Barbecue Tricks

BBQ Tips and Tricks

coffee

Featured

Coffee BBQ Rub

Starbucks BBQ? … I’m not sure we will see any grande sized Starbucks BBQ sauce cups pop up in stores anytime soon but there ARE a few tips and tricks you can use with coffee to really liven up and give some cowboy swag and extra depth to your sauces and rubs. Watch the video HERE

coffeetricks.Still003Many times coffee is used in sweet or dessert type recipes and it’s not typically thought of as a savory ingredient ( until now). I think of coffee recipes as a “sitting around the campfire cowboy” type food. At least that’s what comes to mind for me.

Coffee brings a little bit bitter, caramel, some earthy, chocolatey flavors to BBQ sauces and BBQ rubs.   Oh, and if you’re making a biscuit gravy you got to have some coffee in there.

Here are a few Tricks to using coffee in BBQ:

  • First, avoid using grounds they’ll leave your sauce mealy or gritty – and never use “used” grounds.
  • A better choice: try the new instant coffees like Starbucks’s Via brand… The fine texture is made todissolve into water and we find it’s dynamite in a BBQ rub. The micro grind allows the flavor to reallymelt into your meat. The stick portion size makes it a nice measuring amount for rubs…You might think it would be too overpowering for a rub but the flavor really mellows with roasting.

coffeetricks.Still001For a Starbucks BBQ rub Mix together 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp ground

coriander, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp cumin, 2 tsp salt, 1 TBSP smoked paprika, 3 to 4 TBSP brown

sugar, & 2 packets of Starbucks VIA. Store in airtight container for months…

 

  • If you’re working on a coffee sauce try to work with a double concentrated brew…. Use a French press like we used here or use half the amount of water in your drip machine… Use a very fine ground coffee if you can…or espresso
  • Finally try chicory as a secret ingredient –Chicory is a plant whose roots can be ground and baked to create a cheap coffee substitute; a practice that is popular in New Orleans. This blend of coffee and chicory from Café Du Monde has a smokier, woodier taste than most coffee.
  • Oh, one more coffee trick – an inexpensive coffee grinder makes a great SPICE grinder for BBQ. Just give it a good cleaning before your next coffee grind.

Coffee… It’s not just for breakfast anymore!  Got a great use for coffee in BBQ share in the comments!

Recipes

Coffee Mop Sauce Recipe – Texas Style

Coffee Mop Sauce

Coffee Mop Sauce

When barbecuing big slabs of beef like Brisket or Tri-Tip the Texans know a secret trick.   Slather on the sauce early and often throughout the low and slow cooking process to layer on Texas sized flavor.

In fact, the unique sauce they use inherited a new name and BBQ classification.  The thin sauce is called a “Mop” because it’s typically too thin to hold on to a regular basting brush and requires a “mop” type floppy cotton yarn brush to soak up the liquid and baste over the beat.  It’s a sloppy process.

History has it that President Johnson’s barbecue master Walter Jetton (yep. he had a BBQ master) made the mop famous in his 1960’s era book.

When used in Texas sized PITS sometimes a real household mop is re-purposed for this task to handle the huge quantity.   More likely you’ll want to use sa normal sized brisket and a commercially available “drawer sized” bbq mop like the one shown (or this Sauce Mop and Bucket Set from Amazon).

 

Use this peppery coffee mop sauce liberally on large cuts of beef to layer on flavor and keep the moisture in the meat.  Over time the mop will facilitate a rustic sweet bark on the surface of the meat.

Print
Coffee Mop Sauce Recipe – Texas Style

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 2 cups sauce

Coffee Mop Sauce Recipe – Texas Style

Try this peppery slick sauce or "mop" with your next brisket. Douse meat often during low and slow cooking process.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Dark/Strong Coffee
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 cup Catsup
  • 1 full tablespoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

  1. Mix ingredients in large pot or sauce pan with enough room to place mop without overflow.
  2. Simmer lightly for 20 minutes. Sauce "(mop) should be used thin to baste meat. Allow to thicken for a spicy "sop" to serve plate side.