Dimples Barbecue Sauce - Raleigh, NC - Rich and Flavorful

Dimples BBQ Sauce - New North Carolina Product

After the Biker, Blues & BBQ competition, Rich and Jan Campana got in touch. They were judging at the event. They're certified Kansas City Barbecue Association judges. I was at Tilley Harley Davidson taking notes, snapping photos, and eating some heap good barbecue. We didn't cross paths (that I know of), but Jan saw my barbecue comp photos over at Facebook. We will have to try to meet up in person one of these days, since they are right here in North Carolina - in Raleigh where I graduated from NC State.

Jan dropped me an email and told me about their barbecue sauce - Dimples. It's a new sauce as far as being on the market now, but it's, of course, the product of a lot of work to develop the perfect barbecue sauce. The small batch sauce is now at a few stores in Raleigh but also luckily available online at Dimples BBQ.

If you're familiar with traditional North Carolina barbecue sauces, you'll know that they are vinegar based and rather twangy and thin. Dimples is tomato based and more in the Kansas City range in terms of thickness. I love both types, but I know that our vinegar sauces can be a bit much for people from other parts of the country. That puts Dimples in a more mainstream category as far as appeal.

Dimples was a deep rich red color and smelled great when I popped the seal, so I was keen to get my pork chops on the O Grill.

Pork Chop on O Grill with Dimples Barbecue Sauce

You can see that Dimples BBQ Sauce stayed on the meat really well and caramelized really nicely. Pork chops grill quick, so some barbecue sauces are too thin to stay on well or so thick that they don't color up and have the pretty grill grate marks. Dimples was perfect on the chops.

When it comes to barbecue sauces, it's all about the flavor though. It can be beautiful, but if it doesn't taste great, then it's not a score.

Dimples BBQ Sauce Grilled Pork Chops

I pulled the pork chops off the grill and cut into one. Yum. These pork chops did taste just as good (if not better) than they looked.

The flavor is rich but not overly bold and certainly not hot. Seasonings are balanced with no particular note standing out above the others - just a really pleasant medley. Sometimes I recommend barbecue sauces but specific to certain groups. In this case, you have a barbecue sauce that has general appeal. This could be a solid "go to" pick that would be loved by all your family and friends.

Yadkin River Smokers North Carolina Western BBQ Sauce

Yadkin River Smokers Barbecue Sauce

I tried out a new western North Carolina vinegar based barbecue sauce made by Yadkin River Smokers this evening.

Yadkin River Smokers were at a barbecue competition with a team and with a booth for pork skins and sauce this weekend. Since I adore pork skins and especially those fried fresh on site, I had to stop by. The pork skins were absolutely amazing, and Robert hooked me up with a bottle of their barbecue sauce.

Robert said that he likes Yadkin River Sauce on chicken, and that it's extra good warmed up and used as a dipping sauce. Barbecue people know their products, so I decided to do my first quick grilled chicken smoke just as he had suggested.

When I opened the bottle, I got the vinegar kick smell, but it was not as strong as many North Carolina barbecue sauce products. There was an extra sweet layer in there. The scent was very nice, so I was curious to see how the sauce would taste grilled on the chicken and also on the side as a dip.

Grilled Chicken Breast Strips with Yadkin River BBQ Sauce

I would call Yadkin River Barbecue Sauce a mop as is the tradition in North Carolina, but it had just a little more body than the NC sauces I've used before. This meant that the sauce stayed on the chicken better than mops which was nice, since I was doing the boneless, skinless chicken breasts which can be on and off in minutes. After a long weekend at a barbecue competition, I really wanted something fast and simple.

I let the chicken rest in the sauce for about a half hour while I got the grill fired up and hot. Preheating a grill really is important. If it's not hot, then grilled foods will stick.

My yard was smelling great, and we were all looking forward to dinner. I was hoping the chicken would taste as good as it smelled.

Grilled Chicken Breasts with Yadkin River BBQ Sauce

I pulled the chicken and had some sauce that I heated on the stove. Sometimes I heat sauce on the side of the grill, but the boneless breasts grill really fast, so it seemed a good idea to heat the mop sauce inside and have it ready.

The grilled chicken with Yadkin River Barbecue Sauce was excellent and even better with extra warmed dipping sauce. Robert told me right on that.

Yadkin River BBQ Sauce is a North Carolina sauce - clearly. But, it has an extra layer of sweet to cut the twangy vinegar. I adore our North Carolina vinegar sauces, but they can be a bit much for those outside the area. I think Yadkin River BBQ Sauce will appeal to locals but also to those who are not used to the real high octane vinegar sauces. It's in the spirit of our sauces but with more layers and not so "in your face" on the vinegar.

You can buy Yadkin River Sauce direct, and they hope to be in grocery stores soon. Since Food Lion is based here in North Carolina, I hope they will be carrying Yadkin River Barbecue Sauce. They are good about stocking local products, and this is a thumbs up.

Grilled Boneless Chicken with Ralph's Barbecue Sauce

Ralph's Barbecue Sauce from Salisbury, NC

Last night I grilled boneless, skinless chicken breasts on the PK cast aluminum grill. I work with Ralph at the college but did not know that he was a BBQ sauce guy until this month. We tried out his Bar-B-Que sauce on smoked pork butt (which takes a lot of time and work). Ralph mentioned that he liked his barbecue sauce best on chicken, so I wanted to do chicken too.

Ralph's barbecue sauce is a traditional Lexington, NC type of sauce. That means that it's a mop sauce - thin with a vinegar base and with it being western for NC, then it's got a little red (ketchup). There are also pepper seeds to give it a little kick. Mostly it's not real hot around here, but you can get some of the guys around to notch it up. Ralph said that he triples the peppers for his preacher who likes his barbecue smoking hot.

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts Marinating in Ralph's BBQ Sauce

First, I put our chicken in a bowl and covered the chicken with Ralph's barbecue sauce. I let it sit about 20 or 30 minutes to let the chicken come up to room temperature. If meat is real cold, then it will tend to stick to the grates. Also, this allows the sauce to flavor the chicken some even before it goes on the grill.

Grilling Chicken on Our Portable Kitchen Aluminum Cast Grill

While the boneless chicken was grilling, I moppped it some. I used a brush and just put a little extra barbecue sauce on as the chicken was grilling. This works well with a thin mop sauce. If you have a thick Kansas City style sauce, then you only want that on at the end, because it has more sugar, and it will burn before the chicken is done. With a mop sauce, you may get some dark spots, but it's not a burned taste. It's just yum.

Yum. Chicken Looks and Smells Great with This NC BBQ Sauce.

I flipped the chicken over. It only takes 5 to 10 minutes with these small pieces. You can see the white grilled or cooked color coming up the sides. When it's about half up the sides, you flip the chicken and finish off the other side at about the same time.

Ralph's Barbecue Sauce Chicken

We loved the grilled pork butt with Ralph's Bar-B-Que sauce, but I'd have to agree that it rocks the chicken. You can grill chicken and mop it as I did here (and with a print off recipe below), or you can fry the chicken and then lather on some Ralph's barbecue sauce. That's the next thing we plan to try. Barbi-fry chicken is popular here with the vinegar based sauces, and Ralph's sauce is so yummy that the local Village Inn Pizza uses his sauce on Wednesday wing night.

print recipe

Grilled Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

by Cyndi Allison May-10-2011

Go healthy on the grill with boneless, skinless chicken breasts that taste so great that you'll not feel deprived one bit.

Ingredients

• 4 or as many as wanted boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup or so (more if grilling more chicken) barbecue sauce

Instructions

Be sure boneless, skinless chicken breats are thawed out and let them rest in a bowl with a mop style barbecue sauce marinade. You can also use Italian style dressing, but you get a very different flavor.While barbecue chicken is marinating, start grill. You want the grill about 350 degrees F or medium hot. Preheating helps prevent sticking. Put boneless chicken breasts or tenders on grates to grill and let grill until cooked about half done. Time will vary, but this should take 5 to 10 minutes depending on the size on the chicken and the heat of the grill. If using a mop barbecue sauce (thin vinegar base), then you can brush on more sauce while the chicken is grilling. Turn the chicken over when it has grill marks, and you can see a white cooked grilled color coming up the sides.Again, you can mop on more of the North Carolina barbecue sauce with is thin and heavy on vinegar. Let the chicken grill for, again, about 5 to 10 minutes. You do want chicken grilled through but not dried out. You can use a knife and cut into one of the thicker boneless breasts to double check. After you grill the chicken a few times like this, you will be able to eyeball it and know. Take chicken off the grill with tongs, and it's ready to serve immediatly, or it can rest a few minutes while you're finishing up the rest of the outdoor meal.

Details

Prep time: 25 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 50 mins Yield: 4 servings or more