Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Espresso Barbecue Sauce

We had a few friends over for a smoked rib barbecue for Labor Day. Did I mention we bought a smoker? Matt has been wanting one for awhile now but they one he wanted was almost $200. We were at the hardware store the other day & I suggested we see if smokers were on sale when we saw the Brinkmann "El Cheapo."
#214 - Matt's new toy
This little guy was only $40 & according to a lot of folks on the web quite a smoker. We've used it twice now, once for chicken & once for ribs & have been thrilled with the results. I actually think we may have sold two last night to the folks who came to dinner.

Now on to dinner. We bought some beautiful baby back pork ribs & Matt rubbed them with the Black Espresso Rub from Mastering the Grill. Then placed them in the smoker. After about 3 - 3 1/2 hours of smoking over low heat he brushed on the Espresso Barbecue Sauce he made & let them smoke for another hour.
Espresso Smoked Ribs
These ribs were fabulous. Smoky, zesty & juicy. They weren't fall off the bone (we could have smoked them a little longer to get to that point) but they were tender & perfectly cooked. All of our guests loved them. The espresso cut the overwhelming ketchup flavor so many bbq sauces can have and added a real depth of flavor. The chipotle gave it a nice bite without being too hot. Matt calls this a quick sauce since he used onion & garlic powder in it instead of using fresh & then pureeing it.

Espresso Barbecue Sauce

1 c ketchup
1 T molasses
2 T red wine vinegar
dash of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1 T brown sugar
2 T instant espresso powder

Mix everything together in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar & espresso. Let simmer gently about 10 minutes to meld flavors.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

25 comments:

Tangled Noodle said...

That smoker look awesome! I have a puny, pan-like stovetop version that's good enough for a couple of chops but imagine what I could do with this! (Do you think colder weather affects its performance?)

Love this Espresso Barbecue Sauce!

vanillasugarblog said...

this is a MUST!!! oh heavens yes!

Beth (jamandcream) said...

Hubby could live on BBQ sauce I think. Love the addition of espresso - will have to try

C1D3RL0V3R said...

Yum, this looks great,I have been looking for a good coffee barbecue sauce, ever since a friend in Utah did something similar for us.

Sara said...

Oh yum! I've been wanting a smoker for a couple of years now, but always miss them when they're on summer clearance (and don't want to spend the $200 on them either). Was the $40 regular priced? I'll have to go looking for this one - what a deal! The ribs look amazing, btw!

kat said...

Sara - Yes, $40 was the regular price!

oneordinaryday said...

Wow - these look awesome.

grace said...

mmm. what better way to get caffeine into one's system but through meat? win-win. :)

Kristin said...

Oh these look fantastic I'm drooling looking at them.... ;)

Lori said...

Those ribs are COMPLETELY drool worthy!

Stacey Snacks said...

What a bargain!
I can't wait to see all the goodies you smoke with this!

Cate O'Malley said...

I am totally hunting down that smoker this week...

Unknown said...

You can make a very unique smoker from scratch for that price tag that will have considerable wow-factor as well as insulate your heat and MOISTURE well. I have a Green Egg but this is just as functional!!

http://www.naffziger.net/blog/2008/07/05/the-alton-brown-flower-pot-smoker/

kat said...

Phil - We saw that Alton Brown episode too. We actually did think of making our own but couldn't pass this up for the price. It does have a liquid tray in it so moisture is not a problem. Have to say we are envious of the Big Green Egg...someday

Greta said...

Kat, I'm in MSP too - where did you get that smoker? This has been something that I've been wanting to try!

Thanks!

kat said...

Greta - We found the smoker at Home Depot. Hope you can find one too.

Greta said...

Cool! Thanks!

Greta said...

Thanks, Kat! Was able to get the last one at the Depot by my house! Curing it tonight and will take it out for a spin (smoke?) tomorrow!

Alicia Foodycat said...

I want a smoker like that! The ribs look so delicious.

Anonymous said...

If i subtitute instant espresso pwd with real liquid espresso, how many tabblespoon i use? thx alot ^^

kat said...

Anonoymous - Use as much as you would think would have 2 T of the ground espresso in it. You don't want to lose the intensity of the espresso flavor. Keep in mind this is going to add more liquid to the sauce & it will need to simmer longer to thicken in order to cook out the water.

Mrsblocko said...

I don't know what happened I made this bbq sauce (see here) and it turned out very bitter. Do you think maybe my espresso powder was past it's prime?

socaldinah said...

We don't have a smoker...can we do these on the grill just as well

socaldinah said...

We don't have a smoker...can we do these on the grill just as well

kat said...

Socaldinah - You can of course cook ribs on the grill without a smoker & use this sauce. They won't have the same smoky flavor but still be good. You can get a little metal box to go in your grill with wood chips in it to add more smoky flavor as well. If you are looking for a technique for ribs without a smoker check out our recipe for my Dad's Memphis Ribs, http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com/2008/06/dads-memphis-ribs.html

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