Category: Barbecue

South Carolina Barbecue Sauce

Not all barbecue sauce is tomato-based.  Mustard-based sauces are very popular in the South Carolina midlands. This sweet and tangy recipes goes well with almost any pork dish, but is particularly tasty on pulled pork sandwiches.

1/2 cup of prepared yellow mustard
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons of molasses, mild or dark
1/2 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon of Hungarian or Smoked Spanish paprika
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1 teaspoon hot sauce (I like Marie Sharp’s in this)

Combine everything In a medium saucepan. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Pour into a container and refrigerate overnight before using.

Pulled Pork

With a neighborhood party coming up, I decided to make a big batch of pulled pork. It’s one of my favorite dishes to make for a crowd. Everyone likes it and it’s one of those dishes that really benefits from being made in quantity. Also, it epitomizes a lot of what barbecue is about – the art of taking a tough cut of meat on a long journey over a low flame in order to turn it into that tasty tenderness that we all love.

  • 2 pork butts (pork shoulder roasts), about 18 pounds total
  • 1 cup apple juice
  • 1/2 cup cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 cup of your favorite barbecue rub (this batch used Dizzy Pig Dizzy Dust)
  • 1 cup of your favorite finishing sauce (I used this Lexington-style sauce)

Continue reading “Pulled Pork”

Lexington BBQ Sauce

This is a thin, vinegar-based sauce that’s most commonly served as a finishing sauce with pulled pork.

1 cup water
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 Tbs sugar
3/4 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Whisk together all ingredients until sugar and salt are dissolved.

Pull pork into thin shreds and toss with half of the sauce. Save the remaining sauce to serve at the table. Makes about 2 cups.

Kansas City-Style Barbecue Sauce

This sweet-yet-tangy sauce takes a little time, but is well worth it.

  • 2 cups tomato sauce
  • 1 cup molasses (unsulfured dark or regular, but not blackstrap)
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground yellow mustard (Colman’s if you can get it)
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
  • 1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon allspice
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon mace

Mix all ingredients together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat  to medium and cook uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes until sauce has reduced by a quarter to about 2½ cups. Bottle and refrigerate.

2-1-1 Baby Back Ribs

When it comes to ribs, I’m partial to baby backs – lean, tender, tasty, and fairly quick to cook. I usually do them over an indirect heat at 225°F for about 5 hours. But for this batch of ribs I decided to try going with direct heat and rely on a foiled cooking technique that I typically use for spare ribs to give me equally tender ribs in less time. Continue reading “2-1-1 Baby Back Ribs”

3-2-1 Spare Ribs

Spare ribs are the big, meaty ribs that come from the belly of the pig. They have more fat and flavor than back ribs, but also require a bit more time or attention to prepare successfully.

The 3-2-1 method is one of the best ways to ensure that spare ribs give up all of their tender piggy goodness without drying out. It basically involves smoking the ribs as normal for 3 hours, followed by 2 hours of cooking them wrapped in foil, and then 1 more hour unwrapped. This gives the ribs a good, smoky flavor, breaks down the toughness of the meat, and adds a final crispy bark. Continue reading “3-2-1 Spare Ribs”

Beef Ribs

Beef Ribs

As much as I love pork ribs, sometimes it’s nice to switch things up. These beef ribs came from the back of a prime rib roast. They look a lot like huge spareribs, hence the nickname “dino ribs.”

I coated the rack with a little balsamic vinaigrette, dusted it with a Texas-style beef rib rub, and left them to marinate overnight in the fridge.
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Beef Tri-Tip

Tri-tip

Tri-tip is a very fine cut of beef that all too often ends up as stew meat or hamburger. Too bad, because it’s one cheap, tasty hunk of meat that takes well to grilling. The muscle is triangular in shape (hence, tri-tip), weighs in at between 1-1/2 and 2-1/2 pounds, and comes from the bottom of the sirloin. It has great flavor while still being pretty lean.

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Puerco Pibil

Puerco Pibil TacosThis is my version of the classic slow-cooked pork dish that we’ve enjoyed many times when visiting Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. I’ve adapted it to work well on either a smoker or on a grill set up for indirect cooking.

This dish relies on achiote paste for a lot of its flavor. This blend of annatto seeds, Mexican oregano, garlic, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper, allspice, and salt is available online or in the ethnic food section of larger grocery stores.

Ingredients
1 pork butt (shoulder roast), between 5-7 pounds
1 cup orange juice
Juice of 1 lime (2T)
Juice of 1 lemon (2-3T)
1/4 cup achiote paste
3-4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup canola oil
1 dried ancho pepper, seeds and stem removed, or 1-2T ancho chile powder
1-2T Adobo powder (or 1T of kosher salt plus 1/2t each of cumin and garlic powder)
Continue reading “Puerco Pibil”

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