The Best Barbecue in the U.S.A.
Grilling guru Steven Raichlen shares his regional recipes and favorite barbecue jointsBy Megan O. Steintrager
H eaded to Owensboro, Kentucky? You've got to try the local barbecue specialty: smoked mutton served with a black sauce made with Worcestershire sauce, melted butter, and lemon juice. "You have all of these little micro-regions in barbecue, and I like that notion," says Steven Raichlen, whose book BBQ USA has 425 recipes from across the U.S., including Southern California's Santa Maria oak-grilled tri-tip steak, marinated and grilled Cornell Chicken from upstate New York, and Northern Alabama's hickory-smoked chicken dressed with a white mayo-based barbecue sauce. Micro-regions aside, there are four major American barbecue hot spots and corresponding styles: Texas, the Carolinas (primarily North), Memphis, and Kansas City. Epicurious asked Raichlen to explain each regional style and share a corresponding quintessential recipe and restaurant suggestion.
Texas
In Texas, beef is king—primarily brisket, which is smoked for up to 18 hours, generally with oak. The meat gets most of its flavor from the slow smoking, and most Texan pitmasters don't bother with rubs or mops, says Raichlen. The beef is usually served sliced with soft white bread. "Texan barbecue sauces tend to be based on tomatoes and chile powder and are rather thin, tart, and vinegary," writes Raichlen in The Barbecue! Bible. Many 'cue joints in Texas also serve beef ribs, sausage, and other meats, but brisket is the star.
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The Carolinas
Here, barbecue is all about pork: Whole hogs are sometimes barbecued for a "pig pickin'," but the most common cut is shoulder (also known as Boston Butt). The meat is left naked or rubbed with a mixture of paprika, salt, sugar, and other seasonings, and then smoked for six to eight hours over oak or hickory—during that time, some pitmasters keep the meat moist with a vinegar-based mop sauce. After cooking, the meat is "pulled" (hand-shredded) or chopped and doused with a spicy, vinegary sauce—nothing sticky or sweet! In northeastern North Carolina, the sauce is thin and clear, made with white or cider vinegar, with hot red pepper flakes, salt, and a bit of sugar; in the western part of the state, ketchup or tomato sauce is added. In South Carolina, as well as in southern North Carolina, the sauce is bright yellow and contains vinegar, ballpark mustard, and a sweetener such as sugar, molasses, or honey. Carolina barbecue is traditionally eaten on a bun with a mayo-less coleslaw that's made with the same sauce that goes on the pulled pork.
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Memphis
The host city for one of the world's largest barbecue contests, the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, has all kinds of barbecue, including thinly sliced pork shoulder served with barbecue sauce. But the city is most famous for its pork ribs. Baby back or spare ribs are thickly coated with a spicy dry rub made with cayenne, black pepper, paprika, and a little brown sugar and left to soak up the flavors overnight. They're then smoked (some pitmasters keep the ribs moist during cooking with a vinegar and mustard-based mop sauce) and sprinkled with more rub before serving. You can add sauce, but Raichlen prefers his ribs "dry" like they're served at the legendary Rendezvous barbecue joint (listed below).
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Kansas City
Kansas City has more than 90 barbecue joints, according to Raichlen: It rivals Memphis as the capital of American 'cue. Pork ribs are popular in Kansas City, too, but so are other cuts of pork, as well as chicken and beef. Here, many pitmasters use a dry rub (as in Memphis), but they don't tend to use mop sauces. "What characterizes Kansas City is the heavy smoke and the sweet, sticky barbecue sauce," Raichlen says. A typical Kansas City sauce contains ketchup or tomato sauce, brown sugar, corn syrup, molasses, vinegar, onion, garlic, hot red pepper flakes, liquid smoke, and sometimes apple juice, Raichlen explains in The Barbecue! Bible. The most famous supermarket brand in this classic Kansas City style is KC Masterpiece. However, it's not the only style here: One of Kansas's best and most famous barbecue joints, Arthur Bryant's, serves a tart vinegar and paprika sauce. If you're headed to Kansas City, you'll want to learn your 'cue terminology so you can order rib tips (the crusty trimmings of spareribs), short ends (the short, fat, meaty ends of spareribs), long ends (the other, leaner end), and burnt edges (the charred and crispy ends of smoked brisket).
