How The Right Barbecue Sauce Can Accentuate Your Meats

The barbecue industry continues to thrive in the United States. One of the largest influences on the success of this market has been the development of unique sauces to pair with barbecued meats. In fact, each year the United States is responsible for nearly $2 billion spent to develop barbecue sauces. This value doesn’t even consider the amount of sauces concocted at home that have been passed down for generations!

As the number of sauces continues to grow, it becomes harder to gauge which sauce will perfect your premier choice of barbecued meat. Will the sauce you choose for your brisket be the same sauce you choose for your ribs? Most likely not! The truth is, while an excellent sauce can activate your meat of choice, more often than not it can be difficult to make the right decision when it comes to the sauce. There’s truly nothing worse than selecting the wrong sauce to pair with your meat.

Luckily for you, the featured infographic coupled with this post can save you from the trouble of selecting the wrong sauce. It details the different flavor palettes that a number of different sauces elicit. This, in turn, gives you a better understanding of which sauce and meat pairings will be considered universally popular.

The one issue with trying to simplify all meat and sauce pairings? You’ll never be one-hundred percent accurate. The tastes of each individual are always bound to be different. Just because you prefer a sweet sauce to pair with your meat, doesn’t mean everyone else will too. Some people are bound to the other side of the spectrum. If you prefer sweet, they prefer acidic. If you prefer hot, they prefer mild. The good news is that it doesn’t always have to be one or the other.

If you’re planning on hosting a barbecue for your family, for example, there’s no need to be shy in terms of how many sauce offerings you have. Let everyone explore whichever flavors they prefer at their discretion. However, always be mindful of which sauces you used in order to cook your meats. You wouldn’t want your family mixing flavors that have no business being mixed.

Some last bits of advice for pairing the right sauces with your meats:

• Perfect your barbecuing skills prior to delving too deep into sauce flavorings. The best sauce won’t make up for a poorly cooked set of ribs, practice makes perfect!
• Variety is key to appreciating each flavor. Each sauce has its own unique flavor profile as a result of its unique ingredients. Test out each sauce you encounter to see which is right for you.
• Visit your local barbecue restaurants! These barbecue experts likely have a few combinations up their sleeves that can give you a newfound appreciation for the right pairing of meats and sauce. Find some inspiration from these locations to bring back home.

To learn more about which sauce truly pairs best with what meat, check out the featured infographic below. Courtesy of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants.