BBQ Sauce question?

I understand there are a few dozen or so schools of BBQ and how to do it. With that disclaimer said I will go into a very much argued format.

I have become a fan of using BBQ sauce as a gravy. You cook up your meat (dry) with what ever seasoning you like and you heat up your BBQ sauce in a sauce pan and you pour it over the cooked meat like a gravy at the end.

This style allows you to keep the grill cleaner and not burn the sugars in the BBQ sauce. I have found that it tastes so much better this way and clean up is so much faster this way.

Does anyone else go for this style of cooking BBQ?

Discuss all your methods and the positives.


Thanks


There are no wrong answers so go for it.

I do my ribs that way. Some family members don't like anything on their ribs so I set the warmed BBQ sauce aside for those who want to use it.
Most rib joints do the same I think...

About the only thing I use a tomato-based BBQ sauce for is grilled chicken. I slow cook the chicken over low heat, turning it about every 10 minutes, for about 50 minutes. Then I brush a thin layer of sauce on the pieces of chicken and cook them another 10 minutes, turning once. I do like a bit of the charred flavor -- let's you know it's BBQ, not something from the oven. I then serve more on the side for dipping.

Cleanup isn't a problem with gas -- I just close the lid, crank up the burners, and let it rip until everything on the grates has turned to ash.

My current (and long-time) favorite sauce is Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ Sauce. Better than (most) homemade.

Marinades are a whole different story.

I like a little of the charred sauce on both ribs and chicken, so sauce is added at the end of the grilling and extra is served at the table. We use a charcoal grill, so a scrape with a wire brush and the flames clean it up good enough for us. Stubb's Original sauce is a favorite in our house .

Ditto Cooksie.

I far prefer the flavor of sauce as it is cooked right on the meat at the end, whether it be on my smoker or my kettle grill.

I do serve extra warm sauce at the table but I never use it myself - it's too "raw" tasting.

Lee

Same here. Sometimes I will brush on a very thin layer right at the start, just
to change things up. Usually, I put sauces on at the end too.

I do the same as Cooksie, Qsis,a nd Kimchee. I like to sauce near the end, so it cooks in a bit and gets nice and sticky. I don't usually put any on afterward.

i'm another one who likes a little char on my q. not too much though. also, i like the taste of the slightly cooked and thickened sauce. dw hates "raw" sauce on meat, and like a lot of char.

so, i cook the meat, usually skinned (skinless, that is) chicken, with just s&p until almost completely cooked, then it gets heavily basted with sauce. 1 minute or so on each basted side down, and it's off the grill. the pieces that get a little burned go to dw.

it does present more of a cleanup problem, but like fry said all you have to do is burn most of it off, then scrape. it will require a more regular removal of the grates for a full cleaning, however.

here's the pic of my bbq sauced legs from last week, with just a little char:

I put the sauce on right away especially with ribs. I have a charcoal oil drum style bbq. Many times I put the fire on one side, the meat on the other and close the bbq. The smoke goes across the interior and up the smoke stack which gives the meat a fabulous smoke flavor. At the end I'll really slather on the sauce and put the meat over the coals to get that char that I love. Those chicken legs look really good Buckytom.

Beautiful legs, BT!

I missed these, first time around!

Lee

I add a sauce that can burn, like typical tomatoey/sweet BBQ sauce, near the end of cooking the meat. For wings it's after the first turn. For chicken it's when the chicken is 75% done. For any thing on the smoker like ribs I add it 30-45 minutes before the meat is done but I usually thin it out with cider vinegar or booze first.

Some homemade sauces have a 'raw' taste to them and really should be "cooked in".

I cook my home made barbeque sauce, so that alleviates whatever "raw" taste it might have. I've done it both ways, but prefer to serve the sauce as a condiment on the side.