Every region of the United States has its barbecue specialty: pulled pork sandwiches in North Carolina, racks of ribs in Memphis, “burnt ends” in Kansas City and chopped brisket in Texas. The roots of American barbecue run deep in the South, where even neighboring counties can have different approaches to barbecue, not to mention different states.
BBQ in North Carolina
Consider North Carolina, a state with a long barbecue tradition ..
In eastern North Carolina, you would probably find shredded meat from an entire pig, doused with a peppery vinegar sauce, and if you chose to drive West a few hours from the coast, and you will most likely be served meat from just the shoulder of the hog, with a tomato based sauce.
Throughout Carolina, there is a clear preference for barbecue pork and thin vinegary sauces, which is a distinguishing style echoed throughout the state.
BBQ in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee is another superb barbecue location, home to “Memphis in May,” which is the largest barbecue competition and festival in the world. The city boasts over 100 barbecue restaurants and several different barbecue styles.
Like North Carolina and much of the South, pork is the barbecue meat of choice in Tennessee and pork ribs are the most common cut, but the city is divided between “dry-rubbed” and “wet rib” versions. Dry-rubbed ribs are generously rubbed with a mixture of spices, smoked and then served with sauce on the side. Wet ribs are lacquered with tangybarbecue sauce before, during and after cooking.
Another Memphis favorite is the pulled-pork sandwich – smoked pork shoulder stuffed inside a hamburger bun and topped with coleslaw.
BBQ in Kansas City
Kansas City is the barbecue capital of the Midwest. Like Memphis, it’s also home to over 100 barbecue restaurants and hosts an annual barbecue competition an an event called American Royal.
In Kansas City, both pork and beef are barbecued and it is best known for its BBQ sauce, which is traditionally heavy on tomato and uses molasses as a distinctive sweetener. The traditional thickbarbecue sauce you buy in supermarkets is based on Kansas City style sauce.
The bottled varieties are much different from the small batches of sweet zesty sauce cooked up by Kansas City pitmasters.
For those that aren’t familiar with the term, “Burnt ends,” are the crunchy, charred ends of brisket slabs, are a Kansas City specialty not to be missed.
BBQ in Texas
Texas is famous for its cattle, and beef brisket is the barbecue meat of choice. But chopped beef and beef ribs are also state favorites.
Texas barbecue isn’t only about the beef, it is also about spicy pork sausages, called “hot links,” and pork ribs are also common barbecue fare.
Almost all Texas barbecue is cooked without sauce. The meat is rubbed with spices, known as BBQ rub, smoked and, sometimes, a sauce is served on the side.
Barbecue in other states is most often smoked over hickory, oak or a handful of other similar hardwoods. But Texas barbecue usually uses mesquite, which gives the meat a distinct and unique flavor.
I hope you enjoyed my article on the regional differences of BBQ food in the United States. If you are looking for reviews, ideas, recipes, guides and how-tos for everything BBQ, then please visit Barbecue Partys Blog, there is a wealth of great information there.
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/food-and-beverage-articles/the-differences-between-different-styles-of-bbq-food-by-region-1478176.html
Filed under Recipe, Source by on Nov 19th, 2009. Comment. 
Many people ask the question “Which is better? Store bought or home made barbeque sauce?” It really comes down to what your personal preference is but if the run of the mill taste of the bbq sauce found on grocery store shelves just doesn’t cut it then creating your own secret sauce can be part of the grilling fun.
Let’s face it, using the right or wrong kind of barbecue sauce can make or break your barbecue. The flavor of your meat, poultry or pork will live or die by the sauce that you choose. Barbecue sauce provides that extra kick that barbecue is known for and with the right kind of sauce any dish you prepare will taste that much better.
Let’s look at store bought barbecue sauce for a moment. We’ve all seen the bottles lining the shelves. They come in different flavors and colors, in small bottles and large bottles, but are they really the best choice for the ultimate in barbecue tastiness? It seems that most people are satisfied by what they offer, otherwise they wouldn’t buy them. But for most people it’s probably just a matter of convenience. What most consumers don’t realize is that barbecue sauce bought at the local grocery store is nothing more then a watered down version of the homemade sauces that make barbecue so popular in the first place.
Foods that sit on grocery store shelves have been manufactured with a long shelf life in mind. The ingredients used are chosen because they will not go bad quickly and in many cases are less then healthy. The barbecue sauce found on store shelves uses high fructose corn syrup as a sugar substitute because it is a whole lot cheaper to use than natural sugar.
While sugar is not necessarily healthy high fructose corn syrup is even less so. It is a sugar substitute that is a low grade quality food. The human body is actually unable to metabolize and break it down so when it gets to your liver it is almost always instantly turned into fat.
There is an easy way around this problem, make your own barbecue sauce. Nobody is saying that barbecue sauce is the healthiest of food products, but by making your own recipes you can cut out some of the processed foods such as high fructose corn syrup. The way real barbecue sauce is made is with natural cane sugar or brown sugar. There are also hundreds of spices and herbs readily available as well as other ingredients that if combined right can make a tasty sauce that will have friends and family asking you for your secret recipe.
You start with a basic sauce and add to it from there. A base sauce consists of melted butter, sugar and small portions of chili powder, salt, and black pepper. Once you have a basic foundation sauce made you can add some tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, maybe some onion powder. Mixing these basic ingredients in different amounts and combinations will give you a multitude of flavors to start with. After that you can start adding any number of other spices, herbs or flavorings such as lemon juice, hickory or mesquite flavoring to make a truly personalized barbecue sauce. With a little patience you can create a sauce that can compete with the best of them.
Store bought barbecue sauce will work in a pinch but for truly remarkable barbecue taste creating your own home made barbecue sauce is the best way to go.
Andrew Bicknell is a barbeque aficionado with a website about barbequing. For more tips for a successful barbeque visit his web site Backyard Barbeque.
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/food-and-beverage-articles/barbecue-sauce-store-bought-or-home-made-928281.html
Filed under Source by on Oct 26th, 2009. Comment.
Steven’s first recipe for The Weekend Grillers was the perfect starter for a new Weekend Griller – First Timers Ribs.
This time he is thinking outside the box — WAY OUTSIDE — with Iced Tea Chicken.
As he says, “Sweet tea (heavily sweetened iced tea) is so popular at barbecue joints in Texas and the South, I thought, why not use iced tea mix in a barbecue rub and grill the chicken on a can of iced tea? It sounds outrageous. It is outrageous. But being outrageous sho
uld be one of the goals of a grill master. And, besides, you’ll be surprised how well the tea flavor marries with smoke and spice in this chicken.”
The Iced Tea Chicken page includes recipes for the Iced Tea Rub and Iced Tea BBQ Sauce as well as very detailed instructions for the beginner and the expert griller alike. This is a killer presentation by a True Master.
Do yourself a favor and check out this mouthwatering recipe from Steven Raichlen — Iced Tea Chicken.
Mark
Note – The recipe is not hard — but it is LONG. That’s why I put in on the Website instead of the Blog.
Filed under Recipe by on Sep 15th, 2009. Comment.
