Do any of you food mavens know how to make the vinegar based barbeque sauce that is popular in eastern North Carolina?
I’m having a gastric bypass Monday, and when everything heals, the heavy tomato and sugar/molasses based sauces (like I know how to make now) are going to cause all kinds of digestive hell for me. This vinegar based sauce is prevalent round here in SE Virginia-eastern NC, but I have no clue how to make it nor how to modify it for a no-carb life.
Any recipes out there?
Eastern North Carolina BBQ Sauce
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (Tobasco, for example)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Combine the white vinegar, cider vinegar, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper in a jar or bottle with a tight-fitting lid. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 days before using so that the flavors will blend. Shake occasionally, and store for up to 2 months in the refrigerator.
I like the flavor a good apple cider vinegar gives to things like BBQ sauces, pickles, etc., but you can fool around with the proportion of white and cider vinegars to taste as long as you end up with 2 cups of vinegar total.
You mean you can’t buy it off the shelves at the grocery store? Man, what kind of place are you living in???
Good Carolina-style BBQ sauce is next to impossible to find outside of North Carolina. Believe me, I’ve tried. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to make yourself. My recipe is similar to the one UD shows, only I add a little ketchup to the mix, and more cayenne and Crystal.
Ketchup!! Ya heathen! 
Yeah, I know. But I can’t get the wife to totally switch away from KC Masterpiece and that ilk. I make pulled pork sammiches all summer long, and a little modification of my recipe saves a lot of extra work and saucing.
First let me say- Thank You for the recipe! I have long wanted to have a good sauce recipe. Next, VunderBob, can I get you to jot down the sweeter version you speak of above? I love both and will promptly print them out.
Thanks again
This is tough, because I measure by taste. The amounts are approximate.
VunderBob’s BBQ Sauce
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tbsp dried chopped onion (fresh may be used if making baked beans)
1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp onion powder
(optional) dash of liquid smoke
The critical measurements are the ketchup and brown sugar. You should be able to readily taste the brown sugar, but it should also be completely dissolved in the ketchup. All others can be adjusted to suit your taste.
I use this to make both baked beans and sloppy joes. For roasted meat, I like something a little thinner in consistency, because this stuff is a bit of a pain to apply with a basting brush when the sauce is cold.
To do the baked beans, get a large can of the cheapest pork and beans you can find, pour them into a pan, and mix the above in directly. Mom used to top with bacon, but that is quite greasy. I use cheap ham slices or canadian bacon instead.
For sloppy joes, fry a pound of loose hamburger, and add the above ingredients.
Bah, these recipes are cake…the real important recipe is the one for that pulled pork…
Two versions for that one: the “I have all day, so break out the smoker,” and “I work for a living, so where’s the crockpot?”
The first involves a Boston Butt or pork shoulder, rubbed with a mix of cayenne, seasoned salt, pepper, paprika and just a pinch of sugar. Then put it in the smoker, fat side up, and smoke for 3 hours. Remove from smoker, wrop in heavy foil, and place in a 350 degree oven until it reaches and internal temperature of 175 or so. Remove and let stand for one half hour. Slice into big chunks, and tear/shred those with two forks until you get the consistency you want. Pile meat on a cheap white bun, dose with sauce, top with a scoop of homemade slaw if desired, and pig out. Repeat as necessary.
If I do it in the crock pot, I rub the roast, cook in beer (with a little liquid smoke added) and shred when cooked.
Mine is similar as well except I use Balsamic vinegar instead of white & cider, and I don’t measure. Just toss in amounts that look good.
Thank you, thank you! One and all!!! Great stuff! I can’t wait to try these both out. Perhaps I’ll go pick up the couple of ingrediants I’m lacking tomorrow and give 'er a whirl.
silenus- Thanks for the meat prep tips. Do you have a preferance on the beer that goes into the crock? Does this give it a real beery (sp?) beerish (?) taste?
Again, thank you everyone.
I do not want to be the reason for a highjack so I’ll ask the OP. VunderBob, would you object to a request for a good chili recipie? If you would and don’t want the diversion, I’ll create a seperate thread. Just seemed to be some really good ideas here.
Please, no chili recipies before the OP call.
Either way, thanks a million!
The alcohol in the beer boils off, of course, and what you are left with is slightly heavier than normal water. The malts in the beer seem to bind and blend the flavors better than just water. I’ve found that substituting beer for water works in just about any recipe like this. I generally use one of the wife’s beers, or if I know I’m going to be cooking a lot or making a bunch-o chili, I’ll pick up a 12 pack of Lucky Lager or similar beer.
Thanks. I’ll look for it tomorrow.
Looking back at the OP now, I see where VunderBob mentions his surgery on Monday. I somehow overlooked that part in my first review.
Good luck Bobbio! We will be rootin’ fer ya! Let us know how it went when you’re up to it.
Nic
But how do you apply this? Do you marinate the meat, or simply baste as you go? Or just apply at the end?
Apply at the end. Chop or pull your meat(:D), and then add as much sauce as you want. Good BBQ is smoked, and only people from Kansas City and Memphis hide the flavor under too much sauce. (There. If that doesn’t start a range war, nothing will!) Personally, I like all kinds of BBQ, even that yellow stuff they serve in Charleston.
The pork shoulder is in the crock pot and the two kinds of Barbeque sauces are in the fridge! I’ll be makin’ some black beans and rice to go with it and have fresh burger buns for the pulled pork!!!
More later!
Thanks so much!
Nic
Don’t forget the slaw!!!
:smack: Back to the store!
If you’re going to be near a bookstore, look for Barbecue! Bible : Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades, Bastes, Butters, and Glazes. Some good recipes in there.