Need Help With Trying To Recreate Sauce

[Philly-QueMaster]

Hey all its been a while since I've posted. This bbq journey has been an interesting one that's for sure.

My interest in bbq started probably close to 20 years ago and my first attempt at "bbq" was using a cast iron smoke box on my gas grill. Lol.

Lets just say that didn't come close to satisfying my bbq fix.

Anyways originally being from Pennsylvania we didn't have many options for BBQ, but I did fine one spot that I would say was my real introduction to authentic pit cooked barbecue.

There was a gentleman from South Carolina who would cook chicken and ribs directly over coals on the weekends.

He had an awesome barbecue sauce and it was actually this sauce that I was trying to re-create when I came up with my current sauce that I make now.

Fast forward 15 years or so and now I live down in South Carolina and I still think about that barbecue sauce. I could never quite figure out what is in it.

Well last week a friend of mine brought me a jar of barbecue sauce from a gentleman from Effingham Georgia, and I could tell right away from the looks of it that it was similar to the sauce that got me turned onto barbecue all those years back.

So I'm here asking for help to see if anyone can help me identify some of the ingredients in this sauce. It must be somewhat regional to the Georgia, and deep South Carolina areas.

I Know its a combination of Mustard, Ketchup, Apple Cider Vinegar, lots of course black pepper, and most likely Brown Sugar and Cayenne Pepper. It has a nice sweet taste at first and finishes with a nice kick of heat.

Something that has been baffling me for all these years is there are pieces of what look like some kind of red pepper. My immediate thought has been red cherry peppers, but they don't seem all that easily accessible to get at the stores.

My next guess was possibly Pimento Peppers since pimento cheese is super popular in the south...but I Bought a couple jars of different brands and they didn't have the right test or texture.

I'm definitely not a jarred pimento pepper fan. lol.

Anyways I've attached some photos to see if anyone else has come across a sauce like this and hopefully my brethren might be able to help me solve this mystery that has been plaguing me all these years!! lol.

 

[bschoen]

Look like dried red pepper flakes. Pick whichever dried red pepper suits your heat requirement.

 

[Philly-QueMaster]

Look like dried red pepper flakes. Pick whichever dried red pepper suits your heat requirement.

I thought that may have been it too but there's texture to the red pepper and the skin as a little bite/snap to it which makes me think its fresh.

 

[SirPorkaLot]

So do this...

Go to store and grab a bottle of Carolina Treet and a bottle of Scott’s BBQ sauce (both should be readily available in Georgia)

Go home and mix them both together.

That should be close to what you have and you can modify from there

 

[bschoen]

I thought that may have been it too but there's texture to the red pepper and the skin as a little bite/snap to it which makes me think its fresh.

Could be. Keep in mind the dried pepper will re-hydrate bathing in the sauce which may bring it back to life somewhat.

 

[Philly-QueMaster]

Yeah I'm almost 100% certain its not dried red pepper flakes.

I use dried red pepper flakes in my sauce and I don't get the same red chunks as these sauces have.

Could be. Keep in mind the dried pepper will re-hydrate bathing in the sauce which may bring it back to life somewhat.

 

[Mike in Roseville]

Looks like a Carolina mustard sauce that has a little more ketchup/tomato paste in it than some recipes call for.

For the red pepper a few thoughts...
I'm going to guess dried. That said sometimes when it's newly dried, it can still have a little bit of moisture to it. Another thought is the person used whole dried chiles, re-hydrated them to sort of bring them back to life (easily done in a sauce pan with hot water) before blending. Either might be the elusive answer you're looking for when it comes to the red pepper.

If you want to play with ingredients...try this order...(most to least).

Yellow Mustard, Brown Sugar, ACV, Tomato paste/ketchup (if using paste you'll probably want to add some water). Make small batches (that can be scaled) and keep notes.

 

[IamMadMan]

At a quick glance it almost looks similar to a Swiss Chalet dipping sauce, but that doesn't have pieces of vegetables in it.



By looking at the sauce in the first photo has a pinkish color, so I am going to go with tomato sauce, puree, or juice use rather than tomato paste (red).
The picture also appears as of the sauce is opaque in color, so maybe some cornstarch has been added? I see what appear to be pieces of onions, pieces of tomato, cracked pepper, ground celery seed, maybe some crushed red pepper? The other leaf spices I am not sure about, maybe some thyme?


It's a crap shoot trying to guess, but here are two possibilities.


Here is a recipe for a Carolina Tomato Juice Based Sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon celery salt
1 tablespoon cayenne
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
2 tablespoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon allspice
4 cups tomato juice
1 /2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon grated onion

Combine all ingredients in a small pot and stir until well mixed. Lightly simmer, stirring occasionally, over very low heat for an hour until well thickened.

===========================================


However he picture on the plate looks more yellowish/orange

Mustard Barbecue Sauce inspired from German settlers

2 cups yellow mustard (two 20-ounce bottles of French's mustard should do the trick)
4 ounces of beer (less for thicker sauce, more for thinner sauce)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup tomato puree
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon cayenne (adjust to taste)
1/2 tablespoon fresh cracked black pepper
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoons garlic powder

Heat all ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat and mix well. Cook until sauce just begins to thicken, DO NOT OVER COOK.
Serve cool or warm.

 

[Philly-QueMaster]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Based on what I have seen in photos (lots of empty ketchup bottles and apple cider vinegar bottles) I'm pretty sure its a ketchup and mustard base.

Below I did a little sample test mixing different amounts of ketchup and mustard.

12:00 - Is the sauce I'm trying to replicate
3:00 - is 2 parts ketchup and 1 part mustard
6:00 - is 2 parts mustard and 1 part ketchup
9:00 - is 1 part ketchup and 1 part mustard

Based on this test it looks like its closer to 2 parts ketchup and 1 part mustard.

[/IMG]



https://i.ibb.co/dkCckVS/118772800-1743984929086602-806287639532470168-n.jpg

What baffles me most is the pieces of red pepper type substance. lol.

 

[Philly-QueMaster]

I'm sorry I don't know why my photos are showing up so blow up.

 

[Philly-QueMaster]

 

[SmokeRingsMatter]

It could be red bell pepper based. I am not sure if you have ever had Sauce Arturo , but it is red bell pepper based. It is a very unique sauce, and makes a really good base for a bbq sauce. If you do some google research, there is clone recipes that are pretty spot on, as i have compared them to the original.

 

[LYU370]

Well since the guy was from SC and the recent sauce you received was from Georgia, they're both probably mustard based sauces. Do those little veggie pieces have any spice? Diced chipotle peppers perhaps?

 

[Philly-QueMaster]

Well since the guy was from SC and the recent sauce you received was from Georgia, they're both probably mustard based sauces. Do those little veggie pieces have any spice? Diced chipotle peppers perhaps?

Its definitely heavy on the mustard. I can tell by the color and flavor. And funny you mentioned the chipolte peppers. I just made a batch of jalapeno cheddar sausage today and I put some blended up chipolte in adobo sauce in them and I noticed red pieces of pepper in my sausage which made me think that could be a possibility.

Another thought was fresno chilis.