Eastern North Carolina Barbecue Sauce Recipe

[bwram1]

That's because Parker's doesn't have really good sauce. I hope you traveled a bit further to Williamston and other Eastern NC towns where there are small cue-masters who have won followings.

(Originally from Raleigh and traveled NC extensively - all 100 counties - back in the early '60s.)

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Said it before...Say it again...Parker's had some incredible fried chicken! :clap2:

Hunters Chicken and Waffles in Morganton has them beat, but not by much.

 

[lantern]

Like I said, I love these threads. Also, glad you boys got that Asheville thing cleared up. LOL!




I'm gonna make a personal statement. IMO, what we are talking about is different NC BBQ SAUCES. Not to be confused with NC BBQ. To me, NC style BBQ is cooked either whole shoulder(could be the butt as well I reckon) or half/whole hog OVER DIRECT COALS. It's chopped and THEN the previously mentioned sauces come into play. Serving the bbq is either on a paper tray or in a sammich. I prefer pickle and slaw on mine.

Anything else is BBQ with a NC style sauce applied and is not NC style BBQ.:becky:




EDIT: Apparently I need to try this dang chicken in Morganton!

 

[captndan]

1. There is a lot of heresy going on in this thread that I will ignore...for now.

2. Here is the ENC sauce I use (but I prefer Lexington style)

Eastern NC BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

• • 2 cups cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon ground white pepper
  • 1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes (or up to 1 tablespoon, if you like hotter sauce)
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarsely-ground black pepper

Instructions

• 1. Mix all ingredients together and let sit 10 minutes. Add to chopped barbecue when hot to season the meat and keep it from drying out.

Lexington Style NC BBQ Sauce
Ingredients

• • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup ketchup
  • 1 Tbs sugar
  • 3/4 tsp table salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Instructions

• 1. Whisk together all ingredients until sugar and salt are dissolved.
  2. Pull pork into thin shreds and toss with half of the sauce. Save the remaining sauce to serve at the table. Makes about 2 cups.

I seldom read this section but when I saw the ENC sauce I couldn't resist.
To be clear I learned how to cook pulled pork from the older pitmasters in Eastern North Carolina. A sauce is used to finish the pork. The true flavor comes from the rub and how it's cooked. That means oak or hickory. BTW east and west is divided by I-95. The above sauce recipies are as good as it gets.
A

 

[bwram1]

Like I said, I love these threads. Also, glad you boys got that Asheville thing cleared up. LOL!




I'm gonna make a personal statement. IMO, what we are talking about is different NC BBQ SAUCES. Not to be confused with NC BBQ. To me, NC style BBQ is cooked either whole shoulder(could be the butt as well I reckon) or half/whole hog OVER DIRECT COALS. It's chopped and THEN the previously mentioned sauces come into play. Serving the bbq is either on a paper tray or in a sammich. I prefer pickle and slaw on mine.

Anything else is BBQ with a NC style sauce applied and is not NC style BBQ.:becky:




EDIT: Apparently I need to try this dang chicken in Morganton!

Haven't eaten their chicken in a while...Since apparently doc wasn't happy about my cholesterol levels.:wacko:. But it was the best I'd had since my grandmother used to fry it in a big cast iron pot she had back in the day.

Side note...Do you know Ricky Smith from Marion? And a big guy named Morris...Not sure of a last name there. They had a BBQ truck in Marion and had opened a Fat Boyz BBQ up here in Morganton...Q was pretty good and their house sauce was great but they recently closed their doors. Ricky told me they are discussing their options...New location etc.

 

[jfletcherMD]

So, just where exactly does that fracture line occur? Is Raleigh Eastern or Western?

Be careful, Coopers BBQ in Raleigh might be offended.

What about Durham?

With all due respect to capndan, I'd say that while I-95 might have been the "border" in between the Eastern and Piedmont Styles at one point, nowadays the RDU metro area is probably more accurately defined as the dividing line. You can find places in the Triangle that serve Eastern style, and joints that serve Piedmont Style. Any further west, and you're definitely into "Piedmont style" territory, but there are plenty of restaurants (not to mention community service events/organizations/churches/etc) in Nash and Eastern Wake Counties that serve up Eastern Style barbecue!

Heck, The Pit restaurant (which has locations in Raleigh and Durham, and was opened with Ed Mitchell - a legendary Eastern Pit Man - as its primary cook) serves BOTH Eastern and Piedmont Style 'cue! :shock:

And yes, Lantern - NC Barbecue is SOOOO much more than just a type of sauce (or the ingredients therein!) :thumb:

Looks like we've created something of a monster on this board! :laugh: In all seriousness, though, I love that it's generated so much discussion and...*ahem*..enthusiasm. :biggrin:

 

[12ring]

Thanks for the recipes.

 

[bwram1]

All i can say is...y'all down east, jfletcher etc, can keep the thin vinegar stuff. I'll stick to the western tomato based goodness. Some stuff I tried out in Rocky Mount, Wilson and a couple of other places was like consuming straight vinegar.

 

[Cook]

All i can say is...y'all down east, jfletcher etc, can keep the thin vinegar stuff. I'll stick to the western tomato based goodness. Some stuff I tried out in Rocky Mount, Wilson and a couple of other places was like consuming straight vinegar.

Which is exactly why you don't consume the stuff by itself...or in quantity.

As someone said previously in this thread, barbecue sauce in NC is a finishing sauce...or more appropriately put, a seasoning.

You mix it in with your chopped pork...and if done properly, no more is needed when consuming the final product.

The biggest mistake made by folks from outside NC is that they have a tendency to add too much sauce to their meat. I always figure that most folks are used to "seeing" a thick sauce sit on top of their meat. When they pour on some NC sauce (East or Lex) it disappears...so they add more...thinking they need it.

At that point their perfectly prepared barbecue is ruined...and then they go on to blame the sauce & purport that it's the most vile thing on earth.

:doh:

It's all in understanding our sauce's purpose & use. Unfortunately, we can't train everyone who picks up a fork or a sandwich and starts to eat.

But in short...remember...it's a seasoning, not a sauce.

Oh...and that shirt...I'm from right between the N & E in "vinegar", and about a full letter south of the print.

 

[bwram1]

Which is exactly why you don't consume the stuff by itself...or in quantity.

As someone said previously in this thread, barbecue sauce in NC is a finishing sauce...or more appropriately put, a seasoning.

You mix it in with your chopped pork...and if done properly, no more is needed when consuming the final product.

The biggest mistake made by folks from outside NC is that they have a tendency to add too much sauce to their meat. I always figure that most folks are used to "seeing" a thick sauce sit on top of their meat. When they pour on some NC sauce (East or Lex) it disappears...so they add more...thinking they need it.

At that point their perfectly prepared barbecue is ruined...and then they go on to blame the sauce & purport that it's the most vile thing on earth.

:doh:

It's all in understanding our sauce's purpose & use. Unfortunately, we can't train everyone who picks up a fork or a sandwich and starts to eat.

But in short...remember...it's a seasoning, not a sauce.

Oh...and that shirt...I'm from right between the N & E in "vinegar", and about a full letter south of the print.

This was in restaurants where the Q came to the table already finished in the sauce. It tasted as thought they had doused it with straight vinegar with no added salt, pepper of any kind etc. Happened at Parker's in Wilson and at Smithfield's and Gardner's in Rocky Mount. I haven't tried any vinegar based sauces since then...Kinda turned me off to it. Maybe those aren't the best places down east, but with me it was 3 strikes and vinegar was out.

 

[Cook]

Well Smithfield's is fast food...and they use too much sauce...agreed.

Parkers, they have a tendancy to use too much sauce as well...chick is great!

The common thing between those two, and numerous other places, is they use gas. To give any flavor they have to add sauce...hence the tendency to over compensate.

The places that cook over coals in the traditional manner tend to use the sauce as designed...as a seasoning, and most importantly, they use it sparingly.

Sorry you chose two examples that really aren't shining stars.

 

[lantern]

Does anybody else feel like I do? And that is that NC BBQ and central Texas BBQ are identical in methodology except for the meats in question? As a matter of fact, there's even a German influence for BOTH in regards to variations as you move outwards from the epicenters of both originations.




Soooo.... in my mind BBQ starts in NC/SC and changes across the country just to wind up with exactly the same method in Texas. Everybody else is just picking their favorite method or the most convenient method for them.

 

[jasonjax]

This thread reminded me of one of my favorite BBQ establishments of all-time, and the first one to make me like vinegar based sauce.

Bill Spoon's in Charlotte. Man the was some divine swine.

 

[Cook]

Does anybody else feel like I do? And that is that NC BBQ and central Texas BBQ are identical in methodology except for the meats in question? As a matter of fact, there's even a German influence for BOTH in regards to variations as you move outwards from the epicenters of both originations.




Soooo.... in my mind BBQ starts in NC/SC and changes across the country just to wind up with exactly the same method in Texas. Everybody else is just picking their favorite method or the most convenient method for them.

If you're talking about old-traditional barbecue in TX, like at the Salt Lick, then yes. Cooking directly over live coals is the bee's knees. But you generally see new-traditional in TX...big offset smokers that are far from the old-traditional methods. Both produce great results, but they are vastly different in methodology.

I agree though, that given the choice...I'd prefer NC & TX barbecue over the remainder of the country. Just something about tradition & not covering up the meat taste with other "stuff".

 

[Pstores]

I like Wee Willy's South Carolina gold for my butts and chicken. Would love a nice mustard recipe to maybe build off of. Not a real fan of BBQ sauce on BBQ. But sometimes cook or marinade with it.

 

[lantern]

If you're talking about old-traditional barbecue in TX, like at the Salt Lick, then yes. Cooking directly over live coals is the bee's knees. But you generally see new-traditional in TX...big offset smokers that are far from the old-traditional methods. Both produce great results, but they are vastly different in methodology.

I agree though, that given the choice...I'd prefer NC & TX barbecue over the remainder of the country. Just something about tradition & not covering up the meat taste with other "stuff".

That's exactly what I meant. Brick pits with coals underneath. From Eastern NC to Lexington and then all the way out to Lockhart TX. That particular flavor cannot be replicated in an offset smoker or any other kind of smoker for that matter. That doesn't mean the other style sucks.....it just means it's different. And I am HAPPY that it is different.

 

[Cook]

That's exactly what I meant. Brick pits with coals underneath. From Eastern NC to Lexington and then all the way out to Lockhart TX. That particular flavor cannot be replicated in an offset smoker or any other kind of smoker for that matter. That doesn't mean the other style sucks.....it just means it's different. And I am HAPPY that it is different.

Dude, we're sitting in the same boat...fishing, smiling, & eating the bbq sandwich of your choice.

Never will I say, or believe for that matter, that other styles of bbq aren't up to par. I may be from NC...we may fight in-state about who's sauce is best...but I'm not a barbecue snob. I like it no matter where it's from. There are just different ways to the end product.

It's just something most bbq folks don't understand because they haven't been exposed to it. Not all bbq is about wood smoke & indirect heat. There's another whole "flavor profile" (see...I even used a modern bbq term) that you get by cooking direct. You still get that light wood smoke, but the smoke generated by dripping meat fat on hot coals is something that is hard to replicate.

The UDS guys probably get the closest in replicating the flavor of traditional coal pits...so long as they don't go too crazy with diffusers and cover all the coals.

I often remove the water pan from my WSM in order to cook direct. The temp will get out of control if you're not careful...but I'm good at higher temps, and it doesn't scare me until we start getting above 350.

All barbecue is good, so long as it's cooked well. But techniques are often times what makes barbecue special.