Why not? Is it because of some of the stuff in the jarred sauce? I have made BBQ sauce so I would just make some for the pork.

I gave her my BBQ sauce recipe, but she was hoping for some new... to her... sauces.

And, yes, they have some dietary restrictions right now.

Any reason they specifically want Southern pulled pork? I cannot help you with that because I dislike the sweet Southern style BBQ sauces.

For myself, I make Teriyaki sauce or Thai curry paste (no coconut milk) when I want something other than Mexican. Teriyaki sauce can be sweet, but I make a point of not making it that way. I'm okay with Japanese curry sauce, but it is not one of my favorites, and I tend to have that with beef instead of pork.

'Southern style' can mean Texas, Memphis, or Carolina. All are completely different.

If she is wanting a vinegar based Carolina style then she can google 'carolina style pulled pork sauce' and she will find several recipes.

I don't care for Carolina style BBQ sauce personally. If I am even using a BBQ sauce, which is rare, it will be a Kansas City style BBQ sauce made right here in the BBQ capital of the world. ;-P Usually I just use a rub on the raw meat before smoking. But pulled pork definitely needs a sauce.

Here is one Carolina style recipe. Looks pretty easy to make if you can find the cider vinegar in the store.

you could try a traditional hamball sauce recipe ... just cut back on the brown sugar ...

ketchup/ACvinegar/brown sugar/mustard

or this one

Do the dietary restrictions preclude ketchup or tomato sauce? If so, you can puree pure diced tomatoes and mix with a bit of tomato paste to thicken and a little molasses to sweeten and then use that in place of commercial ketchup in any BBQ sauce recipe.

Good barbecue don't need no sauce.

Far from an expert here, but I’d say grilled meat is not barbecue. 😛

I was going to leave this with my comment above, but I've spent far too many years involved in barbecue to let it go.

First, grilled meat is not barbecue, even though in the American vernacular the terms have become interchangeable. Second, barbecue sauce, if used correctly, should compliment the meat. True barbecue, from the Deep South, depends on the rub and the smoke for flavor. It's rarely put on the meat while it's cooking. Rather, the sauce is on the side as any good condiment should be.

Last, if you want an award winning (for real) sauce:

Equal parts Kraft Original and Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Barbecue Sauce with the juice of two oranges.

Barbecue that I've had in Texas did not have sauce - it was made with a dry rub.

The worst barbecue I've had was called Memphis style. It was so sickeningly sweet that it made me gag.

I prefer Texas style, which is not sweet. The best is in Elgin, Texas, close to where I was born. In Texas, it is all about the smoke flavor.

I guess people's preferences are somewhat connected to where they were born or grew up. That said, I do prefer Korean BBQ, and I've never been to Korea, but I've been to Koreatown many times.

BTW, if you do not like one style of Mexican sauce, you can try one from a different region. My favorite Mexican is from the Yucatán and is made with achiote paste.

Sherry - Barbecue styles vary throughout the South. I've eaten barbecue in every state east of the Mississippi and south of the Mason-Dixon line. I also spent eleven years as a competition barbecue cook, so when I state my expertise in smoked meat, I speak from a wide variety of experiences.

Yes, most barbecue that you had in that part of the country was dependent on sauce. But if you re-read my first comment, all that I'm saying is that good barbecue will stand on its own without the need of sauce. Adding the sauce to it, in the proper proportion, will certainly enhance the taste for most folks. Those of us who know better spout the same mantra.

She's asking for a sauce to make PULLED PORK....this train has done jumped the track! HA!

I often make up my own barbecue sauces, but I don't make pulled pork, and I don't do sugary. One of my favorites is blueberry barbecue sauce. It's sweet but not sugary. :)

She's asking for a sauce to make PULLED PORK....

Is she? Not so clear cut to me. The OP states:

My daughter is making pulled pork and needs a really , really good sauce for it.

Without having read this discussion I’d interpret that as looking for a good sauce FOR the pulled pork not a good sauce TO MAKE pulled pork. But it would be worth having Kate clarify this for us, as well as explain the dietary restrictions.

ummmmm To me Pulled Pork is something specific, In this case it is pork shoulder that has been roasted for a long time, pulled apart, sauce added and served in whatever way desired. ( I personally like mine on a toasted bun..... with cole slaw on the side.)

At the monent, No: gluten, dairy, Worchershire, or any variation of cane sugar. There are probably more, but I can't remember them all.

Arkansas Girl: Thanks for putting this thread back-on-track.

Almost all barbecue sauce has some sugar in it even the homemade versions but as you can't use any sugar I would consider using pineapple juice instead as it's very sweet.it won't be traditionally Southern but it could still taste good.

Kate - No sugar certainly limits what recipe can be used as most include brown sugar or molasses. I suppose real maple syrup might be a suitable substitute.

I'll have to agree with Ricky that most BBQ should not have the sauce slathered on while on the smoker. The sauce is only offered on the side as a condiment.

Grilled chicken or wings can go either way. When grilling wings I'll usually do half with a spicy rub and half with a buffalo style wing sauce applied the last 1/4 of cooking time to allow it to char a little. Usually a whole or split chicken will get a Caribbean jerk rub or injected jerk marinade. Cut up chicken pieces will usually get a sweet BBQ sauce applied towards the end of the grill time.

The past few years I've been into alternative cooking: finding healthy foods to replace bad so in this case it's definitely possible but you have to think creatively.

The worcheshire is harder to replace but doable.

Kate, you can make a good barbecue sauce with any kind of fruits in a base of tomato or bell peppers. No cane sugar is easy (can you substitute beet sugar?), as is no refined sugar. The fruit has plenty of sugar and flavor. The pineapple was a good suggestion if you want a sticky sweet, Hawaiian style sauce. For a gentler sweet, try ripe pears or berries. Add tomato paste, onions, spices, and anything else that appeals to you.

Kate, can they have orange juice? I've sweetened BBQ sauce with thawed concentrate and it was pretty good too.

I don't know about the OJ, but I've sent her the link so she can see all your ideas. Thank you all!

Kate

And there's always stevia and powdered monk fruit, but some brands of that contain artificial sweeteners.