Why do thicker bbq sauces seem to dominate the market?

[Boshizzle]

Sauce covers up the poorly cooked meat. That's just the way it is. Properly cook meat and sauce won't be necessary,

 

[BBQ Bandit]

How else are they gonna eat them boiled ribs?

 

[caseydog]

SUGAR......Most OTC brands of Bar B Que sauce are very sweet and everybody loves sweet thick sauce. Except me and most of you guys!

Sugar, or HFCS? I'm guessing corn syrup.

I like a thinner sauce, too. I like to warm it up, too, before serving. A squirt bottle full of good sauce let's you add just enough, but no too much. That. or I'll put it in little bowls for dipping.

I personally favor a sweet/hot sauce, but for pulled pork, I make a more vinegary sauce.

One exception. I like a thick sweet/spicy sauce to brush on my grilled chicken right at the end of cooking. It caramelizes on the chicken and tastes awesome.

CD

 

[caseydog]

Most people have never eaten well cooked BBQ. That's why. I cooked some BBQ chuckies this weekend that needed no sauce and were absolutely incredible! I didn't put sauce on it. I put it on a bun with some rub and absolutely enjoyed every ounce of it.

Many restaurants poorly cook meat and, as they say, sauce covers a multitude of sins. That's why people love thick sauce. It covers up the poorly cooked meat.

Amen. When I do ribs, I tell my friends to try it without sauce first, then add sauce if they think they need it.

Almost everyone ends up eating the ribs without sauce. I'm not a competition BBQ cooker, but if you put time, effort and love into your BBQ, people can taste it.

I do still use sauce for brisket, chicken and pulled pork. But, only as much as it needs.

CD

 

[landarc]

I like a nice thick red bbq sauce on french fries

 

[jestridge]

I usually don't use sauce but I could care less what my guest or relatives put on it. People know what they like.

 

[Big Jim BBQ]

I like a nice thick red bbq sauce on french fries

That's ketchup, ain't it?

 

[landarc]

No, there was a place out here that made a very good hybrid sauce, about halfway between a thin red sauce and a KC style molasses/ketchup based sauce. It was very good on his hickory pit roasted meats and his french fries. It was most definitely not ketchup.

 

[caseydog]

I like a nice thick red bbq sauce on french fries

Or tarter sauce.

There is a British pub near me that is run by a real Brit. They do fish and chips with Haddock that is the best I've had outside of the UK. The "chips" are good, too. Crisp outside and tender inside.

I always put some malt vinegar on the fish and the chips, and dip both in tartar sauce.

Threadjack over. Sorry. :-D

CD

 

[boogiesnap]

as far as thick sauces, i'd have to suggest that the average american(myself included)is addicted to sugar; sugar is thick.


however, in regards to the debate on sauce on BBQ, a few thoughts come to mind.
some of the best cuisines in the world are renowned for their sauces. take the french for example. a great deal of care is taken by the saucier in french cooking, it is an art and they are world renowned for their creations. it compliments and enhances the dining experience.
consider an unsauced pork rib, and pig honey. while this is a natural occurance, a great many sauces are based on what pig honoey is. FAT! delicious FAT.
now as far as BBQ goes, some sauces cut the fat(say vinegar)or flavor the fat(say spices)or add to the fat(say sugar).
however, some of the best chicken i've ever eaten was french roasted. salt and pepper. nothing else at all. the art is in knowing your craft and how to manipulate it.
as far as BBQ chicken goes, salt and pepper only doesn't do it for me.
the flavor profiles i'm looking for are sweet and earthy smoke in the meat, savory skin, with a sweet and spicey sauce to bring it all together.

 

[integrator]

I don't use sauce much, but I serve some store bought stuff on the side. But yes, thick sauces seem to win. I think they are visually more appealing for some.

 

[barbefunkoramaque]

Here is my theory. It is only an opinion and I am trying to be more diplomatic these days so I will say that everyone is entitled to their opinion unless they live in Kansas or are currently deliriously happy with the KCBS.

Reason - because one can affectingly thin a thick sauce easily with water or vinegar or a combination but the other way around does not hold true... what do you thicken it with? how much of the thickness is due to additives or reducing etc. There are more isolated ways of thinning.

Then there is WORLD WIDE preference. Any discussion a pit master has from time time ends with you speaking at length about the technique of BBQ as an art and ends with some dumb ass wanting to know how they can make a good sauce.

Sauce is a funny thing as a commercial product. FORGET competition sauce for now. To have a successful sauce one must hit the majority of tastes. I advise restaurants all the time that if they make good que then the decision about the sauce can be co-oped out to the companies that have spend millions in market research. I am like... ****.... just hybrid up some cattlemans in bulk... pour your drippings in some hunt original by the case which at times is cheaper than ketchup. PUT the energy into the meat... the drippings from your own expression (rub) will make the cheap cattlemans you buy YOUR OWN THANG. It is better in bulk BBQ sauce sales to offend no one and please a few... than to make something spectacular.

PLUS... it ain't about the sauce for a VERY small segment of the BBQ world so therefore for most it is ALL about the sauce. And thus there is the whole definition of BBQ which ain't even right in some places.... thus... there are people in the world that grew up when just about the only commercially world wide available sauce was Hunts in a CAN!!!! Then the sauce has to be grill friendly....

As I walked by the bbq sauces in Brookshires the other day I noticed that the shelves are dominated by thick sauces which I assume are tomato based sauces. I see a few thinner sauces but nothing compared to the thick sauces

Yet I've encounterd SO MANY people who say they prefer a thinner sauce. Most say about the same thing. The thicker sauce tends to dominate the flavor of the meat via texture and taste. Now I live in northwest louisiana that has an east texas influence. I guess for everyone that says they prefer a thinner sauce there are that many more that just love the taste of sauce over the meat itself. Because it is very hard to find a thick sauce that takes a back seat to the flavor of the meat.

 

[btcg]

I like a nice thick red bbq sauce on french fries

Well, they've never equalled the taste of Open Pit.

 

[boogiesnap]

aint no major commercial sauce thickened by reducing.

i don't see thick sauce dominating the market because it CAN be thinned.

i agree, drippings=fat=flavor.

not so sure about this diplomatic thing tho...

 

[btcg]

Here is my theory. It is only an opinion and I am trying to be more diplomatic these days so I will say that everyone is entitled to their opinion unless they live in Kansas or are currently deliriously happy with the KCBS.

Reason - because one can affectingly thin a thick sauce easily with water or vinegar or a combination but the other way around does not hold true... what do you thicken it with? how much of the thickness is due to additives or reducing etc. There are more isolated ways of thinning.

Then there is WORLD WIDE preference. Any discussion a pit master has from time time ends with you speaking at length about the technique of BBQ as an art and ends with some dumb ass wanting to know how they can make a good sauce.

Sauce is a funny thing as a commercial product. FORGET competition sauce for now. To have a successful sauce one must hit the majority of tastes. I advise restaurants all the time that if they make good que then the decision about the sauce can be co-oped out to the companies that have spend millions in market research. I am like... ****.... just hybrid up some cattlemans in bulk... pour your drippings in some hunt original by the case which at times is cheaper than ketchup. PUT the energy into the meat... the drippings from your own expression (rub) will make the cheap cattlemans you buy YOUR OWN THANG. It is better in bulk BBQ sauce sales to offend no one and please a few... than to make something spectacular.

PLUS... it ain't about the sauce for a VERY small segment of the BBQ world so therefore for most it is ALL about the sauce. And thus there is the whole definition of BBQ which ain't even right in some places.... thus... there are people in the world that grew up when just about the only commercially world wide available sauce was Hunts in a CAN!!!! Then the sauce has to be grill friendly....

Corn starch (it doesn't affect the taste) and/or cook it down a while longer.

 

[barbefunkoramaque]

In a way... you are kind of explaining why I am correct on this. Not saying your wrong buddy because your not from Kansas (and also not Chris who is from Kansas) but consider this.

1) Many use agents such as Tomato paste which are derived from reduction and carmilization already. BUT correct some are thickened by arrow root, corn starch, okra juice.... its on the bottle marked lol "thickening agent" and even more are things you cannot pronounce. So think... which is it? and is it more ketchup, ketchup concentrate (ketchup without the water added). So I am not saying they got together and had a forum and said... well I think we should make it thicker because people can always thin it out... its just those that DO like a thinner sauce and like to modify ... well its easier so they buy more... and that in the end affect sales and it sort of evolves to that way. Lately I think it more about mass appeal..;.. think of something... your all the sudden in the sauce biz... your making a commercial and not for any of us hard cases.... THINK is an additive that sells Enyte and BBQ Sauce... thin sell tampons.

,

aint no major commercial sauce thickened by reducing.

i don't see thick sauce dominating the market because it CAN be thinned.

i agree, drippings=fat=flavor.

not so sure about this diplomatic thing tho...

 

[barbefunkoramaque]

2) "Margaret Thatcher Naked on a cold winters night!"

 

[LoneStarMojo]

hm...you guys have me thinkin about why I actually use my sauce of choice (SBR's).

I'm an experienced smoked meat cooker and I love the flavor of the things I smoke. Thats why I pick the woods, rubs, marinades, cuts of meat etc. On ribs dont right...no sauce thanks. Brisket and pulled pork done right...just a tiny bit of sauce. I think the reason I personally don't care for the thinner sauces is that unless someone is feeding me Que that is dry and/or tasteless they just seem kinda too wet. Maybe I just need to put on less cuz I don't want a wet sandwich...just a juicy one.

And maybe me and the rest of the general public just don't know how much to use so we go for the thicker ones cuz they kinda stay where ya put em. Heck now that I think about it even Arby's sauce (gross) is on the thinner side.

 

[btcg]

2) "Margaret Thatcher Naked on a cold winters night!"

That not only thickened me... I'm downright immobile.

 

[btcg]

hm...you guys have me thinkin about why I actually use my sauce of choice (SBR's).

I'm an experienced smoked meat cooker and I love the flavor of the things I smoke. Thats why I pick the woods, rubs, marinades, cuts of meat etc. On ribs dont right...no sauce thanks. Brisket and pulled pork done right...just a tiny bit of sauce. I think the reason I personally don't care for the thinner sauces is that unless someone is feeding me Que that is dry and/or tasteless they just seem kinda too wet. Maybe I just need to put on less cuz I don't want a wet sandwich...just a juicy one.

And maybe me and the rest of the general public just don't know how much to use so we go for the thicker ones cuz they kinda stay where ya put em. Heck now that I think about it even Arby's sauce (gross) is on the thinner side.

Pet peeve of mine: people who put tomatoe based BBQ sauce on beef. The only tomatoe sauce you ever put on beef is if you're making spagehtti or chili.