into barbecue. The whole hog is pulled from the bones onto the block and chopped, skin and all, until the meat is fine enough to hold a thin vinegar sauce; the salt and the sauce go on at the block — at the Skylight Inn, vinegar, salt, pepper and Texas Pete. A Lexington shoulder is chopped fine, chopped coarse into small chunks, or sliced, and at Lexington Barbecue never pulled. Jane and Michael Stern called the sound of cleavers on the block one of the most alluring aspects of whole hog barbecue in the Carolinas.

The chop is the Carolinas' answer to a question other regions answer with a knife or a fork. Tradition holds — the eastern chop comes from the whole hog itself: light meat, dark meat, fat and skin from one animal are one dish only once they are chopped together, and the chop is what lets the crisp skin be eaten in every bite. Eastern-style meat is chopped after it is pulled from the bone, for a finer texture and so that it holds the thin vinegar sauce; Lexington-style is served pulled or lightly chopped, with larger strands of muscle, and the Lexington restaurants add the sliced tray. NCpedia records a South Carolina habit that has crossed the state line: separating the skin, the dry 'outside meat' and the juicier 'inside meat', so the customer chooses; some whole-hog restaurants let the customer choose white meat, dark meat or both, and prize the 'middlin' from the belly and the 'catfish' from under the tenderloin. The three cuts of the Piedmont are a price list. At Lexington Barbecue in September 2026 a chopped tray was $8.00 cash, a sliced tray $8.20 and a coarse-chop tray $8.60, with slaw and rolls or hush puppies; at the Barbecue Center a chopped tray was $9 small and $12 large, sliced or coarse chopped $10 and $13, dip on the meat, slaw included, hush puppies or a potato bun.

The cooked meat is pulled from the bones by hand and heaped on the block; the cook works the cleavers across the heap, folding the pile back on itself, adding the crisp skin in pieces once the meat is broken down, and seasoning on the block. For a Lexington shoulder the meat is chopped fine, chopped coarse for 'chunks', or sliced, and the dip goes on before it is trayed. A sandwich takes the chop and slaw on a soft bun.

The block and cleavers are in use at the Skylight Inn and in most whole-hog kitchens; Lexington menus carry the three cuts, and 'chopped' is the ordinary order on both sides of the state.