"To Sauce or Not to Sauce That is the Question"

Sauce!

Uncle Charles' Sauce

Let's talk about sauce

So sauce does play a big role in BBQ. You have your Carolina sauce which is mustard and vinegar based and goes nicely with pig, you have your Memphis and St.  Louis sauce that is sweet with molasses and goes well with ribs, and you have your Texas sauce that can vary but usually has the "twang" that comes from citrus (lemon and sometimes orange) and a hit of Tabasco or jalapenos and should be used in moderation.

The question is "To Sauce or Not to Sauce" - Richard Lindemann. The answer is, it varies.  I like to treat sauce like salt and pepper.  Taste your BBQ as you would food before adding anything. The only strong opinion I really have regarding sauce and BBQ is I don't think one should ever dip or smother brisket unless it is dry or super lean with little flavor. Sauce ribs
and sausage as you like but remember the salt and pepper rule.

Grilling Chicken Wings & Leg Quarters

 I'm going to include two family recipes with this post.  One is from the Weber family of Beaumont, TX that my parents and myself have been using for many years.  The other is a family recipe from my great Uncle Charles being my grandfather's brother. Funny thing about Uncle Charles' sauce is the following. When I went to Louie Mueller BBQ in Taylor I noticed a certain trait in the sauce.  Louie Mueller's sauce has sliced onions not chopped in the sauce and the only sauce I have ever seen with sliced onions was my Uncle Charles'.  I later come to find out that Louie, my Uncle Charles, his brother Marcus, and my grandfather are cousins to Louie.  So that made some sense.  Although they share the sliced onion similarity Louie's is a bit more tart keeping with the kind of sauce you might find on the Texas BBQ trail.  Uncle Charles' sauce is just a little bit sweeter. I use the following two recipes for "grilling" chicken and ribs, both are great.  I use the "pre-sauce" or basting sauce for both recipes (you can find it in the first part of Uncle Charles' sauce.  The "pre-sauce" is used as a basting sauce for most of the cooking to keep the meat moist.  You only add the actual sauce for the last ten minutes of cooking or it will just char to the meat due to the high sugar content. One little note when you put the actual sauce on your chicken or ribs is that make sure your fire is at medium or medium low heat.  You want to sauce one side and cook the sauce on and flip it and repeat on the other side.  Continue this repeatedly as if you are creating multiple coats of sauce like varnishing wood.  You will get a good crispy skin of multiple coats of sauce .  So, here are the two recipes:

Uncle Charles BBQ Sauce

Always put some seasoning on the meat before grilling. Use this first mix on the meat while first cooking:

½ onion (chopped)         

Juice of 1 lemon

½  cup cooking oil

1 stick oleo or butter

½ cup to 1 cup water

Mix together and melt butter and brush on meat often while grilling.  About 10 minutes before meat is done start brushing on the following mixture:

1 onion (sliced)

1 ½ lemon (cut up)

½ cup cooking oil

1 ½ cup catsup

1 T. brown sugar

½ T chili powder

1 stick oleo

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

Dash of Tabasco

Salt & pepper to taste

Mix together and heat until butter is melted…brush on meat for the last 10 min of cooking.  You want to brush, cook the sauce on to the meat, turn meat over, brush and cook the sauce on to the meat.  Keep repeating…you are basically creating “coats” of sauce on the meat.

Uncle Charles Sauce

Weber Family Barbecue Sauce

This is a recipe that’s been in the family for over 50 years.

1 stick oleo (butter if you like)    Juice of 1 orange                              1 small onion

1 clove garlic (minced)                   Juice of 1 ½ lemon                           2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 bottle of ketchup                         1 cup water                                        ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp. pepper or red pepper       1 tsp. chili powder                           ¼ tsp.  salt

           

Sauté onion and garlic in butter. Then add other ingredients. Simmer 15 minutes or so and then add more sugar, lemon juice, or what is needed. Make sure you are tasting and adjust to your taste.

A Footnote

I prepared for this post by grilling some chicken and sausage so I could make both sauce recipes.  My cousin, Staci Pettus, is a rep for Samuel Adams so she brought by four different Samuel Adams products to start her journey of becoming a Cicerone (the beer equivalent of a Sommelier).  One of her first steps is to have a tasting and although they might not have been Texas beers it was fun pairing BBQ with her bounty.  She brought New Belgium Rolle Bolle, Angry Orchard Crisp Apple (actually a Sam Adams product), Sam Adams Boston Lager, and their Octoberfest.  I'm not into "hoppy" beers but the Angry Orchard Cider is fantastic and the Octoberfest kicks ass.  Try them, you just might be surprised.  I'm pretty hard-headed and I was pleasantly surprised.

Well that's it for this week BBQ fans!  Next week I will talk a brief bit about barbecuing some dove.  Tis the season and I'm heading out to Coleman, TX for a bit of cold beer drinking and bird shooting!!