In
continuous operation since 1908, Arthur Bryant's has been written
about many times and it's praises are sung by many throughout the
internet. In an 1972 article in Playboy magazine author and self
proclaimed food aficionado Calvin Trillian wrote “it has long been
acknowledged that the single best restaurant in the world is Arthur
Bryant's”. Now, that is quite a statement and while Arthur Bryant's
was well known throughout the state of Missouri, this article thrust
Arthur Bryant's into the national limelight.
Personally,
I think Mr. Trillian made quite a bold statement, and I am not
actually sure how you can very such a claim. After all we all have
different tastes and what I may find as delicious, you may think
tastes horrible. But the is the nature of opinions, we all have them
and are entitled to our own unique perspective. I happen to think
there are better barbecue places here in my home state of Texas, than
Arthur Bryan's but that is just my opinion.
Anyway
I digress, Famous for their 'burnt ends', the one thing that all the
fans of Bryant's barbecue try and replicate is their original style
barbecue sauce. As long as there have been blogs and message boards
on the internet, there have been barbecue fanatics who have been
working on creating a copy cat recipe for Arthur Bryant’s original
style BBQ sauce that is served at their restaurant in Kansas City,
Missouri.
According
to Southern Living magazine “Bryant's uses double-strength pickling
vinegar in the sauce, which makes for one hell of a punchy tang”. A
double strength pickling vinegar is 10% (10% acid), most of the
distilled white vinegar you buy on the local shelves of your
supermarket is diluted to 5% (5% acid). In fact, I could only find
one brand (Ozark White Pickling Vinegar) of 10% vinegar available on
the internet. For some, even the power of 5% white distilled vinegar
is too much, let alone 10% vinegar and many BBQ enthusiasts began to
experiment with substituting the more mild apple cider vinegar for
distilled white vinegar.
I
have read from other's that a Bryant's that an employee once said
that they used “double strength pickle juice”, to give their
sauce that unique twang. While I have never seen or heard of
commercially prepared pickles that were pickled “double strength”,
using leftover pickle juice as the acid component to make barbecue
sauce intrigued me. Barbecue restaurants go through a lot of 5 gallon
buckets of dill pickle slices and using the leftover juice makes
economic sense, especially in the early part of the 20th
century when few things in a restaurant went to waste. Even if it was
only as a flavor enhancer and it comprised only half of the total vinegar
component it would add a unique flavor to the sauce.
The
Sauce
Bryant's
is not the typical 'Kansas City' style sauce which has become popular
today. It tends to be thinner, less sweet, and have more of a
vinegary tartness that the typical Kansas City style barbecue sauce.
The sauces found in the region tend to be
thicker, sweeter and use quite a bit less vinegar. If anything,
Bryant's sauce seems to be a cross between a Lexington or Piedmont
style North Carolina sauce and a Kansas City style sauce.
The
Recipe (My Version Of Arthur Bryant's Original Sauce)
As
long as there have been blogs and message boards on the internet,
there have been barbecue fanatics who have been working on creating a
copy cat recipe for Arthur Bryant’s original style BBQ sauce. I have been
playing with the following recipe over the years and I think it is a
pretty good representation of Arthur Bryant's original sauce.
There
are some things you need to take into account when trying to copy a
particular recipe. The choice of ingredients makes a difference. A
dark chili powder as opposed to a 'regular' chili powder has a
greater depth of flavor, types of paprika have a different flavor
component depending on whether it is Hungarian, Spanish, or whether
it is labeled simply as paprika. Without knowing the specific brands
and type of spices used in a recipe, you simply have to go with what
you have in your pantry.
While
I have included it as part of the recipe, I no longer add lard to my
sauce. Lard adds no specific flavor component and I believe that it was originally used to help thicken the sauce. I
have found that by using diced onion and minced garlic rather than
their powdered form that the sauce thickens sufficiently when blended
that I did not need to add lard.
1
½ cups water
¼
cup dill pickle juice or apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar or 12 to 16 drops of liquid sucralose
¼ cup prepared mustard
¼
cup lard(optional)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2
tablespoons tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon paprika
1
tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon chili powder
1
teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼
teaspoon turmeric
Cook
over medium high heat. Bring it to a boil, cover and simmer for 10
minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Then take your immersion
blender or place the cooled sauce in your blender and blend until
smooth. Transfer to a jar and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to meld and mellow. The
sauce will thicken as it cools, but will still be looser than a standard KC style
sauce.
Chef's
Note: I actually like substituting pickle juice for the vinegar
component in this sauce, and it is my preferred way to make it as the
pickle juice gives the sauce a unique taste that I like. Doing this
may make it taste substantially different than Bryant's but my family
likes it's tartness. If you do not have, or like lard, then use
vegetable shortening or do as I do and simply omit it.
The
hardest part about replicating this sauce for me is: 1) I do not have
a sample of the sauce that is made in the store with me to compare
side-by-side, 2 ) the label or ingredient list on the bottle makes it
very easy to hide individual components of the commercial recipe
under the umbrella title of “spices”. The following ingredients
are listed on the label of Arthur Bryant's original barbecue sauce.
Arthur
Bryant's Original Barbecue Sauce: Water, Seasoning (sugar, mustard,
flour, spices, dried garlic, dried onion, soybean oil), Vinegar,
Salt, Tomato Paste, Lard, Xanthan Gum, and Sodium Benzoate
(preservative).
Conclusion
So
there you have have it, my version of the famous Arthur Bryant's
original barbecue sauce. So how close is it to the original.
Honestly, I remember it as being pretty close, however, memories fade
and it has been many years since I have tasted their sauce and I have
been making a version of this sauce for quite some time now. I do not
know if the restaurant still makes their sauce from scratch or uses
the commercially prepared sauce that they now sell in bottles. As always, we ask that if you find this information
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References:
Murphy,
Morgan, “Behind The Scenes At Arthur Bryant's Barbecue In Kansas
City.” Southern Living, Accessed 2015.
Trillian,
Calvin, “NO!, One Of The World's Foremost Authorities On Ribs,
Cheeseburgers, French Fries, And Frosty Malts, Takes A Gourmet Tour
Of Kansas City.” Playboy, April 1972, 109 -110, 208-209.
This is sweeter than the original at Arthur Bryant’s and the store bought version, I added a half cup more of white vinegar along with the pickle juice,
ReplyDeleteNext time I will leave out the sugar or the ketchup to cut the sweetness and maybe use pepperoncini juice