Eastern SC Vinegar-Pepper BBQ Sauce Recipe
Eastern South Carolina barbecue is made special by many things, especially by the various vinegar-pepper BBQ sauce recipes that can be found throughout the Pee Dee region. Now you can make it at home.
I’ll never forget my first bite of real BBQ.
I was a Cub Scout, maybe 7 or 8, and we had just returned from an overnight camping trip from somewhere at a nearby camp. Must have been owned by the First United Methodist Church in Cheraw, I don’t know, but while we were there, I became cognizant of an oddity going on at the same time we were camping.
Some of the men were cooking entire pigs over coals. To a young mind, this was quite a curiosity, but not one that necessarily occupied that fleeting attention span for more than a few minutes and I was back off, playing with my troop.
Flash forward to the next day when we returned to the church and camping was over. Parents hadn’t arrived yet, and I found myself again playing tag or hide-n-seek or something with my friends.
Anyway, at some point, I run into the church’s kitchen, I’m all alone, and sitting on a low counter I find myself looking into a big silver chafing dish full of BBQ.
I reached in slowly, looking around to make sure I wouldn’t be caught, and put a pinch into my mouth.
Literally, this was one of life’s moments of epiphany. Light shined brighter, a knowing look of realization must have crossed my face, and I found heaven in a church kitchen.
Later, I would understand what it was that I tasted: whole hog BBQ cooked over glowing embers, mopped and served with a vinegar-pepper sauce.
To this day, for me anyway, this is the epitome of what real BBQ will always be. If you decide to hit the road, head up to the Pee Dee to the epicenter of the vinegar-pepper region of SC or use our map to search and you can filter for restaurants serving vinegar-based sauces.
Michael Ott, who originally grew up in Orangeburg County, the heart of Dukes BBQ country, shared his vinegar-pepper recipe with us.
“You might want the note on the vinegar sauce that this is a med spicy version and to add Tabasco, Texas Pete or more red peppers if they want to heat it up a bit,” Michael added.
Enjoy this homemade Eastern SC Vinegar-Pepper BBQ Sauce Recipe:
Eastern SC Vinegar-Pepper BBQ Sauce
An authentic vinegar-based barbecue sauce common in the Pee Dee region of SC
Ingredients
- 2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoon ketchup, or chili sauce
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt, or sea salt
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Put all ingredients in a pot and heat until the mixture just begins to boil.
- Remove from the heat and cool promptly.
- Transfer to a clean, covered jar and refrigerate. Use within 3–4 days or freeze for longer storage; this is not a tested shelf-stable or canning recipe.
Notes
Need help planning your cook? Check the BBQ Tools collection for a growing library of quick calculators and planning guides.
Yield and nutrition: Approximately 2¼ cups of vinegar-based sauce, or 36 one-tablespoon servings. The nutrition figures are ingredient-based estimates and assume 2 tablespoons of ketchup rather than chili sauce, 1 tablespoon of Morton coarse kosher salt rather than sea salt, 1 tablespoon of molasses, and the other stated ingredients. Each tablespoon contains approximately 6 calories and 208 mg sodium. A different salt brand or chili sauce can noticeably change sodium and sugar. Nutrition covers the sauce alone, not the barbecue served with it. These figures are not laboratory-tested.
Refrigeration: Transfer cooled sauce to a clean, covered jar and refrigerate promptly. This homemade sauce has not been laboratory tested for safe preservation or canning, and the previous claim that it lasts for several months is not verified. For a conservative approach, use refrigerated sauce within 3–4 days or freeze portions for longer storage. Do not assume it is shelf-stable.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
36Serving Size:
1 tablespoonAmount Per Serving: Calories: 6Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gSodium: 208mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 0g
Ingredient-based approximation for 1 tbsp out of 36 servings (≈2¼ cups total). Assumes 2 cups apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp ketchup instead of chili sauce, 1 tbsp Morton coarse kosher salt instead of sea salt, 1 tbsp molasses, ½ tbsp black pepper, ½ tbsp crushed red pepper. Approx. 6 calories and 208 mg sodium per tablespoon. Salt brand and ketchup/chili sauce substitution change nutrition, particularly sodium. No food dressed with sauce included; not lab-tested. Final volume unmeasured.
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Check out these other SC BBQ sauce recipes we’ve published on destination-bbq, and we’ve published even more sauce (and rub) recipes in the SCBBQ Recipes: Going Whole Hog Cookbook. Read more about that here.
Sauces and Rubs:
Vinegar-Pepper Sauces
- Jay Phillips’ Whole Hog Sauce Recipe
- Dad’s Mop Sauce Recipe
- Eastern SC Vinegar-Pepper Sauce Recipe
- Moore Family’s Little Fisher Hog Sauce Recipe
- Lowcountry Vinegar Sauce Recipe
Mustard Sauces
- Swig & Swine’s Mustard BBQ Sauce Recipe
- Dukes BBQ-Style Sauce Recipe
- Dukes BBQ Sauce – “Actual Recipe”
- Simple South Carolina Mustard Sauce Recipe
- Bessinger’s-Style Gold Sauce Recipe
Tomato-Based Sauces
- John Padgett’s Kansas City BBQ Sauce Recipe
- Honey-Hickory Barbecue Sauce Recipe
- Bullies BBQs Thin Basting Sauce Recipe
- Cherrywood Signature BBQ Sauce Recipe
- “Carolina Red” Light Tomato Barbecue Sauce Recipe
- Basic Tomato Barbecue Sauce Recipe
Other Sauces
- Home Team BBQ Alabama White Sauce Recipe
- Moe’s Original BBQ’s Alabama White Sauce Recipe
- Brisket Mojo Sauce Recipe
- Roller Family Hot Sauce Recipe
- Salsa Verde with Avocado for Pulled Pork Recipe
Rubs
- Sticky Fingers’ Basic Dry Rub Recipe
- JB’s Smokeshack-Style Spicy Dry Rub Recipe
- Sticky Fingers’ Texas Rub Recipe
- BlackJack Barbecue Dry Rub Recipe
- Sticky Fingers’ Sweet Rib Rub Recipe
- Home Team BBQ Dry Rub Recipe for Chicken Wings Recipe
I am fortunate enough to live 45 mins from Hemingway SC so every chance I get I go to Scotts and get a gallon of Pepper Vinegar which lasts me for a few cooks.