When it comes to Texas barbecue, pitmasters know the magic is in the details. Whether you are working with beef brisket or pulled pork, local barbecuers rely on different kinds of smoke to build out flavor, regardless of the type of wood used. And a good spread isn’t complete without a menage of beans, coleslaw, potato salad, pickles and onions. But other states have their own techniques to create the ultimate barbecue feast, and they’re worth trying if you can break away from the smoker.
Tennessee
Pork is the barbecue king in Tennessee, so much so that it’s included in other dishes such as pizza, nachos and even spaghetti. Pork shoulders and ribs are slow-cooked in a pit and can be served dry with seasoning or wet with a vinegar-based barbecue sauce. Several restaurants will even roast a whole hog for 12-24 hours, resulting in a smoky-glazed pulled pork experience that melts in your mouth. Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous is one of the oldest barbecue joints in the area that was founded in 1948, while Jim Neely’s Interstate Barbecue was selected as the second-best barbecue joint in the nation by “People Magazine” in 1989. Tennessee’s Memphis-style barbecue has become so popular that its World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest held each May is listed as the world’s largest pork barbecue contest in the Guinness World Records. That’s a lot of pork, even for a barbecue lover.
Missouri
There are several ways to prepare barbecue down in the show-me state, but the two most well-known styles are named after the cities that made them famous: Kansas City and St. Louis. Kansas City-style barbecue is first dry-rubbed with a variety of spices such as brown sugar, chili and garlic powder before it is slow-smoked in a pit for over 12 hours. Many barbecue establishments like Arthur Bryant’s and Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que won’t limit themselves to just pork, beef and chicken and will expand their barbecue treatment to proteins like sausage, turkey, lamb, burnt ends and even fish. St. Louis-style barbecue joints like Pappy’s and Sugarfire Smoke House, meanwhile, drench spare ribs in barbecue sauce made from apple cider vinegar and brown sugar before they’re thrown on the grill and slow-cooked over smoked wood or coals. While these techniques range depending on where you dine, both are worth sinking your teeth into.
North Carolina
Like Tennessee, North Carolina loves its barbecue pork, so much so that Lexington proclaimed itself the barbecue capital of the world. Barbecue is prepared two ways in North Carolina: Lexington style and eastern style. Lexington style cooks only the pork shoulder and is smothered in a red barbecue sauce made from ketchup, vinegar, pepper and water, which is also used to make red slaw as a tangy yet spicy side. Barbecue staples such as Stamey’s and Speedy Lohr’s specialize in this particular approach. Eastern style, meanwhile, smokes the whole hog in light vinegar and pepper that results in a crispy flavor in places like Skylight Inn and Grady’s. You can sample both styles on North Carolina’s historic barbecue trail, which takes you through 21 of the state’s most high-profile barbecue joints. But be warned: The rivalry between the two styles has become so passionate that it’s stewed something of a “pork-barrelled politics.”
Georgia
Georgia prepares its barbecue pork, ribs and chicken in several different styles, from smoking in the pit to slow cooking over a wood-fired grill. They’re then smothered in a sweet red sauce that’s mixed with white vinegar, pepper and tomato paste that’s almost as thick as the meat it’s covering. If you want to try an all-new barbecue flavor, some establishments will use a mustard-based barbecue sauce that offers an unexpected spicy zest. But the most recognizable part of Georgia’s barbecue is with the Brunswick stew, which is a thick broth made with mixed vegetables, barbecue sauce and leftover barbecue meat. Establishments like Southern Soul Barbecue and Fox Bros. are best at providing both options while other places like B’s Cracklin’ Barbecue and Community Q smoke up the area’s most tender ribs and brisket. If there’s one word to describe Georgian barbecue, it’s variety.