road trip

char buddy

I just got back from a road trip to North Carolina - Durham. This was my first trip to the land of true pulled pork and bbq since I got my bge and cooking lessons from the forum. I couldn't wait to taste what real que was supposed to taste like. [p]The first place I went to was called Pan Pan's. At the hotel I stayed at the staff raved about this place and insisted I go there first. They said the place had real bbq and plenty of it. Pan Pan's turned out to be a family buffet style restaurant selling baked ribs - maybe beef - smothered in some kind of sugary sauce. The real North Carolina pulled pork I came miles to taste was really a very dry chopped pork beyond repair. I decided the hotel staff liked the place because for $8 you could stay there for 24 hours if you wanted and eat till you dropped.[p]The next night I went to place called Bullock's (sp) and before I went in I checked to make sure they had a real smoker and real wood stacked up outside the place. This time the ribs were the real thing - deep hickory flavor. A deeper hickory flavor than I've been getting on my bge. The meat pulled off the bone nicely, but the meat was pretty greasy. Also, I didn't see a smoke ring and the meat had not retreated a quarter of an inch from the bone like I'm used to seeing. The pulled pork was moist and had more flavor than Pan Pan's, but again it was chopped not shredded. The hush puppies were tasty little sugar pills and I couldn't even eat the fried chicken I was so full. Whan I left I counted two pieces of fried chicken, a side of beans, a bowl of brunswick stew, a side of fries, a half slab of ribs and a bowl full of pulled pork on the table and it all cost $15. And it come with a bottomless glass of sweet tea. I could only eat about half of that meal, but the regulars seem to have no trouble polishing it off. [p]Afterwards they took me out back to their set up and to my surprise it was propane fueled cooker with a box off to the side for wood as a flavoring. The chef ran the thing at 350 "until done." It was a rotisserie style cooker. [p]I didn't get to try to any other que joints, but I came away thinking two things. One - this forum is simply awesome. It's like goint to a very good night school for learning to cook and appreciate food. Two - within a few months I have learned cook all sorts of food better than the food I get at most of the restaurants I go to. [p]Now I gotta get to Memphis.

Fireball

char buddy ,
I agree 100% food from the egg is better than what is available in restaurants.

Grumpa

char buddy ,[p]Save yourself some where and tear. You will NEVER find food at any commercial eating place that can equal or beat the food cooked in your own backyard. It is a matter of quantity vs quality and profit vs labor of love. [p]

JimW

char buddy ,
The chopped vs pulled pork is a matter of local habit. Some areas of the Carolinas chop it and others pull it. It's really the same pork but a different presentation.
JimW