Well I am on vaction in Charlotte, like I said, and I went to the "best" Q joint in town as voted by people in the city and the local newspaper. I'll keep the place nameless because the food was mediocre and overpriced, but the owner was a heckuva nice guy...
After chatting with him he volunteered to show me his "cooking room". It was about a 15' x 15' building with 2 "whole pig cookers", that he said were "CookRight" cookers. All they are are big square boxes with a top rack and a bottom rack. They are electric. But here is the thing... they use NO WOOD at all, so there is no smoky flavor at all to the meat.
I have never heard of pulled pork that hasn't been smoked. And I know that I can't imagine Q w/o a nice smoky flavor... well yes I can, and I don't want any more of it. Heck, I could make that style in my home oven.
Is this a common way to cook pulled pork in any part of the country? Oh, he did have one cool item in his kitchen, a meat shredder, which he said really cut his prep work time.
Oh, and he advised me AGAINST starting my own Q business. While he admits he does just fine in the income department he said it took years before the people of Charlotte really started eating Q, and to the best of his knowledge he was one of the first few people to sell Q in Charlotte. HE must be doing ok though, he is only open 4.5 hours a day, M-F. And my brother in law says people wait in line to get in between 11 and 1pm.
Real nice guy, but I think I make much better Q, and as of right now, I'm just an amatuer...
Chuck
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If it ain't smoked, just fix it!
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