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How Do You Know How Much BBQ Sauce To Use

How Do You Know How Much BBQ Sauce To Use

 

Adding Barbecue Sauce, Just how Much?

One of the age old secrets to good barbecuing is knowing when and how much barbecue sauce to use. Too much barbecue sauce and your meat is literally swimming in sauce which overtly covers up the flavor of the meat letting you only taste the sauce. Too little Barbeque sauce and all you taste is the meat without any added seasoning or flavoring to enhance your hard work. Jake's recommends you follow our easy to use chart below.

This is one of those secrets that are not really secrets but more of a personal perspectives on the use of barbecue sauce.  We know what we like and most people know what they like when it comes to sauce.  The real key and effort is determining what others like or want when it's barbecue for all.  I've been to hundreds of barbecue joints where the sauce was hidden away in some small corner of the joint as they pitmasters centered everything on the quality of their meats.  Some even got offended if you asked for barbecue sauce.  At a particular restaurant on the central coast of California I remember asking 4 or 5 times for barbecue sauce for the beef ribs.  The attendant just kept ignoring me which seemed odd and frustrating at the same time.  Why not put a sign on the door or tell your guests that you focus on the quality of the meat and not the addition of sauce.  In fact in some places in Texas if you ask for barbecue sauce you're more likely to get thrown out of a place than get the sauce.  Honestly, I get the whole idea of having a quality piece of meat and effort that goes into but in reality the customer is much for King than servant in these situations.  As for the expressed reason I've never returned to that restaurant in California.  

But no matter our interest is in determining the "right amount" of barbecue sauce.  I put that in quotes simply because that number is technically impossible to calculate based on eater preferences.  But we think we have a handle on it when it comes to how much sauce per bite area and the flavor addition that improves the quality and overall experience of the meat.  

You'll notice that we mention the chart amounts have to do with the preparation of the meat and not the eating it.  These amounts are suggested because as the meat is cooked the sauce will be absorbed and in some cases burned off.  The sugars in the sauce will caramelize and the quality applied will be decreased we believe by at least half to three quarters depending on the heat applied and temperature of the meat.  As an example a 1/4 quantity of sauce to a beef steak now of course in this example we did not say how big the steak was.  Most would say "normal" size again in quotes but let's assume the steak is at least 1/2 pound.  Then this amount of sauce would be ideal for the application and cooking of the steak.  

So for all the other items we must consider the size of the item, the temperature involved in cooking the item, amount of sugar and water in the sauce and the overall end result and cooking time for the meat.  These should all be considered when determining just how much barbecue sauce to use.  

Note, the amounts of Barbecue Sauce described below are suggested for preparing the meat in advance of cooking.

Following cooking you can choose to add more sauce or dry seasonings as a condiment.

 

MEAT TYPE DRY RUB BBQ SAUCE
BEEF STEAK 2 TBSP 1/4 CUP
BEEF ROASTS 4 TBSP 1/2 CUP
VEAL ROAST RACKS 4 TBSP 1/2 CUP
LAMB CHOPS 1 TBSP 1/4 CUP
RACK OF LAMB 3 TBSP 1/4 CUP
PORK CHOPS 1 TBSP 1/4 CUP
WHOLE CHICKEN 4 TBSP 1/2 CUP
WHOLE TURKEY 4 TBSP 1/2 CUP
BURGERS 2 TBSP 1/4 CUP
FISH 2 TBSP 1/8 CUP
SCALLOPS - SHELLFISH 1/2 TBSP 1/8 CUP

 



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This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 21 September, 2017.