Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

^^^
This right here.

I prefer the flavor to be put on prior to cooking and eat it on its merits, and show respect to the person cooking it. Unless it really is awful.

 

Yeah. Sauce just seems like a coverup for bad cooking.

 

Got a friend who says "sauce is the boss!", I say you been going to Chili's too much or watching too much tv. Go somewhere that treats the goods proper, you won't need that coverup.

 

Lol. That's like my friend that kindly requested burnt ends, then says make sure you are at the party early. I told her that wasn't going to happen.

 

I sauce some things. Sometimes I just use it as a dipping sauce. Either way, if I'm doing a store bought sauce, I'm seeking the ones without hfcs. People like hfcs because it's really sweet and humans are programmed to love sweet stuff for energy. Combine that with the salty of bbq and it's made to get hooked on. I'm not anti sauce... I'm anti fake sauce. Most of the sauces I make are sweetened with honey or molasses.

 

I sauce almost all my pork, especially ribs, just like I rub all my pork. It makes no sense to me that rub is OK but sauce isn't. It's all flavor. Someone who has never taken the time to sauce ribs and let it concentrate into a smoky shell of goodness on the smoker is missing out in my opinion.

And how is everyone making their burnt ends with no sauce?

 

That bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's I had in the fridge was from at least 4 months ago. Wasn't even sure it was still good because it was opened but figured it likely couldn't go bad with all the other crap they put in it. A lady friend of mine had brought it over when she asked me if I needed anything from the grocery store and I said yes some BBQ sauce. She wanted me to cook a splatchcocked chicken with sauce and I am OK with that so that is what she picked up. She eats ranch dressing and carrots with her Buffalo chicken wings, I should have known better LOL. Although I have been known to eat some Parmesan garlic wings instead of buffalo wings once in awhile

Chicken skin with just EVOO\seasoning or Italian dressing is good and gets crispy. But once in awhile good old fashioned BBQ sauce is decent too. It is like eating your desert first because skin sure as hell isn't any good left over.

Damn it now I want some chicken wings done on the kettle with the vortex and a beer. And haven't even eaten breakfast yet.

 

I had the same exact thoughts, although I eat my ribs naked (just rub) much of the time now just to keep down the sugar intake. Which is why I wanted to try an apple glaze instead of sauce glaze on the pork burnt ends. Not that glazes have a whole less sugar in them... Beef- chuckie or point burnt ends not sure that could be done without sauce.

 

Airport brisket is dry as hell making it a huge choking hazard.

 

I make my own version of Sweet Baby Ray's, it's not spot on and contains Rum. Love the stuff I have done it with the and without the rum and most everyone likes the taste with it. Don't use any HFCS in mine, stuff can stay out of all my foods lol.

 

I'm just sitting over here, stirring up shit.

 

Mmmm. Smoked shit.

 

That is awesome, so glad you got it working!

 

Is it on or off a shingle?

 

HFCS is a mean, sweetness is an end. It's like getting hung up on a GMO apple without taking a bite just because it is a GMO or knocking a steak cooked on cast iron without taking a bite because you're a charcoal guy. All things equal, I'll take the one without HFCS, but it isn't as though you can't make a sauce too sweet with honey, molasses, or other better ingredients.

To be clear, I won't defend SBW much beyond being a cheap, readily available sauce with mass appeal and a squeeze top that isn't messy .

The more I cook for big parties and private events, the more I've learned that I can't make people like something they don't or suggest that they shouldn't like something that they do. When I cater, I put out a doctored sauce that is pretty close to what SBR is and a nearly-from-scratch sauce that I make with next to no sweetness, then encourage everyone that gets sauce to take it in a side cup and try the meat without sauce, first. Play to the crowd without losing sight of what makes your BBQ your BBQ. I think both can be done.

Fun discussion, though. Good thing BBQ has a million variations or talking about it would get boring real quick .

Nothing wrong with sauce at all, just not a preference of mine. See the above about cooking for events. I don't deny other people sauce just because it isn't a preference of mine. A good sauced rib is way better than a bad one that is dry rubbed any day, that's for sure. I think of rub as the flavor of an ice cream and sauce as the topping. There is a difference between chocolate ice cream and vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup. Not that either is better than the other, but reasonable to think that one might have a preference.

Burnt ends definitely need sauce. Well, a little, at least, as a binder. The au jus, butter, Worcestershire, rub, honey, sugar, apple juice, or whatever else goes in to that day's glaze does the heavy lifting for that sticky goodness.

Chicken thighs or drums is probably my most frequent use of BBQ sauce.

And I don't care what sort of abomination of chicken wings anyone thinks Mango Habanero is, I'll eat the hell out of them .

Thinking of smoking chicken wings for the "People's Choice" part of competition this Fall. Need to be able to give out 200+ samples of something that tastes good, can be made pretty quickly (meat inspection is about 8 hours before the gates open), and doesn't break the bank.

 

lucky he didnt get any broken ribs from that...

 

Wings of all kinds rule, I used to do a spicy honey teriyaki wing. Honey would help keep a nice glaze on it. MMMMMM MMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMM

 

Just finished lunch. Not sure if this qualifies as a BLT or not.

Bacon burnt ends, toasted potato bread, mayo, lettuce, fresh tomato.



OMG! Not ready to say that I will never do a BLT with straight bacon I have almost 10 pounds in the fridge I just made LOL. But this was over the top good. Problem was staying out of the meat as I cubed it to warm it up. It is pretty damn tasty even cold. Meat candy.

 

Hmm I never have had or heard of Mango Habanero but I do like them both... Must try! In a week and a half headed to Buffalo for my mothers 80th birthday celebration. Pretty sure the Anchor bar in Buffalo doesn't have them But the Anchor has gone downhill it was a long time ago since they started the chicken wing thing, can only ride on initial success so long.

Do you have to use your drums for the cook? If not imagine you all have kettles and could use a vortex. I just got one and will try it this week. Everyone is going crazy over how well it crisps up wings, and fast. On top of that the sauce or seasoning is key too of course. And pretty sure you could come up with something pretty damn good

Owens BBQ is the source for the vortex but others have built similar things. Marty Owens is the one marketing them and here is a thread where he did 40 pounds of them for a family graduation party. 40 pounds of wings

He sells a lot of seasonings and rubs also. I think you have a great idea for marketing and if you come up with your own rub, or two, for wings could also sell that at the same time. Just an idea.

 

We used a kettle for the first year, drum for the second year, and a combination of the two last year (I think). I'm not familiar with the Vortex, but am very interested. Moist chicken + crisp skin is arguably the most challenging part of the big 4 in competition. Looking at it, it looks like a refined version of something I made for my kettle a while ago. I just made a ring out of expanded metal, wrapped it in foil, then used it to either keep the coals on the outside for longer, low/slow cooks or fill with charcoal to shrink the cooking surface down. That Vortex looks like a way more refined, much more effective version - especially for chicken.

Will probably get one on order and keep my eyes peeled for your experience with it in the meantime. Being able to sell his product through our site would enhance our brand, too. Thanks for the suggestion!