CarterQue Barbecue and Grilling Company

[ol_ironstomach]

Noted in the far northern reaches: "coming soon" signs still in the windows of CarterQue Barbecue & Grilling Company (and Jessicakes) at 235 S Main St, Mount Airy, directly below the VFD. Chris Carter, the proprietor, apparently teaches 'que around the Frederick area, and competes on the national circuit as "Smoked Encounters of the Third Swine". Has anybody tried his stuff?

[bobif]

Yes, I have had his stuff and it is good. I have compete against him at KCBS BBQ Competitions even though we are friends and I have worked on his team at the last DC BBQ contest. It is nice to see that a real BBQ place is in the Frederick area. I wish his good luck.......

[ol_ironstomach]

Some brief notes. Pulled pig a bit of a mixed bag - some nice browns in there with a good smoke ring, but the interior meat a bit "grey". Not sure how they hold it prior to serving. Flavor was a little bland for my tastes, although their "traditional red sauce" was pretty decent.

The ribs, however, were quite good. Good smoke through the meat, maybe cooked to a slightly drier level than others may like, but I enjoyed everything except the very edge of the half-rack. Good pig flavor, and that slight stickyness where the fat has melted into the meat. I'd go back for these.

Sides were generally weak. Cornbread came in plastic-wrapped individual servings, and in the cake-like northern style. A fancy machine dispenses Luzianne tea, sweetened or not, but not nearly sweet enough to pass for southern sweet tea. Not much to commend the mac and cheese either. But they do carry 2 oz snack bags of Zapp's chips.

[Henry]

Some brief notes. Pulled pig a bit of a mixed bag - some nice browns in there with a good smoke ring, but the interior meat a bit "grey". Not sure how they hold it prior to serving. Flavor was a little bland for my tastes, although their "traditional red sauce" was pretty decent.

The ribs, however, were quite good. Good smoke through the meat, maybe cooked to a slightly drier level than others may like, but I enjoyed everything except the very edge of the half-rack. Good pig flavor, and that slight stickyness where the fat has melted into the meat. I'd go back for these.

Sides were generally weak. Cornbread came in plastic-wrapped individual servings, and in the cake-like northern style. A fancy machine dispenses Luzianne tea, sweetened or not, but not nearly sweet enough to pass for southern sweet tea. Not much to commend the mac and cheese either. But they do carry 2 oz snack bags of Zapp's chips.

Thanks for the helpful and knowledgeable notes Dave. I'm considering making the drive up there from Baltimore to try it. You may or may not know the we in Central MD suffer from a plague of subpar, downright fake bbq.

-Henry

[porcupine]

Running an errand in Mt Airy yesterday and feeling a bit peckish, with plans to stop at Jimmie Cone in Damascus on the way home, MrP and I spotted Carterque and thought "why not?" We ordered a pulled pig platter with cornbread (they were out of hush puppies), baked beans, and a sweet tea. As we sat waiting I pulled out the trusty iphone and looked up ol_ironstomach's review.

He's pretty much spot on. The beans tasted like beans. Just beans. Boring. The cornbread was actively bad - wet rather than moist and flavorless. But the pulled pig was quite tasty (I didn't get any gray flavor), moist with nicely charred bits, though maybe more fat than I care for. The red sauce was a nice change of pace from typical too-sweet tomato concoctions, and the sweet-n-tangy was just that, without being too much of either.

Fortunately I'll have to go back to Mt. Airy later this week, which means I get to try the ribs.

Jimmie Cone, an old favorite, was disappointing. I didn't remember the vanilla tasting artificial.

[porcupine]

CarterQue has moved south along Main St, next to the animal hospital, and now has table service and an expanded menu, which includes tasty frickles (spears, not slices). The dry rub ribs are still excellent.