Red Sauce & Mustard Sauce for Pulled Pork


 

Rita Y

TVWBB Emerald Member
My computer fried a few days ago and I'd appreciate some advice.

I'm ready to try some new sauces. I'm going to serve pulled pork to folks from all over the country so I might not put out any North Carolina vinegar sauce, although I'll moisten the meat with some. There will be a small number of children, but mostly adults. I probably ought to moderate the heat pretty much too.

Would you suggest a red sauce that's a little on the vinegary side? Or a sweeter sauce? The pork will be plated rather than in a sandwich. I'll be going with the Mr. Brown (Southern Succor) rub since I still have a hard copy of that laying around.

May I ask for suggestions for a homemade red sauce and also a mustard-based sauce that you've liked with pulled pork? I'm in the process now of copying recipes from the Sauces forum.

Thanks,
Rita
 
Rita--

I'd suggest moistening the meat as you pull with a thin vinegar mustard sauce then serving a sweeter or sweetish tomato-based sauce. The last time I did PP I used this thin vinegar sauce--acidity moderated with a little water addition--to mix with the PP and this full-flavored/spiced tomato-based sauce, serverd on the side for topping the meat. With one 4-inch NM pepper in it, it is a bit hot but not very (to me); a smaller pepper could be used. The other spice quantities make it potent spice-wise. We though it worked well with the pork and with the vinegar sauce. For something a bit less intense, this is more simply flavored. You could cut the chipotle back (or take it out entirely) if you wish. If Aleppo is unavailable, sub it with 1 tsp ground Ancho plus 1/8 tsp cayenne.
 
Kevin, you are a life-saver! I'd already copied one of your recommended table sauces as I was going through the Sauces forum before we left for dinner, but I missed the vinegar-mustard sauce. I really like the mustard idea. If I have time, I'll try to make both table sauces to see which might be the best to serve to this diverse group. I've been intrigued by the Pulled Pork-Pulled Beef Sauce since you posted it and had copied it to my computer which is now in the shop along with my backup.

I'll buy and tie the 4 (boneless) butts tomorrow and cook them Tuesday night-Wednesday morning to serve on Thursday. Wish I could pull them just before serving.

Thanks again for your help. I'll let you know how things work out.
Rita
 
Rita,

In the past when I've served PP to barbecue virgins I offer several sauces. I start with my own stuff which is a tomato based sauce with molasses ,brown sugar, apple juice etc. then I add some cider vinegar and red pepper flakes to one version. Another version gets yellow mustard.

Here's the sauce recipe in case you want to try it out. It makes a ton so you will probably want to cut it down a wee bit.

BBQ SAUCE


10 lbs Heinz Ketchup
3 cups apple juice
4 tbs apple juice concentrate
4 cups molasses
1 ½ cups honey
3 lbs dark brown sugar
2 cups red wine vinegar
1 cup Balsamic vinegar
4 tbs sweet Hungarian paprika
4 tbs dry mustard (I use Coleman’s)
2 tbs Lawry’s seasoned salt
2 tbs granulated garlic
2 tbs granulated onion
1-2 tbs cayenne
2 tbs Four peppercorn blend (black, pink, green, white)
1 tbs Accent (optional)


Simmer 4-6 hours in a non-reactive pot stirring frequently to prevent scorching.


Al
 
Computer's fried. Now the dishwasher's broken. What's next?
icon_frown.gif
OK, venting's over.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> barbecue virgins </div></BLOCKQUOTE> A good description - I love it!

Your recipe sounds teriffic, Al. Very smart to use your sauce as a base for other variations. I can see that I'm going to be in a sauce-making frenzy today and tomorrow!

With such a long cooking time, this sauce looks to be a good candidate for a crock-pot.

Thanks for the help! - Rita
 
Kevin, I guess I'll have to mail-order Aleppo chiles. I have cascabels as well as your recommended anchos. Would they be a better substitution than anchos or not?

Came home with 25 pounds of butts plus all the sauce ingredients. Ready, set, ....cook!

Thanks,
Rita
 
Yesterday (well I actually finished the smoke yesterday) I smoked 2 bone-in pork shoulders. I made a Red Sauce from Steven Raichlin's "Sauces, Rubs and Marinades" that was absolutely terrific!!

The recipe was as follows:

2 C Cider Vinegar
1/4 c dark corn syrup
1/2 c tomato paste
2 garlic cloves minced (I put mine into a garlic press)
1-2 tsp salt
1-2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1tsp cayenne (I used 1tbsp red pepper flakes)

Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil- then simmer for 3 minutes.

This sauce has a really tangy start with a nice (very slightly) sweet finish. It went really well with my pulled pork (recipe I used was the Ballpark Mustard version on this site).

I'm happy to relay that my first stab at Pulled Pork was a huge hit!!!


Enjoy!!!

Rollin
 
Rollin, congratulations on your first pork cook! You will be held in the highest esteem by your family and friends. The problem with such success is that you'll never be satisfied with what you order out!

Your Raichlen sauce sounds like something I'd like, and is quite different from the other sauces so generously shared here. I have all the ingredients on hand and I'm determined to try new sauces this week since I can't access my own. So I'll add yours to my list. Something to keep me out of trouble while the pork is cooking to perfection.
icon_smile.gif


Rita
 
Rita--

Sub with the Ancho/cayenne mix but if you'd like to add some ground Cascabel feel free. It would work well.
 
Thanks, Rollin. I'll add it to the recipe. I have one sauce cooking and am ready to start the next. - Rita
 
Kevin, Al, and Rollin,

You three really saved my day when I couldn’t access my recipes in my crashed computer! I made every sauce except one….ran plumb out of time (and ingredients).

THE PROCESS:
25.6 pounds boneless butt AP = 13.75 pounds EP = 53.69% Yield
Overfilled 2 half-pans in one wire chafing dish setup
Served 35-40 people; about 3/4-1 lb meat was left over
Smokewood: hickory & apple
Fuel: heaping charcoal ring of Kingsford, Minion method
Pit temp: 200-225°F
Target meat temp: 195°F
Resting time: 4 hours, in Saran/foil, in shut-down WSM
Pulled day before service
Reheated in foil half-pans: Added a bit of chicken broth, 200°F for 1 1/4 hours. Placed pans in an Igloo plug-in cooler on the “heat” cycle (cooler was 150°F when I put the hot pans in) before a 1 1/4 hour drive (Atlanta rush-hour traffic) + a 30-minute wait before service.

MOISTENERS (added when pulling, along with some rub, 1 sauce for each pan of meat):
Kinda Carolina Rib Sauce (Kevin Kruger) - added 1/4 cup water as Kevin suggested - http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/19800690...750082952#6750082952
Red Sauce with Tomato Paste & Garlic (Rollin W) (above)

TABLE SAUCES:
A Kansas City-Style Sauce with Pineapple (Kevin Kruger) - http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?20492-A-KC-style-sauce
Sweet BBQ Sauce (Al Silverman) - (above)
South Carolina Dijon Mustard Sauce (J. Malik) - http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1980069052/m/9430097843
------------------
I was told that people were going for third helpings. People were surprised about having 3 sauce choices and most tried all 3. These people come from all over the country and had only just met (yesterday, I think) and this became a great icebreaker. There were discussions at each table about which sauce was the best.

Heartfelt thanks to Kevin, Al, and Rollin for sharing your recipes. I had no doubt that they would be good. Even better, they were terrific!

Rita
 

 

Back
Top