Cooking meat over smoke was a cooking technique discovered by a local tribe of the Caribbean. However, who would have guessed that this technique would be the crowned American culinary delight centuries later. BBQ has merged so well with the American history and culture that it evolved with America. Nowadays, America enjoys four different BBQ styles, each with a different sauce. These styles are:
- The Carolina Style
- The Texas Style
- Kansas City BBQ Style
- Memphis Style
The Carolina Style:
Carolina goes heavy on pork, as their BBQ includes only pork. Further variations are depending on the region of Carolina. For example, the Lexington style makes use of pork shoulder marinated in a tangy sauce. Then the pork is tossed in the pit while we wait for the sauce and smoke to do its magic. Additionally, the sauce comprises vinegar because the vinegar allows the tangy, thin sauce to cut through the meat.
Apart from Lexington style, the eastern Caroline style believes in tossing whole pork or any part of it into the pit. In addition, they use a mayonnaise-based sauce with their roasted pork.
Texas Style BBQ:
Texans love to pitch big hunky cattle into the smoker. Texans rely primarily on beef; for them, beef is the king. You can occasionally find chicken wings or pork sausages as sidelines, but the main course is beef ribs and briskets. As for the preparation, Texans prefer to take it low and slow, allowing the beef to cook over a low flame or lengthy hours.
Before handing over their beef to the smoker, they rub it up with a dry, spicy rub made out of salt, pepper, and chili. Again, similar to the rub, Texas serves the meat with spicy and bold side sauce.
Kansas BBQ Style:
Is the Texas-style too spicy or dry for you? Then Kansas will delight you with a ‘sweet’ change. Here both the rub and the sauce are dominated by sugar. Kansas primarily uses brown sugar along with a few other sugar varieties for the rub. As for the sauce, Kansas-style incorporates tomato and sweet molasses. Moreover, in Kansas, you can enjoy any smoky BBQ meat of your choice.
Memphis Style:
In Memphis, our rub gives the Memphis BBQ its distinctive taste. Up to 40 spices are used to make the rub with garlic and paprika as a dominant feature. Here in Memphis, we primarily use pork prepared with the rub and then toss it over the grill or the pit. Mostly the meat is cooked dry. However, occasionally it can be basted, but preference is given to dry cooking. We serve our BBQ with tangy, tomato-based side sauce.
Do you want to experience traditional Memphis Style cooking with a modern twist? Try King Jerry Lawler’s BBQ. We blend BBQ with contemporary dishes, for example, our nacho BBQ. Hence, visit us to try our BBQ first hand or call us at (901) 509-2360 for any inquiries.