Need to know what bbq sauce this is and how to make it

kcult

kcult

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My BIL occasionally brings me a few bags of chopped pork and I really like the flavor of the sauce.

The pork has a natural look to it. It's not red like some pork that has tomato sauce or ketchup in it. It has a mild vinegar taste, but a strong black pepper flavor. My BIL was trying to tell me how his friend makes it, but he could really only remember vinegar, black pepper, and red pepper.

Is anyone familiar with this sauce and can tell me how to make it?
 
There's a butt ton of recipes on the interwebs for vinegar based sauces.
Most of them are going to be cider vinegar, a little cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper or black pepper, and either a little ketchup or brown sugar.
It's most likely a trial and error endeavor, but sounds like his is vinegar, brown sugar, and black pepper.
Proportions are a whole other ball of wax lol. Start with 2 cups of vinegar and add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar to it. Taste to see if the vinegar is muted enough for you and keep adding brown sugar to it until it is. Make a note of how much brown sugar it was.
Split that into 4 little jars. Add 1/4, 1/2, 1, & 1$1/2 teaspoons black pepper to individusl jars. Put a lid on them and let sit minimum 8 hours before final taste test. I prefer 24 hours set time, but 8 will do.

Be sure and mark each jar with what's in it. Each one should have 1/2 cup vinegar plus 1/4 of the total amount of brown sugar and whatever black pepper you put in.
Find one you like, adjust if you dont.
 
If you have a Lowe's or a Harris Teeter nearby they usually have a section of products from small companies in the Carolinas. You might find a decent vinegar sauce there. But like draco said it is just a vinegar with pepper in it. You could experiment and go a little heavier with fresh ground black pepper if that is the flavor you like. Most recipes have crushed red pepper in them.
 
The best off the shelf I have had is Scott's or George's. For homemade I just get a half gallon of apple cider vinegar and add red/black pepper to taste and 1/4 jar of molasses. Let it sit for a month and you are good to go. Some folks add salt but I salt the meat after chopping.
 
I second George’s. I’ve made my own quite a bit but it’s hard to beat it for a light vinegar taste with a touch of heat. Seems to work pretty well for most people’s tastes.
 
If I am buying sauce I try to get it from Doug Sauls in Nashville, NC. Only problem is it is 2/3 of the way across the state. Otherwise I make my own.
CF

I could tell you what is in it, but that would require the SSS to be initiated.
 
kcult said:
My BIL occasionally brings me a few bags of chopped pork and I really like the flavor of the sauce.

The pork has a natural look to it. It's not red like some pork that has tomato sauce or ketchup in it. It has a mild vinegar taste, but a strong black pepper flavor. My BIL was trying to tell me how his friend makes it, but he could really only remember vinegar, black pepper, and red pepper.

Is anyone familiar with this sauce and can tell me how to make it?
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Ah...... seems you discovered eastern NC or N. eastern SC style BBQ. Taste the meat and smoke, let the vinegar based sauce and pepper complement it.

Never was a fan of that midland SC mustard sauce or western NC ketchup.

Anyway it’s made many different ways to personal taste. You’ll have to experiment with the amounts to your liking, some like more pepper, others don’t like heat at all.

Typically

Cider Vinegar, crushed red pepper, cayenne, black pepper, salt, and some people put in a little brown sugar, I don’t.
 
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Silver_Bullet said:
Ah...... seems you discovered eastern NC or N. eastern SC style BBQ. Taste the meat and smoke, let the vinegar based sauce and pepper complement it.

Never was a fan of that midland SC mustard sauce or western NC ketchup.

Anyway it’s made many different ways to personal taste. You’ll have to experiment with the amounts to your liking, some like more pepper, others don’t like heat at all.

Typically

Cider Vinegar, crushed red pepper, cayenne, black pepper, salt, and some people put in a little brown sugar, I don’t.
Click to expand...
You got all the essentials...I would add a tomato base(paste, ketchup?, reduced sauce) a lil at a time. I recently had this when visiting central NC and really liked the flavor(Lexingtonish). Another spice I use in sauces is achiote paste. It adds a like smokeyness/sweetness thats just different. You may have to find a Hispanic grocery to get it though.

Rooster
 
cjcullom said:
You got all the essentials...I would add a tomato base(paste, ketchup?, reduced sauce) a lil at a time. I recently had this when visiting central NC and really liked the flavor(Lexingtonish). Another spice I use in sauces is achiote paste. It adds a like smokeyness/sweetness thats just different. You may have to find a Hispanic grocery to get it though.

Rooster
Click to expand...
Yeah that tomato / ketchup Lexington stuff is what he wants to avoid! Keep it simple, taste the meat and smoke from a good slow smoking, with a little light and thin vinegar base and pepper to complement in order to help bring out the smokey pork flavor. We don’t use ketchup on BBQ down east! Put the effort into cooking it right, and you don’t have to cover the meats taste and smoke flavor with thick sauces and that mustard and ketchup. Ketchup or tomato in Eastern Carolina style BBQ is heresy.
 
It's been a while since we've had a good BBQ fight.

It's Friday. Load the cannons and wait till dusk.

Fire at the first sighting.
 
Eastern Carolina is probably one of the simplest and most delicious as thats what Im most familiar with. White vinegar, red pepper flakes and chopped pork butt. I marinade my butts in a combination of vinegar, drinkable white wine and bay leaf. A lil slaw on sandwich if you want but Im not a big fan of it. As far as "any other", there are plenty of pork variations called BBQ and most are just fine.

Rooster
 
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