Hello Edith,

Well, as you may know, Dairy Queen has BBQ sandwiches now, but they aren’t the same as the ones they had in the 1960s. Places that specialize in bbq smoke their own meat, chop it, and use their own sauce on it. Places like Dairy Queen don’t cook their own bbq, so they must use canned or frozen bbq for their sandwiches. Some big chains may have a central commissary where such a product is prepared, then frozen or canned, and sent out to the individual chain restaurants, where it is heated and used for the sandwiches. If a restaurant chain doesn’t have a commissary, or if the restaurant is not a chain, then they buy canned or frozen bbq and use that. Years ago, like in the 1960s, there were no microwaves. It would take too much time to thaw and heat up frozen bbq, so many places that didn’t specialize in bbq, but had bbq on their menu, used canned bbq for their sandwiches.

I was a bbq sandwich fan as a teenager back in the 1960s. If a restaurant or drive-in that I went to had bbq sandwich on their menu, I’d usually choose that over a burger. I recall that, at least in the area in which I grew up, the bbq used in these sandwiches tasted very similar from place to place, including DQ. Lots of small lunch counters had bbq sandwiches on their menus and they had a similar flavor. I once asked the server at one of those lunch counters about their bbq, and she showed me a can labeled “Castleberry’s”. Later, I saw canned Castleberry’s BBQ for sale in the grocery store. I bought some, heated it up and put it on a bun with dill pickle slices, and sure enough, that was the stuff.

Now I’m not saying that DQ used Castleberry’s bbq to make their sandwiches in the 1960s. There is not much way to find out where DQ got their bbq for sandwiches back in the 1960s. If they didn’t have a commissary, they may have contracted with Castleberry’s or another company to make a canned bbq to their specifications. Only someone who was a DQ employee in the 1960s could say for sure.

What I am saying is get a can of Castleberry’s and try it. Castleberry’s has been in business since the 1920s, and they’ve probably been selling canned bbq for over half a century. If they haven’t changed the recipe for their canned bbq in that half century, then it may have the flavor you are looking for. They sell it in pork or beef. You may be able to find it in your supermarket. Castleberry’s website is here: Castleberry's

Phaed

Hello David,

Sorry, no success with this one.

Phaed

Hi Pat,

There are dozens of recipes for 'Hershey Kiss Cookies' here: Hershey Kiss Cookies

Phaed