Vinegar

This is not really a question I'm kinda more looking for some opinion. Ive tasted some good bbq in the States in fact the best food in my life and as an experienced cook was very keen to try to reproduce some of the results, so I got a number of books such as Mastering the Grill, Smoke and Spice, and a couple of Steve Raichlens books.

Now here is the issue,having read a number of recipes I was alarmed by the amount of vinegar required for mops and sauces etc however I carried on regrdless as I like to try a recipe to the letter first time round, having tasted these the vinegar I felt was just too over powering. I dont have anything against vinegar as I like it alot actually. Having done a lot of further reading I understand that a lot of bbq recipes are vinegar based. Does anybody have any suggestions or opinions on this or maybe I bought the wrong books as I visited a number of states in America and I did'nt even get a whiff of vinegar when I tasted bbq there so Im a bit confused ?

I always associated vinegar based sauces with the Carolinas..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue_in_the_United_States

Vinegar is your friend when it comes to BBQ, the trick is that the strength of the sauce does cook out. I never rely on how potent a sauce is until I cook it a bit on some meat. There is a magic that happens when the sauce hits the meat and some heat is applied. remember, you are tasting the sauce straight up.. and when you add your rub and the flavour of the meat things change. IMO the best sauces have a good vinegar bit to them out of the bottle. I will give my mustard sauce as an example, to taste it straight its harsh, but mix it with pulled pork and some cols slaw and that is a flavour that cant be beat.

https://proq.forumotion.com/sauces-rubs-and-sides-f15/roxy-s-sc-mustard-sauce-t19.htm

Roxy wrote:Vinegar is your friend when it comes to BBQ, the trick is that the strength of the sauce does cook out. I never rely on how potent a sauce is until I cook it a bit on some meat. There is a magic that happens when the sauce hits the meat and some heat is applied. remember, you are tasting the sauce straight up.. and when you add your rub and the flavour of the meat things change. IMO the best sauces have a good vinegar bit to them out of the bottle. I will give my mustard sauce as an example, to taste it straight its harsh, but mix it with pulled pork and some cols slaw and that is a flavour that cant be beat.

https://proq.forumotion.com/sauces-rubs-and-sides-f15/roxy-s-sc-mustard-sauce-t19.htm

Sounds interesting Roxy you have got me thinking I must admit have not actually started barbecuing yet (though I will be in a few days) I just made up said mops and sauces with some ribs etc cooked from the oven, so I still keep an open mind and try some more recipes with some pulled pork etc that come off the bbq

Another thing to remember is that pork is a bit on the fatty side and the fat cuts into the vinegar and kind of balances it out a bit.

I like a sauce thats a little tangy on my pulled pork and pork ribs.

I also found that if you don't use too much, it really enhances the meat. Tomato based can be used more liberally.