Tastemakers
THERE’ SONLYONE PITMASTER
Lawrence Hackney continueshis family’ s barbecuing legacyatThe Wood Pit
Don’ t call Lawrence Hackney the“ chef-owner” of The Wood Pit, Montclair’ s 10-year-old storefront that serves some of the most authentic, mouth-watering smoked meats in the state.“ I’ m the pitmaster,” he proclaims and as such, he presides over a tradition that began when his great-great grandfather startedbarbecuingfor thefamily. The North Carolina native dates the family barbecue sauce recipe back to 1894, though for afew years, itseemedtohave disappeared. He explains.
What’ s the story behind how the family barbecue sauce was lost and found? After my mother passed awayin December, 1986, I asked my sister,“ Do you havethe recipe to the sauceand dry rubs?” She said no. Isaid what? She said no. So here we are, my mother’ s gone and we don’ t have the recipe. I inheritedthe task of packaging her belongings and putting them indry storage. They stayed there for fouryears, and thenIdecidedtoget them. And in one file box, Ifound recipes for barbecue. When I got home, I bought the ingredients and made the sauce. And it was terrible. Two months later, at a family reunion in North Carolina, I asked my mom’ s surviving sister, Betty, about it, and she said that what my mom had wasjust notes, and she offered to turn them into recipes. I tried it again, and this time, I recognized the flavor. Aunt Betty said,“ Why didn’ t you just call me?”
LAWRENCE HACKNEY
The Wood Pit 108 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair( 973) 954-4679, thewoodpit. com
department responded to smoke five or six times. They said,“ You need to do this [ professionally ].” In 2007, after I had left the telecommunications industry, I was driving by the spot whereThe Wood Pit is, and saw that it had come up for rent.
What do you like best about serving the public? The best is watching them gorge themselves. Also, when people walk in forthe first time, the aroma just stops them at the door. They say,“ It smells wonderful. Can you put that inajar?”
What’ s been your worst experience? I haven’ t had a bad experience. The worst thatcan happen is if someone comes in and Irun out of something. A lot of folks don’ t understand. It’ s not so simple formetojust make it foryou; it takes hours.
What do you want customers to know about The Wood Pit? We do southern, North Carolina-style, smoked barbecue, exclusively with pignut and shagbark hickory. We don’ t grill anything. You grill meaton an open pit with the top open, and when you barbecue, you smoke the meat with indirect heat, and the smoke istrapped in the cooker. You don’ tneed asauce. We smokeour brisket, which is our number one seller, for 12-14 hours. We cook low and slow.
When did you decide to open The Wood Pit? After I got the recipes back, I went on eBay and bought a commercial smoker for $ 5,000 that I hooked up in the garage. Iwas living in aloft around BayStreet, and the fire
What advice can you give to Thanksgiving cooks? If you’ re smoking a turkey at home, don’ t keep raising the lid on the smoker to look at it. Thatletsthe heat out, anditwill get tough. If you’ re looking, you’ re not cooking. ■
“ WHEN PEOPLE WALK IN FOR THE FIRSTTIME, THE AROMA JUSTSTOPS THEM AT THE DOOR. THEY SAY
‘ IT SMELLS WONDERFUL. CAN YOU PUT THAT IN A JAR?’”
DANIELLE PARHIZKARAN
38 HOLIDAY 2017 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE