What's the "magic ingredient" for a BBQ rub or sauce?

This afternoon I'm watching an episode of Barefoot Contessa on Food Network, and Ina Garten is cooking several items with and without a "magic ingredient" that dramatically improves the flavor of the item.

She bakes cheese danish with and without lemon zest added to the filling. She makes chicken salad sandwiches with and without fresh tarragon added to the mix. And finally she bakes chocolate cupcakes with and without instant coffee powder added to the cake mix and the chocolate ganache topping.

Her office staff does a blind taste test of each item, and they all unanimously agree that the version of each food with the "magic ingredient" is the winner.

So I'm always trying to relate things I see on food TV to barbecuing, and here's my question to all of you:

Do you have a "magic ingredient" that can be added to a barbecue rub or sauce that makes a big difference in the flavor of the finished, cooked barbecue? If so, are you willing to share it with us?

Regards,
Chris

I won't call 'em magic but, there have been a few ingredients I have added to different rubs to make them better. To one basic rub I added oregano and thyme. In another rub,I made it better with the addition of cinnamon and allspice. In several rubs I made them better by reducing or eliminating an ingredient-salt (salted separately). Cutting sugar has helped some.

Those are probably not the answer you were looking for.

For both rubs and sauces do one thing:

use good quality fresh ingredients and

for sauces add Meat drippings.

P.S. Have you ever tried a pinch or two of Raz el Hanout?

Or dried cherries in a tomato based sauce.

meat juice for me Chris and Steve. Even more magical is feeding plenty of drinks to guests and they also unanimously agree ...".... wooow... (then another gulp of beer):.. best saase..sauce... this is the gretesst sause.. ever!!!"

I suppose it depends what I'm going for but usually for a sauce I'll add a little of either dark rhum, scotch, coffee, or meat drippings. Just something like that, not a crazy amount or anything, just a little to offset other flavors, depending what they may be.....

Clark

Angostura bitters is the secret ingredient in my wife's BBQ sauce. She is the sauce cooker in our household and a good one.

I will use some of my darker homebrew ales, such as oatmeal stout or robust porter, in my tomato based sauces, also in my hot link recipe.

Drippings. For me adding drippings to whatever sauce ties everything to together. I've even added drippings to softened butter to make a sort of compound butter.

TLC.
Tim

I'm still looking for that secret ingredient.

But I have noticed worcestershire powder really picks up rubs.

And nutmeg goes great with pork.

I almost never make the same rub twice but there are a couple things that make their way into many rubs I make that, were I so inclined, I might call 'secret ingredients'. One is Worcestershire powder, as j notes, the other is amchoor, a powder made from dried unripe mangoes.

I rarely make the same Q sauce twice either but there is one thing I always include: fruit, be it fresh or dried, juice or concentrate or reduction. Some sauces I make are clearly fruit-based (I think I posted somewhere a nectarine-based sauce, and another based on mango), but many I make are more typically tomato-based. Adding some fruit to a tomato-based sauce (or a vinegar-based sauce that includes tomato) can really make flavors sing -- especially those of smoked, caramelized meat. The quantity need not be much. Pineapple juice or fresh or canned pineapple works well; also try dried* peaches or nectarines or apricots, tamarind**, pomegranate mollasses, dried or jarred Montmorency or Morello cherries, dried or fresh mango.

Combinations of fruits work well too. Try pineapple with tamarind, peach with cherry.

When using fruit in tomato-based sauces hold off on sweetening very much till after the fruit component is added.

(Note that fruit is the key flavoring ingredients in two of the most popular sauces for, especially, grilled meats: Worcestershire sauce has tamarind as a primary flavor; A-1 sauce is based on tomato (also a fruit), raisins and orange.)



* Dried fruits are often better than their fresh or canned counterparts because of the water removal. They also tend to be picked at their ripeness peak rather than early. Partially freeze dried fruit to make chopping easier then finely chop before adding to the sauce. Add early so that there is time for the fruit to reconstitute and allow it to do so. Puréeing at this point till the sauce is smooth will disperse the fruit's flavors well. This will also add body.

If dried fruit is unavailable or if you'd rather use something in liquid form use juice. Avoid the juice 'nectars' and juice 'cocktails' and buy pure juice -- or at least an all-juice blend.

If you want a particular juice's flavor but don't want to add all that much liquid to your sauce, simply reduce the juice first: Put, say, a cup of juice into a small pot, get it to a simmer, then simmer gently, uncovered, till the juice reduces by at least 75%. Use this reduction to add to your sauce.


** If you'd rather not go through the motions of soaking the pulp from tamarind pods, jarred tamarind concentrate is available at Indian markets, many TJ's, and in the Indian section of most WFs.

that reminds me, hey whats the best way to make tamerind pulp from a fresh whole tamarind? We use them in food but my other half does the whole soak in water and massage em and I'm not sure what she does but takes like half an hour, to get the pulp. Whats a good/best way to go about that? Is it easier to find the pulp already made? Am I missing anything w/ already made? Thanks! That stuff is unique, I really like it! We use and get the flavor from it but sometimes I feel like were missing something.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">that reminds me, hey whats the best way to make tamerind pulp from a fresh whole tamarind? We use them in food but my other half does the whole soak in water and massage em and I'm not sure what she does but takes like half an hour, to get the pulp. Whats a good/best way to go about that? Is it easier to find the pulp already made? Am I missing anything w/ already made? Thanks! That stuff is unique, I really like it! We use and get the flavor from it but sometimes I feel like were missing something. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The only actual pods I've seen around here didn't look like they had much more to offer from what I could get from pulp. Lets say "fresh" wouldn't really describe them.

I've only used pulp so I can't really offer you much. Pulp seems handy as its available and stores well.

thanks j. oddly enough we've had a struggle finding it. still watchin for it. Oh actually the whole pods may surprise you, (w/ a bunch of tedious work ) they produce pretty strong flavor. of course Im not the one around here that has to do it, lol. I don't know a lot about the ingredient in general though. appreciate it!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">thanks j. oddly enough we've had a struggle finding it. still watchin for it. Oh actually the whole pods may surprise you, (w/ a bunch of tedious work Roll Eyes ) they produce pretty strong flavor. of course Im not the one around here that has to do it, lol. I don't know a lot about the ingredient in general though. appreciate it! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think I purchased mine at an asian market. other than that I'm at a complete loss. My wife and I frequent so many in various cities (nyc, pittsburgh...) and of various ethnicity (thai, vietnamese, korean...). But Like I said, the block stores nicely. I had mine over a year in a cabinet before I decided to start playing with it.

You are right though, its a great ingredient. We initially bought it after having a tamarind dipping sauce served to use with an appetizer at a pan-asian place. We ordered several appetizers and actually had them bring us more of the tamarind sauce because it was better than the dips they brought out with the other dishes.

I'm thinking a variation of that tamarind sauce would be great on bbq pork.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I'm thinking a variation of that tamarind sauce would be great on bbq pork. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Likely. Tamarind-based sauces are great on barbecued or grilled pork.

Fresh tamarind pods don't really seem 'fresh'. They pods themselves are fairly dry when picked; the interior pulp is like a dry-ish paste. Remove the pulp and seeds from the pods, discarding the pods, and place in a bowl. Then, proceed as for purchased tamarind pulp: cover with boiling water and allow to steep 20 min. Scrape the pulp off the seeds (if using fresh) then strain using a not-too-fine strainer or china cap, forcing the finer pulp through the strainer and discarding the fibrous pulp and seeds.

Tamarind concentrate and tamarind paste (virtually identical) are available in jars in Indian stores, Whole Foods, some Trader Joe's, and on line. They can be used as is or thinned with water or another liquid.

Fresh squeezed lemon juice is one of my favorites to add to a sauce.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Fresh squeezed lemon juice is one of my favorites to add to a sauce. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'll second that. It sure makes a difference in my sauce, it brightens it up and adds another acid angle on top of the vinegar.

The downside is that every other ingredient in my sauce is a pantry staple, so it makes it impossible to make a batch without hitting the store for a lemon. I think it is also the one ingredient that changes over time, which make my sauce a bit unstable.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by j biesinger:
The downside is that every other ingredient in my sauce is a pantry staple, so it makes it impossible to make a batch without hitting the store for a lemon. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I used to have the same problem. I decided to try buying a large bag of lemons at Sams Club. First I zest them and freeze all the zest for other recipes, then I juice all the lemons, pour the juice into ice cube trays, freeze them, pop out the cubes and store them in a ziploc bag in the freezer. This way I've got fresh squeezed lemon juice anytime I need it. I've never noticed any type of off-flavor using the frozen juice, even 6-8 months later.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I think it is also the one ingredient that changes over time, which make my sauce a bit unstable. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Good point. I hadn't really thought of this. In the refrigerator it might go south a little faster than in the freezer, I don't know... hmmmm...

I have been watching this post with interest. Everyone has different little tweaks to personalize recipes for their own tastes, many of us use these as a matter of course. I loved Timothy's response - TLC which I agree with, along with passion and enthusiasm.

It is so hard to pick one magic ingredient, however, if I was to pick one single ingredient that the addition or deletion of would change the whole complexity of the sauce, rub or marinade it would have to be Salt. Food without salt is like a WSM without smoke, it can be done but just isn't the same flavour.
Therefore Salt gets my vote as the magic ingredient.

Regards

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">It is so hard to pick one magic ingredient, however, if I was to pick one single ingredient that the addition or deletion of would change the whole complexity of the sauce, rub or marinade it would have to be Salt. Food without salt is like a WSM without smoke, it can be done but just isn't the same flavour.
Therefore Salt gets my vote as the magic ingredient. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well said. It amazing how salt can bring dull recipes alive. Its often spoken as a professional chef "secret" because most home cooks don't use enough salt. Its also considered a "shoemakers" (a bad chef) mistake to serve under salted food at a restaurant.

I use basic brines extensively for pork and poultry simply to boost their flavor AND to improve the texture of the meat. You haven't even discussed salts power to transform and preserve fats and protein during long cures. Anybody who's eat jamon iberico can attest to how powerful salt can be as a transforming agent.

Here's my mental checklist when evaluating my bbq (notice where salt ranks):

1) is the meat cooked to my liking?
2) is the meat salted enough, or too much?
3) is the smoke flavor right?
4) is the spice flavor right?