Hitting the Sauce and Cutting the Vinegar
I have been trying to develop/find a good barbecue sauce for pulled pork and barbecued brisket for a while now – the thinker sauce that I use to glaze chicken can overwhelm the meat when I want a BBQ sandwich. Tradition appears to call for a vinegar sauce, but I am easily overpowered by the taste of vinegar. Today I mixed 1 cup of apple cider vinegar with 3/4 cup ketchup and about half a cup of Coke and got a pretty good base. I added some molasses (2 tablespoons) and some of my Alton-Brown-inspired barbecue rub (3-4 tablespoons), along with some steak sauce and Worcestershire sauce. I think the last two additions were a mistake – if I’m trying to balance out the strong vinegar, I shouldn’t be adding flavor liquids with a vinegar base. So I think next time out I’ll go with a cup straight of cider vinegar, Coke, and ketchup (or maybe tomato sauce), then add in the rub and the molasses.
I also cooked the sauce a little to thicken it up and let the flavors blend a little more. I’m sure that’s sauce heresy, but it works for me.
About Dave Thomer
Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.
Wednesday, May 20th 2009 at 2:38 pm |
Interesting thing about this is that it might with equal likelihood be a typo for “thinner” or “thicker.”
Sunday, May 31st 2009 at 5:26 pm |
No, I just have very contemplative barbecued chicken. 🙂 Seriously, that ought to be thicker, but the typo is too good to change.