Product Review - Yeungling Lager BBQ Sauce

Years ago, Yenugling Brewing offered a line of sauces that were pretty good.  One was what was billed as a lager sauce and the other two were a hot and mild wing sauce.  I liked all three of them.  The lager sauce was like a thin finishing sauce for BBQ meats.  The wing sauces were good as well.  But, unfortunately, they mysteriously disappeared from the grocery store shelves.  I tried to recreate the lager sauce and came pretty close.  But, it wasn't the same.  A few weeks ago as I was cruising the BBQ section at the store, I saw that Yeungling sauces are back on the market.  This time, with the two wing sauces and a new BBQ sauce in place of the lager sauce.  So, I picked up a bottle of the BBQ and ran home to give it a try.

As you can see from the label, it really does contain Yeungling lager, although it is halfway down the ingredient list.  I opened the bottle a gave this new sauce the finger test.  Somewhat sweet, somewhat tart, this sauce does have a nice balance.  Did I taste beer?  Yeah, a bit.  Not overpowering and perhaps I would have liked a bit more of that malty flavor.  For the true test, I made some pulled chicken and sauced the meat for some chicken sandwiches.

I brined a fryer overnight and lightly seasoned with Oakridge Secret Weapon Pork and Chicken rub, then smoked with pecan at 350 F until 160 F internal.  About two hours.

I placed in a pan and tightly covered with foil to rest for 30 minutes before pulling.

After pulling, I lightly sauced the pulled chicken with about 1/3 cup of the sauce.  We served on white buns with diced onion and dill pickle chips.  How was it?  Well, the reincarnation of the Yeungling lager sauce as a BBQ sauce is ok.  Compared to other bottled BBQ sauces, this offering is slightly above average.  But, when compared to their thinner lager sauce from the past, it is a bit lacking.  The past sauce had more of a vinegar bite and malty flavor.  The new product is sweeter and lacks a malty backbone.  I will buy more in the future. But, if there is another sauce that catches my eye, I just might try something else as well.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Pulled Chicken with Alabama White BBQ Sauce

We love pulled chicken at the Three Dogs BBQ house.  It is something different and just a bit healthier for you than pork or beef.  Usually, when we make pulled chicken, we also make an Alabama White BBQ sauce.  This is a mayo passed sauce that is sweet and sour and compliments chicken well.  I like this sauce so much that I also put it on pork as well.

For this cook, I prepared a batch of my standard poultry brine and chilled the brine overnight.  Then, the next day, I placed a whole roasting chicken in the brine and allowed it to go for a  24 hour swim.

The day before I also prepared my Alabama White BBQ Sauce.  Preparing the sauce the day before give the flavors a chance to mingle.  This sauce really does change even after an hour of sitting.  For our sauce, I use this recipe from MyRecipes.com.  It is the closest to what I have had in Alabama.  My only changes are to:

1.  Add a pinch of cayenne pepper.
2.  Remove the sugar and substitute half of the water with apple juice for the sweet component.

The next day, I lit my smoker and brought the smoker to 325 F.  While the smoker was heating, I removed the chicken from the brine and discarded the brine.  Then, I rinsed the bird well and patted dry.  For a rub, I used Oakridge Game Bird and Chicken Rub.

This rub is outstanding.  The coriander adds a flavor that just pairs well with chicken.  When I am ready to rub, be sure to gently pull the skin back and apply seasoning between the skin and meat.  I also season the cavity of the bird as well.  For the skin, rub the outside with olive oil, then apply my rub.

Just before placing the bird on the smoker, I added some pecan splits to the ash pan for smoke flavor. Then, I placed the chicken on the top rack of the smoker.  Here are some pictures after one and two hours.

Once the timer popped and the internal temperature was above 165 F, I removed from the smoker, placed in a pan, covered with foil, and let the bird rest for 30 minutes.

Then, Hope meticulously pulled the meat from the bone, mixing white and dark meat together.

Then, we served on some nice slider buns with some potato salad on the side.  I do not mix the sauce into the pulled chicken.  I just add a little dollop on top of my chicken.  This combination is outstanding.

I have read that you can grill your chicken and brush the Alabama White Sauce onto your chicken during the last 15-20 minutes of cooking.  I want to try this method the next time I make some.  A friend of mine also uses this sauce as a salad dressing and loves the flavor it brings to his greens.

So, give this combination a try.  Especially if you are tired of the usual sweet, traditional red BBQ sauce.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Alabama White BBQ Sauce: Is Any Other Kind Needed?

When I went to Alabama to pick up the new trailer, I had a secondary mission: to try some Alabama White BBQ Sauce.  I have heard of it, but never got around to trying the stuff.  Jim and Nicks BBQ had some, so I got some on the side to try with my BBQ platter.  After trying, I was in heaven.  Creamy, vinegary, spicy.  Complex flavors all melded together that was perfect on my chicken.

So, I did some digging on the Internet for a recipe.  Here is the one I used from About.com  It wasn't bad.  It was missing something, but it was very close.  I am going to meld this recipe with a few ideas of what I think it was missing (sugar for one thing) to experiment in the future.

So, very simple:

2 cups of mayo
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp ground black pepper
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/2  tsp cayenne

I cut the recipe in half:

Mix, chill overnight, serve with chicken.

For the chicken, I brined over night in a batch of Poultry Brine.  Pulled the birds out of the brine, patted dry, and rubbed with Stumps Platinum Rub under the skin, in the body cavity, and on the outside of the skin...

Three hours at 250 F with hickory and peach in the ashpan.  Top rack in a Stumps Stretch...

After about one hour...

Pulled the chicken off the bone and served with the Alabama White Sauce...

The pulled chicken goes very well with the sauce.  I even like this sauce on pulled pork.  

More on this topic in the future for sure.

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

There is more than One Way to Pull your Yardbird...

Last weekend, I had a taste for some smoked pulled chicken.  This is one of our favorite ways to eat chicken anymore.  Hope will even eat dark meat from a bird that has been brined and slow smoked.  So, here is how we did it...

First, make yourself a batch of Poultry Brine and cool it down:

BOS's Chicken Brine:

Ingredients:

1 gallon Water
¾ cup Kosher Salt
¾ cup Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Granulated Garlic
2 Tbsp Chili Powder
¼ cup Orange Juice
⅛ cup Worcestershire Sauce

Mix and bring to boil.  Cool and place in frig overnight.

Two roasters, into the pool for an overnight swim:

After the overnight brine, I pulled the birds out of the pool and let them drip dry.  Don't rinse.  Then, I pulled the skin back on the breasts and seasoned with Weber Montreal Chicken Seasoning and put the skin back in place.  Then, the body cavity got a healthy dose of seasoning as well...

Then, I fired up the Baby and brought her to 250 F and put some apricot wood in the ash pan for smoke.  I placed the birds on the third rack down on a four rack Baby...

Two hours into the cook...

The birds were done after three hours of cooking time.  I pulled them off and covered with foil and let them rest for an hour...

After resting, Hope pulled them apart and we split into 3 equal portions...

Then, we made pulled chicken, three different ways...

On the left, we just drizzled some Pipers Pit BBQ sauce.  Nice and simple.  Good, smoky BBQ flavor.

In the middle, I made the Curried Chicken Salad that I saw on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives...  The basic dressing for that is 1 cup of plain yogurt, 1/3 cup of mayo, and 1 tsp of curry powder.  I also added 1.5 ribs of celery and 1/2 of a small red onion.  Loved the curry flavor with the smokiness of the chicken.  Good stuff.

Finally, on the right, I made a traditional chicken salad with 1.5 ribs of celery and 1/2 of a small red onion.  I also used the yogurt/mayo mix.  This stuff puts deli chicken salad in second place for sure.  

We will definitely be making any of these again.  The smoky flavor was great with all three salads.  Just be sure to use a mild wood such as apricot or peach.  I think hickory would overpower these salads.

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

Competition Style Chicken

After seasoning Ole Blue, I threw some yardbird on the racks for some chicken practice...

We use thighs for competition.  They are nice and juicy and full of flavor.  The only problem is, they take a ton of work.

So you get bite through skin, you need to remove the skin and scrape the fat off of the back side...

I use a single blade, disposable razor.  Just hold one end of the skin and pull back...

I used to use a butter knife, but it tends to rip the skin if you are not careful.  The razor is perfect.  It is a tough job that in my opinion, is the worst in the competition BBQ world.  You would not believe the amount of fat that comes off of 10 chicken thighs.  Nasty!

Anyway, after scraping the fat, I trim the thigh to ensure the skin will wrap around the meat.

I am also trying some legs to see if I can get nice bite through skin on them with less work.

So, I tossed the chicken and a fryer in a batch of Poultry Brine and let them go for a 6 hour swim.

I seasoned the thighs and legs with Butchers Honey BBQ rub, then wrapped the skin back around the thigh meat.  I also did a beer can chicken as we would like to try and add some pulled chicken in our boxes this year.

The thighs and legs go on the top rack at 250 and the beer can chicken went on the bottom rack.  I used a 50/50 mix of hickory and peach for this cook.

30 minutes on the rack, dunk in sauce, 30 minutes in a pan, then 30 more minutes on a rack with a sauce glaze...

Beer can chicken is looking nice and brown...

Finished product...

Nice color, good taste, and bite through skin on both the thighs and legs.  A very successful practice.

As for the pulled chicken, we mixed some dark meat in with the breast, then lightly sauced and tossed to mix it all up...

Nice taste and very moist.  We might just put this in a box this year.  We are not 100% there, but we are very close...

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill