When exploring how to grill to perfection, you’ll need to know the many essential flavors of various types of grilled meats. Personally, I think simplicity is usually best. Too many conflicting flavors can detract from meat and likely overwhelm your taste buds. With barbecue, the woods used during cooking and the seasonings used to rub and marinate the meat should add flavor but not overpower it.
Among the most commonly used barbecue woods are apple, cherry, and maple barbecue chips. I like to have a few varieties available. I’m also always sure to have what I think are the essential seasonings, spices, and BBQ basting supplies on hand. These items can be used in various combinations based on your personal preferences. Making your own barbecue seasonings, brines, and barbecue sauces for any of your favorite meats will be quite easy if you have the following list handy.
Ingredients for basting and sauce:
Apple Juice – This is great for basting any meat on the BBQ and especially useful for ribs, pork, and chicken. Apple juice and apple cider can often be used in many brining recipes, barbecue sauces, shots, or even in the water pan to keep meat moist.
Apple Cider Vinegar: This is a great ingredient for BBQ sauces and mops. You can also use it to dilute store-bought sauces and make a quick and simple mop or marinade. This is also a great product for dressing pulled pork on the BBQ.
Molasses: It is mainly used to make sauces. The bold flavor and dark color give the sauce its thick texture and dark color. Molasses and apple cider vinegar are two key ingredients that I use in my personal sauce recipes.
Whiskey or Bourbon: Using these can deliver great malt flavor and help add balance to your mops or sauces. Try a bottle mixed with half Jack Daniel’s and half apple juice for basting on grilled meats.
Brown sugar – This is another essential ingredient in my own barbecue sauce recipes. This is a great way to bring a subtle sweetness to pork, chicken, ribs, or pulled pork dishes. Brown sugar pairs very well with hot or spicy flavors to add a touch of sweetness to your hot and spicy sauce.
Condiments and Spices:
Onion Powder: This is one of my personal preferences for ingredients for my BBQ seasonings. The onion flavor works well with any barbecued meat.
Cumin – This is one of the most important ingredients for BBQ seasoning and chili recipes. This ingredient will add a light smoky flavor and is especially good for a pork barbecue.
Paprika – The main ingredient found in virtually all barbecue seasonings as well as chili recipes. This adds great color and flavor to any barbecued meat and the subtle flavor helps balance out the other ingredients.
Chili Powder – This flavorful mix can be used on any barbecued meat. This is a great way to add a bit of spice or heat to your barbecued meat.
Garlic Powder – One of the main ingredients in my personal BBQ sauce and seasoning recipes. This adds a subtle sweetness along with a hint of heat and provides balance to the spicy flavors.
Kosher salt: I personally don’t mind a really salty taste. This salt helps bring out the real flavor of barbecued meats and has a much more subtle flavor than regular salt.
Black Pepper: A very important part of any seasoning mix to get that spicy, spicy kick. The bold flavor and spicy fragrance make any barbecued meat better.
The truth about barbecue is that personal preference dictates the end result more than anything else. Practice with the flavors you enjoy and try different seasoning combinations. You’ll find some you like and some you don’t, but ultimately you’ll enjoy the journey of finding the perfect barbecue. The last and most important piece of advice here is “cook slow and slow”. This simply means using a temperature of 325 degrees or below (275 – 300 degrees is best) and cooking for a longer period of time. Always make sure the temperature is constant and keep your water container full so the meat doesn’t dry out. You can even barbecue in your oven at home during the winter if you think it’s too cold to fire up the grill. Barbecuing in the oven will follow these same guidelines, but for wood or smoke flavor, you’ll want to use a liquid smoke product instead of wood chips.