BBQ Glazes...

September 2010

Dear BBQ Friend:

I have been experimenting a little with a peach glaze instead of a BBQ sauce lately. I have not tried it in a contest yet, but it turned out quite well on my chicken and ribs test. So... exactly what is the difference between a glaze and a BBQ sauce anyway?

I'm no trained chef or anything, so I may be wrong, but in my opinion a BBQ sauce has as it's main ingredients tomatoes or ketchup and vinegar. A glaze is has as it's main ingredient some sort of fruit or maybe just something sweet like honey. BBQ sauces and glazes are used in similar fashion... they should be applied during the last 15-60 minutes of a cook and you should be careful not to burn the glaze or BBQ sauce if it contains too much sugar.

So... if you are cooking low and slow around 225-250, you can apply the glaze or sauce when you have 1 hour left in the cook and during that time it will cook onto the meat or "set" so it isn't quite so runny. If you are grilling at a higher temperature over direct heat, you may want to only apply your BBQ sauce or glaze during the last 15 minutes and set it over the high heat being careful not to let it burn by flipping appropriately.

Note that there is a difference between carmelizing and burning... carmelizing is OK and is sometimes a sought after flavor in BBQ. You get that "flame kissed" look and taste which can be quite tasty. Overdo it though and you'll end up with a burnt sugar bitter taste which is not good.

Now back to the subject of glazes... the one I have been experimenting with is a simple peach glaze containing about 6 fresh, peeled peaches, 2 cups of brown sugar, and 1 stick of real butter. Just blanch the peaches in boiling water for 1 minute and cool in an ice bath after removing from hot water. The skins should peel right off. Remove pit and process until smooth in a food processor or blender. Heat with brown sugar and butter just until everything is melted.

This glaze was quite tasty on chicken and ribs, but may require some tweaking to get more peach flavor to stand out. I found some peach extract flavoring at SpicesEtc.com that I am going to try adding to the recipe next. I haven't tried canned peaches yet.

Some other ingredients you can use in glazes are apples or apple jelly, honey, just brown sugar (maybe carmelize it on like they do on hams), raspberry, mango, orange, lemon, lime, pineapple, coca-cola or Dr Pepper, apricot, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, Moore's marinade, wine, muscadine wine or plain muscadine grapes, beer, cherries, balsamic vinegar, whiskey, maple syrup, cranberry, kiwi, pear, ginger, and many more! Just use your imagination and mix and match these ingredients with others.

If you are a BBQ competitor, I think judges will be quite pleased with a simple fruit glaze. Just so long as you don't go overboard with the ingredients and extra spices. For example, too much cinnamon and allspice may be better off in apple pie than on ribs. Use a good rub that compliments your glaze and a combination that does not overpower your natural smoke flavor, and the judges should award you with some nice scores. Also... glazes are most suitable for chicken and ribs, a little less for pulled pork, and I think you should stick with the au jus sauce for brisket.

I didn't have time to take any pictures at the Great Southern Tailgate Cookoff in Amelia Island, FL... but BarbecueCoach.com members did quite well. Sweat's BBQ and Smokin AJs took 2nd and 3rd in chicken while Chatham Artillery BBQ took 5th overall with 8th in ribs, 7th in pork, and 7th in brisket. Our Southwest rub is still doing quite well and you can get some at www.bbq-book.biz

The Pigs & Peaches BBQ Festival in Kennesaw, GA was full of BarbecueCoach.com members and we did quite well. Pit Bulls Up in Smoke was 3rd overall with 10th in ribs, 8th in pork, 5th in brisket, and 3rd in anything butt. Mrs T's BBQ was 4th overall with 1st in ribs, 9th in pork, and 9th in brisket. Chatham Artillery BBQ was 13th overall with 10th in pork and 14th in brisket. Boat-n-BBQ was 11th overall with 8th in chicken and 7th in brisket. And finally Smokin Seargents was 7th in chicken and 13th in brisket.

Here's some pics of the Kennesaw contest...

Remember... to watch exactly how we cooked and won 4 Grand Championships last year and 3 already this year, go to www.BarbecueCoach.com
Absolutely NO DETAILS LEFT OUT...

Sincerely,
Bill Anderson
Chatham Artillery BBQ Team

Also... Competition BBQ Secrets is available in our BBQ Store along with some great BBQ essentials... remote pager thermometers, cookbooks, rubs, etc. Just click on the link below to go to our store...

The Rocky Mountain Products Southwest rub is what we are using this year. Chatham Artillery BBQ and another team has already won a Grand with it. It's the best "all around" rub I have ever tried. Especially good on brisket. I hear it's even good on scrambled eggs!...

And more!...

Click HERE - www.bbq-book.biz

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