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Create You Own Secret Barbecue Sauce


Making your own barbecue sauce can become an obsessive hobby. Many people take great pride in their personal sauce with a closely guarded secret ingredient. You can make your own personal barbecue sauce with the following tips.

Basic Ingredients for Any Barbecue Sauce
Most all barbecue sauce contains these basic ingredients:
* Tomato (in some form)
* garlic
* vinegar
* salt

It's the other additional ingredients that makes it special, distinctive and "one of a kind".

Let's start with a basic recipe

Ingredients
* 1 cup ketchup
* 1/2 cup water
* 2 tablespoons vinegar
* 1 clove garlic, chopped fine or 1-2 tablespoon garlic powder
* salt and pepper to taste
Cooking

Combine ingredients in a small sauce pan, bring to a boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Now for the fun part.

In order to create you own secret sauce, you must recognize that you are experimenting, at first. You should accept the fact that, at some point, you are going to add an ingredient or too much of an ingredient that makes a sauce you don't like. Which means you may need to throw away a few batches of sauce and start over, until you hit that magic formula.

Obviously, it is important to taste as you go. Always begin with a small amount of an ingredient. Taste. If you like it, maybe you want to add more. Be sure to have paper and pen handy and write down the ingredients and amounts as you go. Above all, have fun and when you hit the right formula, take pride in knowing you have your own, personal, secret Barbecue Sauce

Here are some ingredients that work with BBQ sauce to experiment with. Add any or all, in any amounts you want to the basic recipe above.

* Cocoa (powder, unsweetened). Start with 1 teaspoon
* Liquid smoke. Start with 1 teaspoon.
* Brown sugar or molasses. Start with 1/2 teaspoon
* Cola/Pepsi. Start with 1/2 cup.
* Beer. Start with 1/2 cup.
* Orange juice. Start with 1/4 cup
* Different types of vinegar (malt, balsamic, garlic flavored, etc)
* Tomato sauce, tomato paste, whole tomatoes in place of, or in addition to ketchup
* Honey. Start with 1/2 teaspoon
* Hot sauce (tabasco, etc.) or pureed, hot chile peppers. Start with 1/2 teaspoon
* Anything else you want to try
Additional Tips

* Thickening your sauce: If you want thicker sauce, mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch in 4 tablespoons COLD water. Stir until cornstarch is dissolved. At the end of simmering the sauce, add 1/2 of the cornstarch mixture. Bring sauce back to a simmer while stirring. Watch for 30 seconds (continuing to stir). If you want thicker, add remainder of cornstarch mixture and continue simmering and stirring. If still not thick enough, just add more cornstarch mixture and continue stirring and simmering. Be aware that the sauce will thicken more as it cools.

Most people prefer a smoky flavor with a slightly tomato, slightly sweet, slightly spicy taste. The color should be deep maroon. Most like a thickness that is not watery, yet not too thick. Similar to pancake syrup.

* If sauce is bland (tasteless- no kick): add more salt first. If still bland, add more garlic, pepper, ketchup, hot sauce, in that order, tasting after each addition. Even if you do not like spicy sauce, just a touch of hot sauce will liven up the sauce without making it spicy.

To adjust color: additional ketchup or tomato sauce will make a lighter red color. Cocoa or liquid smoke will make a darker color.

So, give it a try and have fun.





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