Carolina Pulled Pork


 
Jason Paul said:
Thanks for the update. It's nice to hear more about "the rest of the story".

I missed this thread when you started it. Interesting comments about sugar in rubs for pork butts. I've noticed that a lot of butt rub recipes seem to have a lot of sugar in them (compared to brisket rubs), at least just in my limited experience and observations. But comments here sound like less sugar might be better.

Did you use a rub on these recent cooks, or just salt & pepper, or nothing?

Thanks,
Jason
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You're welcome, Jason.

I used no rub at all - not even salt & pepper.

When I get my smokey flavor just right, I'll experiment with rubs a bit more, but until then, I'm sticking with the basics, although I may try a bit of salt & pepper one time soon.

I guess I'm just used to pit-cooked-pork cooked Carolina style. Sounds like something they do in Texas with beef?
 
ChadVKealey said:
I've been to or through NC a bunch of times, but the only place I've ever had real pulled pork was at Moore's Old Tyme Barbecue in New Bern (not far from Camp Lejeune). It was good...damn good, but I don't recall it being any more smokey than what I cook at home. I usually use 4-6 chunks of wood: always half apple and the other half either hickory or cherry (whichever I have on hand). By weight, I probably use about 1/2 pound worth of wood. Also, I usually put the wood on top of the heap (using the tin can minion method).

One thing I've noticed myself, though, is that if I mix in any sauce (vinegar or tomato-based) after shredding, it seems to cancel out some of the smoke flavor. This can help balance it out, but I've gotten to the point where I use only the juices collected in the foil/resting phase to re-hydrate/moisten as needed and leave the sauce out of the equation.

-Chad
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I do like my sauce(s), but I never thought about saving the juices for rehydrating. I'll have to remember that.

Never been that far east yet. The best in the west is probably Bridges in Shelby.
 
I use a lot of wood during my smokes; never worried about using too much. Back in the day they didn't have charcoal brickets; just wood. I love the smell of wood smoke
 
Rusty, I have never been to Bridges, how about Woodlands in Boone/Blowing Rock, or Gary's in China Grove? These are probably the only two places I would order BBQ from since I started making my own. They (IMO) still hold true to the smoky BBQ taste I love.
Tim
 
Rusty James said:
You're welcome, Jason.

I used no rub at all - not even salt & pepper.

When I get my smokey flavor just right, I'll experiment with rubs a bit more, but until then, I'm sticking with the basics, although I may try a bit of salt & pepper one time soon.

I guess I'm just used to pit-cooked-pork cooked Carolina style. Sounds like something they do in Texas with beef?
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Interesting - I wouldn't even think to try it with no seasoning at all, just relying on the smoke for flavor. Curious to find out of you just need more chunks to get more smoke, or if you just need a different kind of wood. I'm all new to this.

As far as beef in TX, yes, it seems most of the well-known BBQ places are known for using large pits and/or wood burners. But honestly, I really don't know much about BBQ, as I'm just getting into it. Never really even eaten it very often - and not really from any of the "best" places, even though I'm kind of in the heart of it. :)

I'm in Central Texas, so some of the best BBQ in the state is probably less than an hour away. I'm about ready to start getting out and trying some of these places.

Thanks,
Jason
 
Tim K said:
Rusty, I have never been to Bridges, how about Woodlands in Boone/Blowing Rock, or Gary's in China Grove? These are probably the only two places I would order BBQ from since I started making my own. They (IMO) still hold true to the smoky BBQ taste I love.
Tim
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Never been to either, Tim. I have ate at the Lexington BBQ a time or two, and there is a place near NC 801 and US 601 south of Mocksville called the Red Pig that used to be pretty good, although I've heard that it has fell off of late. I may try it on my next trip to Winston-Salem.
 
Are you using a finishing sauce on your meat? After I pull the butts I sauce them with equal parts apple juice and vinegar sauce. Maybe 3/4 cup to a butt. You don't want to saturate it, just enough to moisten it a little. It really helps to pull out that smokey flavor. Also the meat is better the next day after being refrigerated. I find the best way to reheat is in a covered dish in the oven at 275 F. Mix it around every so often
 
Rusty James said:
I do like my sauce(s), but I never thought about saving the juices for rehydrating. I'll have to remember that.

Never been that far east yet. The best in the west is probably Bridges in Shelby.
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I you do use the leftover juices, make sure you use a fat separator. You can then use that straight up or in a finishing sauce like some other have mentioned.
 
Rusty - I spent a good 14 or so years of my life living in Central and Eastern NC and eating Eastern NC BBQ. I'm no pro, but I can tell you, some of the best places down east don't do a whole lot to the meat before it is smoked. They do not primarily use intricate rubs with 10+ spice ingredients, rub with mustard or something else wet, etc. I know there are many that don't use any seasoning at all before the smoke.

I think you'll find some mop while cooking, some do not, some use sauce (vinegar based!), some leave it up to the customer and have it on the table for you. You will usually find a bottle of homemade vinegar sauce (ACV, S&P, Red Pepper Flake), salt, pepper and a bottle of texas pete (made in NC) hot sauce.

I have seen some use a "rub" on the chopping table, seasoning the meat while they are pulling and chopping and getting ready to serve. Some also add some sauce here for moisture.

I'd say the one constant that you will find is that Hickory wood is what they use almost exclusively. The only place I know of that deviates from this would be B's BBQ in Greenville (legendary) which only uses charcoal. A hard thing to replicate as someone said earlier - a lot of these guys (and gals!) are building fires with their hickory wood, and shoveling the hot coals into their pits.

I will say this, it is true that a lot of people do use huge propane pig cookers to roast a whole hog say for a party/ pig pickin or football game - but I'm not sure of any BBQ joints that I have been to down east that do.
 
Garry W. said:
Are you using a finishing sauce on your meat? After I pull the butts I sauce them with equal parts apple juice and vinegar sauce. Maybe 3/4 cup to a butt. You don't want to saturate it, just enough to moisten it a little. It really helps to pull out that smokey flavor. Also the meat is better the next day after being refrigerated. I find the best way to reheat is in a covered dish in the oven at 275 F. Mix it around every so often
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Sorry, Gary. I forgot to back with you.

No, I haven't tried a finishing sauce, and I'm not sure if they even use such a thing in these parts, but it's worth investigating.
 
Mike Pypiak said:
I'd say the one constant that you will find is that Hickory wood is what they use almost exclusively. The only place I know of that deviates from this would be B's BBQ in Greenville (legendary) which only uses charcoal. A hard thing to replicate as someone said earlier - a lot of these guys (and gals!) are building fires with their hickory wood, and shoveling the hot coals into their pits.
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I have seriously thought about burning some hickory down to coals and shoveling them into the WSM. I hear cooking with coals is becoming a lost art.
 
Rusty James said:
I have seriously thought about burning some hickory down to coals and shoveling them into the WSM. I hear cooking with coals is becoming a lost art.
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You could probably take out the water pan and use lump charcoal and get pretty close to the same thing other than maybe the actual hickory taste.
 
If you have a bunch of Hickory you could try making your own lump:http://www.nakedwhiz.com/makinglump.htm
I used to burn down wood to coals on my old offset using a collapsed kettle as a burn pit. It was worth it cause the offset was a pig on fuel.
I like your idea, keep us posted on how it works!

Tim
 
OK, I smoked a picnic a few days ago, and this time, I placed 3 (maybe 4) large chunks of naturally seasoned hickory on the fire grate before adding my usual Royal Oak lump. I also placed two pre-chared chunks on the top of the pile and used the Minion method to smoke with. That arrangement worked great, and I neither smelled, nor saw, any creosote smoke. There was some smoke, but it was from the lump itself, and it didn't take long to dissipate.

Later in the day, I added two more chunks of hickory and buried them under the remainder of the lump charcoal (left over in the bag). Unfortunately, the two chunks began to belch creosote, and I had to remove the stack and place the lid directly on the fire bowl until the white smoke dissipated. To keep the food in the stack warm, I covered it with the lid from my 18" kettle grill (worked great for that purpose!).

I thought this picnic was the best effort I've made yet at obtaining true Carolina-style hickory flavor BBQ, but next time, I am going to add an extra hickory chunk or two on the bare grate and see how that does - although, if I want to add more wood to the top of the pile, I guess I need to char them in first in the chimney until the white smoke goes away. Maybe this wood isn't fully seasoned yet?

Overall, I was pleased at the outcome.
 
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Excellent article, Tim.

It mentions how the differences in wood flavor vary from state to state due to differences in the soil. I hear some of the members, here, saying that they don't like a lot of hickory flavor on pork, so I am wondering if southeastern hickory tastes different than hickory grown elsewhere. We relish pure hickory flavor for the most part.


The author of the article also mentions how he burns wood in a chimney sitting in a wheelbarrow, and then he scoops the coals onto the fire pit. Never tried that yet.
 
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Gonna try it again tomorrow (two butts) with more wood on the bottom of the fire grate than I had before.
 
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