12 American barbecue styles you need to know as we close in on BBQ season

Pink smoke rings, crusty fat caps, pull-apart proteins, viscous sauces and king of comfort food sides can’t lie; though barbecue is a worldwide culinary phenomenon, American cuisine is its best advocate. And as a barbecue lover, you should know the different types of proud barbecue tradition throughout the land. Grab a wet nap and read on…

12. Memphis Style

Memphis barbecue is typically comprised of pork ribs or chopped pork (you can get ‘em ‘wet’ with sauce or more commonly, ‘dry’ with a spice rub) as a platter, on a bun or even on pizza or nachos.

11. Hawaiian Style

Hawaiian barbecue is sort of just what you get when cooking whole-hog style in a hot underground pit. This Polynesian tradition doesn’t extend much more beyond this, and so it only barely registers as an American barbecue tradition. Still, if you’re in Hawaii, you shouldn’t miss out on some smoky delicious luau pork.

10. Kentucky Style

Kentucky style can actually be broken into two sub-categories: Western and South Central.

In the West, a typical dish is smoked mutton shoulder with a Worcestershire-based sauce.

In the South Central area, smoked pork shoulder is often sliced thin, then sauced with a zesty blend of vinegar and peppers, and served over white bread.

9. Oklahoma Style

OK BBQ is a hybrid style, meaning you could find yourself with Kansas City-style sauce or a Memphis style rub, and a wide range of meat selections including smoked beef brisket, ribs, chicken, sausage, turkey and even bologna sausage.

8. St. Louis Style

St. Louis-style barbecue is a pork-lover’s dream; pulled pork, pork steak and crispy pork snoots (flavorful snout and cheek meat) are popular dishes here.

7. Virginia Style

The little known Virginia-style barbecue uses meats such as Virginia ham, chicken or wild game. Sauces are often tomato-based with flavor accents provided by vinegar, bourbon and/or peppers.

6. Kansas City Style

If you’ve ever tasted K.C. Masterpiece, you probably wouldn’t be too surprised that Kansas City-style barbecue is all about the thick and sweet tomato- and molasses-based sauce. All barbecue meats are equally celebrated in KC.

5. Santa Maria/California Style

This is a somewhat under-the-rader barbecue style in most parts of the country, but it’s also the obsession in Santa Maria and other parts of California. Beef tri-tip (a cut that comes from the bottom sirloin subprimal cut) is seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic salt before grilling, slicing and serving.

4. Texas Style

This is another barbecue Mecca that’s broken down into a few sub-styles:

Eastern Texas barbecue is one of the most popular types of southern barbecue. Beef brisket or pork is often chopped instead of sliced and served with spicy BBQ sauce or hot sauce.

Central Texas barbecue is a meat lover’s paradise, where protein always takes the center stage while sides and sauces are secondary. Central Texas is known for its smoked sliced brisket, ribs and sausage.

West Texas style barbecue makes use of goat, mutton and beef, directly cooked over mesquite.

South Texas is known for barbacoa – a rich, succulent mess o’ meat from the cow’s head that originated in either the Caribbean or Mexico depending on who you ask.

3. North Carolina Style

Shredded, sliced, chopped or pulled, NC BBQ is all about smoked pork with a thin, spice- and vinegar-based sauce. It should be noted, however, that Eastern NC favors a whole hog BBQ with the vinegar sauce, while Western NC favors pork shoulder with a vinegary sauce that may sometimes include tomato.

2. South Carolina Style

Once more, we’re gonna breakdown this state into a few regional styles:

Western SC-style BBQ uses a variety of meats with a ketchup and pepper-based sauce.

In Mid-SC, barbecued meats are slathered with “Carolina Gold” sauce, made from mustard, vinegar, brown sugar and other spices.

In Eastern SC, whole hog is the preferred barbecue method with a thin, peppery vinegar sauce.

1. Alabama Style

While you can find a bevy of different sauces and influences around this surrounded-by-other-BBQ-states-state, you’ll likely find one style that is celebrated throughout – smoked chicken and pork shoulder squirted with a healthy dose of white sauce. White barbecue sauce? Yessirma’amsir. White barbecue sauce is typically made with mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, pepper and salt, and those Alabamamanians (or however it is said) absolutely love it.

Pulled pork image by Shutterstock

Oklahoma Style BBQ image: Michele Hubacek, Flickr

Santa Maria/California Style BBQ image: Eugene Kim, Flickr

Alabama Style BBQ image: Southern Foodways Alliance, Flickr