BBQ sauce

[dixonsbbq]

I love bbq and if I ever have to pick my last meal, it'll be bbq. With that being said, do any of you get tired of getting served meat smothered in sauce? That seems to me like someone trying to cover up mediocre bbq. I always serve my sauce on the side. Sauce only touches the meat I cook if the customer puts it on there. Is this extreme? Should I showcase my sauce by putting it on the meat, or continue to let my customers choose?

 

[tardissmoker]

Better to make this a poll.

Anyway, I vote continue.

 

[gr0uch0]

First, Dixon, welcome.  You'll be amazed at the things you'll find on this site, so dig deep and enjoy.

To your question, sir, my roots are very deep Texan.  Texas barbecue--note barbecue, not BBQ, not Bar-B-Cue, etc.--is served dry.  For those longtime and purist joints who even prepare a sauce, it is absolutely served on the side, so no, you are not extreme.  Many native Texans believe that there is something being hidden when doused in sauce, whether the meat has been prepared with gas or electricity (GASP!!), meat isn't as fresh as it should be (EGADS!!), or some other nefarious deed worthy of hanging from a post oak tree.  In fact, there are many places you can walk into in Central Texas and you won't see sauce anywhere:  should you ask for it, you've just exposed yourself as a greenhorn outsider, have just insulted the pitmaster, and may as well have just spit in his food and face.

So no, you're not out of bounds whatsoever by going dry and letting those who opt for sauce apply it at their own discretion.  Welcome aboard again, and enjoy. 

 

[mike5051]

I'll sauce right before pulling if requested.  My smokes are dry until served.  Sauce on the side if desired.  I'm not a commercial cooker, so my customers aren't always right!  

  

Mike

 

[SmokinAl]

For PP, just a finishing sauce applied when pulled.

For ribs, sauced just before finishing on a grill.

Brisket, a little au Jus when sliced.

That's how I do it, but since everyone likes your Q, then why change a thing?

Sounds to me like your doing everything right, or your customers wouldn't keep coming back!

Al

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Sauce on the side [SIZE=always ![/SIZE]

 

[seenred]

I'm with ya Dixon...really good smoked meat don't need any sauce to be delicious. I believe most folks on these forums would agree, so your thinking is not extreme at all.

Now that being said, I like variety, so I'll mix it up on most cooks, depending on who I'm cooking for and what meat I'm cooking. Most often I serve ribs dry with my homemade sauce on the side, but sometimes I'll make em "wet" by glazing with sauce the last half hour of the cook. Pulled pork, pork loin/tenderloin, briskets, chuck roasts, etc, I usually like to serve these unsauced with some kind of sauce or au jus on the side. Most poultry goes unsauced for me, unless I'm doing wings, then they'll get a buffalo sauce or something like that.

Red

 

[bdskelly]

Use to fuss over a sauce. Then I noticed that the family never used it. So most of the time I forget to put it out. B

 

[joe black]

Don't worry what anyone from Texas thinks. Barbecue started in SC and moved west with the wagon trains. So Texas folks haven't learned a lot since then. I use a finishing sauce on pulled pork just to enhance the moisture and flavor. On my ribs, I use a sauce/glaze for the last 30 minutes. Beef just gets au jus and poultry is a toss up depending on what folks want at the time.

Good luck with your research, Joe. :grilling_smilie:




P.s. I love all my Texas friends. :yahoo:

 

[gr0uch0]

Them's brawlin' words, Joe....   

 

[gary s]

Don't worry what anyone from Texas thinks. Barbecue started in SC and moved west with the wagon trains. So Texas folks haven't learned a lot since then. I use a finishing sauce on pulled pork just to enhance the moisture and flavor. On my ribs, I use a sauce/glaze for the last 30 minutes. Beef just gets au jus and poultry is a toss up depending on what folks want at the time.

Good luck with your research, Joe.

P.s. I love all my Texas friends.

Hey, ya'll use that white Mayonnaise sauce or mustard sauce on Pork

         Good thing it did move west, we may never of had Brisket !!

Gary 

 

[ab canuck]

 I agree.... Sauce on the side, I have only did 1 PP and it was dry and needed it. I overcooked it and since then found this site and have learned so much info it's mind boggling... hence always coming back. It's a good thing.  As far as ribs go I will glaze them unless I or the family am wanting them dry I like them that way, And brisket we have done twice, Dry with a side of slaw....

My 2 cents. 

 

[bdskelly]

Don't worry what anyone from Texas thinks. Barbecue started in SC and moved west with the wagon trains. So Texas folks haven't learned a lot since then. I use a finishing sauce on pulled pork just to enhance the moisture and flavor. On my ribs, I use a sauce/glaze for the last 30 minutes. Beef just gets au jus and poultry is a toss up depending on what folks want at the time.

Good luck with your research, Joe. :grilling_smilie:




P.s. I love all my Texas friends. :yahoo:

Ouch....

 

[chef jimmyj]

Pulled Pork gets my finishing sauce then the individual takes it from there. Ribs I used to sauce, now the crew prefers dry and.some add sauce. Brisket, gets a side of Au Jus.
Sauces are like Salt! You can add it but can't take it away. I have always enjoyed Q joints that had a couple of choices on the table for me to try or do without if the meat is exceptional...JJ

 

[b-one]

Sauce on the side 90% of the time. Maybe a finishing sauce on pp.

 

[atomicsmoke]

No sauce here.

 

[dixonsbbq]

Thank you all for your input. Even when I buy or make pulled pork, I like it without sauce, that way I can tell how the pork is cooked. Nothing worse than getting shredded pig jerky drenched in sauce. I've seen that lots.

 

[GaryHibbert]

I like a finishing sauce on my pulled pork along with some coleslaw, but Miss Linda likes her's unsauced.  So I add it to mine after its served up.  Everything else is served unsauced--sometimes (not often) with a sauce on the side.

Gary

 

[dixonsbbq]

We make several sauces and let folks add what they want. Actually, part of my line of thinking with that too, lots of my family are/were diabetic, and so many sauces are loaded with sugar, rubs too. I use a rub with very little sugar and make some of our sauces with little to no sugar, or sweeten with honey.

 

[sauced]

Pulled Pork gets my finishing sauce then the individual takes it from there. Ribs I used to sauce, now the crew prefers dry and.some add sauce. Brisket, gets a side of Au Jus.
Sauces are like Salt! You can add it but can't take it away. I have always enjoyed Q joints that had a couple of choices on the table for me to try or do without if the meat is exceptional...JJ

I agree 100%....I do the same thing as the chef.