Barbecue Sauce

[jitahs]

SAUCE!!!

yo

and i'll re-direct by saying fresh bbq should not need _any_ sauce. sauce should only tried after one or two full servings of the _fresh_ bbq.

day-old bbq needs sauce. and a ton-zillion of what is sold was cooked yesterday. until you make your own it can be difficult to make the distinction.

There are two schools: meat is king no sauce or the opposite.
If the meat ain't stellar then the latter rules.
If the meat or technique kill then no one cares about the sauce.
In Cali we have all kinds of pretenders. The guy who makes it best is my neighbor from Louisiana.
Do it yourself with a bottle of ketchup and a jar of vinegar and every dried herb under the sun.
Or do it for reals.

[WadePatton]

aye, this is the bbq sauce thread. not the bbq thread. they are related-but-different things. and this sub-forum is about creation more than appreciation.

yes we must recognize and appreciate in order to be able to create, but cheerleading won't do much to improve our own mad kitchen skillz.

you can make pathetic overcooked meat appetizing with a good sauce.
you can mask (ruin) the wonderful nuances and (im)perfection with a heavy sauce.
you can enjoy properly done bbq with _no sauce_ at all.

sauce

[Too Tall]

Lets kick a dead thread to life.

I'm in the mood for BBQ'd food.

This link is semi-reliable : Here Are 15 BBQ Joints In Virginia That Will Leave Your Mouth Watering Uncontrollably

Later this summer I promised a pal I would do a small whole hog. I will start a new thread for that.

[mg2ride]

It has been too long since I have been there to remember the specifics to why but I have always been under impressed with Pierce’s Pit Barbecue. It is worth a try if you are in the area but not a show stopper. After attending a handful of full blown Pig Pickings, I'm often under impressed with most BBQ places. The one exception is a place in Chesapeake called Cutlass Grille. It is a Jamaican BBQ place and almost everything I have had there is out of this world. Had OX tails there this past Saturday night. Gotta have the fried Plantains. At first I was shocked by how much their favor profiles match with my Mom's family's but when I consider that her family came from the Honduras (Utila) it makes more sense.

There is no right or wrong BBQ. Since I grew up on it I will take plain Kraft brand sweet sauce over almost anything. A simple 3:1 Apple Cider vinegar to Ketchup does me just fine for N.C. style. Mix a little of both and I'm in heaven.

I very, very much want to try my hand at a full or 1/2 pig someday. If I could afford to not make any money I would retire and start a Pig Picking Catering company. Too me that is comfort food at it's best.

[Too Tall]

I hear yah. Over sauced BBQ is a cry for help ;)

Crumpton has it right, let the smoke do the work.

Watch for the whole hog thread soon.

[bking]

you know a real bbq joint before you go in the front door--by site, not smell. look for stacks of wood.

i used to be a sauce guy, till i had serious bbq. now not so much sauce, but i'm not opposed. good sauce is good. lately i like blues hog. their tennessee red's a good rib finisher. a good rub really is key for me now. you get good smoke and a good rub that's all i need.

at one time I traveled for bbq; have a map with places i needed to visit. this was before aaron franklin opened in austin. someday i'll get there. so much hype about this guy. i bought his book, and it's very well done.

in the past couple years i decided to try myself. it's a very time consuming way to cook...but at least for me that's half the fun. here's my tools, one i made, one i bought:

i call this one Frank--as in Frankenstein. my first welding job. looks awful. but i decided if it worked well--drafted clean, blue smoke, i wouldn't paint it. works awesome, so now it stays really ugly.
i bought a second one out of texas:

this is a vertical insulated from lonestargrillz. good people and it's a great insulated smoker. perfect for the long 12+ hour smokes.

yeah, i'm into this bbq stuff.

[steve garro]

I have been making gallons of BBQ sauce from our fruit harvest - plum & peach, both with chipotle…….the peach is sweet and the plum tart, and it's just so damn good!

I just smoked a couple tenderloins and the grilled them with some peach BBQ sauce - Man.

- Garro.

[UnfilteredDregs]

Y'all don't add fresh tamarind to your KC styled BBQ sauce when you make it from scratch?

[JoB]

i have peaches and need a BBQ sauce recipe. can you provide? thanks!

[Tamu8104]

you know a real bbq joint before you go in the front door--by site, not smell. look for stacks of wood.

i used to be a sauce guy, till i had serious bbq. now not so much sauce, but i'm not opposed. good sauce is good. lately i like blues hog. their tennessee red's a good rib finisher. a good rub really is key for me now. you get good smoke and a good rub that's all i need.

at one time I traveled for bbq; have a map with places i needed to visit. this was before aaron franklin opened in austin. someday i'll get there. so much hype about this guy. i bought his book, and it's very well done.

in the past couple years i decided to try myself. it's a very time consuming way to cook...but at least for me that's half the fun. here's my tools, one i made, one i bought:

i call this one Frank--as in Frankenstein. my first welding job. looks awful. but i decided if it worked well--drafted clean, blue smoke, i wouldn't paint it. works awesome, so now it stays really ugly.
i bought a second one out of texas:

this is a vertical insulated from lonestargrillz. good people and it's a great insulated smoker. perfect for the long 12+ hour smokes.

yeah, i'm into this bbq stuff.

Nice equipment!! BBQ is my second hobby after cycling. Really started to get heavy into it this year.

I've looked hard at a large multi-chamber smoker, both of my brother-in-laws have them. They are nice and you can do a lot with them. I still prefer a ceramic smoker for the ease and temperature control. Have thought about getting something that I could do cold smoking with.

Regarding sauce, I use sauce for pork ribs and sometimes a light sauce for chicken. Beef, lamb, and most pork should be sauce free if you have good wood and a good cut of meat.

Regarding Franklins, it's the best brisket I've had and he's a super nice guy. Will totally talk about BBQ while he cuts your meat. I've taken a lot of tips from him and been able to get my brisket close enough that I won't wait the 4 hours in line ever again.

[Tamu8104]

I hear yah. Over sauced BBQ is a cry for help ;)

Crumpton has it right, let the smoke do the work.

Watch for the whole hog thread soon.

Looking forward to the whole hog thread!! That is on my BBQ bucket list.

[steve garro]

i have peaches and need a BBQ sauce recipe. can you provide? thanks!

Yes, a basic guideline, anyhow:

De-pit peaches & cook down on low as not to burn, add maybe 2C H2O (I am assuming you have a around 40 peaches at least) stir & smash with a potato smasher

When thick, strain through a course colander

Now, mix this with three 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes, two 7oz cans of chipotles in adobo sauce, about 2C of honey, apple cider vinegar to taste (at least 1C)
salt to taste.

If it's too picante, add more honey.

Cook down at least a few inches in the pot to thicken & don't burn it, and then we canned it.

Makes at least 3 gallons

It's damn nice.
- Garro.

[Gattonero]

No offence, this is a thread that an Italian will read with perplexity

[Too Tall]

No offence, this is a thread that an Italian will read with perplexity

None taken. Trust me, when I cook mac n cheese and bbq chicken for Parisans they plotz.

[steve garro]

No offence, this is a thread that an Italian will read with perplexity

Pobrecitos!

- Garro.

[zetroc]

No offence, this is a thread that an Italian will read with perplexity

I went here in May and it was decent: BBQ Trattoria Barbeque - Firenze

[Gattonero]

I went here in May and it was decent: BBQ Trattoria Barbeque - Firenze

Heretics. Can't immagine anyone in Tuscany putting any sauce on a Fiorentina!

[theflashunc]

If you're worried about the sauce, you're eating the wrong barbecue.

[bking]

kreuz_market.jpg

Kruez in Lockhardt. Folks down there are serious about this stuff.

[bking]

Nice equipment!! BBQ is my second hobby after cycling. Really started to get heavy into it this year.

I've looked hard at a large multi-chamber smoker, both of my brother-in-laws have them. They are nice and you can do a lot with them. I still prefer a ceramic smoker for the ease and temperature control. Have thought about getting something that I could do cold smoking with.

Nathan H
Regarding sauce, I use sauce for pork ribs and sometimes a light sauce for chicken. Beef, lamb, and most pork should be sauce free if you have good wood and a good cut of meat.

Regarding Franklins, it's the best brisket I've had and he's a super nice guy. Will totally talk about BBQ while he cuts your meat. I've taken a lot of tips from him and been able to get my brisket close enough that I won't wait the 4 hours in line ever again.

I've heard that about aaron, easy to talk to. i've wondered if part of his secret is the prime grade he uses. i don't sauce steaks either, and without a sauce it's obviously primarily about the quality of what you're cooking. no one in my home town has ever stocked prime brisket...until yesterday! i popped my head into costco and walked out with two. so i'm anxious to see what difference it makes.
re the heat control you mention, with the vertical smoker i've set it up with Guru's computer/fan/probe set up and it has worked very well for me. I'll set it at a temp at 10pm and it'll stay withing 5, maybe 10 degrees throughout a 10 to 14 hour cook. For me the dedicated smokers make sense as i've got a pretty good size family. If i bbq/smoke it's never less than 20.
I hope to get to austin one day. thanks for the input.
Bruce