Help needed on a sauce for smoked pork


 

Richard F

TVWBB Member
I have always used a vinegar based finishing sauce - East Carolina style and we are really pleased with it. However, I have just finished a cook and 1 butt just took so long I had to finish it in the oven the next day. It is a little dryer than normal. So, I thought, this would be a good batch to try a KC or St. Louis type BBQ sauce.

So, can anyone recommend a recipe that they like and is the most likely to be enjoyed by first timers with this type sauce?
 
I apologize and hopefully this can be moved to the proper section. The yellow "Read This First" was invisible to me apparently until AFTER I posted.
 
The finishing sauce by Bryan S is what I use. I think its equal parts chicken stock, BBQ Sauce ( I too love the No. 5), and butter. Makes a thin sauce just right for adding moisture not a great condiment though. I also usually add a little rub as Im pulling the pork.
 
Here's a repost of Kevin Kruger's sauce:

¾ cups apple cider vinegar, preferably unfiltered but the regular is fine
¼ cup rice vinegar, plain (not seasoned)
6 tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons hot red pepper sauce, (recommended: Cholula. Second choice: Tabasco)
½ cup vegetable oil
kosher salt, to taste
ground black pepper, to taste
honey, 1 to 3 tablespoons,, by taste. See directions.
sugar, about 1 tablespoon, by taste, See directions
water, to smooth vinegar, by taste, See directions.

Mix together everything but the honey, sugar and water. Heat briefly

Then add the honey and sugar "to taste". Put a bit less in first and then taste and tweak accordingly, depending on the fruitiness and acidity of the vinegars. Look to balance the acidity a bit. You want just enough of sweetness to round out the sauce, not something cloying. Next add water, about 1/4 c at a time, until the acidity is softened. Adjust salt.

Notes:
This sauce can be used as a finishing sauce for pulled pork, even if a sweet sauce is going to be served on the side. No need to measure-just sprinkle what looks to be 1-2 tablespoons on what looks to be about a cup of pulled pork. Mix it in periodically during the pulling. The sauce balances the meat-bark-smoke well and if a sweet sauce will be served on the side really helps make it work better with the meat.
 
If I'm in a rush, I do a mix of sweet baby ray's bottled sauce and cider vinegar, with a couple of dashes of red pepper flakes thrown in. 75% Ray's and 25% vinegar, down to about 50/50 depending on how you want the consistency of the sauce to turn out. This is my favorite for mixing with reheated pulled pork.

John P
 
That Sweet Baby Rays' stuff is a huge hit with my folks
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