# How do you like your barbecue? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 21, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851 "2008-11-21T16:26:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/41 "2008-11-23T18:03:10Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Don’t believe everything you’re told. > > First–which location did they tell you was closed? > > Second–The one North of Chapel Hill was still serving yesterday. 1. I don’t believe everything I’m told, which is why I related it as second-hand information 2. There is only one A&S location, the others are imposters who do not cook their barbeque in the same manner as the real Allen & Son - over a hickory wood fire. This location can be found on highway 86. If that is the restaurant that was serving yesterday, then the gods be praised. I read a review of the place as recently as late August, which led me to believe I had faulty information. They are one of only a handful of places left in NC that still cooks their pigs over a hickory fire. Everyone else has moved to charcoal or gas. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/42 "2008-11-23T19:14:24Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Well, if you must abstain due to religious reasons, I understand. > > And Texas is wrong. If Texas is wrong, I don’t [want](http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/1862/p1010223ge4oz8.jpg) to be [right](http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/6186/brisketttttbf5fx5.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/43 "2008-11-23T19:26:26Z")
Being as I am a Dirty Foreigner and all, I thought you meant the apparatus in our back yard which is used to cook the meat. Apologies. However, now knowing what you meant, I will tell you that I never met Barbecue that I didn’t like. Although if that white sauce you’re talking about is mayonnaise based, I think I’ll pass. Hot mayo? BLEAH. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/44 "2008-11-23T20:12:36Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > 1. There is only one A&S location, the others are imposters who do not cook their barbeque in the same manner as the real Allen & Son - over a hickory wood fire. This location can be found on highway 86. If that is the restaurant that was serving yesterday, then the gods be praised. Sorry if I sounded rude. Indeed, the highway 86 location is the one I meant. I’ll call sometime to confirm what I was told. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/45 "2008-11-23T20:42:29Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > Hot mayo? BLEAH. That’s what I used to think, until a buddy of mine started making his Hot Pea Salad at Thanksgiving. Wonderful, and so simple. All it takes is a bag of frozen peas, some chopped scallions, a few strips of crispy cooked bacon, and some mayo. Cook peas, add chopped scallions and chopped bacon, and bind with mayo. Trust me on this one, It’s delicious! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/46 "2008-11-24T00:28:35Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > Being as I am a Dirty Foreigner and all, I thought you meant the apparatus in our back yard which is used to cook the meat. Apologies. > > However, now knowing what you meant, I will tell you that I never met Barbecue that I didn’t like. Although if that white sauce you’re talking about is mayonnaise based, I think I’ll pass. Hot mayo? BLEAH. Come here, my dear. Come learn the joys of hot mayo from a midwestern cook: Take 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts. Take 1/2 cup mayo and 1/4 cup fresh grated/shredded Parmesan cheese. Mix the later two ingredients and spread them on top of the first. Sprinkle each breast with 1 tsp Italian flavored breadcrumbs. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes. 4 servings/7 points a serving if you make it with low-fat mayo. It’s, like, ungodly good for something so very simple. This is one of those recipes where the final product is way more than the sum of its parts. ---
**Author:** ![eldowan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@eldowan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eldowan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/47 "2008-11-24T02:18:31Z")
> [@neuroman](#): > > If Texas is wrong, I don’t [want](http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/1862/p1010223ge4oz8.jpg) to be [right](http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/6186/brisketttttbf5fx5.jpg). That sir, looks like some delicious BBQ. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/48 "2008-11-24T02:45:07Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Come here, my dear. Come learn the joys of hot mayo from a midwestern cook: > > Take 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts. Take 1/2 cup mayo and 1/4 cup fresh grated/shredded Parmesan cheese. Mix the later two ingredients and spread them on top of the first. Sprinkle each breast with 1 tsp Italian flavored breadcrumbs. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes. 4 servings/7 points a serving if you make it with low-fat mayo. > > It’s, like, ungodly good for something so very simple. This is one of those recipes where the final product is way more than the sum of its parts. While I’m sure that’s nice, I just really don’t like mayonnaise. Next time I’m in Chicago, you can cook it for me, yeah? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/49 "2008-11-24T03:07:12Z")
From Otto’s in Houston, TX. Everything else is imitation. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/50 "2008-11-24T04:16:44Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > While I’m sure that’s nice, I just really don’t like mayonnaise. Next time I’m in Chicago, you can cook it for me, yeah? Absolutely! ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Cream\_Conquest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@Ice\_Cream\_Conquest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Cream_Conquest)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/51 "2008-11-24T05:03:38Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > First off, BBQ is pork. Anyone who tells you it’s beef needs to be shown the special BBQ Pit on _Fried Green Tomatoes_. I hate to break it to you, but that wasn’t pork. I like the red sauces, and it ain’t BBQ without the sauce. Pork ribs, pork shoulder, brisket. BBQ pork over fruit woods, beef over hickory, oak, or pecan. I think Texans like mesquite because they don’t have any real trees. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/52 "2008-11-24T15:32:43Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Sorry if I sounded rude. Indeed, the highway 86 location is the one I meant. I’ll call sometime to confirm what I was told. The Allen & Son on Highway 86 is indeed open. I drive by it every day on my way to work. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/53 "2008-11-24T16:26:25Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > The Allen & Son on Highway 86 is indeed open. I drive by it every day on my way to work. Best news I’ve heard all week. **samclem** , you didn’t sound rude. Sorry if I did. I was very skeptical when my friend tried to tell me they were closed, but he was rather insistent. I feel better now. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/54 "2008-11-24T16:33:55Z")
One thing you have to remember about BBQ sauce is that they may be called “mayo based”, or “tomato based” or even “mustard based”, the predominate flavor in a lot of them is vinegar. There are some, especially in Texas & Oklahoma (& parts of Missouri), that are very tomato and sugary, but the vast majority of sauces I encounter in the southeast have a very noticeable vinegar component. If you’ll look at a mayo-based recipe, there is usually almost as much vinegar as mayo, which makes for an extremely tart sauce. Even my tomato recipe, which has less than half as much cider vinegar as it does tomato, is very tart. Ditto with almost any mustard-based sauce I’ve ever made. Vinegar just does a really good job of cutting through the fat component of pork barbeque, which is why it is used so often. Even though the color of the sauce often varies, I find vinegar to be more of the primary theme in a lot of barbeque sauces. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/55 "2008-11-24T17:16:52Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > First off, BBQ is pork. Anyone who tells you it’s beef needs to be shown the special BBQ Pit on _Fried Green Tomatoes_. > > I love all BBQ ribs, but if you had to shove me up against a wall with a gun to my head, it would be dry rub. > > [This](http://www.stickyfingersonline.com/) is the only thing I miss from South Carolina. My understanding is that if you’re south of the Mason-Dixon line, you are referring to pulled pork only. Up nort’ over by here, it’s always bbq _something_. Chicken (hate it), beef (it’s ok), pork (love it), ribs (never in public). I like it with brown sugar (similar to Sweet Baby Ray’s). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/56 "2008-11-24T18:50:55Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > My understanding is that if you’re south of the Mason-Dixon line, you are referring to pulled pork only. From my experience, it’s only in the Carolinas that barbecue means specifically pulled pork. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/57 "2008-11-24T19:12:24Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Best news I’ve heard all week. Sadly I know the day will come that A&S will indeed close forever; I highly doubt that anyone else would want to take on the amount of work Keith Allen does to create his product - as it is, they will close for short periods if he’s sick or needs a break. I just hope that dreaded final day is later rather than sooner! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/58 "2008-11-25T00:53:07Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > My understanding is that if you’re south of the Mason-Dixon line, you are referring to pulled pork only. It’s very popular; Sims, the best joint in the Little Rock area is pulled pork and beef as was Mama Plant’s favorite in the metropolis of Finley, Tennessee. The Shack, gone since the rats mentioned above, was chopped beef. > [@Kalhoun](#): > > ribs (never in public). Aint’t that the truth. I feel like I’m trying out for [Quest for Fire.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082484/) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![discodancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@discodancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/discodancer)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851/59 "2008-11-25T02:12:42Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Like I like my men… sweet, hot, & tangy. Like I like my men, meaty, not too fatty, juicy, and ready when I want it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-like-your-barbecue/473851.md?page=2)