What is BBQ? That, my friends, is a tough question. If you were to poll 12 people, you’d likely get 12 different, fiercely debated answers. You see, when it comes to this beloved food – everyone has an opinion.
Me? I’d rather eat than argue, ideally with a Dixie Vodka cocktail in hand. As a born and raised Southerner, I’ve had my fair share of BBQ — hell, I even wrote a book on it. From Paris, Tennessee to Paris, France, I’ve made it my personal mission to devour as much ‘cue as possible. My travels and experiences have all taught me one thing, something I hope we can all agree on: good BBQ is good BBQ — no matter where you find it, or where you come from.
Here in the South, we don’t always see eye-to-eye. While your taste in college football teams, politics, or what brand of mayonnaise is best on a tomato sandwich might not be my flavor, we can all agree that we are proud to be Southern and support what makes us Southern however we can. That’s why I’m excited to link up with Dixie Vodka to explore the nuances of Southern BBQ. Dixie Vodka is all about highlighting the flavors of the South, and so am I, so let’s get to work exploring the South’s most famous export: BBQ.
One of the best nuggets of knowledge I ever gleaned throughout my travels was from Adam Myers, co-pitmaster at Burn Co. BBQ in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Essentially, Adam believes that your first experience – hopefully during childhood – eating BBQ, will always define your BBQ palate as to what is “authentic.” In other words, if you grew up on pulled pork sandwiches topped with a sweet tomato-style sauce, you’ll likely find the chopped, vinegar-laden pork in the Carolina’s to be quite, well, unusual.
Personally, I believe Adam is on to something. My first experiences eating BBQ in Georgia were more akin to the Carolina style. In fact, I’ve shunned sweet sauce (or really any sauce) on my BBQ for a lifetime. But, with an open mind — something that’s easier said than done in this field — I’ve found that most all variants of BBQ have their advantages.
As I’ve already alluded to, chopped BBQ is most indigenous to the Carolina’s – especially Eastern North Carolina. “Pig Pickens” as they are called, are celebratory rites of passage that have gone on since the land was first settled. The idea was to roast whole hogs as a special communal feast to mark the harvest.
Whole hog cooking remains the most common method throughout the Carolina’s, especially at iconic places like Lexington BBQ, the SkyLight Inn, and the forgone Wilbur’s BBQ. Because the hogs are cooked whole, the meat is combined, or chopped, together – often with a swash of hot apple cider vinegar, salt, and crushed red pepper. Sauce of any kind is usually shunned (as it should be, in my opinion).
The advantage of the chopped method is it creates more yield, as more fat, skin, and other edible parts are often included in the meat. As you incorporate different cuts, you also develop a richer, distinctive flavor. Shoulders, rib meat, hind quarters, and everything else make their way into the mix, which creates a moist, consistent taste.
It should also be noted that the chopped method can also be used, dare I say, to “save” perhaps that overcooked, or too quickly cooked, piece of meat. Combining extra fat, along with the vinegar solution, and chopping it all together is a technique I often use when I’ve cooked my butts off ☺.
Outside of the Carolina’s, you’ll often find pulled pork, usually from the pork butt, which is technically the shoulder. In order to get the right pulled consistency, one must put a lot of love into their butt. All jokes aside, a properly cooked butt for pulling is one that can literally be pulled apart by hand, where the shoulder blade should pull completely clean from the meat.
Typically, the fat cap is discarded in the pulled method, and larger strands of meat are piled together to serve on a plate or sandwich. Many folks, like those at Burn Co., will “pull to order” to ensure you get the freshest bites with plenty of moisture.
So there you have it. What’s the difference between the two? Just read their names, literally. No matter which style you prefer, both techniques turn out an equally delicious yield.
A staple of North Carolina barbecue, chopped BBQ is a flavorful, tender preparation of pork roast that will be the hit of any cookout. Follow this easy recipe to make chopped barbecue simply with a smoker, a dry rub, and a good cut of pork.
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Here in the South, we don’t always see eye-to-eye. While your taste in college football teams, politics, or what brand of mayonnaise is best on a tomato sandwich might not be my flavor, we can all agree that we are proud to be Southern and support what makes us Southern however we can. That’s why I’m excited to link up with Dixie Vodka to explore the nuances of Southern BBQ. Dixie Vodka is all about highlighting the flavors of the South, and so am I, so let’s get to work exploring the South’s most famous export: BBQ.
The advantage of the chopped method is it creates more yield, as more fat, skin, and other edible parts are often included in the meat. As you incorporate different cuts, you also develop a richer, distinctive flavor. Shoulders, rib meat, hind quarters, and everything else make their way into the mix, which creates a moist, consistent taste.
Typically, the fat cap is discarded in the pulled method, and larger strands of meat are piled together to serve on a plate or sandwich. Many folks, like those at Burn Co., will “pull to order” to ensure you get the freshest bites with plenty of moisture.
One of the best nuggets of knowledge I ever gleaned throughout my travels was from Adam Myers, co-pitmaster at Burn Co. BBQ in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Essentially, Adam believes that your first experience – hopefully during childhood – eating BBQ, will always define your BBQ palate as to what is “authentic.” In other words, if you grew up on pulled pork sandwiches topped with a sweet tomato-style sauce, you’ll likely find the chopped, vinegar-laden pork in the Carolina’s to be quite, well, unusual.
Me? I’d rather eat than argue, ideally with a Dixie Vodka cocktail in hand. As a born and raised Southerner, I’ve had my fair share of BBQ — hell, I even wrote a book on it. From Paris, Tennessee to Paris, France, I’ve made it my personal mission to devour as much ‘cue as possible. My travels and experiences have all taught me one thing, something I hope we can all agree on: good BBQ is good BBQ — no matter where you find it, or where you come from.
You’ll find more school desks at Ernie’s Pit Barbeque (1948) in Greenville where barbecue sandwiches are the feature. As expected, sliced and chopped beef, ham, and sausage are offered with pulled pork being a recent addition. All the condiments are added with the lightning quick hands of the staff who build the sandwiches to order. Get it “all the way” if you want pickles, onions, relish, barbecue sauce, and mustard. Just be sure to get an order of the fresh cut fries. You may find yourself setting the sandwich down to finish them off.
If you’re familiar with the barbecue sauce at Louie Mueller Barbecue, this gravy is close, but here it’s kept at a steady boil in a huge vat within the old brick pit. These days, the first step it to smoke the fatty end of the briskets for a few hours in a Southern Pride rotisserie before dunking them in the gravy to boil until tender (they used to go straight into the gravy). That ultra-tender beef is chopped and served with a side of the very gravy that it helped to flavor. Sliced brisket flats that are just smoked without a gravy bath, and sweet glazed ribs are now an option, but chopped brisket on white bread is by far the biggest seller.
The same can be said for Tony DeMaria’s Bar-B-Que (1946) just down the street from Jasper’s. “The majority of people want the meat and bread on paper,” says current owner Geoff DeMaria. The difference in Tony’s and Jasper’s last name isn’t a typo. Legend has it that two brothers, Jasper and Tony Sr., came across from Italy and their surnames were taken down differently in the log books when they emigrated into the U.S. They both made their way to Waco. Jasper opened Jasper’s Bar-B-Que. Tony Sr. had a small grocery store, but he and Tony Jr. went off to World War II together. When they returned to Waco, Tony Jr. opened Tony DeMaria’s Bar-B-Que. A few years later his second cousin Tony DiMaria had taken over for Jasper, so things got confusing pretty quickly when people would ask where to get Tony DeMaria’s/DiMaria’s barbecue in Waco. Despite the two barbecue joints being located so closely together, there wasn’t much of a family feud, but they didn’t exactly collaborate. As Geoff puts it “there wasn’t any hate, but there wasn’t a lot of love either.” As for the barbecue, let’s just say there’s a family resemblance.
Brenda Phifer, the grand-niece of founder J. T. Bailey, runs the place now. Besides Brenda adding turkey and pulled pork, the menu hasn’t changed much since it opened during the depression. Recalling the menu as she remembers it from her childhood she notes “we had mostly brisket and sausage and we did ham too.” You can’t get a sliced beef plate, but you can get your meat in a to-go box if you’re on a carb-free diet. Phifer herself likes the bread just fine. She eats a sandwich at Bailey’s every day.
Setting a beef sandwich back down once you’ve started eating is nearly impossible at Jasper’s Bar-B-Que (1915 or 1918) in Waco. Chopped beef is placed on a slice of white bread, topped with a red pepper/vinegar sauce (which is more akin to eastern South Carolina barbecue than most anything in modern day Texas), folded over and dipped in a thin, dark gravy. Think of it as Waco’s version of the French dip. It’s like ingesting an edible time capsule of century old barbecue traditions. Just be warned that the sandwich will disintegrate if you don’t finish it in just a few bites.
Eastern Carolina style chopped barbecue
FAQ
What is the difference between pulled and chopped BBQ?
What is the difference between chipped and chopped BBQ?
What is coarse chopped BBQ?
How much does 1 lb of chopped BBQ feed?
What is a chopped barbecue?
Chopped barbecue consists of a large cut of meat—typically pork—cooked until tender in a smoker, grill, slow cooker, or Dutch oven, then chopped into bite-sized pieces. A staple of North Carolina–style barbecue sandwiches and platters, pitmasters typically serve the slow-cooked meat as-is or tossed in a tangy, vinegary barbecue sauce.
What is a chopped barbecue in North Carolina?
A staple of North Carolina barbecue, chopped BBQ is a flavorful, tender preparation of pork roast that will be the hit of any cookout. Follow this easy recipe to make chopped barbecue simply with a smoker, a dry rub, and a good cut of pork. What Is Chopped Barbecue?
What is the difference between cooked pork and chopped barbecue?
Pulled pork and chopped barbecue are both flavorful, tender, low-and-slow barbecue preparations made with fatty cuts of pork like Boston butt. However, there are some notable differences between these two preparations: the texture of the meat and the type of sauce that cooks use to dress the protein.
What is barbecue meat?
Barbecue refers to a cooking method and not a particular type of meat, but people use the term to describe the goods as well. In the Southwest, barbecue typically means barbecued beef, and in the South, it’s barbecued pork. However, you can also barbecue fish, chicken, tofu and root vegetables.