Whether homemade or a doctored store version, barbecue sauce makes the meal
Brushing a tangy sauce onto a rack of baby backs might be the last thing you do before those ribs make their way to the table, but that does not mean sauce should be the last thing you think about.
Quite the contrary. Choosing a sauce to reflect the flavors you want to feature — Asian, African, Southwest, Memphis-style — should be in the forefront of your mind as you plan a summer cookout. You don't want a smoky sauce to overpower planked sea bass or too peppery of a blend to clash with the fruit salad.
But before we get too far into this discussion, let's define barbecue sauce. It is not a marinade (pre-soak), a mop (a thin baste) or a paste (a wet rub).
“Barbecue sauce is a condiment,” says Larry Gerber, aka The Barbeque Man. The former Elgin resident moved his catering business to Rockton, and maintains his office in Wauconda. “It's the last thing you're going to apply.”
“A sauce needs to have some viscosity to it, so it can be brushed on easily,” adds award-winning cookbook author Cheryl Jamison. Her newest book, “The Barbecue Lover's Big Book of BBQ Sauces” (Harvard Common Press), was written with her late husband, Bill, and hit bookstores just in time for grilling season. It contains 225 recipes that cover all manner of protein (plus some for veggies and fruit).
Sauces leave a lot of room to play around with, and that's just what grilling gurus want you to do.
Been craving the white sauce that's all the rage in northern Alabama? Try Northern Alabama White Lightning, a blend of mayonnaise, vinegar and Worcestershire sauce that's a can't-miss with chicken. If you've been into Moroccan foods lately, try her Harissa-Honey Glaze with a meal that includes a chickpea salad.
“Slather this garlicky chile-and-honey sauce onto grilled lamb chops, kebabs, or leg of lamb in the last few minutes of cooking and serve it at the table, too,” Jamison writes. The book includes instructions for whipping up your own harissa (though store-bought is fine as well).
She encourages cooks to consider flavor combinations they enjoy, and find ways to bring that to the grill.
“I encourage people to give new things a try, push in a new direction.
“Chicken and tarragon; bourbon with maple and orange; or rye, there's a real interesting flavor. And watermelon juice and jalapeño. Ooh, that would be good too,” she said from her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
You can also adapt your idea to whatever meat you are planning to grill. Pork takes well to sweet, so think honey and sorghum. “In most cases, sweet doesn't go too well with beef,” she says. “Venison and lamb take herbs and fruit well. Cranberry juice and rosemary, maybe? It's fun to rethink favorite combinations.”
While Gerber has been mixing up his Signature Chicago Barbecue Sauce for more years than he can count (he's a third-generation 'cuer) he also gets that not everybody has hours to spend in the kitchen grinding spices, roasting chiles and measuring cane syrup.
So by all means, grab your favorite bottle off the shelf and use it as a starting point.
“If you find it needs tang or bite, start with vinegar, any vinegar, red wine, apple or white, or an acid or a liquor, bourbon, rum, tequila,” Gerber suggests.
Seeking a bit more smoke? Add a little liquid smoke (seriously, just a little) or a shake of powdered hickory (available in the spice aisle). To give your sauce some heat, “add chopped green chiles or roast and chop some jalapeños, or really go for it and add habaneros.”
One of Gerber's secrets is low-sodium Worcestershire sauce. “It really adds depth of flavor, that extra element.”
Gerber's also particular when it comes to sweetening his sauce. He said years of testing have shown him that corn syrup (high fructose and otherwise) doesn't lend that viscosity that Jamison mentioned.
“I've found that sauce with high fructose corn syrup tends to run right off the meat. You want something that sticks better to the meat and not running into the coals.”
Cooking the sauce also is important. Just don't empty the bottle into a bowl and start stirring in additional ingredients. “Heat it over low heat to get the flavors to really, truly meld together,” he said.
When you're ready to use the sauce, do so in the last 10 to 15 minutes of cooking. Sugary sauces, especially, are prone to caramelizing too deeply, in other words, burning.
“A lot of people put the sauce on too soon,” Jamison says. “You want to give the meat a nice, burnished glaze. You don't want to put all this time into it and then have it come out looking like a charcoal briquette.”