'Smokin' BBQ sauce for retail from Northern Irish champions
A novel sauce has been developed by a champion BBQ team based in Northern Ireland. The unique Apple and Whiskey Sauce is the first in a range being planned by Smokin' Yankees BBQ.
The four-strong team is commercialising the expertise in sauces which has helped ensure success in international BBQ championships over the past three years.
Smokin' Yankees BBQ has won the title of Irish BBQ Champions and competed in huge BBQ competitions such as the 'Jack Daniels world invitational BBQ' in Tennessee and the American Royal World Series of BBQ' in Kansas city as well as winning titles at the recent QFest in Devon.
The team comprises BBQ enthusiasts Michael Duffy, James Moore, Conor Dawson and James Acheson.
Mr Duffy, who is spearheading the development of an initial range of three hand-crafted BBQ sauces, teamed up with award-winning chef Paul Clarke, the managing director of En Place Foods in Cookstown, country Tyrone, another Northern Ireland business specialising in sauces, culinary oils and vinegars, to perfect the recipe for the Apple and Whiskey product and take on the manufacturing.
The new BBQ sauce is already on sale in leading delis in Northern Ireland. The apple and whiskey product is made with Irish whiskey and is available in 280ml bottle at around £4.
"Our sauces have attracted attention at the BBQ competitions that we've won over the years and the feedback from other competitors and people attending the events led to our decision to commercialise them. Over the years, we've had people ask us if they could purchase our sauces.
"We realised that we needed expert guidance and support to bring these to market and so we turned to Paul Clarke. He helped us prepare our first sauce for small batch production. Paul's enthusiasm for our first sauce and overall support have been tremendous."
All four team members, who have successful careers, are enthusiastic about outdoor cooking and the potential to market the sauces especially outside Northern Ireland.
"We all love to BBQ. Smoke gets into your heart."
Mr Duffy describes the apple and whiskey sauce as being "sweet and rounded".
"It's a tomato-based BBQ sauce with a fresh, sweet taste and a nice pepper finish" We use it when cooking quality meat such as brisket, which we source from Peter Hannan at the multi-award winning Hannan Meats in Moira, county Antrim, a tremendous support of our enterprise."
The team will also be marketing the sauce at competitions in Great Britain, the US and Europe.
"We've already introduced it at an event in England and see great scope to grow sales in other parts of Europe," he says.