Barr's Texas BBQ Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:
2 Cups apple cider vinegar
3 Cups water
2 Cups sugar
1 Cup honey
1/4 Cup yellow mustard such as French's
2 Tsp black pepper
2 Lemons (juice of) or 6 Tbsp bottled lemon juice
4 Clove garlic minced
1/4 Cup freeze-dried or 1 1/2 cups diced onion
1/2 Stick butter
1/4 Tsp cayenne
1/4 Cup chili powder
2 Tbsp table salt
1 Tbsp cumin
1/2 Tbsp paprika

5 Cups (40 ounces) of store brand ketchup
3 Tbsp Worchester sauce
1/4 Cup liquid smoke

Procedure:
Combine all of the ingredients in the first group of ingredients a large pot and stir to combine at medium heat to dissolve the sugar and until the onions are tender. About 20 minutes.

Add 5 cups (40 ounces) store brand ketchup, 3 Tbsp Worchestire sauce and 1/4 cup of liquid smoke.

Stir well and bring to a boil and then back off and simmer for about 45 minutes stirring frequently. Let stand to cool.

For best results once at room temp put the pot in the fridge overnight.

If my memory serves me right, this recipe makes about a gallon of sauce and it freezes very well although it really doesn't freeze solid.   

BBQ Pork Belly

I have recently been reading several articles that spout the virtues of BBQ'd pork belly so I decided to give it a try but trying to find a pork belly is not the easiest thing to find in stock at your local grocery store. I checked a source two on the Internet and the prices ranged from 15-50 dollars per pound. For me these costs were outrageously outrageous. Seriously folks, how many of us can afford $50.00 per pound for fatty pork.

I made some inquires with grocery stores near my home (a few miles from New Orleans) when amazingly I found a Winn Dixie store who had one. The meat market manager told me that he had received an order from someone who wanted three belly's but since there were four to a case he had the remaining one in the freezer.

It was a tad bit more than 14 Lbs and much more than I had planned on buying and obviously that's a bunch of belly and I was worried about the cost. I had hoped that the per pound cost would be somewhere in the $5-$6 bracket I was shocked when he charged me $2.08 per pound.

Enough about that; so what exactly is a pork belly? Well its exactly that, the belly of a pig that is most often used to create one of the tastiness pieces of meat known as... Bacon.

To make bacon, the pork belly is cured and cold smoked, but for BBQ it is not cured or brined but smoked for hours until the fat had rendered and the meat is as tender as a fine steak. Just think of BBQed pork belly as high-end pulled pork from a pork butt.

I trimmed the belly into several manageable pieces leaving one large piece to cook but since this was the only piece of meat that I was cooking I used my Weber Performer Deluxe instead of my Weber 22 inch WSM.

I set up the Performer fueled with Kingston charcoal and hickory chunks and hoped to smoke the belly at 225-250 degrees but that was not working. Suffice it to say, 300 degrees worked without a hiccup.

After about three hours in the Performer the belly had a significant amount of smoke but was still tough, so I double wrapped it in foil and put it in the oven set at 225 degrees.

After about an hour I was enjoying the wonderful smell of BBQ pork in my kitchen so I pulled it from the oven. It was oh so tender so I stripped it of its foil and placed to on a cooling rack to set.

With fat rendered, the succulent and juicy belly meat was indeed a culinary experience.

Great BBQ

This 10 pound brisket was cooked for a total of 12 hours with hickory wood and I'm here to tell you neither teeth nor sauce were required to enjoy this tender and flavorful piece of meat.

My recommendation for the backyard smoker or someone who wants to make the best BBQ on the planet (I'm not sure which one but sounds impressive) is to buy the Weber Mountain Smokey Model 721001. I have been smoking meats ever since I left Texas, long enough to know the difference between a really good smoker and an inferior one. Actually, these are used by BBQers on the competition circuit.

Don't waste your time or money on one of those $175.00 smokers that you find in places like Home Depot or the like. They are not up to the task and you will most probably never achieve anything close to perfection; I know from personal experience. And if you think that you need a $1,000 or more smoker, think again. The added cost is not necessary unless you  need to smoke meat in very cold conditions. But for the majority of us, the Weber is all that you will ever need to produce championship quality BBQ for less than $300 (delivered from Amazon.com) and at the end of the day, this is what is all about.

http://www.amazon.com/Weber-721001-Smokey-Mountain-Cooker/dp/B001I8ZTJ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1247518263&sr=8-1

Personally, I like to layer of  briquettes and wood. One good solid base layer of briquettes, then some wood, and then another layer of charcoal and then a few chunks of wood on top. Do NOT use charcoal because it will burn way too too hot.

I say that one of the key requirements for great BBQ is a steady temp of about 225 - 250 degrees on the temp gauge of your smoker and again, that nice even consistent stream of smoke flowing from the top vents that should ALWAYS remain open. Monitor the temp and adjust lower dampers accordingly.

A digital thermometer is critical to good BBQ. Feed the probe down through a top vent and stick the probe in the thickest part of the meat, close the lid, attach the probe to the thermometer.

DO DOT OPEN THE LID TO SEE HOW YOUR BBQ LOOKS...NO MATTER HOW TEMPTING IT MAY BE. Remember, the difference between okay BBQ and great BBQ is a steady temp. Every time you lift the lid you lose that edge and increase your cooking temp. The only time that you should open the lid is to either put meat in or take it off.

Note: It is my opinion that most meats absorb most of the smoke that they are going to after the first hour or maybe 1 1/2 hours. After that you're wasting wood and your meat won't taste good, not at all. 

What is a brisket? Flat/point, high fat content.Trim well

A brisket will take at least 12 hours for a 10 lb. flat cut. Place the prepared brisket on the lower rack and stabilize the temp to about 220-250 degrees based on the temp gauge on the lid and monitor the internal temp with the digital probe. They are done when they reach between 198 and 205 degrees

Here is another way I do things that differs than many. I like to BBQ my brisket at least the day before eating. I let it rest and cool to room temp and then refrigerate it. The next day, I slice it (across the grain)and warm it in the microwave. It carves easier than when hot and you can be assured that all of the juices will be rendered back into the meat after it has cooled making for a juicier end result. Let's be real...after cooking for 12 hours it's time for a tuna sandwich and bed. Better left for the next day.

As for pork or beef ribs use a rib rack. Smoker real estate does not come cheap so maximize your cooking area the best you can. As far as eating ribs I hold the minority opinion in that the meat should not be falling off the bone. I like a little bite and a little bit of a chew. Not much mine you, but enough where the meat will stay on the rib as you are holding and eating it. But this is my preference. It's kinda like Fillet Mignon vs. a rib-eye steak...gum it or chew it. Unfortunately, I think too many people rate BBQ pork/beef ribs by the fall-off the bone criteria. These should take about  about 4-5 hours.

Smoking whole chickens is a breeze. Season them with whatever you like making sure to season the cavity even more than the skin. Set your digital therm to 160 and stick the probe into the thickest part of a thigh or breast. They are practically impossible to mess up unless you over smoke them.

Note: Please remember to place only room temp meat on your smoker. To prepare the meat just rub on your favorite spice mix, no mopping is EVER required...remember the keep the lid closed rule?

Additionally, forgot to mention that I once cooked 8 whole chickens; and another time I cooked a 10 lb brisket and 4 chickens on my 721001 Model Weber. But to up the ante, they have a larger 22" model, the 731001 that costs less than $400.00 that can cook enough for a small army!

For pork/chicken BBQ I use Jake's Boss BBQ rub that you have to make (well worth the trouble) or Bad Byron's Pork Butt seasoning available online or in some stores. For brisket/beef ribs I use  Coopers "original" spice rub from Llano, TX  that can be purchased online.

I hope that you benefit from this article in your quest to make great BBQ.

Jake's Boss BBQ Rub For Pork or Chicken

Just remember if you are going to use this recipe for grilling keep a eye on it because the sugar had a low burn rate.

Better yet, try reducing the amount of sugar by 1/2 (I have not tried this yet). 


1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar

¼ cup coarse salt (I prefer 2 Tbs)

½ cup paprika

3 tbs dried parsley

2 tbs dried basil

2 tbs oregano

2 tbs dried thyme

2 tsp powdered onion

1 ½ tbs lemon pepper

1 tbs garlic powder

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground cinnamon
1.5 tbs dried Worcestershire (optional)