I really love trail mix.

Mee too!

Well a few years ago when I lived out west I would tell you that tonight I'm going to BBQ a big ole fat ribeye with all the fixin's.... But now since I live in the southeast I'm going to "grill" a big ole fat ribeye with all the fixin's....

apparently BBQ has something to do with a dead pig and vinegar.

The carolina style is all about vinegar. Most cooks overdue the vinegar and have it upfront instead of to complement or balance the fatty nature of the meat (like with pork butt/shoulder). There is a fine line when you use vinegar. If not implemented properly the overuse of vinegar with bbq can taste like complete crap.

To me even tho Im in the Carolina's, most Ive had to quote you is crap! I did have some that was good at a small furniture company's xmas party out in the middle of nowhere south of Raleigh 2 years ago that was pretty good.

Hard to find beef and tomato based bbq here.

I'm not much of a fan of the Carolina style BBQ either. I find it too overpowering. I prefer the tomato based bbq as well.

That reminds me of a funny story. Im a real chinese food smorgaholic. All my buddys moved to the city, right out of school. They moved around alot and every time they moved, it seemed to be by a new chinese food place. My buddy has been at the same place in Coquitlam now for years. Every once in a while we get together and do the smorg thing. Well my buddy phones me up one day and says "you know that chines food place we eat at" ya what "they got caught serving cats". I wasnt really grossed out but I didnt eat chinese for a long time. Undoubtedly I would have ate cat, some of the meat with sweet and sour sauce was probably kitty. My son and I have been back to eat there (China Kitchen), when we go through the food, we always joke and
say "you want some puddy tat".

Im having BBQ burgers tonight, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

When done right Carolina style sauce is fantastic imo. You just can't dump it on like folks do with a tomato based sauce.

Any sauce no matter the style should be used in moderation when having true (smoked) BBQ. The main flavor should be the meat itself with a hint of smoke being a close second.

Santa Maria style is my favorite kind of BBQ. Tritip seasoned with garlic salt and pepper, cooked over red oak. I've only had the real thing once, but man, it was good.

I cook my steaks in the fire box of the smoker over red oak. It's very, very good, not what I consider BBQ but very nice.