BBQ Sauces, Rubs and Marinades For Dummies (eBook)

Traci Cumbay: Traci cooks and eats quite a bit and then writes about the experiences for publications in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she lives with her husband and son. Tom Schneider: Tom's passion for authentic barbecue arose during his high school days in Oklahoma and burgeoned over 20 years of uncovering traditional barbecue joints while traveling the United States. Tom is primarily a self-taught cook who, for the past decade, has leveraged his commitment to barbecue into award-winning barbecue recipes while competing in sanctioned barbecue competitions and formal barbecue judging. Tom is owner and pit master for Poppi-Q Bar-B-Que, a specialty catering business in the Indianapolis market.

BBQ Sauces, Rubs & Marinades FOR DUMMIES®
Table of Contents 17
Introduction 23
Part I Centuries of Barbecue Smarts in Four Chapters 29
Chapter 1 Faces of Barbecue: A Pit, a Plateful, a Party 31
First, There Was Fire 32
Touring the Four All-American Barbecue Regions 34
Smoke ’Em If You Got Time 36
Making the Most of the Meat 37
How the Big Guns of Barbecue Do What They Do 39
Getting Creative As You Cook 41
Chapter 2 Gathering Must-Have Equipment 45
Settling on a Smoker 46
Fire, Starters: Managing Heat 51
Wood: To Hickory or Not to Hickory 53
A Mop, Some Tongs, and So On 55
Chapter 3 Collecting Ingredients and Using Them Wisely 61
Finding Meat That Makes the Cut 61
Running Down the Options, Cut by Cut 63
Handling Meat without Hazard 68
Stocking Dry Ingredients 69
The Stuff of Sauce 71
Chapter 4 Barbecue Methods, Art, and Science 75
Beginning with an End in Mind 75
Trimming and Prepping Meat without, Er, Butchering It 78
Getting Time and Temperature Right 82
The Big Finish 85
Part II Preparation Prevails: Using Rubs and Marinades 89
Chapter 5 Mixing and Matching in Rubs and Marinades 91
Building a Dry Rub from the Binder Up 91
Seasonings That Play Well Together 94
Mixing Marinades 96
Matching Marinade to Meat 98
Timing Meat’s Marinade Soak 100
Chpater 6 Crafting Dry Rubs for Any Meat or Taste 101
Combining Flavors for Classic Dry Rubs 102
Bucking Tradition with Rubs Exotic and Inventive 111
Chapter 7 Mixing Tried-and-True Marinades 115
Priming Pork or Poultry 116
Prepping Beef and Lamb with Flavors That Blare or Whisper 121
Mixing Citrus Marinades for Poultry or Shrimp 126
Part III The All-Important Sauce Story 129
Chapter 8 Sorting through the Sauce Story 131
Choosing a Base 132
Striking a Balance 133
Finding Exotic Inspirations for Terrific Sauces 136
Chapter 9 Crafting Barbecue Sauces Traditional and Unusual 139
Touring American Barbecue Regions 139
Cooking Up More Classic Barbecue Sauces 145
Bringing Fruit Flavor to Sauces with Juices and Jams 152
Chapter 10 Getting Saucy while You Cook: Mop Sauces 155
Making Mops Especially for Pork 157
Concocting Multipurpose Mops 160
Chapter 11 Sauces and Relishes for Dipping and Dashing 163
Fanning the Flames with a Hotter-Than-Hot Sauce 163
Sweetening the Pot: Sauces with a Softer Side 165
Taking an Exotic Turn with Sauces That Cull Asian Flavors 169
Cool Summery Takes on Sauces, Salsas, and Relishes 172
Part IV Entrees and Sides and Then Some 177
Chapter 12 Something (s) to Serve with Your Barbecue 179
Beans, Beans: The Most Magical Food 179
Baking Unique Sides in the Smoker or on the Grill 183
Preparing Potatoes with a Plethora of Approaches 185
Making Yer Mama Proud: Recipes for Veggies 188
Mixing Salads, Making Memphis-Style Slaw 192
To Macaroni and Cheese and Beyond 194
Chapter 13 A Melange of Main Dishes 201
Brisket: Out of the Smoker and into the Soup Pot 201
A Little Something Fabulous for Cooking Fish 203
Smoking Traditional Barbecue Cuts Like a Champ 204
Have Pizza Stone, Will Smoke Calzone 208
Stylish Recipes for Lamb and Beef 209
Chapter 14 Great Dishes for Leftover Barbecue 215
Crafting Dishes That Stick to Tradition 215
Culture Combos: Using Barbecue Leftovers in Unexpected Ways 220
Part V The Part of Tens 223
Chapter 15 Ten Ways Rookies Ruin Good Meat 225
Being in an All-Fired Hurry 225
Sprinting Past Your Experience Level 226
Using Wood Before Its Time 226
Taking Meat from Fridge to Fire 226
Lighting Charcoal with Lighter Fluid 227
Overcorrecting, Overzealously 227
Getting Sauced Early 228
Relying on Eyes, Not Numbers 228
Poking Holes into the Meat 228
Forgetting Rest Time 229
Chapter 16 Ten Truer Words Were Never Spoken 231
The Truth Is in the Cook, Not the Equipment 231
Cook Low and Slow 232
If You’re Lookin’, You’re Not Cookin’ 232
There Is Such a Thing as Oversmoking 233
Sauce on the Side, Nothing to Hide 233
Hot Dogs and Hamburgers Are Not Barbecue 233
Time Is on Your Side 234
Meat That Falls Off the Bone Has Been Cooked Too Long 234
Cleanliness Is Next to Tastiness 235
Fat Is Flavor 235
Chapter 17 Ten (Or So) Places to Turn for Tips 237
Kansas City Barbeque Society 237
National Barbecue Association 238
The North Carolina Barbecue Society 238
The Virtual Weber Bullet 238
The Smoke Ring 239
The Barbeque Forum 239
Barbecue’n on the Internet 240
Further Regional Barbecue Associations 240
Chapter 18 Ten World-Famous Barbecue Events 243
Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue 243
Memphis in May World Championship 244
National BBQ Festival 244
American Royal Barbecue 245
Big Pig Jig 245
Big Apple Barbecue Block Party 245
Lakeland Pig Festival 246
Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-Off 246
LPQue BBQ Championship 246
Blue Ridge BBQ Festival 247
Appendix Metric Conversion Guide 249
Index 253