On the BBQ Road

What I know about barbecue is shining through in all your comments. I wish that I could answer each one of the postings. Better yet, I wish we were all in one place and we could sit at a long table, eating (BBQ of course!) and drinking and arguing the finer points of low-and-slow cooked meat. That would be a perfect evening.

Reading all the comments was the next best thing; I learned of a few new places and a great new turn of phrase…”we serve everything from the rooter to the tooter!” But most of all, your comments re-affirmed what I know and love about barbecue. It’s like religion and politics. Regardless where you stand, everyone is passionate about it. And, historically, barbecue is closely linked to both religion and politics—especially in the South. The truth is 99.9% of the time, your favorite barbecue is the style that you grew up with. But, that doesn’t mean that the other styles aren’t legit. They all have their merits. I have a friend from the [barbecue] circuit who says that he’d rather eat “bad barbecue” than anything else—meaning even bad barbecue is worth eating—to some!

Because barbecue is such a hot button, I am going to take a blog trip down the barbecue trail in the coming weeks. I don’t promise that it will be exhaustive, but I do promise that it will be tasty. I’ll also take my cues from your comments. This week, I promised that we would delve into North Carolina “pulled pork.” Here are a few musings and a recipe.

First, I have to give a little shout out to Stamey’s. I have many, many favorite places and many BBQ Buddies along the trail. Last week’s response was not a slight to any of them. Wayne Monk’s restaurant is my favorite because of family tradition, but Stamey’s not only has spot-on barbecue but the best Brunswick Stew money can buy. Not as good as my mother’s of course, but the best I’ve ever had that wasn’t made by myself or my mother!

Next, to all those who corrected me and pointed out that the pork in North Carolina is chopped: you are technically correct. Sadly, restaurants can not hand-pull the pork fast enough to make it viable for the business. Even sadder, chopping has become standard. The restaurants even sell it “sliced” or “chopped” and if you read it off the menu, you’d order a “chopped barbecue” plate or sandwich. Of, course that is redundant and if you if you are well versed in the language, you simply order “a plate” or “a sandwich” with hushpuppies on the side.

However, the origins of the pork barbecue are pulled. When barbecue competitors (not restaurants) smoke and serve the pork to their friends and family, it is almost always pulled. And, I agree that the chopping takes away the wonderful texture and integrity of the melt-in-your-mouth barbecued pork.

Pulled pork lovers must unite! We must all take a stand and start a “no more chopping” movement; it is now so accepted that it is becoming a sport, and I have witnessed a few too many testosterone-charged choppers using 2 cleavers at outdoor events—chopping for effect rather than taste!

In the recipe that I am posting, you will note that the instructions have you pulling the pork with two forks. There is just as much theatre in pulling the pork, maybe more! And, if you wait for an audience and pull the bone out [of the cooked pork] in front of your guests, you will get a gasp and an aahhh of the kind usually reserved for David Copperfield.                                                   

The sauce is a ketchup-tinged vinegar sauce similar in style to that used by restaurants like Stamey’s and Lexington #1. This is “western” vinegar sauce as opposed to the sauce used in Eastern North Carolina at places like Wilbur’s and Parker’s and so many other great barbecue joints.

The green cabbage slaw is chopped and macerated in the same ”dip” or vinegar sauce that the pork is dressed in. I think the sandwich is best when the dressed pork is hot and the slaw is cold—so make the slaw the day before you want to eat it. Finally, we have the bun: you must build your sandwich on a classic white hamburger bun. No sesame seeds, no fancy yeast rolls. Sunbeam in North Carolina, but Wonder will do in a pinch. Enough talk, the proof is in the eatin’!

The photograph is of a pulled pork sandwich that I made last weekend in my monthly Southern Barbecue class at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in New York City. It was made by the following recipe and when you close your eyes and take a bite, you just might go to Carolina in your mind—I know I do, complete with the sound effects compliments of Mr. James Taylor!

Enjoy and let me know what your burning barbecue questions or comments are this week.

Elizabeth Karmel’s North Carolina-Style Pulled Pork Sandwich

Grilling Method: Indirect/Low Heat

Hickory wood chips, soaked in water for 30 minutes
1    Bone-in Pork (Shoulder) Butt, Boston Butt, 7 to 9 pounds
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Olive oil
    Lexington-Style BBQ Sauce (see below)
    North Carolina Coleslaw (see below)
1    package plain white hamburger buns (no sesame seeds)

Serves 10

Prepare either a charcoal or gas grill for indirect cooking.
Remove pork from wrapper. Do not trim any excess fat off the meat, this fat will naturally baste the meat and keep it moist during the long cooking time. Brush pork with a thin coating of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside on a clean tray until ready to cook.

Before placing the meat on the grill, add soaked wood chips. Place chips directly on white-gray ash charcoal briquettes or in the smoking box of your gas grill. If using a charcoal grill, you will need to add charcoal every hour to maintain the heat.
Place pork in the center of the cooking grate fat-side up. Cook slowly for 4 to 5 hours at 325?F, or until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the middle of the pork registers 190?F-200?F. The meat should be very tender and ready to be pulled apart. If there is a bone in the meat, it should come out smooth and clean with no meat clinging to it. (This is the real test for doneness on the barbecue circuit.) Remember, there is no need to turn the meat during the entire cooking time.

Let meat rest for 20 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Using rubber food-service gloves, pull meat from the skin, bones and fat. Set aside any crispy bits (fat) that has been completely rendered and looks almost burned. Working quickly, shred the chunks of meat with two forks by crossing the forks and “pulling” the meat into small pieces from the roast. [If you must, you can chop the meat with a cleaver if you prefer—but then you have “chopped” pork bbq, not pulled pork.] Chop the reserved crispy bits and mix into the pulled pork. While the meat is still warm, mix with enough Lexington-Style BBQ Sauce (recipe follows) to moisten and season the meat, about ¾-1 ¼ cups, depending on the meat. The recipe can be made in advance up to this point and reheated with about ¼ cup additional sauce in a double boiler or in a covered pan in a 250°F oven.

Serve sandwich style on a white hamburger bun and top with North Carolina Coleslaw (recipe follows). Serve additional sauce on the side, if desired.

Lexington-Style Vinegar Sauce
To dress both the pulled pork and the slaw, double the recipe.

Lexington-Style BBQ Sauce:

2    cups cider vinegar
1    tablespoon kosher salt
1    tablespoon ground white pepper
½-1    tablespoon red pepper flakes (the more flakes, the hotter the sauce*)
2    tablespoons white sugar
¼    cup brown sugar
½    teaspoon black pepper
½    cup ketchup

Mix all ingredients together and let sit at least 10 minutes or almost indefinitely in the refrigerator. (*Note, the longer the sauce sits, the hotter it gets since the heat from the red pepper flakes is brought out by the vinegar. Start with ½ tablespoon red pepper flakes and then add more to taste. )

North Carolina Coleslaw:

1     recipe BBQ sauce
1    medium head green cabbage, chopped

Mix sauce and cabbage together until well mixed and not quite wet. Refrigerate. Let sit 2 hours or overnight.

Recipe adapted from Taming the Flame: Secrets for Hot-and-Quick and Low-and-Slow BBQ

Comments

[J.bo on March 13, 2008 at 12:12 PM]

Nothing like good hickory smoked barbecue. I do a lot of it myself, as is evident at my little BBQ site.

[Jeffersonian on March 13, 2008 at 12:31 PM]

I have to say that, at 325*F, you're not barbecuing that butt, you're grilling it. A butt that size should be done at around 250*, where it will generally take 1-1/2 to 2 hours per pound...11-14 hours. Then again, I'm a member of the Big Green Egg Cult, where we're either doing low-n-slow or hitting ribeyes with 800*F sears.

[George Smith on March 13, 2008 at 03:00 PM]

When you get to Kansas City, I'll buy you some actual BBQ.

[Pat on March 13, 2008 at 03:36 PM]

The center of the BBQ universe is Kansas City. All other forms, mutations and varieties are mere attempts at the throne.

[SGT Ted on March 13, 2008 at 04:30 PM]

You KC cultists need to get out more.

[kristinasnc on March 14, 2008 at 08:53 AM]

Thanks for the shout out to Stameys! As a native North Carolinean, who has been living in Seattle for some time, I can honestly say that two of the biggest things I miss about being in the south are sweet tea and *good* BBQ Pork!

[Dshoe on March 15, 2008 at 08:19 AM]

SGT Ted is absolutely correct. But I'm a NC native, so I'm partial. There is good Eastern NC style at Bubba's in Charlotte, but still believe Parker's is tops.

[Debbie Hernandez on March 16, 2008 at 03:17 AM]

I have purchased the book, Bill Cosby Is Right: Silent Genocide by John A. Maxwell and realized the importance of Bill Cosby and other great leaders who are not afraid to speak up in the African American community. Black people are so fortunate to have so many great individuals who speak the truth about their heritage and their possibilities. You are truly your worst enemy. The more you all step back, the more that you’ll realized the opportunities you have to reach greatness for yourself and those around you.