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First of all, I cook BBQ - LOTS of BBQ, and most of it is pulled-pork. I have been asked to cook "Carolina BBQ" for a large gathering and my expertise is Northern Alabama BBQ. So, what I need is for someone to explain the quintessential Carolina pulled-pork experience.
Please don't rely on a web search for your answers, I need input from those who have experienced Carolina BBQ, specifically Northwestern South Carolina pulled-pork. I know the technical details like the dry rub, vinegar dressing, and mustard-based sauce. What I'm looking for is what will make the folks feel like they are truly eating Carolina BBQ?
I'm sure there are some Clemson students/grads and Greenville residents who can put me on the right path.
I find that area of South Carolina bbq is mainly the mustard type sauces from my visits. (I prefer the NC type vinegar sauce) I've been researching bbq quite a bit and am a mere fledgling. But I had bookmarked this site as it is interesting reading. It lets you realize the influences from the history that formed SC bbq. BBQ History | South Carolina Barbeque Association
Please don't rely on a web search for your answers, I need input from those who have experienced Carolina BBQ, specifically Northwestern South Carolina pulled-pork. I know the technical details like the dry rub, vinegar dressing, and mustard-based sauce. What I'm looking for is what will make the folks feel like they are truly eating Carolina BBQ?
I bow to your BBQ prowess, and just wish I could come by for a taste now and then.
OK, purely from memory and with no Googlefu involved, part of what I found so delightful about chowing my way through the Carolinas is that there are so many different styles of 'cue within the area. So there's no such thing as "Carolina Style," because there are several key distinctions just within S. Carolina alone. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that the mustard based sauce is from the Midlands, not from the Piedmont (northwest). I recall having that Carolina Gold sauce in the Columbia area, where I was also scarred for life when I reached into a bowl of peanuts to grab a big handful and they were wet! And cold! Boiled peanuts! Arrrrghhh.
Ennyhoo, please check further, but I think Piedmont "sause" is peppery vinegar. Oh, and the cole slaw is important. Gotta get the slaw right. Vinegar based over there, as I recall. Oh, maybe I should plan another trip and go check this out again. :$
Shootz... first I wake up in the middle of the night and can't sleep so I log in here to divert my mind from the whatevahs... and the OP reminds me of some treasured moments from my past... I've seen that mustard-yellow "Carolina Gold" t-shirt somewhere recently, although I doubt it still fits... and I rip off a half-groggy response and head back to bed. But can I sleep? Nooooooo. Because the thought keeps gnawing at me... what if I was WRONG?
So I get up and do a little search and lookee, lookee what I found... notes from somebody in Pendleton, S.C, on their annual Clemson University Pig Roasts, including recipes for the sauce and the cole slaw... and... (drum roll please)... I was right on both counts. The sauce is basically vinegar and red pepper, and the cole slaw is made with vinegar instead of the mayo they use on the east side of the state.
Still, I suppose it would be friendly like to have some mustard-based sauce available for them as wants it, but the hot vinegar sauce is the authentic one for the northwest part of the state.
OK, trying to go back to sleep now... hmmppff... what's that noise outside? Is that a wild pig rooting around? Nahhh... must be my imagination. OK, sleeping now. Sleeping. Boy, those Congo Squares sounded good too, didn't they? Sleeping. Remember that whole-hog roaster that whats-his-name made out of an old propane tank? Those were good times. Sleeping now... pulled pork on a bun with a scoop of crunchy coleslaw on top... mmmm mmmmm... sleee... zzzzzzzzzzzz
Oh OpenD I did NOT mean that you could have been wrong. Just writing of my experiences. And it could have been very well that my host prefers mustard and took me only to those places.
Now the cole slaw is vinegar based and utterly delicious. And in fact a "carolina" burger regardless of area is burger slathered with slaw.
Sauces are easy to make and fun to experiment with. I like making my own. I haven't experienced any from places other than Texas though. (unless store bought) They vary greatly here as well. I know very little about making pulled pork but, I imagine sauces would represent the real variations in taste
Being from NC and now living in Northern AL as well, I can tell you the styles are similar, but NC que (at least the Eastern region in NC) has a heavy emphasis on a basic red pepper/vinegar sauce, as well as chopping the pork and including lots of the bark. If you don't want to mess with making your own sauce, Star Market has a vinegar sauce made by Blues Hog called Tennessee Red that I have found to be very good and close to the NC style. One bit of advice is to pull your butts into larger chunks and then use a cleaver to chop it up, including lots of the bark.
EDIT: I see you are going for more of a South Carolina mustard theme. There is a rub called "Rub Some Butt" that is heavily mustard/vinegar based and is quite good. I think Lowe's may even carry it now.
One bit of advice is to pull your butts into larger chunks and then use a cleaver to chop it up, including lots of the bark.
Yeah, it's easy to trade rub and "souse" recipes, but some things about regional barbecue styles are a little harder to pin down, like texture of the meat. Fork pulled, knife cut, coarse chopped, fine chopped, I've run across them all. Matter of fact, the first bite of southern barbecue I ever can remember was a sandwich from Bill's Barbecue in Richmond, Va... sadly, closed now, after 75 years... where the pork was minced and sauced, served on a bun, with a small scoop of coleslaw on top and a hot red sauce on the side. But as much as the taste memory lingers, stronger yet is the visual memory of this huge guy behind a chopping block, with a big cleaver in each hand, mincing that pork at high speed. Impressive!
Whole hog or shoulder only, bark on or not, pulled or chopped or minced or just pulled apart with your fingers (at a remarkable Samoan pig roast I attended many years ago), I've never met a 'cue style yet that I couldn't enjoy.
And here I thought Carolina Q, meant someone got some squirrel meat!
(Just a joke, I know that is blasphemy!).
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