Tin Star Smokehouse could use a dose of Pig Picker Pucker Sauce

Tin Star Smokehouse, which I review this week, offers two homemade, sweet, ketchupy, Kansas City-style barbecue sauces. I tried squirting each of them on the meat on my BBQ plate, but they both left me craving sauce of another kind...from Carolina. See also: - Tin Star Smokehouse review: Everyone in...

By Gretchen Kurtz

August 1, 2013

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Tin Star Smokehouse, which I review this week, offers two homemade, sweet, ketchupy, Kansas City-style barbecue sauces. I tried squirting each of them on the meat on my BBQ plate, but they both left me craving sauce of another kind...from Carolina. See also: - Tin Star Smokehouse review: Everyone in the pig pile! - Photos: A closer look at Tin Star Smokehouse - Best BBQ 2013: Boney's Smokehouse BBQ

Not the South Carolina version, which is also sweet but does have more bite thanks to the addition of mustard, vinegar and, depending on who's doing the mixing, jalapenos or cayenne. No, I have a hankering for a North Carolina-style sauce, which is not only ketchup-free but nearly sugar-free as well.

Paul Schutt, who opened Tin Star Smokehouse in March, says he's working on adding a sauce like that to his menu.

Until it's rolled out, though, try the Pig Picker Pucker Sauce from Steven Raichlen's Barbecue! Bible. And leave that bottle of KC Masterpiece at the grocery store where it belongs.

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Gretchen Kurtz has worked as a writer for 25 years; during that time she's stomped grapes in Napa, eaten b'stilla in Fez, and baked with Buddy Valastro, aka the Cake Boss. Her work has appeared in publications including Boulevard (Paris), Diversion, the New York Times and Westword. Our restaurant critic since 2012, she loves helping you decide where to eat and drink tonight.

Contact: Gretchen Kurtz

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