24 replies to this topic

[jrshaul]

The lend of an electric smoker has lead to record-breaking quantities of barbecue this summer. Smoked meat just isn't complete without a vinegary Tennessee-style sauce, and I've found the stuff from the store comes in only three categories:

1. Prohibitively expensive
2. Ketchup
3. Prohibitively expensive ketchup.

Most of the DIY recipes aren't much better - the Heinz flavor in the recipe I use always seems to pull through , and the large quantity of ground seasonings produces gritty texture. I also double the vinegar; while I haven't set foot in Tennessee for nearly ten years, it just doesn't seem right otherwise.

I've been mulling over a few possible improvements, and was wondering if anyone had any insight.

1. Using tomato paste as a base. My past attempts to replace the ketchup weren't very good, but it seems like an obvious improvement. Perhaps frying the paste first would help?

2. Alternate sweeteners. Brown sugar is all right, but the corn syrup has to go. Vietnamese cooking includes a basic caramel in numerous meat glazes - why not use it in barbecue sauce?

3. Alternate seasonings. The recipe I use presently, while functional, includes an absurd number of "spice mixes" with overlapping ingredients: I suspect cayenne is added at least thrice over. Substituting fresh or reconstituted ingredients would be a big improvement.

I've already had success substituting chipotles for smoke extract, and the use of reconstituted anchos could potentially displace paprika. In addition to improvements flavor and texture, they're also much cheaper.

More problematic is dehydrated onion. Fresh onions don't substitute well for onion powder, and too much raw or fried onion would affect the texture. Maybe pureed shallots would work?

4. Infusing spices into vinegar. A BBQ sauce just isn't without black peppercorn, but I'd rather not have it floating about in the bottle. Bearnaise sauce solves this problem by using seasoned vinegar as an ingredient; hopefully the same will work here.

Edited by jrshaul, 11 June 2012 - 12:19 PM.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

1. Try infusing whole spices into your tomato paste when you heat/fry it (I'd heat it, myself, with a hint of vinegar to round out the flavours). Then remove the whole spices before you use the paste.

2. Absolutely no reason not to make caramel, but why not investigate burnt brown sugar as well? You'd get a hint of smokey flavour that way.

3. A pinch of wasabi goes a really long way....

[Chris Hennes]

I've been happy with the Memphis BBQ Sauce in Modernist Cuisine: the basic components are

• Canned tomatoes (100%)
• Cider vinegar (27%)
• Lemon juice (13%)
• Butter (13%)
• Brown sugar (11.5%)
• Worcestershire sauce (10%)

The spices they use are chili powder, onion powder, tobasco, mustard powder, and cayenne.

[MelissaH]

I'm a convert to the mustard-based South Carolina sauces, as exemplified by =Mark's version: http://forums.egulle...barbecue-sauce/

MelissaH

[Chris Hennes]

I love the mustard sauces with pork butt or chicken thighs, but haven't been fond of them with either ribs or with beef: there is room in the world for more than one BBQ sauce, IMO, and TN-style is a worthy contender.

[Jason Perlow]

I wing it. Always.

There are really two kinds of sauces in my opinion, mop sauces and also straight up BBQ sauces.

A mop sauce you use when smoking any kind of meat and you want to keep it moist. For that reason, it needs to be pretty liquid. I usually take a big bowl and fill it with whatever fruit juice I have lying around (apple/orange) and add cider vinegar, mustard and hot sauce and whatever other seasonings I want to add, such as more of the rub that is already on the meat. This I apply liberally to whatever I am smoking every 30 minutes or so, such as ribs, pork loin, pork shoulder, turkeys, chickens, etc.

This I will then reduce with sugar or add molasses or other ingredients to have a glaze at the end if the mop itself isn't sufficient. I'm not really fond of most regular or commercial barbecue sauces, but I try to find ones that are molasses rather than HFCS-based. Weber actually has a very good line of molasses-based BBQ sauces which are a good starting point, but I've had a tough time finding them.

If meat is properly rubbed and smoked, and has a good mop, you really don't need a BBQ sauce.

Edited by Jason Perlow, 11 June 2012 - 04:35 PM.

[Chris Hennes]

If meat is properly rubbed and smoked, and has a good mop, you really don't need a BBQ sauce.

Well, now... "need" is such a relative term. I mean, pork seasoned with salt and cooked on the BBQ tastes great, because pork is good: it doesn't "need" anything else. But variety is nice too, and sometimes I like the variety that includes sauce. But I agree wholeheartedly that the vast majority of commercial sauces are gross. I haven't tried Weber's line, though.

[janeer]

I don't actually have a recipe but I have made bbq sauce this way for decades and without fail people tell me it's the best. I do use ketchup--but thinned with as much water (1:1). Start by sauteeing onion and garlic in vegetable oil. Add ketchup and water. Add very fresh, high quality spices, never blends: chile powder (I use an ancho powder), cayenne, dry mustard, s, bl pepper, brown sugar, molasses, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, cumin (tiny bit), coriander (tiny bit), and a kind of secret ingredient, caraway seed. Simmer. Strain out the onion. You just need to play it by ear, tasting til it is what you want. It should be dark and, I think, what you are looking for. Once you get it, you can try other additions: maple syrup, fennel seed, thyme. Always strain.

[annachan]

The way I deal with onion is just to blend the sauce after it's cooked. My Asian side comes out at times and I sneak in some soy sauce: combination of light, dark, and sweet. And depending on how I want my sauce at that moment, sometimes hoisin sauce makes it in as well.

[Dave Hatfield]

I use tomato puree (paste), no ketchup. A bit of red wine (mainly to get the consistency right), about the same amount of corn oil + the same amount again of white wine vinegar, dry mustard to taste, A good dollop of paprika (smoked is nice). Lots of freshly ground black pepper, crushed cloves of garlic and a generous amount of dried oregano. A normally add a bit of honey as well. I whiz it all in the food processor to finish.
I've deliberately left out quantities as they depend upon the quantity you want to make & your personal taste preferences. This sauce keeps well in the fridge for several weeks.

I like to marinate my ribs (cut into suitable lengths) in this sauce overnight in the fridge in zip-lock bags. I scrape off the excess before BBQing.

Works for me. Especially as I find it difficult to get smoker wood around here.

[jrshaul]

I'm off to make a batch today. Should be pretty good.

Out of curiosity, is there anything beyond standard canning techniques to preserving BBQ sauce?

[nickrey]

Freeze it?

[AAQuesada]

I've been happy with the Memphis BBQ Sauce in Modernist Cuisine: the basic components are

• Canned tomatoes (100%)
• Cider vinegar (27%)
• Lemon juice (13%)
• Butter (13%)
• Brown sugar (11.5%)
• Worcestershire sauce (10%)

The spices they use are chili powder, onion powder, tobasco, mustard powder, and cayenne.

Wow, that is an interesting formula. Is it cooked down for a while for a thicker texture or left on the looser side?

[Chris Hennes]

That one gets cooked down a bit.

[patrickamory]

I'm no BBQ expert but just curious - absolutely nobody here uses bourbon, beer or coke in their sauces?

[sparrowgrass]

jrshall--depends on your recipe. If the acid is adequate, it can be water bath canned. Check this Ball Blue Book recipe for BBQ sauce--as long as your proportions are roughly similar, it should be safe. http://www.freshpres...cipe.aspx?r=138

[Chris Hennes]

I made a BBQ sauce with beer just the other day: a Carolina mustard-style sauce.

[jrshaul]

I just made a "mop sauce" as suggested, but with a bit of a twist: No tomato sauce.

Instead, I used allspice, cloves, cinnamon, some other stuff, reconstituted dried ancho peppers, water, cider vinegar and butter to make something with approximately the correct viscosity and taste. It turned out pretty good, and it was pleasantly different in an I'm-not-quite-sure-how sort of way.

[jrshaul]

Here's a picture of how it turned out. My smoker is rage-inducingly awful, but the meat was fabulous anyway.




I was actually happier with the texture (and increased surface area!) on a big pork chop that was thrown in with the roasts to see what would happen. A higher cooking temperature also produced better results; however, the heater in question has no thermostat (!) and as a result just sets at whatever temperature the electric heating element produces.

Edited by jrshaul, 24 June 2012 - 06:16 PM.

[Boilerfood]

I'm no BBQ expert but just curious - absolutely nobody here uses bourbon, beer or coke in their sauces?

Applejack is my secret ingredient.

[Ashen]

One of the better tips I have picked up over the years is to take the water pan water after the end of the smoke and use a gravy/fat seperator to skim the fat off .. The liquid underneath will have lots of flavour from the drippings and will carry a deep smoke flavour. Think homemade liquid smoke that doesn't have that funky aftertaste. You can use it straight up or even concentrate it down in a saucepan. A touch or more of this will give your homemade BBQ sauce a deep flavour

[ScottyBoy]

Yup, did that in my last batch.

[jrshaul]

One of the better tips I have picked up over the years is to take the water pan water after the end of the smoke and use a gravy/fat seperator to skim the fat off .. The liquid underneath will have lots of flavour from the drippings and will carry a deep smoke flavour. Think homemade liquid smoke that doesn't have that funky aftertaste. You can use it straight up or even concentrate it down in a saucepan. A touch or more of this will give your homemade BBQ sauce a deep flavour

Oh mah gawd. I never even thought of that.

Version II of the barbecue sauce is still more or less recipe-less, but it looks something like this:

1.5 cups water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup vinegar
6 large dried ancho chilis
1/4 cup butter
3 cloves garlic
1/2t cloves (whole)
1/2t allspice (lightly crushed)
1/2t cinnamon
2t black pepper
Worchestershire sauce (to taste)
Salt (about a teaspoon?)

Simmer cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and peppers in water until peppers reconstitute. Remove peppers; continue to simmer until water is aromatic. Continue to simmer while blending de-seeded and stemmed peppers with vinegar. Add garlic, salt, and water, sieved to remove whole spices. Blend to a homogenous paste; warm and add butter shortly before cooking.

I might add some cayenne - the heat diffuses pretty heavily during baking. Can anyone suggest other options for adding some flavorful heat?

[Charcuterer]

How about adding heat with chillies in adobo. The canned product is quite nice. I would remove most of the sauce as it might overpower the subtleties of your seasoning.

[jrshaul]

I have a bit of a conundrum: My "anchos" (as labelled) look an awful lot like anaheim chiles. Any easy way to tell the difference, or do I call the horticulturalist? (He introduces himself as Pepper, I kid you not.)

On a related note, a specialty pepper vendor at the Farmers' Market has some neat stuff, including Cascabel peppers. I actually ate one of the darned things raw when the vendor dared me to - not the best decision, but he gave me quite a deal afterwards.