How To Use A BBQ Mop Like An Award-Winning Pitmaster

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While I prefer the sweet and tangy taste of Carolina-style BBQ sauce at a summer cookout, I'll never turn my nose up at spicy, succulent, Texas-style barbecue fare. Both are dripping with spectacular flavor. And although they may taste worlds apart, both methods of smoking and grilling meat share one thing in common: mopping. Folks unfamiliar with the term might raise an eyebrow seeing "mop" being connected with BBQ meat, but Michelle Wallace, a renowned pitmaster, TV personality, and owner and founder of the B'tween Sandwich Co., explains that it's essentially the same as basting.

"In BBQ, the term mopping refers to the practice of adding a flavorful liquid to meats during the cooking process on the smoker or grill," Wallace told The Takeout. "This practice helps to prevent the meats from drying out and adds additional flavor during the cooking process." The utensil itself is a long-handled brush that looks like, as you may have guessed, a miniature mop. Its large head made of cotton strands is able to apply more sauce to the protein than a conventional basting brush.

There aren't many hard-set rules when it comes to barbecuing ribs for a large cookout. But generally speaking, a mop sauce isn't the same as a bona fide BBQ sauce. "A mop sauce is typically a thin, seasoned liquid that's applied throughout the cooking duration," Wallace said. "However, you can use a mop to coat meats with BBQ sauce or any other sauce that you'd like to apply." Basting meat is something most folks can accomplish intuitively, but there are some nuances to employing this technique.

The ins and outs of applying mop sauce to BBQ

Timing is crucial when applying a mop sauce to barbecue. Slathering on the sauce too early is a surefire way to ruin your meat, but once you start, you want to keep that hydrating mixture coming. "If I'm smoking a meat that takes hours to cook, I will start using my mop and applying mop sauce in hour two of the cooking process," Wallace said. "I will usually apply every hour until the meat is done."

The movement used when basting is equally significant if you want your BBQ cuisine to have that captivating char. "The best method is to swipe over your meat in the same motion as mopping the floor, making sure to not disturb the bark that you're creating." Use a light touch instead of manhandling the protein.

As for the sauce, plenty of marinades are perfect for simultaneously moisturizing and flavoring the protein. Beer, vinegar, or a splash of coffee are all ingredients that can take your BBQ meat to the next level. If you're going for a sweeter profile, fruit juice can impart a nectarous taste.

Still, you wouldn't necessarily want to use the same mixture on ribs as you would on a smoked brisket. "Make sure that the flavor is balanced and is right for the protein that you're cooking," Wallace said. "I believe that a mop sauce can be added to any meat. However, leaner cuts can benefit more because they're lacking fat." It takes a bit of forethought and discipline to get it right, but the result is flavorful BBQ meat with serious "wow" factor.

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