It’s that time of year when barbecue products hit shelves in full force. With so many different BBQ sauces and regional variations, do you have a favourite?
As a sauce manufacturer we want to stay on top of trends, and we will always look to the USA for inspiration. We have spent some time there, checking out the best of the best and now have a lot of insight into the world of barbecue. Each region has a different style, and have different focuses on meat options, methods, sauces, marinades and rubs.
Here is just a small selection of popular USA barbecue…
North Carolina
To be true to classic North Carolina BBQ, it is often an entire pig smoked over hickory wood, this is then shredded, in this mix there is a huge variance of textures, meat, and fat and it requires an acid to help cut through it. Eastern North Carolina BBQ Sauce (not to be confused with tomato-based Lexington style) is a mix of apple cider vinegar and chilli pepper flakes, the heat and acid provide a great counterpoint to the rich sweet meat, sweet BBQ sauces like Kansas City BBQ wouldn’t be as beneficial here.
Kansas
Kansas City BBQ is famous for it’s burnt ends, the flap of the brisket cut off and smoked for a second time, intensifying the rich meaty flavour. This allows it to stand up to the BBQ sauce of this region, thick, sweet tomato based BBQ sauces that often use fruit to give it natural sweetness which is matched in the smoking woods often used – applewood, pear, cherry etc. What we, as general consumers, consider to be BBQ sauce is often a sweetened version of Kansas City Style
Texas
Texas is a state that is known for Brisket and heavy smoking over Mesquite, Hickory and Pecan, when they do use sauce (some think it blasphemous) it is often a thin, peppery sauce. Texas meat rubs are just salt & pepper, with notes of celery salt or the sour tamarind. Aaron Franklin is perhaps the most famous Texan Pitmaster and his Texas BBQ and Espresso BBQ sauce (which we make!) have helped put Texas BBQ on the global stage.