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