Ribs and pulled pork are rich, and the best way to balance and cut the silky fatty mouthfeel is with acid. This East Carolina vinegar BBQ sauce is how to do it.
Along the coasts of North and South Carolina, “East” Carolina or the “Low Country,” where BBQ probably began in the US, the locals figgered this out a long time ago. They developed a simple vinegar based sauce, probably the oldest BBQ sauce in the nation, to cut through, cleanse the palate, and enhance the flavor. The original was probably just a kiss of hot peppers and vinegar, and some pitmasters use only those two ingredients to this day.
Recipe Overview: East Carolina Vinegar BBQ Sauce Success Formula
- Measure: the distilled vinegar, hot sauce, sugar, Morton coarse kosher salt, crushed red pepper flakes and ground black pepper.
- Shake: all the ingredients together in a jar.
- Let it sit for 12 hours or more so flavors meld.
- Pour: a few ounces into a cup and paint it on the meat using a mop brush every hour or so while it cooks.
- Discard: the mop in the cup and use the rest of the untouchced mop at the table.
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The science behind East Carolina vinegar BBQ sauce
BBQ sauce strategies can differ a little bit, in terms of when and how you apply them. Low Country vinegar sauce is used on naked meat, without a rub, and it does double duty as both a baste (a.k.a. mop) and a sauce. A mop is brushed on the meat while it cooks to cool it and flavor it. Because it is so thin, it penetrates deep.
For people like me who love vinegar and a bit of heat, this simple sauce is all you need on a properly smoked shoulder or whole hog (in the eastern part of NC, whole hog is the cut of choice). It’s different from a Carolina BBQ sauce, which uses yellow mustard and apple cider vinegar. Many of you will find it a bit severe and will want to use it as a mop in place of a rub, finishing the with a thicker, sweeter, more conventional Kansas City style sauce.
Best of all, this stuff keeps for months in the fridge, so make a gallon.
Ingredients and substitutions for East Carolina vinegar BBQ sauce
- Distilled vinegar is also referred to as white vinegar or spirit vinegar. It’s made from distiled spirits. The flavor is clear and neutral and it’s the heart of this recipe. You can use apple cider vinegar if you want. I’ve tried it with both and I prefer it with distilled. For more on this topic, check out my piece the science of vinegar.
- Hot sauce will bring a bit of heat. You don’t need much in this recipe. You can use whatever kind you want, or try making my Controlled Burn Hot Sauce.
- Sugar, any kind: white, dark brown or light brown. The recipe takes two tablespoons, and it doesn’t matter too much which one you select. It’s going to add sweetness without as much depth if you go for white sugar.
- Morton coarse kosher salt is almost always the go-to for salt when it comes to sauce and cures. It’s easy to pinch and sprinkle, it doesn’t clump easily, and is widely available. If you want to use table salt, use half the amount called for in this recipe—or any of my recipes written with Morton’s coarse kosher salt, for that matter.
- Crushed red pepper flakes are also sometimes referred to as chili flakes or red pepper flakes. They add some sweet heat to the sauce. They’re typically (although not always) made with cayenne peppers.
- Finely ground black pepper is arguably the most recognized and widely traded spice, used in cuisines around the world.
East Carolina vinegar BBQ sauce, step by step
- Pour all the ingredients into a jar with a lid and shake until evenly distributed.
- Let it sit for at least 12 hours to allow the flavors to meld.
- To use as a mop, pour some off into a separate cup. Reserve the rest.
- Paint it onto the meat with a basting brush once an hour or so while it’s cooking.
- Toss any unused sauce from the cup. Serve the meat with the reserved sauce.
- Refrigerate any sauce you don’t immediately use. It should keep for months and months.
East Carolina vinegar BBQ sauce FAQs
This isn’t a thick and sweet sauce; it’s a thinner, sharper, and tangier sauce thanks to the vinegar, for one. It’s perfect to cut through the fat of pulled pork, for example.
You can fix this by adding more sugar to balance it out, or add some bacon fat or melted butter to blunt the effect of the vinegar. Or you can start over!
Homemade vinegar BBQ sauces will keep for several weeks up to a couple of months if properly sealed and stored in the fridge.
If you like this East Carolina vinegar BBQ sauce recipe, you’ll love . . .
- Columbia Gold, a South Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce Recipe
- Walter Jetton’s Barbecue Sauce
- Chocolate Chile BBQ Sauce Recipe
- This Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce is the Real Deal
- Tennessee Hollerin’ Whiskey BBQ Sauce Recipe
East Carolina vinegar BBQ sauce recipe
East Carolina Vinegar BBQ Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Pour all the ingredients into a jar and shake. Let it sit for at least 12 hours to allow the flavors to meld. To use it as both a mop and finishing sauce, pour a few ounces into a cup and paint it on the meat with a basting brush once every hour or so while it is cooking.
- If you use it as a mop, the sauce in the cup can get contaminated with uncooked meat juices on the brush. That's why you don't want to dip the brush in the whole bottle. Discard contaminated mop and serve untouched sauce at the table.
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