Carolina Barbecue: A Primer on the Three Schools of Style

By Steve Price

Few foods invite the passionate scrutiny from its fan base than barbecue does; connoisseurs of smoked meat will argue until they are blue in the face over which variety of barbecue reigns supreme. Advocates of Alabama-style white sauce, Kansas City-style dry rubs, Memphis-style pork ribs or Texas-style beef brisket will champion their side in the unending barbecue wars until the proverbial cows come home. But of all the iterations of barbecue in the United States, one region lays claim to having perhaps the most diversified portfolio of the bunch: the Carolinas. Boasting not one but three unique styles of barbecue preparation, Carolina-style is perhaps the most comprehensive of all the iterations.

For fans of Carolina-style barbecue, trying to choose your favorite comes down to what you are looking for in smoked pork (all three brands of Carolina barbecue use pork as the primary meat of choice). Do not expect to find unbiased commentary from supporters, however; the rivalry between Eastern North Carolina-style, South Carolina-style and Western North Carolina-style barbecue fanatics rages as intensely as the rivalries from Tobacco Road in college basketball. Each camp has their own favorite restaurants as well as their own favorite preparation methods for at-home barbecuing, itself likened to a sport in some parts of the Carolinas. Join us as we take a look at Carolina-style barbecue today in all of its wonderful combinations.

Eastern North Carolina-Style Barbecue

Eastern North Carolina-style is noteworthy for its usage of the whole hog in the preparation of the meal, with a popular saying locally being “use everything except the squeal of the hog”. Sauce preparation is typically used after the meat is smoked, though mop sauces are sometimes used to provide added flavor, and are universally based around vinegar and pepper. The focus of this style of preparation truly lies in the meat itself, with the diversity of parts of the hog adding to the flavor profile of the meal. Eastern North Carolina-style enthusiasts will typically use mayonnaise-based coleslaw as the preferred side dish for barbecue plates; some may be confused at the specification of ‘mayonnaise-based’ coleslaw, though Western North Carolina-style enthusiasts surely know where this conversation will soon be headed.

Restaurant Recommendation: The Skylight Inn, Ayden, North Carolina

Regionally famous as one of the undisputed purveyors in Eastern-style Carolina barbecue, the Skylight Inn in Ayden, North Carolina is hard to miss, with its replica of the U.S. Capitol atop its building (symbolizing itself as the ‘capital of barbecue’, of course). Opened by pitmaster Pete Jones in 1947, the Skylight Inn has a simple, straightforward menu symbolic of the simple, straightforward nature of Eastern Carolina-style barbecue. Anywhere you can buy coleslaw and barbecue sauce by the gallon, you know you are dealing with serious pitmasters.

South Carolina-Style Barbecue

Sometimes referred to as Midlands or Lowcountry-style for its presence throughout these portions of the state, South Carolina-style barbecue takes a page out of its Eastern North Carolina-style cousin’s playbook by using the whole hog in the preparation of the barbecue. What separates the two is the sauce and spices which go into the final dishes: South Carolina-style uses mustard along with brown sugar, honey, cider vinegar and other accoutrement to give the finished product a sweet and tangy taste. Hash and rice is the side item of choice for South Carolina-style, and many a restaurant can be judged on its quality by virtue of this side item.

Restaurant Recommendation: Melvin’s Barbecue in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

With a lineage tracing back to 1939, Melvin’s Legendary Barbecue is a staple of the growing barbecue scene around the greater Charleston, South Carolina area. With a famous secret recipe that has helped the company market its sauces in grocery stores nationally and side items like hash and rice that are to die for, Melvin’s is an absolutely amazing culinary experience in a city full of them for barbecue enthusiasts. Be sure to try their pork skins and pimento side along with a healthy helping of butter beans and delectable collards!

Western North Carolina-Style Barbecue

Whereas its two cousins in the east and in South Carolina use the whole hog, Western North Carolina-style (sometimes known as Lexington-style for the city around which it is based) primarily uses the pork shoulder in its preparation. Also unique is its reliance on tomato-based sauces, which with combined with vinegar and pepper give it a sweeter, tangier taste than its Eastern-style counterpart. Western-style barbecue also employs more usage of mop sauces, glazes that are administered to the hog while it is being smoked than its counterparts as well. The ketchup-based barbecue sauces on the side provide a different flavor profile from the more vinegar-based Eastern-style.

Restaurant Recommendation: Lexington Barbecue in Lexington, North Carolina

One cannot begin to rate Western North Carolina-style barbecue without going directly to the source, and one of Lexington’s finest barbecue restaurants was founded in 1962 by pitmaster Wayne Monk. Known locally as “The Monk”, the big building on U.S. Highway 29 and 70 has become a staple in the region for providing some of the most delicious pulled pork around, along with some fantastic sides and the convention known as barbecue or red slaw, a concoction where traditional coleslaw meets apple cider vinegar, tomato and hot sauce. When you bite into pork that has been slow-cooked for half a day at Lexington Barbecue, you will know you have found barbecue heaven in the west.