Directions: |
Directions:While the smoke and wood selection gives Barbeque it's taste, rubs, bastes, and marinades and sauces give the food it's soul. Knowing which to apply given your meat of choice will separate your cooking for the rest of the pack.
Rubs are probably the least understood and most underused tool in the barbquing tool chest. A rub is no more than a dry spice mix with paprika, salt, sugar, and pepper as the foundation. Here is a simple recipe for a "dry rub" that can be applied to any meat. Play with the recipe and add brown sugar for sweeter taste or cumin for a Mexican flavor.
2 T. paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt
Bastes are uniqe in that they are applied several times during the cooking process and do not contain a large amount of sugar so they don't caramelize like a sauce will during the process. Stubbs Baste is one of the finest off the shelf bastes I have come across. This sauce hails from Austin Texas and is a great example of the regional dialects of barbeque with its heavy emphasis on cracked black pepper.
Marinades are the most common form of bringing flavor into the meat. They are simple to make or can be store bought. The foundation of marinades is most commonly vinegar, Worchester, oil, and spice mix.
Tip: While most recipes call for marinating for between 2-4 hours, or as much as the day before, whenever possible marinate overnight. The idfferent in flavor is very telling.
Sauces are much like marinades, good off the shelf but even better when they are homemade. The base of all barbeque sauces is ketchup, followed closely behind by vinegar with Worchester and spice mix rounding out the balance. Below is a smiple recipe for a "barbeque sauce" you would find in the South. Just like with rubs, play with the recipe to create the sauce that fits your meal. For Bourbon Ribs, add a cup of Makers Mark. For a sweet Hawaiian sauce, add brown sugar and chopped and caramelized Maui onion.
3 cups ketchup
8 T. butter
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Worcestershire
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cayenne |
This recipe for BBQ 101- Rubs, Bastes, Marinades and Sauces is from