BBQ Sauce is like religion…
My mother recently told a friend of hers that I made great BBQ sauce (and BBQ to boot). Her friend sent me an e-mail and asked for the recipe so I responded with this e-mail.
Sorry this is late. I hope I didn’t miss the BBQ.
I love BBQ. It’s a passion of mine. My father and I have our disagreements regarding BBQ, and everyone I know thinks I’m right (of course). For instance, I did a pork shoulder (boston butt) for pulled pork last weekend when he was in town. I put it on the grill at 8pm on Friday night and we had it for dinner at 6pm the next day. I do it low-and-slow as to slowly cook the meat and make sure it’s not dry. I don’t peek at BBQ when it’s cooking, it’s BBQ, not a peep show. I don’t baste it. Just a bit of rub and 220 degrees for 20 hours or so until it’s done. In fact Julia said, “This is the best BBQ I’ve ever had.” My father said, “But it’s too moist.” Now, any BBQ connoisseur would laugh at that (as we did). I think he’s just jealous that I cook my BBQ for 20 hours to perfection while he is in a rush and his is a bit dry after 6 hours in a blast furnace. Now, I will admit that his pork is pretty damn good….but my pork is better!
BBQ is like religion and each has his own preference in terms of meat (pork vs beef vs other types of meat). As such there are many opinions on sauce as well. I usually have at least three sauces out when I serve BBQ and have been known to have more. There’s the Texas tangy type, Kansas City sweet, North Carolina vinegar (around here it’s called Mountain Sauce and is very thin and an acquired taste), Virginia mustard based, etc.
My old standbys are the Texas tangy and Kansas City sweet. Most people have most of these ingredients so it’s not like you’ll be shopping for some obscure stuff (and feel free to substitute).
Texas tangy basic BBQ sauce:
3T oil
1 medium onion (minced)
1 clove garlic (minced)
1/2 small bell pepper (or hot pepper, or Anaheim pepper, etc.) (minced)
1/3c katsup
1/2c tomato juice
water to thin
3T cider vinegar
3T Worchestershire sauce
2T lemon juice
1t hot sauce (e.g. Frank’s)
2T molasses (I use his cane syrup for this)
3T brown sugar (or turbinado)
3T yellow mustard
1t dry mustard
pepper
salt
MINCED (not diced)
saute onion garlic and pepper in oil until soft (not brown)
add rest and simmer on low until thick (about 15 minutes)
KC sweet basic BBQ sauce:
2c katsup
1/4c balsamic (this is the secret … you can use cider vinegar but go for balsamic and you’ll be asked for the recipe)
1/4c Worchestershire sauce
2T molasses (cane syrup)
2T yellow mustard
1T hot sauce (Frank’s)
1T basic rub or BBQ seasoning (or whatever spice blend sounds about right)
pepper
simmer on low until thick (about 15 minutes)
Some folks add liquid smoke to their BBQ sauce, but I think that’s sacrilege. If the smoke ain’t in the meat the sauce ain’t going to put it there.
sid.
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Sid Boswell
sid@sidboswell.com
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