Eastern NC BBQ vs. Western NC BBQ

[bbinacan]

Here in NC, barbecue means one thing. PORK. Barbecue is not a verb (as in we're going to barbecue) it is a noun. It is the pig pickin'.

The battle in NC is about the two styles. West=tomato based thick sauce while East=vinegar and red pepper lighter sauce.

Eastern style rules.

The SC mustard based sauce is just nasty.



What are your thoughts?

[ncrainbowgrrl]

1. 1 vote right here for Eastern NC Barbecue

:hi:

Ok, I'm really wanting some of that barbecue now. That looks SO good.

[bbinacan]

11. If you can't get

barbecue at a pig pickin' or a good restaurant, try the Lancaster brand. They are in Garner, NC and their pork can be found at Food Lion. When my parents visit from KC, they always take back several pounds with them.

[yellowdogintexas]

26. devoted addict to the East NC vinegar/hot sauce. Grew up on

that style, but not in NC...Kentucky, actually.

[hobo_baggins]

2. I gotta rep the east...i love my vinegar

[DS1]

3. I don't like anything that involves "Barbeque sauce"

I don't like my meats mixed with sugars, and BBQ sauce has a lot of it.

I like my barbequed foods seared, spiced with simple things like salt, pepper, cayenne, and garlic. Throw something light on top after cooking and you have a winner. That thick brown stuff just ruins it for me.

In fact, I prefer my steak with mustard over BBQ sauce.

[bbinacan]

5. Steak is not BBQ

only pork is.

[LostinVA]

7. Specifically pork shoulders -- slow cooked.... yum

[bbinacan]

13. Don't you find it strange

that a pork shoulder is sold as a "butt"?

[LostinVA]

19. I do, and when I was a kid, it freaked me out!

[bbinacan]

34. LOL

[yellowdogintexas]

27. damn straight. You tell somebody in my old stomping grounds

you are serving barbecue and they will just ask whose pit it came from, they know it is pork.

[yellowdogintexas]

28. Steak is cooking on the grill. chicken is cooking on the grill

brisket is something they do westof the Mississippi river (where I now live actually). Ribs are...Ribs.

barbecue is PORK

[LostinVA]

6. That's because you've never had NC BBQ

Either East or Lexington-style.... yummo, as the ever-more-annoying Rachael Ray would say. This is NOT what you consider BBQ sauce, trust me. I grew up in NJ, lived in NC for 17 years... I've seen both sides....

[LostinVA]

4. Lexington-style, hand's down, no arguments -- Stamey's in Greensboro

[bbinacan]

8. Both are great

I'll take western in a pinch, but I love the eastern.

[LostinVA]

9. Both are way better than VA, Kentucky, or Texas Q

I mean, come on... BEEF BBQ? Ha!

[bbinacan]

10. You've got that right. n/t

[yellowdogintexas]

29. not everyone in KY does beef, please! I never heard of beef

barbecue until I went to college in Owensboro KY ...I grew up right down on the state line 8 miles from Tennessee...down there, it is PORK>


in the Owensboro/Henderson/Evansville (Indiana) area they even barbecue mutton! There used to be a place just a couple of blocks off campus that advertised they would smoke anything you brought them, no questions asked.

coon
wild turkey
deer, etc.

mutton ewww
and the sauce was sweet and thick and way too tomatoey. bleeech

The only thing I could ever really enjoy from those places was chicken. It is very hard to ruin a good smoke cooked chicken.

[Benfea]

12. I *hate* tomato-based BBQ sauces. -NT

[Ellen Forradalom]

14. Vinegar and pepper style

I'll have the pulled-pork sandwich please. With mac & cheese on the side.

[noshenanigans]

15. Boo, Western is where its at!

I was raised in the Piedmont/Foothills, man. I feel very truly and deeply that our style is better. That feeling resides on the same brainwave as my UNC alum "Duke sucks" certainty.

[LostinVA]

20. Word!

[bbinacan]

36. As a fellow UNC Alum

I totally agree with the certainty of "Dook Sucks" but Eastern is much better than Western. IMHO.

[solinvictus]

16. Neither..

Damn Carolina Yankees! (I'm in Alabama) ;)

[leftofthedial]

17. Memphis

hands down

[LostinVA]

21. giggle

[Lefty48197]

18. C'mon quit holding out on the recipes!

Here's mine for baby back ribs:

First, tear off the membrane/sinew on the underside of the slab. It's easier to grab with a piece of paper towel. Peel it off. Your ribs will be much better without it.

Then I'll rub both sides with a little olive oil just to get them wet, then I'll lightly sprinkle on garlic powder and then go heavy on the fresh ground black pepper. Those two ingredients are the main ingredients for every piece of meat I cook. Beef, pork, chicken, even fish.

I might also add a seasoned pepper blend. Maybe a hot one, maybe a milder one. Probably onion powder too. Allspice and hot pepper if you want that "Jamaican Jerk" flavor.

Light one side of the grill, and put the ribs on the other, bone side down. Cook for about three hours, maybe 2 1/2. If you cook them any faster than that, then you've used too much heat and the ribs will suffer considerably. The key is to sloooooow cook them. I usually leave them on bone side down for an hour or more before flipping them. Then I pretty much rotate them every few minutes until they're done. They're done when you can bend the slab and break it easily.

I do like to add a light coating of red BBQ sauce when the ribs are done, and then I only leave them on long enough to warm the sauce.

[LostinVA]

22. OMG! RIBS???? That's not real barbeque!

In NC, it's a noun, not a verb!

[Lefty48197]

32. My ribs are great anywhere.

I'm sure I could convert the entire state of NC.

[LostinVA]

37. No, they would love them as ribs, but they aren't what NCers

call barbecue. That will never, never happen. You'll have a better chance of getting the Pope to officiate a Black Mass.

[supernova]

23. Hey, now I want 'Q and slaw for breakfast!

:9 Instead of the bacon and eggs that I'm really having. :-(

edit: Oh, Eastern, of course! :9

[yellowdogintexas]

30. SLAW ON THE SANDWICH!!!!!

of course.

I may have to brave the sleet for a trip to Red Hot and Blue (the closest I can come to the real thing) ..

HINT> their pulled pork is pretty good, and if you ask for it they will make your sandwich without added sauce and bring you VooDooChile sauce to the table. That is their vinegar sauce. ALMOST like a trip home .... and definitely as good as I can get in Texas.

[Lost4words]

24. Eastern Style for me, I'm looking for a good recipe.

anybody got one? For the sauce that is,.... I have the pork down.

I have heard it called lexington style also!

[supernova]

31. Here's one from all recipes.com

* 1 cup white vinegar
* 1 cup cider vinegar
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
* 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™), or to taste
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground black pepper


This person uses cayenne, I''ve seen more read pepper flakes myself. But,yeah, gotta have the hot sauce.

[bbinacan]

35. Lexington is

the western style.

[Guava Jelly]

25. Kansas has them both whipped

we are excellent at barbq and bigotry here in ks

[Blue_Tires]

33. another vote for KC

[Dervill Crow]

38. East, hands down.

The way my mama made it. Mmmmmm-mmmmmm!