All About: Barbecue Sauce
Varieties
Purchasing and Storing
Tips
A grill without barbecue sauce is like a warm summer evening without a cookout. With plenty of warm summer evenings in store, it's time to bone up on your BBQ IQ—just in time for some smokin' good cookouts!
Barbecue sauce is typically used to baste meat, either on a grill or on a true barbecue (which uses low heat over a 12- to 14-hour period to cook meat). It's also used as a condiment after the meat has been cooked. Traditionally, barbecue sauce consists of tomatoes, onion, mustard, garlic, sugar, and vinegar.
Heat Crisco Oil in small saucepan on medium heat. Add onion. Cook five minutes, or until onions are soft. Add ketchup, lemon juice, sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Varieties
With barbecue sauce, you're not limited to traditional ingredients. In fact, part of the fun of whipping up your own sauce is adding a bit of personality to it! Possibilities include chili pepper, citrus, watermelon, coffee, molasses, ketchup, soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic. Some people like to turn up the spice level in their barbecue sauce, while others prefer a milder version. Popular foods for barbecuing include hamburgers, steak, hot dogs, chicken, pork chops, ribs, and sausages.
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Purchasing and Storing
If you make your own sauce, you should use it right away or can it properly to save for later. If you buy prepackaged sauce, don't be afraid to add a dash of your own spices or ingredients. Sauces should be refrigerated after opening and will stay good until the expiration date on the container.
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Tips
- When any sauce is "reduced" by simmering, the water evaporates and concentrates the flavor of the sauce. That's why it's a good idea to increase the sauce for a recipe, if desired, but never omit this reduction step.
- Use a baster to distribute juices over the meat every 10 minutes or so. You should get a nice crust on the meat. To apply the sauce, soak a mop brush in sauce and brush it on during the last few minutes of cooking. Be careful not to let it burn—barbecue sauce has a lot of sugar in it, which makes it more susceptible to burning.
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