It takes a skilled and seasoned barbecue cook to earn the grand prize at the annual Whole Hog Barbecue Championship. Each has a reason to be proud. Here are the cooks who have been crowned the Whole Hog Barbecue Champion since the first championship in 1985.

Every year since, the North Carolina Pork Council has organized and sanctioned the Whole Hog Barbecue Championship as the culmination of the Whole Hog Barbecue Series local competitions across the region. The chefs who qualify in the local events come together to duke it out for the title of Champion.

The very first Championship took place in Raleigh at the N.C. State Fairgrounds on May 18, 1985 and was won by Willis Peaden and Jim Elder from Havelock.