Scottish Barbecue?

[bchunter]

I agree that the Pepper and Vinegar based 'que is far superior to the "other" SC stuff of mustard base. You will find that the 'que prepared in eastern NC is very similar to your favorite, and historically has been whole hog smoked over a pit and basted with a vinegar based sauce while cooking. It was then pulled or "picked", hence the term pig-pickin. Eastern NC was also heavily Scottish.

[creativeaccents]

The mustard based stuff, for lack of a better term, is mostly around Columbia, SC. Some love it! That came from those of German heritage, like the sweet sour pork and beef. All a matter of taste and tradition. The SC vinegar based barbecue differs from NC in that in NC they use black pepper, not red...quite a taste difference. Actually, this is more a basting sauce used throughout the cooking. Good barbecue, well made needs no sauce later as the hickory and basting sauce flavor cook into the meat and the whole hog gives more of a balanced, richer flavor than just butts or loin. Actually, the REAL low country barbecues of VA, NC, and SC are all based on the same ancestry, but those subtle nuances make a world of difference in the end result.

[SFCRick]

slap some hawg on da grill for me

[LordKiltClad]

CA,
Any recipes you'd care to share with a Texan whose favorite queing sauces are often not ketchup or mustard based. I'd appreciate trying something different.

My friends look at me funny when we go into a local BBQ restaurant and I don't get any sauce on my meat.

[creativeaccents]

The real key to any Carolina style barbecue is not the final sauce or even the basting sauce so much as the process, good pork, and hickory wood. Like cooking Texas que, it has to long and slow, not over fire, but over hickory coals ...not too close to the coals and not too hot. The meat is done when it is literally falling apart, so you surely don't want anything too hot or done in less than ten to twelve hours. Probably most folks from other parts wouldn't care as much for the eastern styles as they tend to have a bit more tanginess, so I would recommend the more tempered style such as that found around Lexington. NC. Assuming you wouldn't go whole hog, I would recommend a pork butt or what is called a boston butt. Some prefer ham, but I personally find that too dry and lacking in the flavor of the butt cut. Too, NEVER use a typical over the counter barbecue sauce, it will burn. Originally, the basting sauce came from natives of the coast and the islands..i.e. salted water. for basting. Later, salt and pepper were added. The basting sauce helps to capture the hickory flavor and keep the meat moist.
After washing the pork, let it sit in a marinade of the basting sauce for a couple of hours after rubbing it down with salt and pepper. Keep it in a refrigerator while in the marinade.
I will find you a good recipe and post it momentarily.

[McFarkus]

Makes me hungry. I had a cousin who lived at Tappahannock on the Rappahannock River. She used to make the best pulled pork with a vinegar based bbq sauce. When she was feeling lazy or rushed she made it in a pressure cooker - but it was best when it was slow-cooked over hickory.

[creativeaccents]

1 gallon water
1 qt. ketchup
1 qt. vinegar 1/2 cider & 1/2 distilled
10 oz light brown sugar
8 oz salt
4 oz black pepper
4 oz crushed red pepper
Pinch of ground red pepper (cayenne)
4 tablespoons texas pete hot sauce

Best made the day before, I don't like it when boiled, but others do. Don't open the cooker more than four or five times to baste and turn the meat. Some communist slice the pork when done, but best when pulled and chopped. True barbecue is treasured for the meat, but sauce can be added when chopping or when serving.

[BoldHighlander]

1 gallon water
1 qt. ketchup
1 qt. vinegar 1/2 cider & 1/2 distilled
10 oz light brown sugar
8 oz salt
4 oz black pepper
4 oz crushed red pepper
Pinch of ground red pepper (cayenne)
4 tablespoons texas pete hot sauce

Best made the day before, I don't like it when boiled, but others do. Don't open the cooker more than four or five times to baste and turn the meat. Some communist slice the pork when done, but best when pulled and chopped. True barbecue is treasured for the meat, but sauce can be added when chopping or when serving.

Oh my!!
I'm going to have to give this a try!

[ccga3359]

Scottish BBQ! Wow they do things different up there. I remember, in England, the only way to cook meat is to boil all the flavour out and the meat became a colourless grey mass. The only baking was bread or bacon. We never BBQ'd because of the soot from the coal.

[creativeaccents]

That "style" of barbecue certainly didn't come from Scotland but was brought to the Carolinas and Virginia from the islands by the buccaneers (many of the most famous of whom were Scottish) and others of a similar heritage, though it originated from the natives. Today, in eastern Virginia there are still many Scottish pronuciations of words and in that one small section of SC it has been preserved since the 1700s by those of Scottish ancestry...my strain included.