Yadkin River Smokers North Carolina Western BBQ Sauce

Yadkin River Smokers Barbecue Sauce

I tried out a new western North Carolina vinegar based barbecue sauce made by Yadkin River Smokers this evening.

Yadkin River Smokers were at a barbecue competition with a team and with a booth for pork skins and sauce this weekend. Since I adore pork skins and especially those fried fresh on site, I had to stop by. The pork skins were absolutely amazing, and Robert hooked me up with a bottle of their barbecue sauce.

Robert said that he likes Yadkin River Sauce on chicken, and that it's extra good warmed up and used as a dipping sauce. Barbecue people know their products, so I decided to do my first quick grilled chicken smoke just as he had suggested.

When I opened the bottle, I got the vinegar kick smell, but it was not as strong as many North Carolina barbecue sauce products. There was an extra sweet layer in there. The scent was very nice, so I was curious to see how the sauce would taste grilled on the chicken and also on the side as a dip.

Grilled Chicken Breast Strips with Yadkin River BBQ Sauce

I would call Yadkin River Barbecue Sauce a mop as is the tradition in North Carolina, but it had just a little more body than the NC sauces I've used before. This meant that the sauce stayed on the chicken better than mops which was nice, since I was doing the boneless, skinless chicken breasts which can be on and off in minutes. After a long weekend at a barbecue competition, I really wanted something fast and simple.

I let the chicken rest in the sauce for about a half hour while I got the grill fired up and hot. Preheating a grill really is important. If it's not hot, then grilled foods will stick.

My yard was smelling great, and we were all looking forward to dinner. I was hoping the chicken would taste as good as it smelled.

Grilled Chicken Breasts with Yadkin River BBQ Sauce

I pulled the chicken and had some sauce that I heated on the stove. Sometimes I heat sauce on the side of the grill, but the boneless breasts grill really fast, so it seemed a good idea to heat the mop sauce inside and have it ready.

The grilled chicken with Yadkin River Barbecue Sauce was excellent and even better with extra warmed dipping sauce. Robert told me right on that.

Yadkin River BBQ Sauce is a North Carolina sauce - clearly. But, it has an extra layer of sweet to cut the twangy vinegar. I adore our North Carolina vinegar sauces, but they can be a bit much for those outside the area. I think Yadkin River BBQ Sauce will appeal to locals but also to those who are not used to the real high octane vinegar sauces. It's in the spirit of our sauces but with more layers and not so "in your face" on the vinegar.

You can buy Yadkin River Sauce direct, and they hope to be in grocery stores soon. Since Food Lion is based here in North Carolina, I hope they will be carrying Yadkin River Barbecue Sauce. They are good about stocking local products, and this is a thumbs up.

Puh-LEEZE Food Lion - Give Your Workers a Break

Most people who read my Barbecue Master blog know that I'm in Food Lion country. Food Lion is where I get most of my meat and foods to cook out on the grill, and the guys in the meat department are very helpful.

Now, Food Lion is doing some "Welcome to your neighborhood Food Lion!" campaign and forcing the cashiers to say that. Holy cow. The first time I walked in the door and a cashier bellowed out WELCOME TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD FOOD LION!, I about tripped over a cart.

Clearly this is a corporate idea. Anyone on the floor would see immediately that yelling greetings at unsuspecting customers is a bad plan. It's just not "normal." Plus, it is distracting when checking out. I'm talking to the cashier, and he or she has to stop and yell at other people coming in the door.

The employees at Food Lion were doing great without corporate intervention. Feeding the employees canned greetings suggests that management does not trust those they hire to use common sense. It also suggests that Food Lion thinks customers are stupid and won't notice that interactions are now scripted.

If the greeting plan wasn't bad enough, I see that the cashiers have been told also to ask if I've noticed the lower price stickers and if I bought anything priced lower. Geez. Yes. I saw the stickers all over the store - very annoying. No. I do not know if I bought any marked "lower prices." There were so many that I tuned them out.

If Food Lion keeps this up, then I'll head on over to Harris Teeter. They do have higher prices, but they do not make the empoyees yell at people coming in the door and do not slap stickers on half the items in the store and have the cashiers ask if I've noticed the stickers.

Food Lion Barbecue Prizes and Hamburger Toss Game - 2009

Hand Patted Hamburgers with Meat from Food Lion


The grocery stores are getting geared up for grilling season, and Food Lion is no exception.

Food Lion is our local grocery chain. It’s not just down the road, the company was started and is headquartered out of Salisbury, North Carolina.

“Get Fired Up” is the theme for the 2009 backyard barbecue promotions at Food Lion which started on March 4. Every Thursday through September 3, 2009, Food Lion will draw a name weekly for a barbecue prize package.

The barbeque prize package includes a Masterbuilt charcoal grill, bag of Kingsford charcoal, Kingsford tent, store brand lighter fluid, store brand grilling brush, and a $50 Food Lion gift certificate to get some meat and vegetables to go on the grill.

To be entered you need to sign up the Food Lion Shopper’s Companion email which comes out weekly on Wednesday mornings. You then check your email and look for the Get Fired Up sticker logo and follow the directions for that week.

Personally I like getting the grocery store emails. If I’m at work and think about stopping by to get groceries, I can glance there on email and see about specials. If you’re not keen on emails, then you can still play the Grill Game weekly at the Food Lion website.

Just press the Grill Game button. You click to toss grilled hamburgers onto buns that come out from the sides of the page. If you run out of burgers, click the grill to get more.

After you finish the game, you get a coupon you can print out. The coupons are grill themed of course.

Either the game is not working right, or I really stink at computer games. It could be both. In any case, I think I landed some of those burgers on the bun, but my score was 0. When I got home from work, I tried again. I made 0 again.

The good news is that you get the coupon even when you score 0. The one this week was for 360 cups and plates - $1.00 off. There are more coupons if you click around, and those don’t require the burger toss game.

I buy the bulk of my food for grilling at Food Lion. It’s a local company, and there’s one on the way home from work – very convenient. The guys in the meat department are super helpful. They will cut meat to order and also have excellent tips if you’re trying out a new cut of meat.

If you don’t have a Food Lion near your home, try checking the home page for your local grocery store. Most grocery stores start offering grill specials in March. Then, be sure to visit my Yes You Can Grill page for outdoor cooking tips and recipes.