Two popular barbecue cooks in the Carolinas are competing on national television.

The cookoff between Charleston caterer Jimmy Hagood and Ed Mitchell of The Pit restaurant in Raleigh is scheduled to appear on NBC's "Today" show on Monday.

Mitchell tells the Charlotte Observer he will be cooking a whole hog at 450 degrees, departing from most professional chefs who prefer barbecue cooked below 225 degrees. Hagood will cook whole shoulders over charcoal and pecan wood at 210 degrees.

Both cooks use dipping sauces. Mitchell uses an eastern North Carolina vinegar and red pepper sauce, and Hagood will serve three different sauces - a vinegar, a tomato and a mustard.

The chefs are friends who have cooked the last two years at a benefit event for Madison Square Park in New York City.