Sweet vs Salt/Vinegar

[pokey]

It seems to me a lot of folks like a sweetness to their smoked meat. I've always been more of a fan of the salt/vinegar style of sauces and rubs. Are there different schools of thought on this? I'm not really familiar with the differences between Memphis, KC, Texas and Chicago styles of BBQ, but wonder if some of the differences are of this kind of nature? Any reference sources on the different styles to which folks might be able to refer me?

Thanks in advance...

 

[jirodriguez]

For pork and chicken I like to put some sweetness in the rub and let it cook in, but for the sauce (served on the side) I like to have it with a nice vinegar twang to it. Beef gets a salt, pepper, garlic powder based rub, and a less twangy sauce (more chili heat than vinegar twang).

 

[pokey]

JI - I'm with ya on the beef rub, but I've never liked any of the sauces usually associated with beef. Especially steak sauces. I always thought a good steak needed no sauce. Now I'll be doing a brisket this weekend with a rub like you described, and plan to put some red wine in with it when I foil it. That gave me some great au jus with a chuckie I did a couple of weeks back. I was planning to moisten it with that and serve it sauceless. If you've got a recipe for a sauce with chile heat that I could try, I'd love to.

 

[rbranstner]

I am a sweet flavor kind of guy but my wife doesn't like things as sweet. My pork always gets a nice sweet flavor but like you guys said with my beef I usually go with the plain salt, pepper, garlic/onion powder and maybe a few other things but keeping it simple. My steaks I good never need any sauce on them. If you need to put sauce on them they aren't very good. haha

Good luck on your brisket. If you did a chuckie recently I would say do them pretty much the same way. At least that is what I do. Simple rub and inject with beef broth, V8 and any other spices you may like.

 

[jirodriguez]

JI - I'm with ya on the beef rub, but I've never liked any of the sauces usually associated with beef. Especially steak sauces. I always thought a good steak needed no sauce. Now I'll be doing a brisket this weekend with a rub like you described, and plan to put some red wine in with it when I foil it. That gave me some great au jus with a chuckie I did a couple of weeks back. I was planning to moisten it with that and serve it sauceless. If you've got a recipe for a sauce with chile heat that I could try, I'd love to.

I cheat Pokey.... I mix Sweet Baby Rays Original w/ cider vinegar, apple juice, and a little brown sugar, then to spice it up I add hot chili flakes. For brisket I like to add a little ketchup to it as well, it really is a great sauce to make and you can make it as thin, thick, sweet, spicy, vinegary as you want.

 

[meateater]

Lets see, poultry I like a citrus, mango type of rub. Beef I like a heavier cumin, rosemary, pepper type of rub. Pork I like a hot pepper sauce and citrus injection. That's my basics and I varie from that on every smoke job.