Shredding pork, or other meats? (east NC Barbecue questions)

What better board to ask this than NC... Jane and I have recently become addicted to eastern Carolina vinegar barbecue, and we regularly hit the barbecue joints around us, which are thicker than McDonalds were in Hampton Roads... Anyways, to sing the praises... The stuff is lean, has no sugar, and being shredded, we can tolerate it better than traditional meats. I have a lot of trouble with stringy meat; Jane is less sensitive to stringiness, but the fat content will get her every time. So, can anyone here tell me how to make it? Cut of meat for a small batch, sauce, shredding methods, etc are all appreciated...

Bob, If you got my email,? I suggested you cook the meat ie, por****il its tender & shred it in the food processor. I would then simmer it in barbque sauce. You should be able to figure out the sauce by taste. *flirt* I have missed you, & your posts! Contact me! Linda

Bob, My grandfather made it by cooking a whole hog split down the middle over a pit of coals and hickory embers for about 24-48 hours. It was normally basted with Scott's sauce or something my grandma mixed up. Once it was cooked to the point the meat was falling off the bones we just pull the meat off and seasoned it with vinegar sauce and texas Pete to individual taste. That is the standard method of making NC barbeque from what I remember growing up here. Most NC barbeque places use some variation of that process. I have never tried to make it at home, I would rather go to Knightdale Seafood and Barbecue to enjoy their wonderful meat. It tastes just like my grandpa use to make it in Angier. I guess you could get a small pig and do the same thing on a smaller scale. I have friend in Apex that rents a large wood burning grill every October and he cooks us a 100-150lbs hog over a 24hr period and we have a pig pickin. Doing barbeque right is a real eastern NC art. I have had variations of beef and pork barbeque all over the country but nothing is as good as pig slow cooked here at home. Regards, Tim

Bob, I am from Va and I grew up eating and loving barbeque. I don't know how to cook it unfortunately but there is shredded barbeque and there is minced barbeque. Minced would probably work better for you. Happy BBQ, TaMeka

We have been known to do the whole hog thing too, but to make a smaller batch, we have done a pork shoulder and basted it with the vinegar sauce mixture as well as injected it. We get a sauce mix from Piggly Wiggly(yes its a real grocery store in Eastern NC) its a powder mix that you mix with a gallon of Apple cider Vinegar. Of course you can buy different vinegar based sauces already mixed at the grocery stores. Scotts is a popular one although a bit spicy for me at times. Glad to hear you love Eastern NC BBQ, I have a better time with Smithfield Chicken and BBQ, doesn't seem as greasy to me, or the homemade variety, we can control the grease in that as well.