eastern Carolina bbq sauce

The only published North Carolina bbq sauce I have is a "mix" of eastern and western sensibilities (vinegar and ketchup based). Lacking good information on this bbq, I am comparing some recipes.

Some recipes call for more sugar than most, but generally a 1 1/2 cup yield contains a small amount of sugar--say 2 tbsp. Otherwise, it is a straightforward vinegar with some very basic crushed herbs and peppers, and hot sauce. I will likely put my ghost pepper hot sauce to work in a batch.

From amazing ribs

Recipe

Yield. Makes about 1 1/2 cups. Click here to calculate how much you need and for tips on saucing strategies.
Preparation time. About 30 minutes.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon hot sauce
2 tablespoons sugar (white, light brown, or dark brown)
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons finely ground black pepper

About the vinegar. Seems to me that the best sauces in the area were made with distilled white vinegar, not cider vinegar. So I tried my recipes with both and I liked the distilled better. If you want to use cider, feel free.

From Allrecipes:

• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™), or to taste
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

AND

• 2 cups cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1 tablespoon ground dry mustard
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar