Since the other BBQ thread was taking a sauce direction I thought a dedicated thread would be good. Looking forward to seeing those recipes.
Heres a simple one I use:
equal parts - 4 or 5 ounces each
orange juice (or pineapple juice if you have it)
vinegar
molasses or honey
ketchup
+
2 big spoons of good mustard
1 tablespoon worcestershire
1 cup chopped onions - cut small
1 clove garlic, smashed and minced
salt and pepper
2 beers of your choice, I like hoegarrden, but bet shiner smokehause would be good.
all ingredients in, let simmer for about an hour … a shot of tobasco wouldnt hurt it either.
Sweet! I was hoping for a thread like this - I didn’t mean to hi-jack the BBQ Style thread.
In a nutshell mine is (roughly, it rarely comes out the same when twice, but always similar)
1 homebrew, reduced on the stove (I prefer a stout or brown ale, but use what you like)
3 cups homemade ketchup
1/2 cup homemade pepper sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons soysauce
1 or 2 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 tsp chives
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp thyme
salt & pepper to taste
simmer & reduce
add corn syrup to thicken it up or maple syrup and/or molasses to thicken and sweeten
2 cups ketchup 2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce 1 tbs. ground mustard or 3 tbs. prepared mustard 1 tsp. garlic salt 1 tsp. cracked black pepper 1/2 tsp. paprika 1/2 tsp. ground ginger 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
**1/4 tsp. ground allspice ** 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup peach lambic 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 2 tbs. honey 1 small Vidalia sweet onion (finely chopped) 1 cup peach preserves (puréed) 1 tbs. peach schnapps (*optional)
Directions: Add the butter to a saucepan until melted then add onion until carmelized. Mix the ingredients together in a medium saucepan excluding the preserves, lambic & schnapps*. Simmer over medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until thickened. Add preserves, lambic & schnapps* last 5 min. Remove from heat & eat. :-*
Often I’ll do the rubbed meat in the pressure cooker for 5 minutes if it is beef or pork. Especially ribs. Beer can be used as the liquid component, just not really hoppy ones, as I find the bitterness can be overwhelming.
The rub is usually salt, fresh pepper & chili powder.
I take the drippings in the PC and reduce it to a sauce while adding some sugar or honey and also some vinegar. All to taste. Never a set recipe since it is so simple to do. Can be further built upon too.
Goes on the meat near the end.
I like the idea of a pantry/fridge clean out. I’ve added all sorts of stuff to the sauce. Those last few dried apricots. That packet of ginger from the sushi etc…
I use the buck a bottle stuff from the Supermarket and doctor it up based on what I want.
There are a few things I make it special for (Boston Butt and Beef Brisket) but generally I just doctor up the MEH stuff and make it good.
It ALWAYS gets thinned out so I can brush it on as cooking ends.
A local store has Sweet Baby Rays on sale this week for $1.29/bottle (16 oz. I think) Can’t beat that with a stick. Great on butts, brisket, BB’s, chuckies, cluckers, etc…, even fatties if that’s what turns your crank. Good all-around BBQ sauce IMO!
Partial to sweet myself. Some like the vinegary sauces. Matter of region and personal preference? Though it may be that pork is paired with the vinegary type more often…
I think tangy sweetness goes very well with any smoky BBQ. Especially pork ribs.
I do find many of the more widely distributed commercial sauces to be too sweet for me. It’s been a while since I’ve tried Sweet Baby Ray’s but seem to recall it a little sweet for me. My personal sauce preferences lean towards spicy/tangy though.
I grew up with Open Pit (and remember the original Brooks Ketchup formula) but our “BBQ” then was really grilling. Now that I’ve started cooking low-n-slow BBQ, I still like to use it as a base for some of my home-made sauces (or as a ketchup substitute for fries).
On pulled pork, I like a mustard/vinegar sauce.
On ribs, either Memphis style dry or just a light glaze cooked in at the end.
On brisket, generally plain or possibly just a touch of sauce.
For store-bought, un-doctored sauce, anyone ever try the Mendencino Red Tail Ale BBQ sauce. It’s probably my favorite one so far, I was surprised to see it for sale at a regular grocery store here in Colorado. Granted I haven’t tried this Sweet Baby Ray’s yet, but it was really good.
I usually go plain too, but I’m making a brisket in two weeks and I’d like to have some sort of sauce on the side for those who want it. Anyone have a good recipe for sauce that goes well with brisket? I’m also gonna make a meatloaf this weekend, so I’d like to make the sauce this weekend as a test run.
