Oscar's Rib Sauces

[CraigC]

I worked with Oscar for several years. He did rib cooks on the side to make extra money. He cooked them "Soul Food" style with typical sides. One thing he did, as many others in several African-American communities around Ft. Lauderdale, FL that cook this style of ribs, was to serve plain old sliced white bread with the ribs. That was totally new to me. His ribs were very popular and really good. They were not smoked, but done over charcoal briquettes, in homemade cookers. He was kind enough to give me his ingredients written out and I had to take dictation for the instructions. Anyway his rib sauces!

Oscar's Rib Sauces

For 52# of ribs

13 C Chopped Onions
3-1/4 C Vegetable Oil
13 C Tomato Sauce
6-1/2 C Water
3-1/4 C Light Brown Sugar
3-1/4 Fresh Lemon Juice
39 Tbsp Worchestershire Sauce (2 C + 7 Tbsp)
26 Tbsp Yellow Mustard (1-1/2 C + 2 Tbsp)
26 tsp Kosher Salt (8 Tbsp + 2 tsp)
3-1/4 tsp Black Pepper

Add all ingredients to a stock pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring often. Reduce heat and cook to blend, about 20 minutes, stirring often. Cool. Using a blender (in small batches) or immersion blender, blend too a smooth sauce. Can be kept in fridge up to a week. You certainly can make smaller amounts.


Special Sauce for 13# of ribs

4 C Chopped Onions
3 C Chopped Celery
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1-1/2 Pounds Jimmy Deans Original Sausage
5-1/2 C Tomato Sauce
5-1/4 C Ketchup
4 C Water or 2 C Water + 2-1/2 C Orange Juice
1-1/2 C Light Brown Sugar
3/4 C Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 C A1 Original Steak Sauce
1/2 C Worchestershire Sauce
6-1/2 Tbsp Yellow Mustard
6-1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
3/4 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 C Cider Vinegar
4 C Pineapple Juice
1 C Duck Sauce
1/2 C Molasses
3-1/2 C Light Karo Syrup
1/2 C Torani Cherry Flavoring/Syrup
1/2 C Tabasco or Crystal Hot Sauce
2 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper

In a stock pot heat the vegetable oil over med-high and brown the sausage, breaking it up as it browns. Remove the browned sausage, set aside draining on paper towels. Remove all but 2 Tbsp of the fat and sautee the celery and onions until soft, but not browned. Reduce heat to medium and add all other ingredients, including reserved sausage. Bring to a simmer, stirring often. Reduce heat to low and cook until blended, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Using either a blender (in batches) or an immersion blender, blend until mostly smooth, breaking up the sausage as much as possible. Cool. Can be kept in the fridge for up to a week. You can certainly make smaller amounts.

I added the immersion blender info as they weren't readily available at the time.

 

[buckytom]

Can you scale that down for a 1/2 rack for me, Craigsy?

Just kidding. Looks good. I wonder how well a quart or two would last, or could it be frozen?

I love plain white bread with saucy ribs. It helps cut through the rich, fatty meat and flavorful sauce like a palate cleanser.

 

[CharlieD]

I'm sorry but what does 52# and 13# mean?

 

[CraigC]

I'm sorry but what does 52# and 13# mean?

Pounds.

 

[GotGarlic]

I have software that makes it easy to import recipes, scale them up or down, and reorganize ingredients, so I thought I'd offer this. I didn't round the results.

The original rib sauce recipe left out the amount of the lemon juice; I assumed it was in cups.

Oscar's Rib Sauce (5 servings, 1/5 of original recipe)

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups Chopped Onions
10 1/2 Tbs Vegetable Oil
2 3/4 cups Tomato Sauce
1 1/4 cups Water
10 1/2 Tbs Light Brown Sugar
3/4 cup Fresh Lemon Juice
7 3/4 Tbs Worchestershire Sauce
5 1/4 Tbs Yellow Mustard
1 3/4 Tbs Kosher Salt
3/4 tsp Black Pepper

Add all ingredients to a stock pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring often. Reduce heat and cook to blend, about 20 minutes, stirring often. Cool. Using a blender (in small batches) or immersion blender, blend too a smooth sauce. Can be kept in fridge up to a week. You certainly can make smaller amounts.

====================

Oscar's Special Sauce for 4# of ribs

Ingredients
1 Tbs Vegetable Oil
3/4 lb Jimmy Deans Original Sausage
2 cups Chopped Onions
1 1/2 cups Chopped Celery
2 3/4 cups Tomato Sauce
2 3/4 cups Ketchup
2 cups Water or 1 C Water 1 C Orange Juice
2 cups Pineapple Juice
1 3/4 cups Light Karo Syrup
3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Duck Sauce
1/4 cup A1 Original Steak Sauce
1/4 cup Worchestershire Sauce
1/4 cup Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup Molasses
1/4 cup Torani Cherry Flavoring/Syrup
1/4 cup Tabasco or Crystal Hot Sauce
6 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice
3 1/4 Tbs Yellow Mustard
1 Tbs Kosher Salt
1 Tbs Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp Black Pepper

In a stock pot heat the vegetable oil over med-high and brown the sausage, breaking it up as it browns. Remove the browned sausage, set aside draining on paper towels. Remove all but 2 Tbsp of the fat and sautee the celery and onions until soft, but not browned. Reduce heat to medium and add all other ingredients, including reserved sausage. Bring to a simmer, stirring often. Reduce heat to low and cook until blended, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Using either a blender (in batches) or an immersion blender, blend until mostly smooth, breaking up the sausage as much as possible. Cool. Can be kept in the fridge for up to a week. You can certainly make smaller amounts.

 

[caseydog]

Craig, plain white bread is very common in Texas BBQ joints. Pickles, onions and white bread. Some places put it with your meat order, and others let you help yourself.

CD

.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Craig, plain white bread is very common in Texas BBQ joints.

Also very common in KC. I never could figure out why. For instance, at Arthur Bryant's they pile your meat on top of the bread. It does soak up some of the flavor I suppose, but I always end up just eating the meat and pushing the crappy bread to the side of the plate.

 

[CraigC]

Craig, plain white bread is very common in Texas BBQ joints. Pickles, onions and white bread. Some places put it with your meat order, and others let you help yourself.

CD

.

I should have mentioned it was over 20 years ago when I got these recipes. I just ran across them tucked in a pocket of one of our cookbooks. At that time there weren't any BBQ shows like there are now. So it really was new to me.

 

[jennyema]

So he puts the second one with breakfast sausage in it on ribs?

 

[medtran49]

Yes. Recipes like that are not unknown. We have a recipe for grilled pork chops that have a BBQ sauce with sausage, not breakfast, it was a brat or some kind of andouille type, too long since we made it. The female members of our family didn't much care for it, but the males for the most part really liked it.

 

[jennyema]

Yes. Recipes like that are not unknown. We have a recipe for grilled pork chops that have a BBQ sauce with sausage, not breakfast, it was a brat or some kind of andouille type, too long since we made it. The female members of our family didn't much care for it, but the males for the most part really liked it.

Interesting..... not sure if its my cup of tea though.

 

[mozart]

I have software that makes it easy to import recipes, scale them up or down, and reorganize ingredients, so I thought I'd offer this. I didn't round the results.

The original rib sauce recipe left out the amount of the lemon juice; I assumed it was in cups.

Oscar's Rib Sauce (5 servings, 1/5 of original recipe)

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups Chopped Onions
10 1/2 Tbs Vegetable Oil
2 3/4 cups Tomato Sauce
1 1/4 cups Water
10 1/2 Tbs Light Brown Sugar
3/4 cup Fresh Lemon Juice
7 3/4 Tbs Worchestershire Sauce
5 1/4 Tbs Yellow Mustard
1 3/4 Tbs Kosher Salt
3/4 tsp Black Pepper

Add all ingredients to a stock pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring often. Reduce heat and cook to blend, about 20 minutes, stirring often. Cool. Using a blender (in small batches) or immersion blender, blend too a smooth sauce. Can be kept in fridge up to a week. You certainly can make smaller amounts.

====================

Oscar's Special Sauce for 4# of ribs

Ingredients
1 Tbs Vegetable Oil
3/4 lb Jimmy Deans Original Sausage
2 cups Chopped Onions
1 1/2 cups Chopped Celery
2 3/4 cups Tomato Sauce
2 3/4 cups Ketchup
2 cups Water or 1 C Water 1 C Orange Juice
2 cups Pineapple Juice
1 3/4 cups Light Karo Syrup
3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Duck Sauce
1/4 cup A1 Original Steak Sauce
1/4 cup Worchestershire Sauce
1/4 cup Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup Molasses
1/4 cup Torani Cherry Flavoring/Syrup
1/4 cup Tabasco or Crystal Hot Sauce
6 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice
3 1/4 Tbs Yellow Mustard
1 Tbs Kosher Salt
1 Tbs Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp Black Pepper

In a stock pot heat the vegetable oil over med-high and brown the sausage, breaking it up as it browns. Remove the browned sausage, set aside draining on paper towels. Remove all but 2 Tbsp of the fat and sautee the celery and onions until soft, but not browned. Reduce heat to medium and add all other ingredients, including reserved sausage. Bring to a simmer, stirring often. Reduce heat to low and cook until blended, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Using either a blender (in batches) or an immersion blender, blend until mostly smooth, breaking up the sausage as much as possible. Cool. Can be kept in the fridge for up to a week. You can certainly make smaller amounts.

GG,
You do realize that your Oscar's Special Sauce for 4# of ribs adds up to about 17 cups of sauce don't you? 4 1/4 cups per pound? Seems off

 

[GotGarlic]

GG,
You do realize that your Oscar's Special Sauce for 4# of ribs adds up to about 17 cups of sauce don't you? 4 1/4 cups per pound? Seems off

I took the original ingredients and divided them by four, approximately. Laugh at the creator of the recipe if you want, not me.

 

[Just Cooking]

I took the original ingredients and divided them by four, approximately. Laugh at the creator of the recipe if you want, not me.

No one on DC would dare laugh at you, GG...

Ross

 

[GotGarlic]

No one on DC would dare laugh at you, GG...

Ross

Gee, what a nice, helpful comment that is

 

[medtran49]

I took the original ingredients and divided them by four, approximately. Laugh at the creator of the recipe if you want, not me.

Think you might want to to check your math. You might have divided by 2, but not 4.

 

[CraigC]

I took the original ingredients and divided them by four, approximately. Laugh at the creator of the recipe if you want, not me.

Ok, since when is 1-1/2 pounds divided by 4 equal 3/4 pound? 3/4 pound is half of 1-1/2 pounds. I won't laugh at the creator when it is your math error or your programs math error.

 

[GotGarlic]

Sorry about that.

 

[mozart]

I took the original ingredients and divided them by four, approximately. Laugh at the creator of the recipe if you want, not me.

Sorry, GG. Not laughing at you. Just laughing at 17 cups of sauce. Just thought you might want to check your program. It is possible that the original is off because even 8 cups seems like a lot of sauce for 4 pounds.

Or maybe the original poster got the poundage wrong. Anyway a full bottle of sauce seems like plenty fro 4 lbs of Ribs.

 

[CraigC]

Or maybe the original poster got the poundage wrong. Anyway a full bottle of sauce seems like plenty fro 4 lbs of Ribs.

No I didn't get it wrong. Would you like me to scan the original and post it? When you are passing out pints and quarts of sauce to your customers, you most likely want to err on providing more than enough than less than enough. Lots of folks like to dip bread in the sauce. Besides the sauces are also used for basting. Did I post a rub recipe? No because he didn't use any.