# Turbo Dog Barbecue Sauce Recipe



## cajunsmoke13 (Apr 6, 2009)

What's your take on this? Wood chips to the sauce. I know the beer is good, just wondering what you all thought. Might have to try it. This is off of nolacuisine.com 


Barbecue Sauce is just one of those things that American outdoor cooks just love to tweak and experiment with, I’m no exception. I like my sauce to be balanced with sweetness and acidity with the appropriate amount of heat, and I never use liquid smoke because it tastes like liquid smoke. I do however throw a handful of well washed wood chips into the sauce while it’s simmering for a woodsy flavor, the chips are later strained out. I achieve the smoky flavor during the cooking process.
Abita Turbo Dog is a dark beer from Abita Springs, Louisiana with flavors of chocolate, coffee and carmel, which adds a nice depth to this sauce.

*Turbo Dog Barbecue Sauce recipe*
1 Bottle Abita Turbo Dog
2 cups Ketchup
1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 Homemade Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (see note here for homemade)
2 Tbsp Creole Mustard
1 Tbsp Yellow Mustard
1 Tbsp Crystal Hot Sauce
1 Tbsp Basic Barbecue Rub
1/2 tsp Black Pepper, freshly ground
1 Jalapeno, chopped
2 Garlic cloves, chopped
1 handful Pecan wood chips (well washed)
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce is thickly coats the back of a spoon, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.


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## fire it up (Apr 6, 2009)

I assume you would strain it afterwards?  Seems kind of odd to put the wood chips in it, no?
Not sure what the beer you're using tastes like but everything else seems like it could be a really good sauce, long as there are no splinters...


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## cajunsmoke13 (Apr 6, 2009)

I was thinking the same thing Fire.  Wonder if it really adds that much flavor.  Curious to see if anyone else does that...Thanks


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## alblancher (Apr 7, 2009)

Just wondering if raw wood imparts the same flavor as burned wood?  They age bourbon in charred wood barrels.

Al


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## bbq engineer (Apr 7, 2009)

I have made wine with my father in law, and we used 5 gallon glass carboys as the containers.  At wine supply stores, they sell oak chips that you can add to your wine during the aging process that imparts the oakiness you would get from being aged barrels.  The chips were "cleaned" somehow (I'm guessing steamed if I had to bet), but it does add the characteristic wood tones...interesting idea, I must say.


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## txbbqman (Apr 7, 2009)

I will say it is and interesting idea at the very least.

We have a winery here in town and I have heard some of the home brewers talk about this but I never thought to apply it over to BBQ sauce. 

If anyone tries this please post and let us all know how it turned out, me.....I am gonna wait it out and let someone else do the experiment,
 I just can't bring myself to potentially ruin and entire pot of BBQ sauce...


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## bbq engineer (Apr 7, 2009)

I don't know if this would work well with BBQ sauce instead of wine. With wine, it imparts a subtle oakiness, where I'm afraid this would be lost in the big bold flavors of BBQ sauce. I do drink Abita beer (love it), and like Turbo Dog a lot. I use it in cooking too, because it is pretty bold and has a lot of flavor. The next time I'm experimenting in my kitchen I might try this, as I have some white oak chips in with my wine making supplies, and like I need an excuse to go get some turbo dog on ice! I will report back when I get around to this one, because it sounds fun.

Mrs. Engineer got me Abita beer on one of her beer runs where she surprises me with a bunch of different beers.  We found turbo dog when we went back for more, and thought it was aptly named for my very own turbo dog (we bought it in her honor)...it just turned out that it was pretty darned good.

Here is Hannah, one of my Cow Girls (and a "SERIOUS" Turbo Dog) as she goes for a frisbee.


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## cajunsmoke13 (Apr 7, 2009)

Nice pics BBQE.  Let us know.  Might give it a try.  Why not?  Might come out good.


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## bbq engineer (Apr 16, 2009)

I put together the ingredients to try this BBQ sauce. I like Abita beer and drink (and cook) with Turbo Dog. I have been wanting a “Homemade BBQ Sauce” that I can tweak to be my own, and the sauce sounded good looking at the ingredients that went into it. 

Also, I wanted to see what effect the wood chips had on the process and report back. In order to do this, I made the sauce, and then separated it into two batches. One (the control sample) was finished without wood chips, and the test sample I added ½ cup of Oak chips that I had around the house for winemaking. I used Mrs. Engineer as my taste tester as well as noting my own conclusions. Here is what I did:

I assembled the ingredients that I would need. (not shown are the ketchup, brown sugar, and garlic).


Here is a pic of the Turbo Dog beer. As you can see, it is a dark beer and has a lot of flavor to it. I personally like all kinds of different beers, and this one is in my fridge on a regular basis. I like to cook with it, because it has a deep color and a lot of taste that doesn’t get lost in the dish you are making.


Here are the wood chips that I am going to use. They are used in home wine making to impart the oakiness that comes from wine being aged in oak barrels.


The recipe called for Crystal hot sauce…I couldn’t get that here in KC…so I got this Louisiana hot sauce as a substitute. Also, I couldn’t find something labeled as “Creole” mustard (what does creole signify??)…so I went with a coarse grained Dijon mustard as a substitute.


I made a batch of this and then separated it into two pans. My control sample (without oak chips is in the back).


Closeup of the control sample.


Closeup of the test sample.


I tried them on some meatballs that I had made. 


*My and Mrs. Engineer’s impressions:* Initially, my beautiful and talented assistant thought that the sauce had a lot of mustard and garlic. At intervals I had her taste samples of each, and as they cooked down, the mustard and garlic faded. Also, we both like spice, and I thought that the heat was pretty intense at first, but somehow that faded as the sauce simmered too. At about 5 minutes into the cooking, the oak tones became clear, and the longer I simmered the sauce, the more present it became. The aroma also became clear in the house. If you have ever cut oak boards with a table saw or circular saw, the aroma that comes from that is what I am talking about. It added a really nice essence to the sauce, and it was clear which one had the wood chips in it. Mrs. Engineer (blind taste test) could clearly pick it out, and I thought it was very prominent. We both liked what it added to the sauce. 

*Things I would change:* First of all, I would get a spice bag or cheese cloth to do this or better yet, I would put the wood chips in with the beer and other thin liquid ingredients to simmer first which would make it easier to strain out. Straining the thickened sauce was a little difficult (but not impossible). Believe it our not, I will probably add a little more heat next time, after initially thinking it was to much. I plan to use this sauce, and tinker a little more with quantities to dial it in to my liking, but it does turn out a very rich, tangy, sweet, and spicy sauce that is pretty darn tasty. I want to try this on some ribs as well…along with a cold Turbo Dog on the side.


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## grothe (Apr 16, 2009)

Great experiment and post BBQ Eng!!


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## fire it up (Apr 16, 2009)

Excellent job Engineer, glad you decided to try the recipe out.
After the original post I was really intrigued so I grabbed a bottle of BBQ sauce that was on sale for $1, I was going to simmer it with some hickory chips in there just to see what, if any, smoke flavor comes through, but now I don't have to.
I'm assuming creole mustard would just be a spicy brown with creole seasonings in it?

Ok, checked on creole mustard and this is what I found-

"Creole Mustard is a variation of wholegrain mustard where the seeds are slightly crushed. They are not ground nor are they whole. The ingredients in Creole Mustard can vary from producer to producer slightly, however, they all have the same basic flavor. However, some are better than others."

Sauce looked like it was good and those meatballs had to have been good, especially liked the prevalent pink ring.
Points!


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## cajunsmoke13 (Apr 16, 2009)

Excellent BBQE.  Nic job on the sauce.  Looks great.  I am on it now.  Great qview.


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## cajunsmoke13 (Apr 17, 2009)

Going to mix up a batch tonight.


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## azrocker (Apr 17, 2009)

Great idea. I will have to try this.


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