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Authenticity is everything at Old Carolina BBQ
Massillon - Preparing to launch their first barbecue outpost — Massillon's popular Old Carolina Barbecue Co., which opened in May — longtime pals Brian Bailey, Kevin Handlin and Tim Hug embarked on a freewheeling BBQ binge through North Carolina.
Their mission, to locate recipes, pit techniques and other Carolina barbecue lore, would prove rewarding but physically taxing.
"We hit 17 places in three and a half days," Bailey says of this April 2005 trek, with the undisguised pride of a battle veteran. In North Carolina, the trio ate often: early lunch, late lunch, early supper, late supper, sometimes more.
"That's a lot of barbecue," Handlin adds. "They ranged from little roadside shacks, second-generation local places, to some modern chains." At one eatery, the buffet table featured an entire hog, head and all — "pig pickins'," the Carolinians call it.
"We wanted to hit places with some tradition. We wanted to meet pit masters," Bailey says.
"Everyone was so open," Handlin says. "They just really like barbecue."
The guys, all 1988 Timken High School grads, discovered a brotherhood among Southern barbecue specialists. Between rounds of ribs and peach cobbler, the owner of McCall's BBQ in Goldsboro, N.C., "said he'd tell us anything we want to know," Bailey says.
While specific techniques and recipes may vary among Carolina pitmasters, there was one mainstay piece of advice that has proven crucial at the Old Carolina restaurant.
"Low and slow," says Handlin, emphasizing each syllable.
"Good barbecue is not about creativity,"Bailey says. "It's more about perseverance and…" He pauses to find the correct word. "…execution."
First Massillon, Next Belden
The Old Carolina Barbecue Company, at 2482 Lincoln Way E (in the same plaza as Home Depot and Food 4 Less), has found a legion of local barbecue fans with its authentic Carolina fare.
"We just found a niche," Hug says. "We have something that wasn't here before."
"We're more authentic in our style than most places," Handlin says. "People will tell us, 'This is just like that place we went to on vacation.' We're bringing that feeling here."
A Belden Village-area location for Old Carolina, three times larger than the Massillon restaurant, is expected to open around Thanksgiving at 4710 Everhard Rd. NW in Jackson Township.
The casual Massillon restaurant, where orders are placed at a counter, serves up heaping pulled pork and beef brisket sandwiches, smoked chicken in half and quarter portions, and racks of dry-rubbed ribs.
The moist and tender pork, brisket and ribs are not drowned or bathed in sticky red sauce. Instead, diners can add their own sauces from Old Carolina's selection of five originals, including the mustard-based Carolina Gold and fiery Screamin' Beaver. Pork sandwiches are available Carolina-style, drizzled with vinegar sauce, topped with cole slaw.
The meat is cooked on rotisserie racks in a massive Southern Pride-brand smoker in the Old Carolina kitchen, with smoke forced in from a burning log in the firebox. Ribs are cooked for five hours, pork shoulders and whole briskets for 13 or 14 hours. The Belden Village location will have two smokers, with a window for viewing.
Old Carolina's side dishes are country-style favorites: baked beans, cole slaw (in creamy and vinegary varieties), garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, apple sauce, succotash, crispy fresh-cut fries and exemplary hush puppies. Other items, including smoked sausage links, fried seafood, and macaroni and cheese are under menu consideration, due to customer requests.
"People are passionate about their barbecue, and I like to talk to them," Bailey says about his avid customers. "I always ask, 'Do you have any recipes for me?'"
"Barbecue is about the masses," Hug says. "There'll be someone here in a three-piece suit standing next to someone in overalls or Carhartts"
Ribs Burnoff Faves
The Old Carolina restaurants aren't these guys' first foray into barbecue, not by a long shot. Local barbecue fans may be most familiar with the name Old Carolina Barbecue Company from the Pro Football Hall of Fame Ribs Burnoff.
For the past three years, Old Carolina won the sought-after People's Choice Award at the local burnoff. This summer there, Old Carolina sold about 2,250 racks of ribs in three days. Old Carolina uses a portable smoker, fondly named Peaches, for outdoor events.
"Because of the restaurant opening, we only did seven burnoffs this year but we got five first places, one second and one third," Bailey says proudly." In the years prior, we did up to 15 or 16 burnoffs."
As a printing-equipment rep touring the country for 14 years, longtime barbecue aficionado Bailey sampled ribs in each city, his clients taking him to their favorite spots.
A 20-year veteran of Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips, Hug brings restaurant-management experience to the Old Carolina team. As he puts it, Bailey is the concept guy and Handlin the food guy. The trio, incidentally, were teammates on the Timken swim team during high school.
Handlin's barbecue knowledge prior to Old Carolina was sorely limited. "I thought barbecue was cooking hot dogs and hamburgers in the backyard," he says. "Brian taught me it's this whole other world. It's been a five-year journey."
"Barbecue is about the masses," Old Carolina partner Tim Hug says. "There'll be someone here in a three-piece suit standing next to someone in overalls or Carhartts."
"People are passionate about their barbecue, and I like to talk to them," Brian Bailey says about his avid customers. "I always ask, 'Do you have any recipes for me?'"
