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Barbecue (alt.food.barbecue) Discuss barbecue and grilling--southern style "low and slow" smoking of ribs, shoulders and briskets, as well as direct heat grilling of everything from burgers to salmon to vegetables. |
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Lexington, NC BBQ Report....(Day 1)
Dang me...keep changing subject lines on ya...
Well anyway, I am in Charlotte, NC this week for biz and decided to try some of the famed North Carolina Barbecue in these here parts. Here is the first day of my trip through Lexington and my stops at 3 of the better known BBQ joints.... Okay, let's see... Well, first I went to Lexington Barbecue #1. I had tried to go there right from the airport Sat. night, but pulled up at 9:29, and just as I turned and saw the sign that says "Closes at 9:30" the lights went out. Dang! Spent Sat night and sunday with my Sis-in-law and her family, then headed out about 11 this morning (purposefully skipping breakfast) for Lexington again. Got to Lexington Barbecue about 11:30 and headed inside... Nice clean place with a lot of friendly waitresses chatting with the regulars. Got a menu and ended up ordering a Large Chopped Barbecue Tray with Slaw, Hushpuppies and a glass of sweet tea. My first taste of Lexington Barbecue was not bad. Not exactly what I'd expected either. The meat was more chopped than pulled and I wrote down the following description on my notepad (yeah, I brought a notepad) "Dry...but juicy". I guess the best way to put it is that the meat was kinda dry but the vinegar sauce made it SEEM juicy. Most of the flavor seemed to be more in the kina sweet vinegar sauce than in the meat. The hushpuppies were moist inside and had a good, slightly corny flavor. The slaw was different than any slaw I had had before but was pretty goodl Kinda citrusy ith a kick that I think was just onions but it hit me as almost horseradishy. The sweet tea was not as overwhelmingly sweet as most that I've had down south before. Okay, on to Speedy's.... Speedys I just drove up to the side with the curb service (man, those hush puppies are kinda filling...I might not be able ot eat much more...) Got a SMALL chopped tray with slaw and hush puppies...opened up the wrapped tray to get just a bite before I headed on...MMM..much juicier meat than Lexington...Slaw was good...a little less bite and maybe a little more sweet.... On to the Barbecue Center. On the way I'm munching on Speedy's hush puppies...definitely sweeter and more corn flavor than Lexington's..... Barbecue Center I pull up to the Curb Service again and within 3 minutes I have another bag with a small tray and hushpuppies. Take a quick bite of meat....A LOT more smoke flavor and there's some bark mixed in (hadn't seen any in either Lexington or Speedy's) slightly bigger chunks of meat than Speedy's, but dryer throughout. The Hushpuppies were darker on the outside and dryer on the inside...don't know if it was just that they were overcooked, but seemed less tasty and more like dry cornbread mix. Now, here comes the funny part. I get to my hotel in Charlotte and meet the main folks I have the biz meetings with this week and we all go out to dinner....to the Smokey Bones restaurant across the way... well first off, I am plumb full already, but I gotta go as it's the getting to know you dinner. Anyway, I am NOT expecting much when walking into a chain BBQ restaurant ( went to a Tony Roma's once. Once. And that will be the only time). Anyway, I start reading the menu and they SAY that they smoke their pork butts for 12 hours and hand pull it. Okay, I'll try some...I get the pulled pork and St. Louis Rib dinner with Slaw and Collard greens. The funny part? Meat wise, the pulled pork was the best I had today. Mind you, it already had some sauce mixed in with it (the sauce was neither here nor there..a memphis sweet molassass type sauce), but the meat was juicy, not overcooked, hand pulled in bigger pieces than any of the three Lexington joints I had been in earlier. I was actually wishing I could try some of THIS pork with some of the sauces and sides from the other places. The slaw was more of the kind I'm used to, thinly sliced white & red cabbage with a sweet white sauce (I've used 1/2 & 1/2 and vinegar). The Ribs were real, but too salty for my taste. Would have been fine if they toned down the salt factor more. So, forgetting about the Smokey Bones for a minute, here's my Summary from the Lexington Joints: SPEEDY'S: Juiciest Meat. Best hush Puppies. BARBECUE CENTER: Best flavor, Most smoke. LEXINGTON #1 Best Slaw IF, what I had today was a good representation (If I was REALLY reviewing, I'd go to each place at least 3 times) then if I had to choose one of the three to recommend, it would be SPEEDY'S. My biggest dissapointment overall was the texture of most of the chopped pork...it seemed to be maciated to the point of losing much of the natural texture of the meat, which I like (if the meat is cooked right and is juicy and pulled right. It may just be a personal preference... If I can manage to not eat much between now and Thursday, I may give some of these places a second try as well as checking out Jimmy's, Stameys and whatever else my stomach can put up with. Think I'll go for the sliced pork next go around.... PICS POSTED IN ALT.BINARIES.FOOD lex-001.jpg - lex-007.jpg > LEXINGTON BARBECUE #1 lex-008 - lex-013.jpg > SPEEDY'S BARBECUE lex-014.jpg - lex-018.jpg > THE BARBECUE CENTER If anybody has suggestions for other places to try in the area. Thursday I drive to Raleigh, then Friday down I-95 to Savannah, then Woodbine, GA.... (Still waiting to see if my Dad is up for a trip down to Big Jims in FL) -Chef Juke "EVERYbody Eats when they come to MY House! |
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Lexington, NC BBQ Report....(Day 1)
Chef Juke > wrote in message >. ..
> Dang me...keep changing subject lines on ya... > Great post Chef. Get to Stamey's if you can. It might rank in between Speedy's and Barbecue Center. If Smokey Bones in Greensboro were open I'd say let's meet up. Rob Q' 4 All |
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Lexington, NC BBQ Report....(Day 1)
On Tue, 27 Apr 2004 00:49:29 -0400, Chef Juke >
wrote: >My biggest dissapointment overall was the texture of most of the >chopped pork...it seemed to be maciated to the point of losing much of >the natural texture of the meat, which I like (if the meat is cooked >right and is juicy and pulled right. That was my experience at a half-dozen Q joints in the Research Triangle area. Didn't care for it much, either. -- Kevin S. Wilson Tech Writer at a University Somewhere in Idaho "Anything, when cooked in large enough batches, will be vile." --Dag Right-square-bracket-gren, in alt.religion.kibology |
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Lexington, NC BBQ Report....(Day 1)
go to Maurices in west Columbia or to Melvin's in Charleston or Johnny
Harris in Savannah |
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Lexington, NC BBQ Report....(Day 1)
Funny you should post this - I was on a business trip to NC earlier this
week and went out of my way to Lex #1 for some Q too. I wish now that I'd gone to Speedy's or someplace else.... even Burger King. I can't remember the last time I was that dissapointed in a meal. The pork was chopped to the point that it looked like it had been run through a food processor. The sauce had no character whatsoever. Their hushpuppies were bad joke! They looked/tasted like the frozen variety you can sometimes find in the grocery store. The slaw was decent enough but, like the pork, chopped too fine for my taste. I don't know... maybe I caught them on a bad night - but I won't be back. |
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