Honey and barbecue make a couple straight from food heaven. That’s why Burleson’s Honey is proud to sponsor the award-winning Meat Church BBQ Competition Team. Led by Meat Church BBQ owner and pitmaster Matt Pittman, the team travels throughout Texas and the country to reach new culinary heights in the world of competitive barbequing.
Matt says Burleson’s Honey is a key ingredient for his award-winning recipes: “Since partnering with Burleson’s Honey last summer, we’ve elevated our ribs and chicken with an even greater concentration of honey to sauce in several steps of our grilling and smoking process. Both the clover and orange honeys have worked particularly well, and tasters just love them!”
Barbecue and Honey Tips from the Master
Traveling the roads to weekend festivals and cook-offs stokes his competitive juices and allows Matt to explore his creative side with bold new recipes and flavor profiles. But when it comes to ramping up the flavor of your own grilled and smoked meats, Matt says you don’t have to be a seasoned grillmaster to get great results. To ramp up the flavor in your backyard, use these three tried and true tips:
With Honey and Barbecue, Time is Essential
Good barbeque isn’t born, it’s made. If you want to develop the best flavor, you can’t cut corners on time. “You might be tempted to skip a few steps to speed up the process,” Matt says, “but allow the proper amount of time for flavors to develop, and you won’t be sorry.”
Marinade or Rub?
Both, and use plenty! Matt’s partial to his Meat Church rubs, of course, but you can use your own rub or ask your butcher to recommend one. Many backyard grillers are guilty of under-seasoning meat, but salt is an essential catalyst that allows other flavors to fully develop. And there’s just no substitute for allowing the meat to absorb the deep and rich flavors of rubs, marinades, and sauces.
Know How Much and When to Add the Honey
“Every competition is a new day at school for me, and this is a lesson I’ve been perfecting over the last few months as I’ve experimented with different flavors and amounts of Burleson’s Honey,” Matt says. “I started using more honey, in more stages, and people started noticing right away.” To really ramp up the flavor, Matt recommends a glaze of equal parts honey and BBQ sauce, applied liberally in the final stages of cooking.
Want to try your hand at combining meat and honey the way Matt does? Take a look at his step-by-step instructions for Matt’s Honey Barbecue Ribs in our recipes section.