View Full Version : BBQ Sauce - Let's Swap Secrets
Outlander Systems
04-01-14, 16:48
It's that time of year.
All the upper management is gone this week, so some buddies and I smuggled a smoker into the office, and we are going to do up some smoked hens Friday morning.
My current secret recipe is pretty simple.
Viking Redneck - BBQ Sauce:
Yellow Mustard
Honey - 0.25 ratio to mustard
Apple Cider Vinegar - 0.33 ratio to mustard
Brown sugar - 0.10 ratio to mustard
Black pepper - to taste
Smoked Paprika - to taste
Sea Salt - to taste
Cinnamon - a pinch
Cayenne - a pinch
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It's nothing fancy, but in Georgia, using anything mustard-based is damned near a capital offense.
I've played around with KC style sauces, but I haven't put out anything spectacular.
People get full-blown, OPSEC, OMFG, over their sauce recipes. A buddy of mine guards his recipe like his life depends on it.
I ain't like that.
If you like the recipe, cool deal. I may come off my super-secret chili recipe this fall for you bastards.
Counting down until a Texan says you don't need sauce :p
I'm a HUGE BBQ fan and have been able to try it all over the South and Texas (as well as some northern spots)
I usually make a tangy tomato based sauce similar to a Memphis style but with an Eastern Carolina tang.
This is one I like inspired from a bad BBQ book. The recipe usually needs to be tweaked.
3tbs butter
1/4cup minced onion
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 Worcestershire
2tsp sugar
1tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
That being said, the best BBQ I've ever had, regardless of style, is from the Hill Country of TX where they serve no sauce.
Outlander Systems
04-01-14, 18:16
Counting down until a Texan says you don't need sauce :p
I'm a HUGE BBQ fan and have been able to try it all over the South and Texas (as well as some northern spots)
I usually make a tangy tomato based sauce similar to a Memphis style but with an Eastern Carolina tang.
This is one I like inspired from a bad BBQ book. The recipe usually needs to be tweaked.
3tbs butter
1/4cup minced onion
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 Worcestershire
2tsp sugar
1tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
That being said, the best BBQ I've ever had, regardless of style, is from the Hill Country of TX where they serve no sauce.
;)
It's coming.
Sounds like a pretty solid pork lather.
I'm big on dry rubs, but most folks here want their pig coated in the sweet stuff. If I showed up to our bird smoke, with my mustard sauce, I'd probably make the news...
I'm pretty much convinced that you could cover pulled pork in peanut butter, and it would still be damned delicious.
I grew up in the Midwest on KC-style sweet sauces, have come to appreciate South Carolina mustard-based sauces, and the northern/eastern Carolina vinegar sauces. I do pulled pork on the Big Green Egg and have done all three sauces with about equal enthusiasm. Sometimes two sauces for the same butt at a given party. When it's just my wife and me, it's usually a couple of pork tenderloins all day in a slow cooker using a Carolina-style sauce. It's Minnesota. Nobody gets too parochial about their food.
I like the way pork is prepared in Western NC (shoulders) but I prefer the vinegar sauce of the East. In the east they do whole hog and I just don't think it gets any smoke flavor.
The other reason I'm enamored with TX BBQ is that its the only style that I have not been able to accurately reproduce.
Another great style is the half chicken done in central and western VA. Usually churches or the Boy Scouts make it and sell it for fundraisers. They use a vinegary mop and cook over hard wood coals.
Belmont31R
04-01-14, 19:57
They have sauce here (cenTx) but it's usually off in a corner somewhere. I sometimes use it with BBQ but the taste of the meat should come first. I've learned to do very basic seasoning prior to cooking and not just slather sauce all over everything. When you do that might as well just eat tofu because you're not tasting enough of the meat to tell otherwise.
This book is outstanding and a must have for any BBQ aficionado
http://www.amazon.com/Legends-Texas-Barbecue-Cookbook-Recollections/dp/0811829618
From what I have seen, tasted, and read, the key to Central TX BBQ (ie, Smitty's, Kreuz's Market, Blacks, etc) seems to be cooking hotter and faster than in the SE. Like 300+ degrees. Also, seasonings are often just mainly salt and pepper. The beef has a BBQ/grilled steak flavor that is awesome. The smoke should be there but not too forward. Basically they are roasting beef with post oak.
Whatever it is , it is freaking awesome and I can't do it.
BTW, this place is 95% as good as the Lockhart BBQ joints it's paying homage too ....... And it's in NEW YORK CITY!
http://www.hillcountryny.com
I used to say I never had bad BBQ in TX but on my last trip I had some putrid stuff in Grapevine.
Outlander Systems
04-02-14, 05:01
Are you Texans smoking with hickory or mesquite?
Mustard, ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire, brown sugar, Tabasco, cyan, white and black pepper. GH
The_War_Wagon
04-02-14, 07:16
Lexington-style NC BBQ dip. 1 tablespoon of cayan pepper to one cup of white vinegar (you can also modify to taste on the pepper). Simmer on low heat for a couple of hours. BRUSH onto your pork shoulder, or drizzle across the meat after chopping/slicing to taste.
ENHANCES the flavor, without smothering it in some modified ketchup sauce. :rolleyes:
I'm not into cooking, I'm into TASTING and all this bbq talk is making me hungry. I am a fan of the sweet sauces (LOVE Corky's sweet). But more importantly, it's in cooking the meat. If you smoke the meat right, it doesn't need much sauce. One of my favorite places steamed their meat after smoking, which made it softer and removed all the hard bits...tasty...
P.S. I used to live in Memphis; There was BBQ everywhere...bbq and laundrymat...bbq and carwash, etc. :) Yum yum.
Everybody makes a big deal about the taste of the meat. I don't get it. I like the taste of a good BBQ sauce too and when accompanying a good cut of meat with good flavor and texture, the whole can easily greater than the sum of the parts. IMHO, pulled pork with the right BBQ sauce is far better than just the meat alone....a concept that's been a fundamental component of the culinary arts for centuries.
Smoking? You sound like Yankees!:p
In the spirit of m4carbine.net, let get the technical terms correct.....
"Smoking" is what you due to salmon or bacon...usually in a smoke house at a VERY low temp.
"BBQ" is indirect cooking with wood at between 225 and 350 degrees. 250 is common in most of the South.
"Grilling" is hot quick direct cooking like what you do with tender cuts....steak, etc
Up here in the North people mistakenly call grilling "BBQ" and BBQ "smoking"
As for wood, every place I have been in Texas that I could see or ask about the wood, they were using post oak. Mesquite burns very hot and can have an acrid smoke, so it is used to grill steaks, etc.
The wood pile of post oak behind Kruez's in Lockhart. This and their (literally) sister joint Smitty's is the best in TX and defines the style IMHO
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The BBQ
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The food
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This sign was up the last time I was there. However, when I was at the Original Sonny Bryant's way up in Dallas a few months ago my BBQ was smothered in sauce. TX sauce is more savory than sweet in my experience.
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brickboy240
04-02-14, 11:13
Thick sweet BBQ sauces are just nasty!
No need to make my own when Stubbs original sauce is on store shelves. Yum!
(...and BBQ is beef...not pork)
-brickboy240
Being from the south, and my travels for work, I have tasted a lot of different styles. I prefer rubs from Custom Food Service in (gasp) Chicago, IL. Best I have ever had on ribs and pork chops.
But if your in a hurry, find regular Kraft BBQ sauce, Italian dressing and worchistishire sauce about 1/3 cup each. Add 1/2 tsp of cayenne, same of black pepper(adjust to taste). Bring to a boil, remove from heat. And that's it. Easy and good.
There are thousands of sauce and rub variations. Give them all a try.
Dayum you are all making me hungry...
brickboy240
04-02-14, 11:24
While I agree that beef that is done well does not always need a sauce...a thin and spicy sauce is best if you must have a sauce.
I am in Texas...we know what BBQ is supposed to taste like and that thick, sweet ketchup-like sauce is just wrong...sorry.
BBQ is beef and is served with cole slaw, potato salad, boracho beans and jalapeno corn bread....and a cold Shiner Bock.
-brickboy240
[QUOTE=Outlander Systems;1887688]It's that time of year.
All the upper management is gone this week, so some buddies and I smuggled a smoker into the office, and we are going to do up some smoked hens Friday morning.
My current secret recipe is pretty simple.
[Quote/]
Someone here posted something about Cuban or Pueto Rican pork... Pork shoulder or Pork Butt not sure... anyway a big chunk of Pork.
I set out to do a NC meets Cuba seasoning. Very similar to what you had above but I made a bottle of vinegar sauce and a think cooking sauce. I also use various habenero peppers or sauces. No 'pinch' of anything. no measuring.
Also heavy on the cumin, some ginger, hot sauce like Matouks, mustard, honey, salt pepper, and I have a mix of some aromatics and also some Pimento(spice) not pepper.
So anyway, I start cooking it and sort of braised it or possibly put it on grill on a just a bit to brown, I honestly can't remember. Then I put it in the oven and forgot the damn thing.... so about 3 hours later maybe even more I smell it and run down thinking I will have a charred disaster.. Stuck the tongs in there to grab it and it just fell apart and all that sauce just went all over the whole ordeal. Holy cow, that was the best pork roast I have ever made.
But my sauces are typically
Haberero - fairly good bit
Pimento - not too much or better a couple/three teaspoons Jerk Seasoning ( paste not powder or sauce )
Cumin - pretty heavy here
Chili - this can get pretty heavy too
Ginger - easy on this too
Then anything else, salt, pepper, rosemary, mustard, whatever.
Vinegar sauce- Apple cider vinegar, red pepper flakes, little mustard, salt, pepper, slice up a scotch bonnet and drop it in too if you like. I keep a liter bottle of that sort of going all the time. Just top it off.
I don't know how that would work with small hens but I have finally figured how to cook pork.
Thick sweet BBQ sauces are just nasty!
No need to make my own when Stubbs original sauce is on store shelves. Yum!
(...and BBQ is beef...not pork)
-brickboy240
While the TX version of BBQ is my absolute favorite, its use of Beef is peculiar. I feel there is TX BBQ and everything else.
The BBQ culture in TX traces to the German butcher shops of the turn of the century. Tough cuts like brisket were often left unsold so the butcher shops started slow roasting them over wood heat to break down the connective tissue and make them delicious.
Pork rules every wear else but TX. Southern BBQ culture derived mainly from Black culture and those people figuring out how to cook the cheap, tough and (formally) undesirable cuts of the ever present pig.
Sauce works better with pork because it is a sweeter, saltier, meat.
I prefer savory things over sweet things in general. That being said, top notch Carolina pulled pork in a vinegar sauce is one of my favorite things to eat in the world. I can deal with sweeter sauces only if they are tangy as well.
As for ribs, my personal favorite are the dry ribs from Rendezvous in Memphis. Its the rib I judge all other ribs by. Sauce serves on the side...which I do use.
While I agree that beef that is done well does not always need a sauce...a thin and spicy sauce is best if you must have a sauce.
I am in Texas...we know what BBQ is supposed to taste like and that thick, sweet ketchup-like sauce is just wrong...sorry.
BBQ is beef and is served with cole slaw, potato salad, boracho beans and jalapeno corn bread....and a cold Shiner Bock.
-brickboy240
Texans know what food is supposed to taste best to the rest of the country. Classic :D
SilverBullet432
04-02-14, 12:40
Im not quite the cook, but i do enjoy my Texas BBQ!! It must be drowned in sauce. I love BBQ sause! Especially Rudy's bbq, and stubb's
brickboy240
04-02-14, 13:12
No not ALL food but barbecue...yes. (where did I say that?)
I would imagine we could not do shit for a lobster chowder and the yanks cannot do brisket or Mexican food, either.
-brickboy240
Depends on the size of the Mexican population. We have awesome Mexican all around the Philly area. Just as good as anything in TX.
There is even a BBQ joint in Philly that is better than dozens I have been too down South.
But outside "HillCountry BBQ" in NYC, no one can replicate TX BBQ
SilverBullet432
04-02-14, 18:54
Mexican. Philly. Just as good as anything in TX
Sounds like a bet.
Moose-Knuckle
04-02-14, 19:04
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/AKS-74/ifitoldyou_zps71fc11c0.png (http://s10.photobucket.com/user/AKS-74/media/ifitoldyou_zps71fc11c0.png.html)
Outlander Systems
04-02-14, 19:22
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/AKS-74/ifitoldyou_zps71fc11c0.png (http://s10.photobucket.com/user/AKS-74/media/ifitoldyou_zps71fc11c0.png.html)
I'm not falling for the trap.
Texas BBQ is seasoned from a vial of Davy Crockett's blood.
Outlander Systems
04-02-14, 19:24
Just as good as anything in TX.
Shit just got real!
In response to all you Texans; Texas is cattle country. Y'all have brisket locked down. I don't think anyone can compete.
For me, BBQ is a synonym for "Pulled Pork".
Moose-Knuckle
04-02-14, 19:42
Shit just got real!
In response to all you Texans; Texas is cattle country. Y'all have brisket locked down. I don't think anyone can compete.
For me, BBQ is a synonym for "Pulled Pork".
Truth. As a barbeque connoisseur I enjoy pulled pork, whole hog, and pork ribs done the Memphis and Carolina way with their vinegar and mustard based sauces.
The Holy Trinity of TX BBQ is brisket, ribs, and sausage with some burnt ends thrown in for good measure. While the sauce does not make the meat, I do enjoy a good sauce. My favorite sauce to date is from The Saltlick in Driftwood, TX. It's a break away from tradional TX sauces but that's because the founder's wife was from Japan and influenced accordingly.
http://www.saltlickbbq.com/
Outlander Systems
04-02-14, 20:21
...some burnt ends thrown in for good measure.
^ Gospel.
Burnt ends are what I live for.
SeriousStudent
04-02-14, 20:57
Indeed, I love me some burnt ends.
And I do appreciate and love all of God's creatures - cows, pigs, chickens, etc. I am especially fond of them after a dose of wood smoke.
SilverBullet432
04-02-14, 20:58
Indeed, I love me some burnt ends.
And I do appreciate and love all of God's creatures - cows, pigs, chickens, etc. I am especially fond of them after a dose of wood smoke.
Amen.
Sounds like a bet.
It would be a bad bet.
TX has had great Mexican for longer that many other areas but doesn't own the cuisine anymore. Where ever there are 1000s of Mexicans there is excellent authentic Mexican food.
Just in Norristown PA, where Geissele Automatics is, there is a one street with at least 6 Mexican small restaurants. The town has probably 15. I am usually the only white guy eating at any of them and they usually have to get someone that speaks English.
They do not serve chips and salsa, burritos, fajitas, or any American/Tex Mex creations. All street food, tacos, soaps, tostadas, enchiladas, chili relleno, various tortas, etc.
The cool thing is that the owners are from different areas of Mexico so they all prepare things differently.
There are as many Mexican grocery stores on said street.
Outlander Systems
04-03-14, 06:29
Real Mexican food sucks. I'll pass on the corn tortillas, and cow tongue.
Texican food, er nothin!
The problem with most sauces, and rubs for that matter, is people start putting too many ingredients or flavors into them and it confuses the pallet.
Since so much of our sense of taste is connected to our sense of smell you want some spice to open the pallet and accentuate the taste of the meat and then a little bit of a sweet ingredient to compliment the spice.
The next time you're headed to your favorite restaurant, eat a couple of mints like altoids or life savers to help clear the sinuses before you get there.
I have to ask: Has anyone been to "The Shed" in Biloxi/Gulfport, MS and Mobile, AL? I have no idea what they use in their BBQ Sauce, but their BBQ is amazing both for the quality/prep of the meat as well as the sauce!
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