JUST ADD SMOKE? AWESOME SAUCE!
Which of these toppings will come out of the smoker a tastier version?
SPRING BRANCH — When B.R. Anderson opened B-Daddy’s BBQ in 2012, he thought outside the box with his approach to the barbecue sauce recipe. He figured if the meats take in that bold, smoky flavor of the oak wood, the sauce should also.
Every day or so, the staff at Anderson’s two B-Daddy’s locations (Helotes and Spring Branch) whips up a massive batch of sauce, and it undergoes a smoking process that can take five hours or more. B-Daddy’s is one of the few barbecue spots in the San Antonio area to do it this way.
“The key is to keep on stirring, every 30 or 40 minutes, so all of the liquid will get exposed to the smoke,” said John Campbell, the pitmaster at B-Daddy’s Spring Branch location on Texas 46. “It doesn’t take long for it to develop a crust, but that is how you know that you are getting the flavor.”
Campbell usually tosses the pan in the smoker, far from the heat intake of the firebox. With the pit traditionally set to around 225 degrees, the sauce gets a slight simmer, but it never gets hot enough to boil.
The result is a bold, ketchupand tomato-based sauce that plays a good Robin to the Bat-
man brisket and other smoked meats. Campbell said that BDaddy’s goes through about 30 gallons of smoked sauce per week.
The quality of the sauce got me thinking what other types of condiments and sauces can get the same type of boost from smoke, so I scoured the grocery shelves for 10 sauces, from ranch dressing to soy sauce. Everything was smoked with oak wood for two hours at 165 degrees, with about 6 ounces poured into small aluminum pans that were stirred every 20 minutes.
Will it smoke? Here are the results, which are rated as Smokeless, Smoke-ish and Holy Smokes! in order of smoke absorption.
Balsamic vinaigrette : Oddly, grapes take well to the smoke, and this concentrated liquid delivered the signature woody balsamic flavor with a blast of smoky flavor on the back end. The result was a perfect dipping sauce or salad topper that provides layers of flavor.
Verdict: Holy smokes! Brown mustard: The smoke tamed the spicy, pungent mustard to some degree, creating the base for what could be a fine mustard-based barbecue sauce with the addition of a few more ingredients. On its own, though, I see few benefits.
Verdict: Smoke-ish.
Honey mustard: This one may warrant a redo, because the Newman’s Own brand honey mustard dressing was very watery, and the end product could have been mistaken for a bowl of soup. A honey mustard with a thicker texture outside the salad dressing sphere may have fared better and picked up more flavor. Verdict: Smokeless. Horseradish sauce: The bold, spicy taste continued to carry the brunt of the flavor, but the smoke gave it a sweetened character that tamed the traditionally harsh sauce.
Verdict: Smoke-ish. Ketchup: This is the signature condiment to smoke, transforming the tang from the ketchup into a savory sauce. Smoked ketchup appears on a lot of burger menus, and ketchup is the most common ingredient in barbecue sauce recipes. Verdict: Holy smokes! Mayonnaise: When it comes to picking up smoke flavor, fat is our friend, and there are about 10 grams in every tablespoon of mayonnaise. The smoke and heat firmed the sauce into an almost cheeselike consistency that would make a perfect pairing with any good deli sandwich or as a revved-up pasta or potato salad ingredient.
Verdict: Holy smokes!
Ranch dressing: The ranch took on a yellowish coating that was unappealing to the eye. Plenty of smoke got into the flavor profile, but the result just wasn’t very good and reminded me of sour milk.
Verdict: Smoke-ish.
Soy sauce: Smoked soy sauce is actually sold, so it wasn’t earth-shattering to discover it works fairly well. The smoke balances out the signature salty flavor in the soy sauce for an umami effect. Smoke a whole bottle and put it back in the pantry.
Verdict: Smoke-ish. Worcestershire sauce: This versatile sauce is the brainchild discovery of chemists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins in 1838, and despite the familiarities between it and soy sauce, the Worcestershire repelled the smoke invasion and retained the anchovy whiff. Verdict: Smokeless.
Yellow mustard: Like a “Game of Thrones” knight dressed in steel plate armor head to toe, the venerable yellow mustard repelled all attempts to infuse added flavor.
Verdict: Smokeless.