Competition: Who has the best BBQ Sauce.

[infernooo]

Originally Posted by Smoothsmoke

Infernnoooo,
Which if any of the sauces most resembled Head Country?

None so far! Bills would be the closest, but still not too similar.

[Lake Dogs]

Originally Posted by landarc

Oops, missed that part of the question, I do not currently inject my brisket or any beef cuts. I do own 2 lbs or so of Butchers and a brand new injector which I need to try. Some of that competition brisket I have had is so tasty. The issue has been that I have not had time to cook a longer cook of late, too much project work (which I will not complain about). But, I will be injecting, at least as a test.

For what it's worth, I've tried a few other injections. Most are not bad.
I found that for my taste, Butchers mixed with water (as per directions)
allowed to set-up overnight is wonderful. Careful, it has some salt in it.
I added recently a fairly salty rub and found the beef to be too salty for
my palate, but then I'm fairly sensitive to salt. I think you'll like it (Butchers I mean).

[1FUNVET]

When you are finished with all the sauces will you compile a list of them with recipes and ratings in a format that will be ez to print ?

[inv3ctiv3]

I just made a great sauce, 64oz of ketchup, some mustard, oregano, apple sauce, cherry preserves, minced garlic, some simply marvelous sweet and spicy rub, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, etc. Can't wait to use it!

[Erin]

Originally Posted by 1FUNVET

When you are finished with all the sauces will you compile a list of them with recipes and ratings in a format that will be ez to print ?

Yes Infernoo,
This is such a wonderful thread. A keeper/classic. One to be referenced in the future. I have been cutting and pasting your work into a word document. When I get better at what I am just beginning to learn I want to come back to this project and study the recipes. This goes along with some new books I bought from Amazon. I am also taking a BBQ class this month. You are helping me. This is such a wonderful thing for a newbie like me to stumble upon. Thank you Infernoo!!!!

[Boshizzle]

Tso's Southern Style BBQ Sauce

Here is a recipe that I developed because my wife and daughter really like Gen. Tso's Hunan Chicken but they don't like the fact that it's deep fried. I slightly modified the General Tso's chicken sauce to make it more like BBQ sauce. The recipe follows.

1 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup light soy sauce
3/4 cup sugar
1 TBS crushed garlic
1 TBS finely chopped ginger
2 Sliced spring onions
1 TBS Crushed Red Pepper
1/2 Teaspoon White Pepper
1/3 cup cool water (preferably bottled but tap water is fine as long as it is not warm or hot)
3 TBS of corn starch
1/2 to 1 TBS Sesame Oil (to taste)

Mix the vinegar, wine, soy, sugar, red and white pepper, onions, garlic, and ginger and heat in a sauce pan. Mix the water and corn starch in a small bowl/cup and set aside (don't add it yet).

When the sauce comes to a boil and you think the alcohol from the wine has cooked off, whisk in just enough of the water and corn starch mixture to bring the sauce to the thickness that you want. Then remove from heat and whisk in the Sesame Oil.

Use the warm sauce to glaze grilled/BBQ chicken or pork. Haven't tried it on beef, but I bet it's pretty good on that too.

[landarc]

Bo, that sounds like a good sauce, I would bet it goes well on deep fried as well.

[Boshizzle]

Thanks, Landarc. Yep, it's pretty good on the fried stuff and also on Tyson's chicken nuggets.

[stglide]

This should become a sticky thread! Keep the reviews and recipes coming! Great stuff!

[infernooo]

We are now up to number 7 - big brother smokes recipe. Thanks to him for the recipe!


#7 big brother smoke (http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...4&postcount=31)


Big Brother Smoke’s All Purpose BBQ Sauce

256 oz. Ketchup (2 cans)
¼ cup your favorite rub (I use Sweet and Spicy)
1 quart Apple Sauce
10 oz. Apple Butter
1 cup Apple Cider
2 cup Apple Juice
1 cup Honey
¼ Garlic Powder
1/ 4 cup Onion Powder
1/8 cup Oregano
1/8 Thyme
½ cup Yellow Mustard
1/8 cup red pepper flakes

Bring to a boil and let sit in the pot for about 12 hours or until cool before storing.

This is a good base sauce and you can doctor it easily (I always do based on my mood) with brown sugar for more of a sweetner; cayenne for heat; red food color or caramel food color for more of a mahogony thing. If you need more smoke flavor use cumin not liquid choke, I mean liquid smoke.
Recipe Review:

Notes: I used a combination of Hunts and Heinz ketchup (to help negate any brand specific dominance), Bama Apple Butter, a local brand no sugar added organic cloudy apple juice, supermarket brand no sugar added apple sauce, and a USA produced apple cider. The honey was a mixed blend to avoid any floral dominance, the mustard Frenchs brand and the remainder of the ingredients were penzeys spices.


Ingredients: What does the ingredient list say to me? APPLES! PORK! I knew off the bat that this would be a sauce primarily aimed at pork, and new it would be good with other game meats too. The question was whether it would be too sweet (with hardlu any salty/sour elements besides the ketchup) and how well it would go with meats other than pork. The thyme and oregano are an interesting addition, but I was worried they may clash with some of the other flavours and possibly those used in the rub on the meat.

Ease of preparation: Could not be easier - aside from gathering the various ingredients, it is simply a matter of combining them, bringing to the boil then cooling and storing!

Modifications and variations tested: I tested this sauce on grilled chicken, pulled pork, ribs, pork loin and beef back ribs.

Taste/Texture: The beauty of this sauce is that there are no thickeners added, but due to the ingredients, it turns out with a lovely consistency, not gluggy or cloying at all, with a slight shine. It is rather sweet. Thankfully though, it has some spice to back it up. Suprisingly, it doesn't leave you thinking you are eating pure apples, and I believe that is because of the large quantity of ketchup as well as including apple products in different forms (sauce which is cooked, cider which may be fermented, butter, which is cooked, juice which is raw) and obviously, the spices. I must say however, that even though I found it very sweet, it was not TOO SWEET. The one thing that threw me off was the flavour of the thyme and oregano. I know it is a unique aspect to the sauce, and I appreciate that, but for me, it just did not work. As much as I would like to say that I try all sauces with an open mind, the simple fact is that the thyme and oregano immediately brought Italian red sauces/pizza to mind when I was tasting it and it was the major downside to this sauce in my opinion.

Recommendations: I personally would get rid of the thyme and oregano and add some other spices... this would require some experimenting, but I think some warm spices such as cloves, allspice, nutmeg/mace, cinnamon, juniper, cardamom etc would work well and compliment those in the ketchup. I feel this sauce really has a LOT of potential with the apple, honey and ketchup mix. If using with pulled pork, I would add a bit more chilli or even some hot sauce to give it a bit more kick, and also a bit of vinegar to help with the fattyness of the pork. For beef, I would add a touch more mustard and ketchup to reduce the fruitiness, and add some of the rendered drippings from the cooking.


Ratings:

Appearance: 7.5/10 A fresh looking sauce with a vibrant colour a slight shine due largely to the honey and apple butter.

Consistency: 8.5/10 Outstanding. A lovely mouthfeel, not too sticky or cloying, not too thin - useable for a wide variety of meats (brushing to glaze, dipping, mixed with some cider vinegar for pulled pork etc).

Taste: 6.5/10 On pork, this sauce was terrific. We all know how well pork and apples go together, and this sauce really embodies that. On the grilled chicken, it was also very nice but I felt that the chicken needed a slighty bolder sauce. On the beef back ribs, it worked quite well, but I would tend to add some mustard or a bit more ketchup to tone down on the fruity notes. It really does have a nice balance of flavours, but some of the ingredients let it down.

Versatility: 6/10 As is, I would not say this sauce works universally well on all meats, but I believe it would adapt very well. For example, brisket with a dried apple rub would work very well if the sauce was tweaked as mentioned above. As is, it works beautifully on pork loin, ribs and pulled pork (with some hot sauce, salt and cider vinegar mixed in).

Overall Rating: 7/10. This sauce has a LOT of potential, and I believe it could EASILY be an 8 or 8.5/10 sauce, it just needs some slight modifications and tweaking depending on the meat it is used on.


Photos of sauce construction:

1.) The ingredients:

Top Row from left:

Apple Sauce + Apple Butter + Apple Cider + Apple Juice,
Oregano, Thyme, Onion Poweder, Ketchup

Bottom Row from left:

Honey + Mustard, Red Pepper Flakes, Rub, Garlic Powder

2.) Ingredients coming to a simmer:



3.) Turned off and left in pot:



4.) Sauce cooled and ready to use:



Thank you once again big brother smoke for the recipe

The next sauce, wampus!

[TIMMAY]

I need to try that recipe, looking at the ingredients there's a lot going on! Can't wait, I am #10!!

[big brother smoke]

You are welcome, that particular sauce is my first I ever made from scratch. I have some other, but I cannot divulge those secrets as they may be worth bottling someday

[Wampus]

Originally Posted by infernooo

The next sauce, wampus!

Great! I'll be watching (as if I haven't been watching all along.....).
Mine's simple and easy.....but I LOVE it!



Thanks again for doing this infernooo! It's quite a commitment, if you ask me! I'm really digging the reviews too!!!

[landarc]

Originally Posted by big brother smoke

You are welcome, that particular sauce is my first I ever made from scratch. I have some other, but I cannot divulge those secrets as they may be worth bottling someday

I think you should post your cherry sauce recipe for Infernoo to test out, yep, I think so.

[Wampus]

Originally Posted by landarc

I think you should post your cherry sauce recipe for Infernoo to test out, yep, I think so.

YES!!!!!!
Why the discrimination BBS?