No Secret: Dave Shirkey’s Barbecue Chicken

Article by George Booker

Photography by Joshua Fitzwater

Lead photo: Photo of Pitmaster Dave Shirkey cooking Shenandoah Valley barbecue chicken held by his daughter Ramona

In the mid-to-late 1950s, a fellow in Montezuma, Virginia named Dave Shirkey built a pit in his backyard. He cooked his barbecue chicken at the local fair and at church for the purposes of fundraising and the joy of cooking. So successful were these efforts that he moved his cooks beyond the backyard into public spaces with larger pits to cook way more chicken.

Shirkey was not alone in such big cooks. In addition to the fellow members of his church and organizations, his wife of over a half-century, Ruth, and other women in his family were sources of steadfast support. They also hand scrubbed the wire racks he preferred to use.

Shirkey’s granddaughter Angela sitting next to the pit her Grandfather use to cook Shenandoah Valley barbecue chicken in

“Clean up was not the most fun part, but everything leading up to it made it worthwhile,” said granddaughter Angela. She fondly remembers Shirkey hiding candy on supply runs and taking the kids to the dairy store if they were well behaved. At the cook, the bags that contained the vinegar base could be repurposed when empty for makeshift balloons or pillows for playing or fighting, respectively.

“It’s important to note that my grandma was an equal partner with my granddaddy,” said Angela. “If it wouldn’t have been for her and the support she gave he wouldn’t have been able to do all these fundraisers.”

“He just loved doing things for people and helping groups raise the funds, that was the big thing. He loved meeting the people,” said his daughter Ramona.

Dave Shirkey’s daughter Ramona, standing beside the pit where her father cooked Shenandoah Valley barbecue chicken

Large scale chicken barbecues are a Shenandoah Valley tradition dating back to at least the early 1900s and are tied to the region’s large poultry producing industry. Today, as in Shirkey’s day, many of these cooks are held to fundraise and encourage community engagement.

Shirkey wasn’t the first to hold a Shenandoah Valley barbecue chicken cook. Fellow pitmaster Don Whitmor introduced him to the process originally, enlisting Shirkey to help him with Sunday School barbecues. Nonetheless, Shirkey is the most celebrated innovator of this large scale, slow and low style of chicken cooking in the Shenandoah Valley.

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This is most evident in the popularity of his basting sauce recipe. In addition to his generosity in fundraising, Shirkey was uncommonly gracious with his culinary knowledge. Where many cooks covet recipes as guarded family secrets, Shirkey was never precious with his.

“People would always ask him for his ‘secret recipe’ and his response was always ‘It’s no secret!’ and he would share it with them.” said Angela. Word spread. At ten years old she was gobsmacked to find, in Richmond for a Kenny Rogers show, that groups were advertising ‘Dave Shirkey style barbecue’ in the state capital.

Dave Shirkey’s daughter Ramona holding her father’s recipe that he kept in his breast pocket

A Shenandoah Valley chicken cook is time consuming, taking up to three hours for a single batch. Shirkey volunteered his ingredients and techniques partly because he suspected not everybody had all the time in the world to tinker and finesse just the right formula.

Members of the Shirkey Family in Montezuma, Virginia

“He figured most people don’t have the patience, so he just gave it away,” said Ramona about his famed recipe. Beyond the slow three hour cooking time, Shirkey would contain his chicken with additional sauce and let it steam for up to an hour.

“Low heat, basting, or ‘brushing’, with the sauce frequently, and then steaming it are the three key techniques to what made his chicken so special. It would fall off the bone. He would crack the bone and if it didn’t fall off, then it wasn’t done.” explained Angela.

Shirkey’s family gathering in Montezuma, VA at the location where Dave Shirkey cooked many of his now legendary chicken cooks

Asked how it feels in 2021 for so many to talk about her father and emulate his cooking, a delighted smile filled Ramona’s face. “Surprised!” she exclaims. Turns out Dave Shirkey has left a remarkable legacy throughout the Shenandoah Valley and beyond.