How To Make BBQ Sauce
The secret on how to make BBQ sauce that will wow anyone is picking a base and working with it. If you are new to BBQ sauces, then you may not be aware of the huge differences in individual sauces and you may not be able to tell the base of them either. However, the base is the building platform of a sauce so learning to differentiate between the distinct taste differences is a must before jumping into making your own batch.
Most BBQ sauce recipes start with either tomato sauce, vinegar, or mustard. Tomato-based sauces tend to be less tangy in flavor and a tad thicker than the other two bases; while mustard and vinegar-based BBQ sauces are very strong in taste and tend to be runny.
If trying to learn how to make BBQ sauce that is tomato-based, you first need to know that you are going to need more ingredients than if you were to make a sauce from vinegar or mustard. It is also very easy to accidentally make a tomato BBQ sauce taste like spaghetti, so try to avoid any Italian-based seasonings as you are preparing. Garlic, cayenne, onion, and Worcestershire sauce are all popular ingredients to this type of sauce, but pinpoint tastes that you like and play with it before finally basting your meat.
Vinegar BBQ sauce tends to be easier to make than those made of tomato and mustard simply because the taste of vinegar is so strong in the first place. Mixing some mustard in with the vinegar as a base is popular, and cayenne, black pepper, and paprika are popular seasonings to add as well. Do not forget to add a good amount of water also, as plain vinegar mixed in with other seasonings is bound to be too strong for you and anyone else trying your sauce batch.
When trying to learn how to make BBQ sauce Southern-style, it's imperative to keep in mind that mustard and vinegar should be mixed together as a base. Finding the perfect combination of both is a start, then move on from there. Mustard mixed with tomato base is also good, but is not Southern-style. Lemon juice, butter, and Worcestershire sauce are popular seasonings to add to a mustard BBQ sauce.
If you add sugar to your sauce, be sure not to cook the sauce with the meat directly. Keep it as post-cook basting. Sugars burn too quickly and can easily change the taste of your BBQ sauce from delicious to atrocious. The same can be said for chunks of tomato, which are also prone to burning. Keeping this and the above tips in mind can lead you in the right path to learn how to make BBQ sauce.