Spring is fast approaching and many of you will be breaking out your barbecue grills and smokers for the summer. If any of you are like me you love to cook and eat barbecue. While there are a plethora of barbecue sauce choices on you local supermarket shelves, you can make your own unique barbecue sauces that are not only better in flavor, but are cheaper to boot. The great thing about making your own barbecue sauces is that most of you have already have the necessary ingredients in your pantry.
The following excerpt
is from my BBQ smoker cookbook that I have been working on for some
time. Like Seem to somehow get in the way, and I just not have had
time to finish it. This chapter is on barbecue sauces, I hope you and
you family will find the information useful and enjoyable.
Finishing Up
(Sauce-a-Polooza)
Barbecue
sauces come in a wide range of flavors and varieties. While examining
the condiment isle at my local Wal-Mart I found more than fifty,
that's right, more than '50' types or variations of barbecue sauce
being sold. Depending on the brand and the celebrity chef who
endorses the product the price can range from less than a dollar for
a twelve once bottle when on sale to more than five dollars a bottle.
Depending on what
part of the country you live in, your idea of what compromises a
barbecue sauce may be somewhat different than say, mine. So to better
understand what makes a great barbecue sauce, we need to look at a
couple of variables that define what exactly a barbecue sauce is.
These variables are primarily based on geography (where you live) and
the type of ingredients used to prepare barbecue sauces in that
region. It is generally accepted that there are five distinct
geographic locations in the south and southwest that define the type
and or flavor of a particular barbecue sauce. The Carolina's (North
and South), Memphis, Kansas City, Texas, and Alabama. So to begin
this barbecue sauce adventure, we will begin on the east coast in the
Carolina's and work our way towards the west stopping in Kansas City,
before heading south into Texas and then back to Alabama.
North and South
Carolina
The Carolina's,
which includes North and South Carolina is home to sauces that are
primarily vinegar based. In both the eastern parts of North and South
Carolina (white area on map) you will find sauces that are almost
exclusively vinegar and pepper based, however as you travel towards
the west, one finds that tomato sauce (orange area on map) begins to
show up as an addition to this vinegar and pepper based sauce. In the
mid-south region of South Carolina (yellow area on map) a unique
variety of mustard based barbecue sauces can be found. Traveling
towards the western part of the Carolina's along the Tennessee state
line, we begin to see tomato sauce become a more dominant ingredient
in barbecue sauces. However of all the sauces that come from this
particular region, the most popular type or style of sauce comes from
North Carolina generally known as “Lexington” or “Piedmont
Style” barbecue sauce. This sauce is made from a combination of
tomato sauce, vinegar and red pepper flakes. While this is the type
of sauce that is most associated with the Carolina's, as you can see,
this region has a few other offerings.
Carolina Style
(Piedmont or Lexington) Barbecue Sauce
1 cup apple cider
vinegar
1 cup water
½ cup ketchup
½ cup ketchup
1 tablespoon onion
powder
1 tablespoon garlic
powder
2 teaspoons red
pepper flakes
2 teaspoons brown
sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black
pepper
½ teaspoon chili
powder
½ teaspoon paprika
In a medium saucepan
combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat
and simmer for 10 minutes, then remove from heat and cool before
bottling in a squeeze bottle. Makes about 2 cups.
Variations:
Carolina Mustard
Barbecue Sauce – Substitute ½ cup mustard for the ketchup, add ½
cup brown sugar, and ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce. Omit the
paprika and increase the chili powder to 1 teaspoon.
I first encountered
this style of barbecue sauce when I lived in the Raleigh-Durham area
of North Carolina. Like everything, most cooks have their own
particular take on this vinegar based barbecue sauce that is most
often used on pulled pork. My particular variation includes the
addition of garlic, onion and chili powders which I feel gives it an
enhanced flavor profile. However, if you want a more basic or I hate
to say “traditional” sauce simply omit these. Both of these
vinegary, tangy sweet barbecue sauces are great on pulled pork and
other smoked meats, and can generally be found in both North and
South Carolina. As mentioned earlier, the tomato based vinegar sauce
is sometimes called “Piedmont” or “Lexington Style” barbecue
sauce, while the mustard based vinegar sauce found in Pee Dee or low
coastal region of South Carolina is sometimes known as 'Carolina
Gold.'
Memphis, TN
In Memphis, ribs and
the dry rub are king and in the past, many Memphis barbecue
restaurants did not offer a barbecue sauce, but over time patrons
began to ask for sauce and a sauce based on the ingredients used in
their dry rubs began to evolve. Now, just because the sauce may have
been an afterthought and is not the focus of Memphis barbecue do not
think for a minute that their sauces are inferior. Memphis style
sauces differ from those of the Carolina's. Although vinegar is still
a primary ingredient, it is generally pared with a equal amount of
tomato sauce and or tomato ketchup as well as a variety of dry spices
to give it a sweeter more complex flavor than it's Carolina cousins.
As with my Memphis style sauce listed below, most restaurants start
with a basic or all-purpose barbecue sauce and add various amounts of
their dry rub to the sauce to give it a unique taste.
Memphis Style
Barbecue Sauce
1 cup tomato ketchup
1 cup apple cider
vinegar
½ cup water
¼ cup onion,
chopped
2 cloves garlic,
minced
4 tablespoons
Memphis Style Rib Rub
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons
molasses or honey
1 tablespoon
Worcestershire sauce
Melt butter in a
small saucepan and saute onions over low heat just until they are
starting to turn golden brown. Then add the garlic and saute for
another 2 minutes taking care not to burn the garlic. Add the
remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, cover the saucepan and
reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. While hot, puree sauce
with an immersion blender, or allow to cool before placing it in a
stand alone blender or food processor.
Variations:
Old Number '7' –
Reduce apple cider vinegar to ¾ cup, and omit the water. Add ¾ cup
Jack Daniels 'Old No. 7' Tennessee whiskey and prepare as above.
Kansas City, MO
Our final
destination on the western tour of the barbecue regions of the United
States is Kansas City. This is the one style of barbecue sauce that
most commercial barbecue sauces are based on. Sauces from this region
are thick and sweet primarily composed of tomato sauce or tomato
ketchup, with a minimal amount of vinegar and a multitude of herbs
and spices. Kansas City Style sauces probably have the most
ingredients of all the barbecue sauces giving them a subtle yet
complex variety of flavors. Because of their heavy use of sugars
Kansas City style sauces tend to burn easily when exposed to direct
heat. Therefore, they are better served on the side, or added to the
meat just before removing from the smoker or grill.
Kansas City Style
Barbecue Sauce
2 cups ketchup
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup prepared
mustard
½ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup honey
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons chili
powder
1 tablespoon onion
powder
1 tablespoon garlic
powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black
powder
In a medium saucepan
combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover
and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until sauce is thick and coats the
back of a spoon. Remove sauce from heat and cool, makes about 3 cups.
Variations:
KC Masterpiece –
Omit onion and garlic powders. Saute 1 medium onion in two
tablespoons of olive oil over medium low heat, when golden brown, add
3 to 4 cloves of minced garlic and saute for 1 to 2 minutes. Add
remaining ingredients plus ¼ cup A1 steak sauce and cook per
instructions. Puree with an immersion blender or allow to cool and
process in stand blender.
Sweet Baby Ray's –
Substitute molasses for the honey and celery salt for the table salt.
Add ¼ cup pineapple juice, 1 teaspoon liquid smoke, and ¼ teaspoon
cinnamon and cook per instructions.
Northern Alabama
Northern Alabama is
our final destination on the southern barbecue tour. I am not really
sure if this small area around Decatur qualifies as barbecue region,
however, because of the uniqueness of their white barbecue sauce I
have included it as well. Used primarily on chicken, this Alabama
phenomenon can be traced back to restaurateur Bob Gibson in the
1920's. My current research indicates that there are actually a few
restaurants just north of the border in Tennessee that use this style
of white barbecue sauce, but that is to be expected as Decatur is
close to the Alabama Tennessee state line.
I have included two
recipes in this book for an Alabama style white sauce. The first, is
my version of a Alabama white sauce, and I think is pretty close to
Bob Gibson's original white sauce in flavor. The second, comes from
Southern Living Magazine and has a sweeter, milder flavor. If you
prefer your sauce to be sweeter, you could use a salad dressing such
as Miracle Whip, but I think plain mayonnaise makes for a better
sauce.
North
Alabama White Barbecue Sauce
¾
cup mayonnaise
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup apple juice
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup apple juice
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½
teaspoon kosher salt
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together until smooth
and creamy. Place in refrigerator and allow to sit for 24 hours to
allow all of the flavors to meld together.
Southern
Living's White Barbecue Sauce
1 ½ cups mayonnaise
¼ cup white wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup white wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1
tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon sugar
1
teaspoon salt
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together until smooth
and creamy. Place in refrigerator and allow to sit for 24 hours to
allow all of the flavors to meld together.
Texas
And
now to my home state of Texas, where very things bigger, even the
flavors. Texas is a big state and you will find quite a few
variations and styles on sauces in different parts of the state, but
most people would agree that one of the primary ingredients in a
'Texas Style' BBQ sauce is the use of tomato ketchup as opposed to
tomato sauce. I am not sure if it was because of it's
commercial availability or not, but ketchup became an integral part
of Texas barbecue style barbecue sauces in the early part of the
twentieth century. On March 26, 1937, an article in the Dallas
Morning News, describes a Texas style barbecue sauce as follows:
“It is made simply
of vinegar and hot water, melted butter if the purse allows, or
rendered beef suet if not, black and red pepper and salt (pioneer
sauce stopped there) and generous dashes of ketchup and Worcestershire
sauce. Onions and sometime lemons are sliced into it… thicken it
slightly with flour and water as thin gravy is thickened.”
Notice how closely
the description of what the author of the article describes as
'pioneer sauce'. Sounds pretty close of a North Carolina 'Piedmont'
style sauce doesn't it? Over time ketchup became a more prominent
ingredient is Texas style barbecue sauces. Fast forward 80 years
later and you will see that more specialty 'Texas' style sauce
recipes are moving away from using tomato ketchup and substituting
tomato sauce, sugar and other ingredients. However, in my humble
opinion, the heart and soul of an original style Texas barbecue sauce
is ketchup, just like grandma used to make.
This is essentially
the type of barbecue sauce you’ll find at iconic Texas barbecue
joints like Prine’s (1925) in Wichita Falls and Lenox BBQ (1949) in
Houston. Allen Prine third generation owner of Prine's barbecue sums
up Texas barbecue as follows: “We’re using the same recipe that
my granddad used. He taught my dad how to make it, and my dad taught
me. It’s vinegar, ketchup, mustard, and some spices.”
Todd's Texas Style Barbecue
Sauce
2 cups ketchup
1 cup water
½ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup apple cider vinegar
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon onion
powder
1 tablespoon garlic
powder
2 teaspoons
cilantro, dried (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili
powder
½ teaspoon mustard
powder
½ teaspoon black
pepper
½ teaspoon red
pepper
In a medium saucepan
combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover
and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until sauce is thick and coats the
back of a spoon. Remove sauce from heat and cool, makes about 3 cups.
Variations:
Hawaiian Barbecue
Sauce – Substitute ¾ cup pineapple and ¼ cup cold strong Kona
coffee for the water, and soy sauce for the Worcestershire sauce. Add
¼ cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon ginger paste, and omit the cilantro,
and chili powder.
Jamaican Barbecue
Sauce – Substitute ¼ cup of the water with soy sauce; add 3
tablespoons each of brown sugar, dark rum, and Jerk spice, 1 teaspoon
ginger paste and 2 scotch bonnet peppers. Omit the cilantro, bay
leaves, chili powder and mustard powder. Puree water, soy sauce,
vinegar, and scotch bonnet peppers in a blender or food processor
before adding it to the saucepan. If you don't have scotch bonnet
peppers you can substitute jalapeños or 2 tablespoons of pepper
sauce such as Trappy's which can be found in almost any supermarket
in the United States.
Kansas City Barbecue
Sauce – Add ¾ cup molasses, and ½ teaspoon celery salt; increase
the red pepper and mustard powder to 1 teaspoon each and omit the
cilantro. If you like a thicker sauce, decrease the amount of water
to ½ cup.
Chef's Note: This barbecue
sauce is not only great, but it is the basis of many variations of
ketchup or tomato based barbecue sauces that I have created over
time. One of my favorite is the Jamaican barbecue sauce which is very
similar to a sauce that I experienced in Jamaica at a place called
'Yows Jerk Centre' that we stopped at on our way to Ocho Rios where I
was married. Another unique sauce here is the Hawaiian which uses
Kona coffee (Coffea arabica) which is only grown in the Kona district
on the big Island of Hawaii to add a unique flavor to the sauce. If
you cannot find Kona coffee, any coffee will do but the taste is just
not the same.
Although I have a
separate specific recipe for Kansas City Style barbecue sauce, I have
listed instructions on how to take my Texas style barbecue sauce and
transform it into more of a Kansas City style sauce.
Conclusion
All the sauces in
this excerpt from my Barbecue Smoker Cookbook are great and I have
made them all on many occasions. Having said all that, growing up in
Texas, I prefer to use my Texas Style Sauce barbecue recipe as a
basis for many of my variations and experimentation's. This is my “go
to” sauce when cooking barbecue. It is pretty basic, but is a good
representation of the sauce found throughout the state. As always, if
you
References
“A Taxonomy Of
Regional American Barbecue Sauces and Recipes.” The Huffington
Post, July 16, 2010.
Aidells, Bruce, and
Denis Kelly. The Complete Meat Cookbook. New York: Houghton Mifflin
Company 1998. Print
“All About
Brining” The Virtual Weber Bullet, Accessed Nov. 24, 2010
www.virtualweber.com/brining.html
“Food Labeling:
Meat and Poultry Labeling Terms” USDA Food Safety and Inspection
Service, 12 April. 2011
www.fsis.usda.gov/Factsheets/Meat_&_Poultry_Labeling_Terms/
Glissen, Wayne.
Professional Cooking 3rd Edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons,
1995. Print
“Grilled Chicken
With White Barbecue Sauce.” Southern Living, May 2007
“Ham: Clean, Meaty
Flavor and Tender Texture Win Out.” Cook's Illustrated, Nov. 1,
1999
“Inspection &
Grading of Meat and Poultry: What Are The Differences?” USDA Food
Safety and Inspection Service, 22 Aug. 2008 www.ams.usda.gov/
Labensky, Sarah, and
Alan Hause. On Cooking: A textbook of Culinary Fundamentals. Upper
Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1999. Print
Lee, Matt and Ted
Lee. “Fanfare for the City Ham, a Country Cousin.” New York
Times, 20 Dec. 2006.
“Meat Preparation:
Sausages and Food Safety” USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service,
25 May 2011
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Factsheets/Sausage_and_Food_Safety/
Raichlen, Steven.
The Barbecue Bible. New York: Workman Publishing Company 1998. Print
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