USA Today on North Carolina BBQ

For those who love North Carolina BBQ:

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-06-07-carolina-barbecue-trail_N.htm

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Good article Paul. I love NC BBQ and would love to do that trail some day!

quote:

Originally posted by Sundancer7

For those who love North Carolina BBQ:

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-06-07-carolina-barbecue-trail_N.htm

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Be sure to watch the 9 minute video when you go to this link.

Here is the link to all the pits. Jim Early did a great job on this.
http://www.ncbbqsociety.com/trail_map.html

It is a excellent article on NC bbq!

great find. thanks for sharing the article.

quote:

Originally posted by lleechef

Good article Paul. I love NC BBQ and would love to do that trail some day!

When I was living in McLean, VA a client brought us some Wilbur's 'cue and a bottle of Scott's Sauce from Goldsboro. I was "hooked" immediately and I ordered more from the info on Scott's bottle.

We live in Dallas now and love the local brisket (Sonny Bryan's, Peggy Sue's, Baker's, McCutchen's), but my favorite even in Dallas is pulled pork, chopped, "hold the sauce". I whip out my bottle of Scott's and I'm back in 'cue heaven.

www.scottsbarbecuesauce.com

My wife uses it at home with chicken, making a reduction both to season breast and as the base for hellfire gravy.

That was a fun video to watch-love the eastern styly bbq!

You know, even though a woman in the USA Today article says that wherever you are from is what you prefer, I have to disagree. When I finally got to taste that East Carolina bbq with that very vinegary sauce, I was absolutely blown away and even as I write this, I dream of getting back there to eat it again. I think most of us on this site enjoy the pleasures of where we're traveling to much more than we are "locked in" the the particular flavors/techniques of where we are.

I do miss eastern style que.


That said, I think I'm going to make the hop down to give Herb's in Madison a try this weekend. It's only about 3.5 hours from here so it's like a lunch run.

Scotts -- it's good stuff.

My husband is from Jackson, NC, next door to the military base. He visited up there 2-3 yrs ago & brought back some of the eastern vinegar-no-tomato BBQ-absolutely delicious! The only BBQ I haven't cared for is the Kansas City-style (no slam intended, just a matter of personal taste buds). And, in spite of the prospect of yet another misunderstanding, the only vegetables that belong with BBQ are potatoes and beans (again, personal taste buds)!

Dudley is a hop, skip and a jump up the road.....
Makes me want to take a road trip..
But first, gotta get to Raines place in Charlotte......

Dudley is a hop, skip and a jump up the road.....
Makes me want to take a road trip..
But first, gotta get to Raines place in Charlotte......

Is the BBQ in Lexington, NC different than the Eastern part of the state? We went to Lexington BBQ #1 on Saturday and truthfully it tasted like roast pork to me, now I don't have anything against roast pork but it just wasn't what I expected. I'm always looking to try BBQ whenever we go somewhere but if the Eastern NC BBQ is the same as the Lexington area don't think I'll care for it.

Yes, it is different and, imo, not as good. I know many believe the sun rises and sets on Lexington que but I think they have just done a better job branding the town/product.

Eastern que tends to be whole hog (as opposed to picnics/butts in the west) and has a little more bite to go with the smoke from a thin vinegar/sugar/crushed red pepper that is often served along side or mixed with the meat. Plus, the overall texture of the eastern is better and doesn't tend to be as dry as western.

Also, I'm not a fan of the slaw served with western que, preferring the mayo based slaw with onion as is usually served in the east.

That said, I'm on a quest to find some good que places in the west and just completed a road trip to try out 5 different places. The review is in the trip reports area.

quote:

Originally posted by ces1948

Is the BBQ in Lexington, NC different than the Eastern part of the state? We went to Lexington BBQ #1 on Saturday and truthfully it tasted like roast pork to me, now I don't have anything against roast pork but it just wasn't what I expected. I'm always looking to try BBQ whenever we go somewhere but if the Eastern NC BBQ is the same as the Lexington area don't think I'll care for it.

Not sure quite what you mean as roast pork, to me, is a dish that is sliced like turkey or roast beef, whereas NC BBQ, whether in Lexington or the Eastern part of the state is either minced, shredded (pulled) or chunked (sliced). Roast Pork is not slow-cooked, so it can be quite a bit tougher than BBQ.

I find the BBQ that comes out of Lexington #1 to be very smokey in its flavor profile, which is not something I associate with roast pork, either.

Out of curiosity, did you ask for your BBQ to be served "outside brown?" At Lexington #1, among other places in that part of the state, that makes all the difference as you get some of the burnt ends chopped in, adding a nice textural contrast to the more tender inside cuts of the meat.

I did order the coarse chopped with outside meat and I did not taste much smoke in the meat, my wife had the sliced and mine did have more flavor than hers. Here's a quote from an article describing the method of cooking in the area and if this is accurate it doesn't seem as though you would get a lot of smoke flavor. This article is from the following page:
http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave/bbquest1.asp

We met with Stephanie Saintsing-Gryder, the organizer of Lexington’s Barbecue Festival at Barbecue Center, and the owner, Cecil Conrad, gave us a lesson of how they cook ‘cue in the western part of the state. He lightly salts 15-pound pork shoulders, using no rub and no basting, and then the shoulders are placed on metal racks in the pit and are cooked over hickory coals (some use oak) shoveled from a burning chamber (see above) into the pit, below the shoulders. With this method, there is virtually no smoke, and the shoulders are cooked at 375 to 400 degrees.

I'm no pitmaster but that article sounds a bit different from my experience at NC pig pickin's.

While it is true that the coals are placed under the pig after the wood has burned off, the temperature sounds high, as the pig cooks for a lengthy period and plenty of smoke from the coals is generated. With a temperature at 375-400, I think you would have a charred pig that was raw on the inside.

Also, there is typically a mop for basting, in my experience.

Again, I am translating my experience at pig pickens to a commercial establishment, so I may be way off base.

Agreed, Brentk. Seems really surprising that a pig would cook at that temp, but maybe with something that big, you can "slow cook" it as much as you could, say, a shoulder.