BBQ Sauce

[Hoopz]

This was brought up (and eventually hijacked) another thread so I thought I would start a new thread for everyone's sake.

Here's the recipe that I used for the cherry bbq sauce:

1/4 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup hot water (almost boiling)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 T molasses
1 T chopped garlic
6 oz tomato paste
1/4 cup lime juice


Soak the dried cherries in the hot water.  In a saucepan, combine the rest over medium-low heat.  Let it simmer.  After the cherries soak for about 10 minutes, then add the cherries and water to the pan.  Stir well and let them simmer for about 5-10 minutes.  Put them in a blender and CAREFULLY blend until its smooth.  If you haven't previously used a blender with a hot liquid, be very careful as it creates some pressure as it blends.

I thought it worked well.  I usually use a dried chile so I subbed in the cherries and it had a good flavor.  Not overpowering and certainly not underwhelming.  My taste pallet is probably different than yours so YMMV.  This is a fairly generic sauce and I didn't want something with a lot of flavor profiles because I wanted to see how it'd work with the cherries.

I've a slab of ribs that I'm making for dinner tonight so I'll use this sauce with that.  I also added more garlic than a tablespoon because I like garlic and no recipe ever has enough.  And salt and pepper to taste....

And 6 hours to dinner....   

[ChadTower]

I can give that a shot soon and see what comes out.  That's a pretty short simmer time.  Mine usually simmer for like 6 hours because they are vinegar based (and I make large batches).

[Hoopz]

Yep, pretty damn basic.  I've made a nice Carolina based vinegar sauce with bacon fat that was unreal.  And slightly bad for you but it was incredible.   

[Vigo]

Sweet! I'm gonna make some this week! I got a slab of ribs in need of some sauce. I might try making a side batch with a few alterations to it and see if I can come up with a variant. Now I'm plain excited.

[Generic Eric]

Does vinegar based use less sugar?  What is the difference?

[Hoopz]

I can't say all, but most vinegar based sauces use significantly less sugar.  My recipe is a sweet sauce and a vinegar sauce would use 2 tablespoons of brown sugar when I used a packed cup.

I think this sauce is too sweet but others like it. 

Also, a vinegar sauce doesn't have a tomato base (generally that is, so I am sure some variation does).

[Ginsu Victim]

I might have to try this. I already started grilling out last week.

[Hoopz]

If anyone does try it, please post your thoughts.  I'm not going to get all butthurt if someone doesn't like it.  I'm really curious if others can taste the cherries, if it's the flavor they were looking for, etc.

[BadMouth]

I put my new grill together two weeks ago and haven't used it yet. 

Stupid simple pulled pork recipe that I use:

drop a 2lb pork tenderloin in the crockpot
pour in one can of root beer
6 or 7 hours on low (I usually start it before bed and it ends up going 8 hours)
Remove, pull into shreds, douse with copious amounts of bbq sauce. 

source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-pulled-pork/

I usually use Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, but I'll give this a try next time.

[ChadTower]

I can't deal with stuff like that from the crock pot.  The fat has to have a way to escape.  There is so much connective juice and fat in a butt/shoulder.  It's just pork soup in a slow cooker.   

[Hoopz]

And I don't think this sauce is the best for slathering on a slab and letting it caramelize.  I'd suggest using it more as a dipping sauce.  If you do put it on any meat and put it back on the grill, just be aware that the high sugar content is going to make it a risk for burning more quickly than a lower sugar sauce. 

[ChadTower]

Definitely agreed just by looking at the ingredients.  Sounds like a sauce you keep warm as a condiment.  It would match up really well on pulled pork that has a good black pepper finish mist on it.

[CCM]

I'll definitely give this recipe a try!   I bought a smoker a few years ago and have been experimenting with different rubs and different kinds of wood.  The next step I've been wanting to take is making my own BBQ sauce!

As far as I'm concerned smoking is the ONLY way to make ribs and pork butt.  I would never use a grill or a crock pot.

[ChadTower]

I've done it on a grill and it can be pretty good.  You still have to heat as indirectly as you can manage, though.  Still takes many hours.

[Vigo]

I've done a good crock pot / grill combo for ribs. Let it soften and marinate in the flavors in a crock pot for a few hours, then take it out to the grill and finish the job.

Can't leave it in the crock pot too long though. There is a difference between "fall off the bone" tenderness and "disintegrated into the BBQ sauce".

[Vigo]

New page added to recipe book.

I'm off to soak cherries.

[Vigo]

Ok, I finished the sauce. I have not had it with any meat yet, but I will by this weekend. I made a double batch, and only a couple minor deviations. I used dark brown sugar instead of light brown, I also used extra garlic and the molasses I used was blackstrap molasses. For pepper, I used one of those pepper medley grinders and gave about 8 cranks of the grinder. I also upped the simmer time to about an hour. With this recipe, you should be able to get a bottle worth of sauce.

Tasting the sauce, it was spot on with what Hoopz said. It is a simple flavor, but that emphasized the cherry flavor. The cherry flavor, which I think is the hard thing to achieve, was exactly spot on what I was hoping for in flavor.    Blended well and has a very rich color to it. To be critical of the sauce, I generally only like this sweet of a sauce if there is an offsetting flavor like chili peppers. It felt even a bit sweeter than a honey BBQ sauce. I will be chowing this stuff down though, I absolutely love the cherry flavor in it, and i think it will taste well with ribs or chicken.

I will probably try a couple variants. My first idea, would be to make this exact sauce, but toss in some spicy peppers. That way you would get a sweet and spicy mix sauce, and the sweetness would fit my taste buds much better.

My second idea is to bring it closer to Chad / North Carolina type sauce and use this cherry method and maybe sub the water for vinegar and tomato paste for ketchup?  Maybe toss in whiskey? haha.  I've made a few vinegar based sauces before, but never one with a stronger sweet, fruity flavor in it. I'm just stabbing in the dark on how it would be done.

[Hoopz]

 

I am amazed and flattered that you gave me props for that.  All I did was post a "normal" recipe and used Chad's idea about dried cherries.  I think it was Chad at least.  I appreciate the props but you should call it the BYOAC sauce.  I've already added a line to resume saying I am a published cook though.   

Personally, I'd cut the sugar down considerably or add plenty of heat.  I use dried peppers in mine for balance.  If you get bored with it, try using turbinado sugar instead of brown sugar.  I use it sometimes for dry rubs when I smoke pork products.

I feel like George Constanza when he wants to leave on a high note.   

I don't use ketchup at all (I mean for anything) but it's essentially just tomatoes and vinegar right?  I'd suggest using these ingredients instead of ketchup because here you control all aspects instead of being forced into the ingredients in ketchup (if that makes any sense).

I should pull a PBJ/Ahigh and delete all my posts where I bust balls about your neighbors and for you being a Packers fan.  You rock Vigo!

[retrostark]

cherry BBQ sauce sounds nice. next time i make some ribs i will keep the recipe in mind. thanks hoopz

[ChadTower]

Nice!  Still have to get some time over the weekend to make this.  I don't think the dried cherries was my idea.  I remember saying I had used fresh cherries and suggesting a cherry liquor of some sort. 

With that much sugar in this recipe, if you're going to go vinegar, I suggest trying cider vinegar first.  It'll give that tang but will negate a lot less of the sweetness in the process.

The vinegar I have really wanted to try, but can't find yet, is black vinegar.  Supposedly that is the "it" ingredient in hot and sour soup.  Can't find any locally, though, at any of the Asian grocers.  Maybe the new Trader Joe's will have it.

[Hoopz]

Never heard of black vinegar but here are the results from Amazon. 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=black%20vinegar&sprefix=black+vine%2Caps&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ablack%20vinegar

And I definitely agree about cider vinegar.   I use 1/2 cup of tequila in that bbq sauce recipe and that cuts the sweetness quite a bit.

[ChadTower]

If you want to smooth out the sweetness, and give it a higher caramelization point (if that's even a word), use maple syrup instead of molasses or brown sugar.  All of the very best sauces I have ever made used maple syrup as the sweetener.  I have found B grade syrup works out better because of the more intense flavor than A.  A tends to get a bit more lost in the ingredients.

Of course, that ups the cost factor by a ton when you make sauce in the large batches I do.  I don't do it that often. 

[Vigo]

I am amazed and flattered that you gave me props for that.  All I did was post a "normal" recipe and used Chad's idea about dried cherries.  I think it was Chad at least.  I appreciate the props but you should call it the BYOAC sauce.  I've already added a line to resume saying I am a published cook though.   

Personally, I'd cut the sugar down considerably or add plenty of heat.  I use dried peppers in mine for balance.  If you get bored with it, try using turbinado sugar instead of brown sugar.  I use it sometimes for dry rubs when I smoke pork products.

I feel like George Constanza when he wants to leave on a high note.   

I don't use ketchup at all (I mean for anything) but it's essentially just tomatoes and vinegar right?  I'd suggest using these ingredients instead of ketchup because here you control all aspects instead of being forced into the ingredients in ketchup (if that makes any sense).

I should pull a PBJ/Ahigh and delete all my posts where I bust balls about your neighbors and for you being a Packers fan.  You rock Vigo!

Naw, I should be thanking you. This all started when I voiced my Cherry BBQ frustrations.  Oh and don't delete any posts. I enjoy that kind of banter. It makes this forum great.


With the ketchup, I was told by a co-worker that the vinegary sauces work well with ketchup simply for the reason that if you use tomato, you end up with more water in your sauce from the natural liquids, and you want as much vinegar concentration as possible in your sauce. I suppose a smart person would probably say that the water boils away when simmering anyway.

I'll have to ask my wife if she has black vinegar. She has bottles of chinese cooking stuff that I don't understand enough to cook with. I only steal her soy sauce because it is magical.

[ChadTower]

Yep, that water boils away when simmering.  Of course, vinegar is almost entirely water, so that's the real reason you simmer so long with a vinegar sauce.

Also be aware that the sauce is going to change while it's in the fridge.  Every now and then you'll make a sauce that tastes one way on day 1 and then 60 days later it tastes very different.  The spices take some time to really meld into each other.  Aging isn't a myth.

This is true for a lot of smoked meats, too.  Especially if you are the one smoking the meat.  By the time the meat is done half the time I could stick a charred lump of meqsuite into my mouth and not taste smoke.  Then a week later, when I pull some out of the fridge, that meat has smoke taste a half inch deep.

[Vigo]

BBQ Cherry Ribs! They were awesome and I could taste the cherry right in the meat. 

[ChadTower]

That looks pretty ---goshdarn--- good, man.   

[Hoopz]

Those look outstanding!  Road trip to Minnesota.  I prefer a Hefeweizen please.

 

[Vigo]

Thanks guys! It is so good getting some good weather to grill. The ribs were awesome, and the sauce was the right consistency for basting on the ribs.

Those look outstanding!  Road trip to Minnesota.  I prefer a Hefeweizen please.

 

If you ever visit, I'll get you some local Summit Bear. Their Hefe is real good, and I don't have an excuse to get it too often when having guests. Most my friends only drink their extra pale ale...which I just can't stand anymore.

[Hoopz]

If you ever visit, I'll get you some local Summit Bear. Their Hefe is real good, and I don't have an excuse to get it too often when having guests. Most my friends only drink their extra pale ale...which I just can't stand anymore.

Not an IPA fan so that looks much better.

I'll bring the mac n cheese.  Because, as we all know, everyone that loves BBQ makes their mac n cheese better than anybody else's...   

[ChadTower]

That's because only the meat smokers put their mac n cheese under the pork in the smoker to catch all the drippings.

[Vigo]

   dammit, I am so hungry right now.....

[Hoopz]

Anybody up for hot sauce recipes?

[yotsuya]

BBQ Cherry Ribs! They were awesome and I could taste the cherry right in the meat. 

Just saw this. ---fudgesicle--- ME.