Videos of non-American World Cup soccer fans praising American BBQ, led me to ask what’s the most popular BBQ in the US? Please note that this is about the most ‘popular’ and not the best. Americans may enjoy arguing about politics, sports, and religion, but ‘best’ food debates quickly can get out of hand. While there are many sub-genres of BBQ, for simplicity’s sake, we’re going to focus on five different types of BBQ.
Texas Style
Primary Meat: Beef with a particular emphasis on brisket and to a lesser extent ribs. The Texas style relies more on the smoke and the natural aspects of the meat for flavor. Slow cooking over oak or pecan wood with a basic salt and pepper rub is known as Central Texas. East Texas favors hickory and may be served with a tomato-based sauce. The cowboy style uses direct flame cooking over mesquite. Chili peppers are sometimes added for additional flavor.
Kansas City Style
This style applies to beef, pork, and chicken. The defining aspect is the sauce rather than the meat. While individual preparations will vary, the sauces utilize a tomato and molasses base delivering a thick and sweet flavor. The crispy edges of brisket, where the sauce and meat fuse, commonly called burnt ends, represent the signature example of this style.
North Carolina Style
Pork is the primary meat for classic North Carolina BBQ. It’s usually served as pulled pork, but whole hog is also common. The defining feature is the tangy acidic vinegar based sauce. Eastern variations augment the vinegar with pepper, while Lexington style adds tomato to thicken the sauce.
South Carolina Style
Like its close North Carolina cousin, this style centers around pork. The primary difference is the sauce. Sometimes referred to as Carolina Gold, this sauce relies heavily on mustard and pepper. Some may quibble that it’s just a variation of the North Carolina style, but the mustard base provides a distinctively different taste.
Memphis Style
Another pork focused style, Memphis BBQ features ribs and pulled pork. This style includes both wet and dry rubbed meat. The wet rub centers on a lighter tomato based sauce, which the dry rub lacks. Both add more spices (e.g., paprika and cayenne) to the salt, pepper, and sugar mix, and slowly smoke the meat over hickory.
Our featured map comes courtesy of BBQ Revolution.
FWIW, I’ve had and enjoyed each of these except for South Carolina style. What’s your favorite?
As always thanks for reading.
Armen
Note to pay the bills
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You are making me hungry. I’ve had all but the SC variety.
Same for me. Honestly, I didn’t know it was a separate thing before this post.