Originally posted by JCBBQ
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So, in the US at least, recipes cannot be copyrighted. Obviously, there are still ethical problems with just copying a bunch of recipes and passing them off as yours in a book (or otherwise getting compensation for them) but that's why so many recipe sites blather on and on about where they got the recipe and other stories. Doing that makes the entire post copyrightable. -
This is a pretty good explanation of copyright of recipes. https://copyrightalliance.org/are-re...-by-copyright/Comment
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Thanks for sharing LA Pork Butt. This has been fairly established, but not everyone understands the nuances of recipe and copyright.
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The notoriety has made that book rare and kinda pricey...Originally posted by JCBBQ View PostAs long as you don’t publish a cookbook w recipes and anecdotes from Meathead’s childhood and pass them off as your own, you’re probably good.
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Agreed with everyone else. If you’ve made substantive changes, it’s yours. If you post the recipe or someone asks how you came up with it you can and should tell them inspired by Meathead or based on Meatheads recipe but your riffs make it unique to you, so calling it your recipe seems reasonable to meComment
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Not to be confused with any other recipe, when we resurrected our 80 year old family version of Brunswick Stew, I not only revised ingredients, but make several of my own ingredients…
It’s different enough, I dropped the Brunswick Stew name and named the stew after our homestead… Washblue Stew…. I didn't want anyone to be disappointed before they tried it... I'll let the VA county and the GA city fight over bragging rights of all the other average recipes...
You can’t go wrong being inspired by Meathead … Make your sauce, ILMsmoke ... enjoy it, be proud and I hope you win with it…Last edited by Washblue; June 28, 2022, 05:11 PM.Comment
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I haven’t read all the responses, for me, it’s mine "when it’s in my hand".
I riff on just about everything.
but I get where you’re coming from……and now that I read the responses, what Meathead said. Of course, I won’t change his KC sauce…. MmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeComment
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I’ve had people rave over Meathead’s sauce as the recipe is written, I adjusted the honey but that’s in his notes as a modification. Any time anyone ever asks for the recipe, I just give them the link.Originally posted by shify View Post
That notwithstanding, I’ve had people ask me to make it for them anyhow. People are strange, even when they’re not strangers.
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From your description it's your sauce right now. Quite sure even Meathead would tell you that.
EDIT: I didn't see he'd already responded when I typed this, so yeah.Comment
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Thanks for all the great input! When people have asked me for some of my recipes I typically tell them about Meathead's book and that it's where some of my recipes originate while sending them a link to purchase. If it's a friend I think would truly embrace the book, I give them mine and order myself a new one. I've probably done this a dozen times. I hold everything open handed myself and wouldn't mind someone modifying one of my few recipes and calling their own...Comment
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I know of someone that has used a food chemist / lab to create rubs and sauces. I think those can get pricey and cost an arm and a leg.
I don’t know if that makes a sauce any better
but a friend of ours has gone that route. I once contacted a lab to create a fresh homemade lemonade 15 years and the cost was going to be $3,000 and was told I would be very happy with it. Have others ever used a lab for creating sauces? I think the lab would’ve been selling me lemon oils which brings out the flavor including the correct amount of citric acid.
You’ve got to be very careful with citric acid
cause it can give a tummy ache if not careful with it.Comment
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Ok, so it may or may not be a "lab" that you went to. It’s a co-packer. That is a company that produces your recipe for you. EX: Meathead is not standing over a stove/smoker belting out amazing sauces by himself. The product is produced, bottled and labeled in a professional setting.
I used to run shared kitchens where people can come to my space and produce their product to sell online or at farmers markets, fairs, etc. eventually, they need to move to a co-packer for logistics.
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BBQ sauce is mine after I pay for it.Comment
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It was yours the first time you modified it to suit your needs/wants. All the rest is B.S. From a chef of 45 years in the business. It's all been done, but the execution that YOU do is what makes it unique to you. Tear 'em up!Comment
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That is where the creativity and art of cooking comes in. You make a recipe as written then think if I added this, used less of that it would be a bit better for my tastes. The recipe evolves and becomes yours. My Mom's cook books had all kinds of notes indicating substitutions and changes. They started in a book but became hers.Comment
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This is the beauty of cooking! A BBQ cook once started his class with the comment, "We can start with the same spices, meat, wood and cooker. You can season right next to me and copy what I do. The end result will still be unique." Your sauce is your sauce, no matter it's origins because no one can use it like you do.
Sauce is what got me started in BBQ competition. In 2003, the organizer of our local contest begged me to cook his contest. I did chicken, ribs and sauce. Durn if I didn't win 1st place in sauce! Reel me in, I was hooked! My sauce was a compilation of my two favorite Bills (Bill Arnold of Blues Hog and Bill Milroy of Texas Rib Rangers) and a shot of Jack Daniel's. Stuff was not good on any meat, but it tasted great straight!
As I pull my stuff together to go cook ribs on Saturday, I've made my sauce and my glaze, chosen my rub and have the Smithfield St. Louis spares in the frig of the van. My cooker (small Gateway drum) is loaded. I've started my "do not forget" list. Depending on the state of my nectarines in the frig, I'll do Peach Roses for Anything Butt. If nectarines are too far gone, I'll use apples. This I'll cook on the GMG Trek that stays in the van. Fun!!!Comment
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In 2005 we found a BBQ sauce online for purchase that was labeled award winning BBQ sauce, maybe some of you saw that online which was 17 years ago? We purchased the recipe and if my memory is correct it was $75
and had to sign something stating it couldn’t be shared. We haven’t made the sauce in 14 years but still have the recipe. It was very hard getting the sauce to thicken while cooking and after cooling it was still too thin. At the time we lived in Flagstaff Arizona (7,000 elevation) and liquid boils at low temperature at 7,000 feet maybe the reason it wouldn’t thicken, it probably needed to boil longer, would you agree?
Our BBQ sauce is okay but wouldn’t label the sauce as award winning by any means.
The consistency when warm would only lightly coat the back of a spoon. Probably adding some corn starch during cooking would get the sauce thick? We live at an elevation of 4,260 now so the sauce will boil at a higher temperature. Maybe boiling sugars is not effected by elevation? I don’t know.Last edited by Ghawtho; September 15, 2022, 11:19 AM.Comment
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There are a number of sauce competitions and many "award winners." There are perhaps thousands of free sauce recipes online. And there are many in the many BBQ books and magazines. The trick is to find one by a credible source. Did you know that we have some sauce recipes on AmazingRibs.com that are pretty good and they are free?
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