Texas Mop Sauce

Texas barbecue includes many meats, but beef brisket is king. A huge dark mass of cooked beef breast, brisket is usually sliced about ¼ inch thick across the grain and served on brown butcher paper without sauces or forks. Now that’s minimalist.

Old-timey Texans take their brisket naked. They don’t cotton to sloppy, sticky, ketchup-based sauces like they make way up north in Kansas City. That’s because steers don’t need sugar any more than they need wolves. Some pit stops have given in to public demand and now serve sauces. Some serve gloppy red sauces, but only a few serve the original.

The old-fashioned Texas sauces are used as mops during the cook because in Texas, commercial pits often cook the meat 2 to 3 feet directly above coals. They can run hot, and they are opened often to add and remove meat. A mop splashed on the meat during cooking replenishes moisture and cools the meat.

These mop sauces feature local flavors: chili powder, ground ancho chile, hot sauce, cumin, beer, onion, beef drippings, and sometimes even coffee grounds. Thin as this sauce is, it adds a richness and depth to the meat because it doesn’t just sit on the surface, it penetrates. Pitmasters make up a batch and use it on everything: brisket, beef ribs, pork ribs, pulled pork, chicken, mutton, goat, and sausage (which they call hot guts).

Here’s a very tasty sauce formula inspired by the sauce at legendary Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que in Llano, Texas. Customers come up and point at the meat they want; if they want sauce, the meat is dunked in the bucket, flavoring both. Trimmings are also tossed in the bucket. So if you go to Cooper’s, tell the pitmaster to dip it—don’t wait until you get to the table, where there is bottled sauce.

 

Makes about 5 cups

Takes about 30 minutes

• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon butter or rendered beef fat
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 cups beef, veal, or chicken stock
• 1 cup Lone Star beer or any other lager
• ¼ cup ketchup
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons steak sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce

1. Mix the paprika, black pepper, chili powder, and cumin in a small bowl.

2. In a 2-quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and gently cook until translucent.

3. Add the garlic, bell pepper, and the spice mixture and stir. Cook for 2 minutes to extract the flavors.

4. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until well blended. Simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes. Drink any beer left in the can. Taste the sauce and adjust as needed. Divide it in half and use half to mop the meat when cooking. Use the remainder to splash on the meat when you serve it.