Slow-smoked pulled pork dressed with thin vinegar-and-red-pepper sauce. The original American barbecue sauce, traceable to Native American basting traditions.

Vinegar-pepper sauce is perhaps the oldest barbecue sauce in the United States, with roots in basting techniques used by Native Americans in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. It moved north into the Upstate through Carolina migration patterns. The Upstate uses the thinner vinegar sauce more than the Midlands mustard. Henry's Smokehouse has been doing the Upstate vinegar style on Wade Hampton since 1992.

Where to eat Carolina vinegar-pepper barbecue in Greenville

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Make it at home

Serves 68 hrIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 1 (5 to 6 lb) pork shoulder (Boston butt), bone-in
  • 2 tbsp coarse salt
  • 1 tbsp black pepper
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 2 cups apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 tbsp black pepper, freshly ground
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar (for the sauce)
  • 1 tsp salt (for the sauce)

Method

  1. Mix salt, pepper, brown sugar and smoked paprika; rub all over the pork shoulder. Let sit overnight in the fridge, uncovered.
  2. Set a smoker or grill to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Add hickory wood. Smoke the pork shoulder for 6 to 8 hours until the internal temperature reads 195 degrees in the thickest part.
  3. While smoking, combine vinegar, water, red pepper flakes, black pepper, brown sugar and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer, then cool. The sauce should be thin and biting.
  4. Pull the pork by hand or with two forks. Toss with about a cup of the vinegar sauce. Reserve the rest at the table.
  5. Serve on a soft bun with coleslaw, with extra vinegar sauce alongside.

Editor tip. The longer the rub sits before smoking, the better the bark. Don't be tempted to wrap the shoulder too early; the bark is the point.

Common allergens: May contain mustard.