South Carolina Style Mustard BBQ Sauce

I am smoking some pork butts tomorrow night for an office party on Friday.   Since different folks have varied tastes, I'll be serving it with a choice of sauces including my favorite Piedmont style sauce, a sweet sauce, and a mustard sauce.

Yeah, a barbecue sauce made from mustard.

Unless you hail from central South Carolina, that probably sounds weird to you.  But mustard and vinegar based bbq sauces are the standard in the "Mustard Belt" across South Carolina.  They are tangy, spicy, and sweet. 

For me, I fell in love with mustard BBQ sauces about the same time I was falling in love with Alexis.  We were co-workers and often shared lunch together at Woody's BBQ in Jacksonville, FL. They used mustard BBQ sauces. I hadn't seen a golden BBQ sauce before but I loved how it tasted on the large turkey sandwiches that I would usually get.

Last night, I did a test run and made 4 batches of mustard style sauces and then we did some blind taste testing. 

We both ended up picking the same one out of the four.  It is a variation of the one we have used for years, but drops a thing or two and adds two "secret ingredients". 

See all of those specks of flavor?

The chipotle mustard and "apple pie" moonshine are my secret ingredients and give it the signature flavor I was looking for.  The chipotle adds a smoky and spicy profile.  The apple pie moonshine is a kickier version of cider vinegar. 

South Carolina Style Mustard BBQ Sauce

source:  www.nibblemethis.com

1/2 cup yellow mustard (you want a plain yellow mustard like French's)

1/4 cup chipotle mustard (I used World Classics brand)

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup apple/cinnamon flavored moonshine

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp white pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp butter

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Tonight, we tested it on grilled chicken.  We fired up Alexis' Big Green Egg to 350f.  Notice how the storms have stripped all but one of the Eggs off of our Easter Tree?  

Grilled them 6-8 minutes per side, glazing them with some of the sauce in the last 2-3 minutes.

  

I pulled them off individually as they hit an internal temperature of 160f.   Within a minute of bringing them into the house, Trevor came bouncing down the stairs saying, "I smell something GOOD!"

They came out excellent and the sauce grilled onto them nicely, yielding a bit of all the flavors.

Now I can't wait to taste it on pulled pork Friday morning!