82-UncMt* Fuming, Saturday, May 16, 1992
Go Whole Hog At Lehman’s Pig Pickin’s
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
MOUNT JOY (Lancaster Co.)
If you haven’t participated in
one of Harold Lehman’s “Pig
Pickin’s,” you don’t know what it
means to go “whole hog.”
Lehman’s “Pig Pickin’s” is
when whole pigs are roasted and
people use tongs to help them
selves to the pork.
The meat is drenched in Leh
man’s “secret ingredient sauce,”
which according to Lehman’s
fans, can’t be duplicated for its
mouth-watering flavor. The ten
der, succulent pork entices people
to pig out during “Pig Pickin’s,”
which are quite popular in
Virginia.
Recendy, Lehman roasted 11
pigs for the Kraybill Mennonite
School Benefit Auction in Mount
Joy. Although Lehman generally
purchased top hogs that weigh 220
pounds live weight and dress out at
173 pounds for his catered Pig
Pickin’s, the school pig roast was a
bit different because White Oak
Mills donated the 11 hogs and
other school patrons provided
baked potatoes, baked beans, rolls
and cake to accompany it. Since
Lehman has a $3BOO chopper, he
made the coleslaw for the event
Although Lehman lives in Vir
ginia, this is the third year he
roasted hogs for the Mount Joy
school, which some of his relatives
attend.
It is Lehman’s 12th year in the
business of pig toasting that has
expanded to include chicken, beef,
seafood feasts, and full-meal cater
ing services.
Lehman grew up on a dairy farm
in Chesapeake, Va., where it is a
25-year family tradition to roast a
pig for a family gathering every
Thanksgiving season.
About 12 years ago, friends
started asking Lehman and his
wife Sally to roast a pig for them
on special occasions.
Lehman, who is employed as an
aircraft emergency repair investi
gator, now has a barbeque business
that keeps him and his family busy
roasting every weekend from May
through November.
Last Friday, while Lehman was
at Mount Joy toasting pigs in nine
cookers, his wife was supervising
a pig roast with three cookers in
their home state. Lehman had to
rush home to help with two pig
roasts slated for Saturday.
The Lehmans incorporated their
business eight years ago when they
bought a license, insurance, and 12
Harold Lehman, left, and his 81-year-old father Jake roast
a hog in one of their 12 cookers.
cookers. The children Ron, 23;
Ray. 27; and Cindy, 16, also help
in the family business.
A popular entree for wedding
receptions is 80-pound beef sides
roasted, which Lehman and his
assistants, dressed in white suits
and hats, carve for guests.
For the past nine years the Leh
mans also cater the Virginia Bill
fish Tournament and the Tide
water Amateur that draws crowds
of 800 plus people. These dinners,
called Steamship Rounds, include
an all-you-can-eat seafood feast of
oysters, scallops wrapped in
bacon, shrimp, trout and flounder.
A typical catered meal in addi
tion to the roasted meat includes
cole slaw, red skin potato salad,
baked beans, rolls, fresh fruit
salad, and iced tea.
“We provide the food, service,
paper products everything but
the table,” Lehman said.
For the pig roast Lehman lights
the charcoal the night before the
event and roasts the pig during the
night
Lehman said that his secret
sauce was developed by an elderly
gentleman who had been making it
for SO years. Four years ago. the
86-year-old gentleman sold the
secret recipe to Lehman, who uses
450 gallons of it a year in his busi
ness in addition to selling gallons
of it for individual orders.
“Many people have tried to
duplicate it, but no one ever got
close,” Lehman said. Before he
purchased the recipe, he had
experiemented with numerous
other recipes but was never
pleased with them.
“When I got the recipe, I was
surprised by what’s in it,” he said.
“I never even came close in trying
to figure it out.”
In addition to using the sauce for
pig roasts, Lehman marinates the
chicken in the sauce for 24 hours
before grilling the chicken.
“I never had a lawsuit We have
had commercial liability for 10
years and never had a claim filed,”
Lehman said. “My wife and I are
very particular.”
It takes eight hours to clean up
after a pig roast At their Virginia
home, they have a commercial
commissary. In Mount Joy, a high
pressure wash truck was used to
clean the equipment.
‘The best thing about barbecu
ing is meeting all the fine people,”
Lehman said. “There isn’t too
much that I don’t like except miss
ing all the major holidays. I’d like
to spend just one Fourth of July
Jim and Faye Ting, left, eagerly await a chance to
Jake center, and Harold Lehman.
Folks at the Krayblll Mennonlte School Auction prepare to go "whole hog” as they
form four lines while four people serve the carved pigs. White Oak Mills donated 11
hogs for the annual event.
with my wife and I alone.”
The Lehmans are active mem
bers of the Ml Pleasant Mennonite
Church where they provide special
dinners four times a year.
“Part of our belief is caring for
people and serving the Lord. This
(baftecuing) is the capacity God
led us into and we like to do it for
the church. Taking time to donate
our talents for others puts things in
perspective.”
The Lehmans reserve Sunday as
a day of rest and do not schedule
barbecues for that day. Lehman
Vwmcsicad
said, “We do use Sunday as a rain
date for barbecues scheduled on
Saturday, but in all our years of
business, we never had to use a
Sunday as a rain date.”
His father Jake, who is now 81,
was bom in Elizabethtown. When
he was nine months old, his
parents moved to Virginia.
“I still say that I’m a Pennsylva
nian," Jake said. “This is where my
people live.”
Jake continues to live on the
same Virginia dairy farm since
1912. His son, Jake Jr., has taken
c H/Stes
repai
roas
over management of the 100-cow
herd.
“He has a cow that milks 20 gal
lons a day the only cow in Vir
ginia to milk that much on a two
times a day milking schedule,” the
older Lehman said.
Jake likes to continue to help
with barbecuing and with farming.
“It’s a good combination,” he said.
Lehman’s Barfoeque Inc. may be
contacted at 1443 Fenteress Air
field, Chesapeake, Va. 23322 or
call (804) 482-4091.