BBQ 101

It’s the oldest style of BBQ in the nation, that’s all! Specifically, Eastern North Carolina BBQ (ENCS) is vinegar-based with a variety a spices that make every North Carolina roadside BBQ joint unique. At Pigman’s Bar-B-Que, we take all the necessary steps to make our BBQ unique as well. For example, all of our signature BBQ’s are cooked on site by smoking. We cook this way for two reasons: To cook the meat slowly to retain the natural juices, and infuse it with a blend of hickory and oak flavor. Once the meat is cooked, we add our signature sauces to the meat, thus creating BBQ. Every BBQ option we sell is hand-crafted by our production manager, and has some sort of vinegar-based sauce added to them. Although our vinegar-based BBQ options are delicious, we have discovered that there are many different palates out there to please. As a result, a few of our BBQ options have ketchup and an additional blend of proprietary spices to give our customers a “tomato-based” option. This option is often called, “ketchup-based” as well.

Traditionally, NC BBQ is pork, but we’ve been giving the treatment to some other delicious meats as well. Below are descriptions of our different BBQ options as well as a description of the sauces that correspond with each BBQ. Please commit these to memory.

Pork BBQ

Authentic North Carolina BBQ. Pigman’s Signature Slow Smoked Pork BBQ is pulled and then mixed with our Regular vinegar-based sauce.

Beef BBQ

Pulled smoked brisket mixed with our Rib Roarin’ tomato-based sauce.

Turkey-Que

Also a proprietary recipe, turkey breast is slowly smoked and smothered in “Rib Roarin’ Sauce.”

Tuna-Que

In this Pigman’s original, fresh, yellow fin tuna is slowly smoked to perfection then flaked-up in our Grillin Sauce. We add a touch of Soy Sauce for flavor. Unbelievable!

St. Louis Ribs

Dry rubbed and slowly smoked for hours then basted with our delectable Rib Roarin’ Sauce.

BBQ Chicken

One-half chicken, rubbed with our Rib Rub, slowly baked, then finished with our sweet and spicy Cock Sauce.

Our incredible sauces are so delicious that they’ve almost taken on a life of their own as local celebrities! We, of course, love our vinegar based Eastern NC BBQ sauces, but we’ve also become avid fans of other BBQ sauces as well.

There are three main types:

“Vinegar-Based” Sauce

This BBQ sauce has vinegar as its base or main ingredient. Other proprietary spices are added to give each vinegar based bbq sauce its unique taste. North Carolina and surrounding region are known best for this style of bbq sauce.

“Tomato-Based” Sauce

This BBQ sauce is often referred to as, “Ketchup Base.” This style of sauce is much sweeter than vinegar-based sauces, but will often times, have vinegar in the recipe to compliment the sweetness of the ketchup. Molasses, another sweetener, is often time added to give this style of sauce more complexity. Texas, Kansas City, Memphis, and most of the mid-west are infatuated with this style of sauce.

“Mustard-Based” Sauce

This BBQ sauce is indigenous to South Carolina. Mustard is mixed with vinegar, spices, and sometimes, brown sugar to give this sauce a truly unique taste.

No matter which sauce you decide on, you won’t be disappointed. We’ll share our secret recipes with you…

Regular Sauce

Used on pork BBQ, this is our version of traditional Eastern North Carolina vinegar-based sauce.

Hot Sauce

Just the right touch of crushed red pepper adds great flavor with a kick to our Regular Sauce!

Grillin’ Sauce

Created by adding butter and garlic to our Regular vinegar-based sauce, this is our original wing sauce. You’ll also use it as the standard sauce for Tuna-Que.

Rib Roarin’ Sauce

Used on beef, turkey, ribs, and chicken, this tangy tomato-based sauce is usually applied during the last five minutes of preparation.

Cock Sauce

This sweet and spicy tomato-based sauce is basted on our chicken to caramelize during the final stage in the oven. The chicken receives another basting as it’s ordered and goes out to the customer.

“Alabama White” Sauce

You may never have this style of BBQ sauce unless you are able to make your way down to a BBQ restaurant in Alabama or you come into Pigman’s Bar-B-Que. Mayonnaise and a variety of pepper and spices are used to achieve this sauce’s unique color and taste.

Rub-a-Dub Rib Rub

A proprietary blend of savory spices lends a special sensational flavor to this sauce, which is used on St. Louis ribs and smoked chickens.

Chopped BBQ

Chopping is a method of cutting meat into smaller pieces or chunks from a large cut of meat. A clever is often used to achieve this method. Our beef and turkey options are first chopped into smaller pieces, then hand-pulled and mixed into our Rib Roarin’ Sauce.

Hand-Pulled BBQ

This method of rendering BBQ is accomplished the old-fashioned way. Once cooked, the meat is pulled or flaked apart (and sometimes off the bone) by hand. This method leaves the meat chunkier and gives it a more natural look. Our pork, tuna, and catfish BBQ are made this way. Once “pulled,” our signature sauces (see above descriptions) are added to complete the process.

Minced BBQ

Mincing is achieved by either finely chopping the meat into very small pieces or by use of machinery to cut and mash the meat to give it a pulp-like appearance. Sauce may or may not be added, depending on the preference of the BBQ establishment. We do not mince any of our BBQ.

Sliced BBQ

Sliced BBQ is either machine-sliced or by hand. Sauce may or may not be added, depending on the preference of the BBQ establishment. We do not slice any of our BBQ.

The taste of Pigman’s famous country ham will send your tastebuds back in time, before refrigeration, when the only way to preserve meat was to cure it with salt. Pigman’s gets salt-cured hams that have been aged for months, soaks them overnight to release some of the salt, and then smokes the meat to perfection. We then debone the ham and seal it back up. We can slice it paper-thin for our ham rolls or cut it thick as you’d like by the pound. Whatever your preference, you’ll be tasting a bit of history with every bite.