Saw a pitmaster say 'no sauce is cheating' - got me thinking about how we judge BBQ

I was at a competition in Austin last Saturday and overheard one of the judges tell a guy that using any sauce on ribs is basically hiding mistakes. That got under my skin lol. On one side, I get that if your meat is cooked perfect and has a good smoke ring, you shouldn't need to cover it up with sweet sticky stuff. But on the other hand, I've been to places like Franklin's and they serve sauce on the side, and nobody calls them cheaters. I've personally ruined a brisket by oversaucing and hiding the fact that I pulled it off too early. But I've also had dry pork shoulder that a good vinegar sauce saved for me. So where's the line? Is a dry rub and a mop sauce different from slathering on something thick at the end? Has anyone else here had a judge or a buddy call them out for using too much sauce? What do you all think about saucing being a crutch versus just part of the flavor?

2 comments

2 Comments

nina8349d ago

That 80/20 rule shows up everywhere man. You get 80 percent of the flavor from 20 percent of the effort with good meat and smoke, but then people fight over that last 20 percent like it makes or breaks them. Same thing happens with car guys arguing over wax types or grill marks. At the end of the day a brisket that tastes like shoe leather with fancy sauce on it still tastes like shoe leather.

grant5698d ago

Nah, the 80/20 thing is more like 80% of results from 20% of the work, but the remaining 20% of results take 80% of the effort. You're pretty much right though. People get so caught up in the tiny details (like the perfect smoke ring or a specific bark texture) that they forget the basics. A bad cut of meat with a fancy rub is still gonna be a bad cut of meat with a fancy rub. It's like putting racing stripes on a beat up old sedan and calling it a sports car.