Cook the Book: Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q White Sauce
Big Bob Gibson was well-known for many reasons. First off, he was a big, friendly guy—six-foot-four and around 300 pounds, hence the nickname. Secondly, he had an unsurpassed gift for making some pretty amazing barbecue. But if you ask any of the residents of Decatur, Alabama, they'll tell you that Big Bob Gibson is famous for his white sauce.
Big Bob's serves countless racks of ribs and perfectly cooked brisket, but the real draw is the barbecued chicken. The chicken itself isn't that complicated—just whole butterflied chickens rubbed with salt, pepper, and oil, and grilled over hickory until golden. The magic lies in the white sauce the chickens are submerged in once they've finished cooking.
The Gibson clan has tried to keep this unique white sauce recipe under wraps up—until now. Chis Lilly, heir to the Big Bob empire, has generously decided to share his family's secret barbecue sauce recipe in Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book.
The white sauce is a creamy, rich, and mayonnaise-y concoction with a kick of lemon, vinegar, horseradish, and cayenne. If you're a fan of ranch dressing with Buffalo wings, this is right up your ally.
Win 'Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book'
As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book to give away this week. Enter to win here »
Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q White Sauce
- makes 4 cups -
Adapted from Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book by Chis Lilly.
Ingredients
2 cups mayonnaise
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup apple juice
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Procedure
In large bowl, combine all the ingredients and blend well. Use as a marinade, baste, or dipping sauce. Store refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
3 Comments:
I'm an avid hater of mayo, so I may be biased, but
...mayo based BBQ sauce? I've seen this on TFN, and I just wanted to puke.
Good BBQ doesn't even need a sauce, but when one is needed, mayo should be the last thing ever considered for a base to the sauce. I'm sure mayo lovers will love it, but they have a screw loose to begin with.
Both eastern and western N.C. have BBQ sauce down pat. Nowhere else in the country is it done better. S.C has a great mustard based sauce as well. Sorry "Stubbs", but your sauce blows, and without even trying it, due to my bias against mayo, I can say that this sauce pretty much reeks as well. A line has to be drawn somewhere.
Raiders757 at 8:27PM on 09/03/09
I used to feel like Raiders757 when I first read about mayo based Alabama BBQ sauce. Sounded very twisted since I like vinegar based any day of the week. But then I tried it about a year ago on grilled (but not BBQ chicken) and I loved it. It has a lot of the tang that vinegar sauces bring.
swibirun at 9:55PM on 09/03/09
Actually Decatur/North Alabama BBQ uses minimal to no sauce at all. The white sauce is a weird one but freakishly works. Growing up in Decatur, local cookbooks for decades tried to decipher and guess what was in Big Bob's sauce. I guess the secret's out now. Horseradish... so that was the missing bit...
ZenKimchi at 4:32AM on 09/04/09