Carolina BBQ

Ben's family has a beach house out in the Outer Banks, North Carolina. It has been such an amazing place for his family to get together and for all the cousins to really get to know each other. One of my absolute favorite foods out at the beach is Carolina BBQ pulled pork. This is North Carolina style, so it's a runny, vinegar based tomato sauce. It is NOT the South Carolina BBQ style mustard based sauce.

Years ago Ben's mom and aunt put together a family cookbook of all their favorite family recipes. One of those was for homemade Carolina BBQ. I've kept pretty close to that original recipe for the pork, but over the years I've come up with my own sauce recipe. I never measure the spices for the dry rub. Generally I use more paprika and lighter on the chipotle/cayenne pepper. That's a personal preference so it's not too spicy for Tommy.

I love making it in the crock pot. Be careful that you don't buy a roast too big for your crock pot. It's a pain to trim it down, especially if it has bones. I like picnic roasts or Boston Butt. Ideally you want something with a lot of fat and bone-in. One time I made pulled pork with a small pork tenderloin roast and the pork was so dry it was almost inedible. Basically I buy the cheapest large pork roast I can find. Costco has some great ones. The packages at our Costco are huge, but each one contains two roasts, so I freeze one for later.

There's a little BBQ hut in the town of Corolla, NC called Corolla Village BBQ that is sooooo good. The restaurant is little more than a walk-up counter and some picnic benches, but they sure make tasty food. Just a word of warning, you may insult the owner if you ask for a lot of extra sauce. Apparently we have a very different opinions on how much sauce a Carolina BBQ sandwich needs.

My sauce recipe is based on Corolla Village BBQ's. It's sour, sweet and a little spicy. If you want more heat, add more crushed red pepper flakes. Or make the sauce in advance and let it sit in the fridge for a week. Over time the sauce gets hotter. You can make a larger batch of the sauce and can it for later (water boil method pints for 10 minutes at sea level, 20 min in Utah). If you can the sauce, be sure to stir it frequently when you're filling the jars otherwise the pepper will all settle to the bottom.

We love this stuff. So do our friends. I am not ashamed to admit I have used this pork recipe multiple times to bribe people into coming over to help us move furniture. 

According to Ben, this is the way to make a Carolina BBQ sandwich. First comes the bottom of a hamburger bun, then a pile of pork, more sauce, creamy coleslaw and then the top of the bun. I don't care for creamy coleslaw, so I make my own slaw with the shredded cabbage and the Carolina BBQ sauce. I'll even share with you guys my recipe for Creamy Coleslaw. 

Carolina BBQ

4-8 lb Pork Roast (Picnic/Shoulder/Boston Butt)
Paprika
Smoked Paprika
Ground Black Pepper
Ground Chipotle Pepper or Cayenne Pepper
(Optional) Liquid Smoke
(Optional) Crock Pot Liner

1. Optional: Line crock pot with a Crock Pot Liner.
2. Sprinkle spices and a few dashes of liquid smoke onto the meatier side of the roast and rub in.
3. Place roast in the crock pot, fat side up. Add more spices and liquid smoke, rubbing into the meat.
4. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
5. Shred the pork removing the fat, bones and connective tissue.
6. Stir in some Carolina BBQ Sauce.

Carolina BBQ Sauce

2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1. Combine all ingredients in medium saucepan. 
2. Heat over medium heat, whisking frequently until the sugar dissolves.

 Creamy Coleslaw

Shredded Cabbage or Prepackaged Coleslaw
Hidden Valley Coleslaw Dressing

Mix the coleslaw with the dressing. Start by adding a couple tablespoons of the dressing for a good sized bowl of coleslaw. Add more dressing to get to the consistency you want.

Yup, we use bottled Coleslaw Dressing. Ben has made his own dressing a few times from scratch using plain yogurt, but usually we just use the bottled stuff.