The simple joy of BBQ..........

[Mikekoz13]

This past Saturday while camping I smoked a pork butt. Five pounds of pure pork heaven smoked slowly over natural wood charcoal and hickory chips for 5 1/2 hours.

The bark (outer smoked portion) was perfect and the meat itself was moist and had just the perfect amount of smoke taste. This was the best piece of pork I've ever smoked (I rededicated myself to smoking this Summer).

We here at the House of Koz eat our smoked pork Eastern Carolina style. That means that the meat is chopped not pulled. Eastern Carolina sauce is NOT the sticky, sweet, ketchup based sauce that most Americans know as BBQ sauce. Our sauce is a much thinner vinegar based sauce. The main ingredients are vinegar, hot pepper flakes, and salt.

Eastern Carolina sauce at the House of Koz is a homemade sauce. Made from a recipe handed down to me by my Uncle Roger.... a man that has been barbecuing for years and perfected his own sauce over many years. Only two people in the entire world know the recipe to this sauce..... my Uncle Roger and me. When he passed the recipe on to me two years ago he asked me to promise that I would never give it to anyone in the Carolinas...... I did him one better and told him I would only pass it on to my son once I was an old man. My son has inherited my almost fanatical love of real BBQ.

If you guys have never had this simple pleasure... you have to find out where you can get it and try it.

[D.A.L.U.I.]

Love that stuff, topped with well made slaw, it's a foretaste of the food of angels.  We're headed to NC in October and we're already talking which places to eat BBQ.  It's an act of love to make that stuff.  I like the Tennessee shoulder too, but Carolina is the gold standard--sweet as candy.

[BillOnBass]

We make the good stuff here in Georgia, too!  My dad makes an excellent BBQ sauce that sounds similar to yours Koz.  We mostly pull our pork instead of chopping it, though.   

[Mikekoz13]

In my mind, BBQ of all types is good BBQ...... but being from Eastern Carolina, that particular style is my favorite.

[Big G]

I make my own sauce here also. It is a Carolina type sauce but like BillonBass we pull it. I have thought about going into the BBQ business for years but have kinda got cold feet with the booming economy.. I have a good buddy that I get with and a couple of times a year we have a pig roast. I guess doing whole hog is my favorite. We will get a band, get the wife's, mother's and girlfriend's to make some sides, throw up a tent and have a big time. Who knows what this Fall will bring but last one we had over 150 folks show up for food and music. I have a couple in the lot ready for the roaster..

[Rob]

This past Saturday while camping I smoked a pork butt. Five pounds of pure pork heaven smoked slowly over natural wood charcoal and hickory chips for 5 1/2 hours.

The bark (outer smoked portion) was perfect and the meat itself was moist and had just the perfect amount of smoke taste. This was the best piece of pork I've ever smoked (I rededicated myself to smoking this Summer).

We here at the House of Koz eat our smoked pork Eastern Carolina style. That means that the meat is chopped not pulled. Eastern Carolina sauce is NOT the sticky, sweet, ketchup based sauce that most Americans know as BBQ sauce. Our sauce is a much thinner vinegar based sauce. The main ingredients are vinegar, hot pepper flakes, and salt.

If you guys have never had this simple pleasure... you have to find out where you can get it and try it.

Soundz good: I'll be round to your place next weekend...

[reb123161]

I agree with the fun of BBQ get-togethers.  When I moved back to Mississippi 11 years ago, I bought a lot of "rough cut" pine lumber---very, very cheap then---pre-Katrina prices.  My friends and I built an 1800's era cabin in the middle of the woods by a pond that is spring fed.  This place has become the "meeting" place or the "so long" place since then.  When our family members go off to war, this is where we send them off with a 24 hour BBQ and this is the first place they want to come to when they get home.  Sadly, we have had to use the place a little too often for sending our kids in harms way, but that is the life we chose.

We prefer the brown sugar and smoke mix down here in Mississippi.....sweet/heat on the meat!   I make my own sauce, also--gotta have some cider vinegar and jalapenos in it.  Add some bourbon, garlic, etc...you get the picture!  Nothing like a day long BBQ with the friends and family--a little home brew--and sometimes boiled crawfish.  I wanna go to the cabin right now!! 

[schro]

Can't get enough BBQ.
As far as the sauce goes, we occasionally make our own, but (like brewing beer) I find the effort involved doesn't result in something that's better than a store bought item.

Koz, next time I come back east, you're doing the cooking! 

[texanron]

After reading Koz's post it has made me want to rededicate myself to smoking meat versus grilling so much. I have a pork loin in the freezer that will be going on the pit this weekend. I'll try my hand at a homemade bbq sauce as well.
The wife and I have been thinking about a trip to the Carolina's. I'll have to get some places from you Koz to try if/when we make it out there. I have heard nothing but good things about the bbq out there.

[D.A.L.U.I.]

Pork really takes to the slow smoking, keeping the heat low, chips wet--might want to keep the tender of the meat "wet" too .  I like to do a fresh ham, first given a dry marinade w/ sage, thyme, pepper, finely minced garlic and sealed up in the refrigerator for about 3 days in a plastic bag, then rub w/ some olive oil and slow smoked for about 4-5 hours.  There's a premix wet mop sauce, Bone Suckin http://bonesuckin.com/ that's good to use, we like the hot, and it ends up with a beautiful crust that's a taste treat on it's own. 
Pork is great, but you can't rush a pig--they take time, but it's worth it. 
Faster, much faster, is salmon, set it skin side down away from direct heat, and depending on the heat, it can be ready in anywhere from 12 to 20 minutes at 1"-2" thick.  We just brush it w/ oriental sesame oil. 
Damn, I'm going to lunch.

[Mikekoz13]

Can't get enough BBQ.
As far as the sauce goes, we occasionally make our own, but (like brewing beer) I find the effort involved doesn't result in something that's better than a store bought item.

Koz, next time I come back east, you're doing the cooking! 

You, my Friend, have an open invitation to stay at Casa de Koz........ smoking some pork for you would be my great pleasure. All you'll have to do is sit there and drink cold beers with me for the 5 hours or so it takes to smoke...... then we'll dig in.

[Mikekoz13]

After reading Koz's post it has made me want to rededicate myself to smoking meat versus grilling so much. I have a pork loin in the freezer that will be going on the pit this weekend. I'll try my hand at a homemade bbq sauce as well.
The wife and I have been thinking about a trip to the Carolina's. I'll have to get some places from you Koz to try if/when we make it out there. I have heard nothing but good things about the bbq out there.

If you Google "Carolina Barbecue Trail" you will find all the info you could ask for on both types of Carolina Q. I personally have only eaten at one BBQ place in North Carolina because my Uncle always does a whole hog when we visit.
That particular restaurant that I ate at has pretty good Q but there sauce isn't good enough for me. I like eating there because they serve a LOT of soul food...... collard greens, sweet potatoes, okra, corn bread, etc.. Oh man I'm getting hungry.....

[Mikekoz13]

Pork really takes to the slow smoking, keeping the heat low, chips wet--might want to keep the tender of the meat "wet" too .  I like to do a fresh ham, first given a dry marinade w/ sage, thyme, pepper, finely minced garlic and sealed up in the refrigerator for about 3 days in a plastic bag, then rub w/ some olive oil and slow smoked for about 4-5 hours.  There's a premix wet mop sauce, Bone Suckin http://bonesuckin.com/ that's good to use, we like the hot, and it ends up with a beautiful crust that's a taste treat on it's own. 
Pork is great, but you can't rush a pig--they take time, but it's worth it. 
Faster, much faster, is salmon, set it skin side down away from direct heat, and depending on the heat, it can be ready in anywhere from 12 to 20 minutes at 1"-2" thick.  We just brush it w/ oriental sesame oil. 
Damn, I'm going to lunch.

A mop sauce is VERY important but no commercial stuff for me. I make my own in about 5 minutes.

As for HOT..... my Carolina Sauce packs a good punch and I can adjust the heat when I make it. The gallon I made last week I intentionally made substantially hotter than usual. So far.... rave reviews from my regular customers (Friends that I give a bottle of sauce to every time I make it).
I also apply a rub, that I make, to the meat well before smoking. My rub has a spicy little bite to it as well.

That "crust" you speak of... known in Q circles as the "bark"..... is my wife's favorite and it usually has a nice mild kick to it.

[Noodles]

NEW RECORD SET!!!  

Call me crazy, but Sunday, we drove all the way to Gulf Shores, Alabama from New Orleans just for LUNCH!!  

 GREATEST DISTANCE I EVER DROVE ON A WHIM- just for a M-E-A-L!!!  

Around Biloxi, I began to think how crazy of an idea this was,   but we pressed on anyway.

3 1/2 hours later, after pulling out of our driveway at home, we drove into the parking lot of Lambert's Cafe, home of the "throwed rolls!!"

For those of you who may not be familiar with Lambert's and the phrase "home of the throwed rolls", check out the "Chowdown Countdown" video on the link below:

http://www.throwedrolls.com

  RIBS were EXCELLENT and the PORTIONS were HUGE!!
And, as usual, there was no end to the entertainment from the staff before, during, and after the meal!!

If only the weather would have been as good as the meal. Torrential downpour as soon as we exited I-10 heading to the beach and it never let up!!  

At least there was NO SIGN OF 'BP' OIL visible ANYWHERE along the beach!!

Last 'back to school weekend get-a-way' for the kids before starting the new school year@ the end of the week!!

- Cap'n Noodles -

[BikerDave]

Stop pullin' your pork, you'll go blind! 

In all seriosity, I like a mayo and vinegar-based sauce myself. A little salt and fresh-ground black pepper...oh lordy, my tongue's gettin' hard. Think I'll go smoke a brisket.