BBQ Across the South

Southern Living ^ | April 2003 | Gary Ford

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BBQ Across the South

Barbecue is pork. No, beef. How about mutton? Chicken? Goat? North Carolina has the best barbecue. Make that Texas. Memphis is barbecue heaven. Nope. Kansas City.

Sometimes, home-cooking is best. The Gibson family's "pig-picking" begins in the early hours.

On and on goes this debate about the South's best barbecue. While y'all argued, we ate. Charles Walton, the best food photographer in America, and I sniffed out nearly 100 restaurants, joints, and dives from Washington, D.C., to Kansas City, Missouri. We found that the heart of barbecue beats in Memphis. Tar Heels and Texans cook mountains of it, and between them run rivers of sauces and islands of styles. A vast feast spreads across the South. Come savor it with us.

As long as there's been a South, we've loved barbecue, the one food that defines us most as a region. It suits our Southern sense of comfort, society, and the passage of time--friends and family gathering around glowing embers, drifting smoke scenting the air and seasoning the meats of animals that grazed the grass of our prairies and rooted the mast of our forests.

Barbecue has moved from home to restaurant. In our Readers' Choice Awards, we asked for your favorite barbecue places. You submitted more than 7,500 restaurants. A full 47 of them sported "Bubba" somewhere in the name--from Bubba's Barbeque in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, to Bubba's Ribs & Q in Tifton, Georgia. All those Bubbas--and so many more--set a very long table of meat, sauces, and side dishes.

"There are four barbecue meccas," says Carolyn Wells, a Nashville native and now the executive director of the Kansas City Barbeque Society. "The Carolinas form the cradle of American barbecue. Memphis is the undisputed pork barbecue capital of the world. The entire state of Texas considers itself a capital. Kansas City is the melting pot, where all regional styles come together."

Later we'll tell you what we think is the best barbecue in the South. Travel Assistant Tanner Latham, informed of our foolhardy claim, leveled a gaze at us and said, "You do realize that readers will send death threats?"

Yes. We expect them, but when you write us, please include names of your favorite restaurants so we can cover them in the future.

[al_c]

Or was that Mueller's? They're good, too.

[Bigun]

... but I assume you're talking about Mikeska's?

No sir Louie Mueller's is THE best in the world!

[PrairieDawg]

My picks are:

• Bucks BBQ - Chattanooga, TN
• Poole's BBQ - East Elijay, GA
• Williamson Bros's - Marietta, Ga

And my most recent favorite Bubba's BBQ - Greeley, CO

Darn! Now I'm hungry!
FRegards,
PrairieDawg

[Palmetto]

Ah yes, Skeet's. Good stuff.

Friend of mine in college told me the best BBQ joints had loaves of bread in the bag and rolls of paper towels on the tables. Not bad advice...

[holdmuhbeer]

Let me be more specific. BBQ comes from EASTERN North Carolina, accept no substitutes

This NC man likes the Lexington style a little better. Of course I'm from the western piedmont so that might be why. I do like eastern though if the vinegar is not too bitter.

[TC Rider]

You're OK.

[Ol' Sox]

Re: Carne al Carbon

I am a very seasoned cook.I have searched everywhere,tried many recipes...still can't duplicate it.I know it isn't "Liquid Smoke"....so how do they do it.Surely,someone out there knows.

Alright, fellas, let me start by fessin' up - I'm a yankee, and I tread lightly in the BBQ threads, prefering to sit quietly and drool while you guys carry on the Beef vs. Pork war. I do cook, however, and I know what you're looking for in your quest for proper Carne al Carbon.

Just try this, and if it doesn't work for you, carry on bashing Yankees and pickin' pigs. If it does, though, I expect to see credit given to a Yankee, damnit.

Take a skirt steak or flank steak, and marinate it for 24 hours in the following ingredients and then grill as usual over a HOT fire:

A big handful of kosher salt
3 or 4 TBS. of crushed or chopped garlic (the more the better)
1/2 cup or more of lime juice (the real thing, not from that plastic lame-o lime thing).

That's it. Its almost like brining chicken, in that the salt draws the meat juices out and then the garlic and lime in. And the lime juices tenderizes the meat. And something about the salt makes a good crusty charcoaly thing...(drool). Well, just give it a try. And don't you dare overcook it, for crying out loud!

[jamz]

Brian...Warmouth's bro-in-law here...

If you need help flipping it...I'll only charge a single beer. Tell Winston hey...

[jamz]

Here are some more suggestions on BBQ pig pickings...If you're doing a whole hog....don't halve it. Ask the abbadoir (sp?) to just crack the back...don't cut it through.

Cook first half of estimated time meat side down.

Then turn. Just before seasoning with sauce. Take a knife and drain the buildup of grease at the skin. Get two people..start shredding..tasting...shredding...adding sauce.

Oh...Here's the easy way to tell if your hog is done. Take a knife...run it down the shoulder blade into the ham. If the water near the center is clear...you're done. If it's pink...cook more...but avoid opening as much as possible. Air blowing around can cause inconsistent heat dispersion.

Telling ya...it's a science. But other than the vegetarians we freak out when I whip out the wierd parts...not many have complained.

In NC...btw...there is an abbadoir in Benson...great people to work with...and 25-30 min from Raleigh.

As for a favorite restaurant, pick most cities east of Lexington...I can probably name you a good BBQ place. ;)

Sorry Lexington...just not my style.

[jamz]

Mmm...we just use hickory and suggest it to other because you can pick it up in your local Home depot, Lowes, or in your yard. My wife almost demands I use some sort of wood with the coals. I have mesquite and hickory. Steaks usually mesquite...chicken depends on marinade...pork definately hickory. But I'll have to try what you suggest...where can you get it?

[Doomonyou]

MMMM.... Beer can Chicken....

[geege]

I've seen recipes with the beer can...Paula Dean from foodtv did a great job demonstrating this technique.....I think we can do it on our existing Weber.....thanks for the tip!!!!!

[aomagrat]

BBQ is pork, yellow (mustard based), and is found at Shealy's BBQ in Leesville SC.

[pnz1]

Yes, I agree with the cookbook. Someone posted a great peanut butter cookie recipe on a OIF Daily Thread.

[gc4nra]

Emeril says it best: "It's a pork fat thing!"

[Gamecock]

Ma'am, well now that you've narrowed down where in Texas you are talking about....

In all seriousness, I do love it here. I just spent a glorious San Antonio talking bidness with some friends....

[P.O.E.]

Can't believe this far into the thread & nobody's mentioned Gates BBQ.

Anywho, the local firehouse around here has quarterly fundraisers with about 30 @ 50-gallon drums cut in half with dry-rub ribs smoking into the early afternoon.