I just finished fixin' a rack of SLC and had to improvise the glaze since no one had told me we were out of apple juice and apple cider vinegar. Here is what I did:
First, I used pourable butter, molasses and a very light drizzle of maple syrup in the wrap. I would normally add a bit of apple juice here as well but ... To compensate for the lack of liquid I ran the temp up a bit to 260 - 275 to be sure I got the fat to render, etc. so I had plenty of juices to work with for the glaze.
After a couple of hours in the wrap I took them off and saved all the drippings. Not sure how much there was other than there was more than enough. The drippings were decidedly sweet with a bit of maple flavor to them.
I put the drippings from the wrap in a small sauce pot over a low flame, added a fair amount of apple sauce (I'd guess at least half again of the volume of the liquid) and stirred that in. After that I added some malt vinegar until I got the tang I wanted. (I would have used apple cider vinegar but again .... )
I then let it come to a slow boil for amount 10 - 15 min while stirring often. I was watching for a froth to form but it never did I'm guessing because there wasn't that much maple syrup in the drippings and I didn't add any to what was in the pot.
It did start to thicken up a little bit, and at that point I brushed it on the ribs and put them back in the smoker for another 15 min to allow it to set.
Once I took them off I gave them a very light dusting with Old Bay (another experiment) to put some more heat on top.
My wife pronounced them very good so I guess all the improvising and experimentation was a success.
The final glaze was more of a thin sauce that I think would be excellent on pulled pork. Good heat, good sweet, and good tang with just a hint of maple to it. Try it at your own risk.
First, I used pourable butter, molasses and a very light drizzle of maple syrup in the wrap. I would normally add a bit of apple juice here as well but ... To compensate for the lack of liquid I ran the temp up a bit to 260 - 275 to be sure I got the fat to render, etc. so I had plenty of juices to work with for the glaze.
After a couple of hours in the wrap I took them off and saved all the drippings. Not sure how much there was other than there was more than enough. The drippings were decidedly sweet with a bit of maple flavor to them.
I put the drippings from the wrap in a small sauce pot over a low flame, added a fair amount of apple sauce (I'd guess at least half again of the volume of the liquid) and stirred that in. After that I added some malt vinegar until I got the tang I wanted. (I would have used apple cider vinegar but again .... )
I then let it come to a slow boil for amount 10 - 15 min while stirring often. I was watching for a froth to form but it never did I'm guessing because there wasn't that much maple syrup in the drippings and I didn't add any to what was in the pot.
It did start to thicken up a little bit, and at that point I brushed it on the ribs and put them back in the smoker for another 15 min to allow it to set.
Once I took them off I gave them a very light dusting with Old Bay (another experiment) to put some more heat on top.
My wife pronounced them very good so I guess all the improvising and experimentation was a success.
The final glaze was more of a thin sauce that I think would be excellent on pulled pork. Good heat, good sweet, and good tang with just a hint of maple to it. Try it at your own risk.
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