BBQ Rant

[hatt]

Originally Posted By: urrlord

No it was a pit cooked hog and the meat was pulled off and shredded.The owners wife convinced him that chopped was easier to prepare.The people in that town stopped eating there.

I like either way as long as there is good sauce.If the sauce is not very good I like a chunkier meat like the shredded.I never ate there.I was in that town buying a pickup from a friends relative, saw the place and inquired about it.I was told it was pretty good.A few months later I was passing through that town and saw the restaurant was closed.When I asked my buddy about it he related the info about the change and its results.IIRC he said one of the complaints was the chopped was greasier.

I've never found a place where pulled was nearly as good as chopped. Suppose it's a regional thing. Guess I grew up on Peeble's BBQ so I like that style.

That story doesn't sound too plausible either. Surely they would have went back to the popular way if business suffered. Bet there was a lot more to it. The best looking pork I've ever seen was a whole hog chopped together. Unfortunately it was on TV, don't know of any places around here that do such things.

 

[urrlord]

It was a very small town.My read on the situation was the change drove away a lot of customers and the owners were operating without a lot of cash reserves.Probably lost enough on unsold product that they could not recover before their money ran out.It happens all the time in the restaurant biz.A change costs you good will,loss of custom and before long you can't meet the rent etc. A shame really.Esp as the towns other restaurant was a gas station that sold fried chicken and tater logs etc.There may have been other factors involved but as it was related to me the change in meat prep was the main factor.The pork was said to be greasier so I wonder if they seperated out the fat well enough before chopping.As for not changing back that may have been a matter of pride. Who knows?


As for the chopped vs pulled debate as I said I like both.Then there is the wet vs dry debate.One place I buy sandwiches from chops it fine and mixes it with their own sauce (wet style)and it is pretty darn good.Another place I go to serves it shredded with sauce on the side(dry style) as the owner there maintains wet style and vinegar type sauces enable people to sell past its prime product.He feels the dry style is more "honest".I have to say his meats are pretty good(in fact his ribs are the only ones i've found that don't need sauce)but his sauces are only fair.Which I suppose is a reflection of his philosophy.

But I do like a good tangy-hot bbq sauce.

 

[Mr_Incredible]

When I learned to cook a pig by my FIL in Princeton, NC, I was told that while the pulled pork was more popular, chopped pork allowed the better cuts to flavor the lesser cuts and the whole batch turned out better (but not as good as the best cuts.)

I've only done two hogs and been a part of three others, so the finer points elude me. Pickin' off the hog is always a fun time, though.

 

[hatt]

Originally Posted By: urrlord


As for the chopped vs pulled debate as I said I like both.Then there is the wet vs dry debate.One place I buy sandwiches from chops it fine and mixes it with their own sauce (wet style)and it is pretty darn good.Another place I go to serves it shredded with sauce on the side(dry style) as the owner there maintains wet style and vinegar type sauces enable people to sell past its prime product.He feels the dry style is more "honest".I have to say his meats are pretty good(in fact his ribs are the only ones i've found that don't need sauce)but his sauces are only fair.Which I suppose is a reflection of his philosophy.

But I do like a good tangy-hot bbq sauce.



I'll have to agree with the dry guy. Let me sauce the meat. I use very little sauce anyway. Great meat stands on it's own.

 

[Kira]

+1 on the 'dry arguments', I love to sauce my own meats; even on a bite-by-bite basis.

I'm chiming in now because we attended the Polish Festival in Tappan, NY (where Major Andre'-Benedict Arnold's coconspirator-was hanged). We had such a good time last year.

This year's must've been projected to be smaller because the available building which has the dance floor and huge kitchen wasn't open.

Additional food vendors were hired and I got food poisoning. Details upon request. Food has a new dimension to me now.

Regarding the OP's original complaint: Incorrect food delivery at a fundraiser--laugh it off.
Delivery of food poisoning--go back to the specific vendor with a roto-shotgun and levy justice. Kira

 

[gman2304]

The guys from GEORGIA... he knows his cue. Chicken is NOT cue. People from N.C. are the same way. It is at a minimum a misdemeanor to pass off chicken for pork cue in N.C.! Probably an innocent misCUE... but I feel your pain brother!