Making Your Own BBQ Sauce

[Sallie]

Anyone have a favorite recipe?

I have never made BBQ sauce. I do not have any regional preferences in this case (other than that the NC all-vinegar type won't work for this). The other half is craving "BBQ chicken," i.e., cover it in sauce and bake/broil it. I just want to avoid the bottled-sauce preservative/pound-of-sugar problem.

[Sthitch]

If you can get a hold of Cooking with Patrick Clark, the recipe for the late chef's BBQ sauce is one of the best I have ever made. Goes great with chicken, and pork (might go with beef, but I usually do not sauce beef).

[Shan]

Rum BBQ Sauce (adapted VERY loosely from an original recipe found on allrecipes.com and used for ribs that were the BEST ribs I've ever made):

In a heavy saucepan, saute about a half of a large sweet onion (diced) & roughly 2 tablespoons minced garlic in 4T butter. When the onions are translucent remove from heat & add about a half cup to cup of brown sugar, roughly 1/4cup of rum (I used plain old light Bacardi, but a spiced or flavored rum would be awesome in this recipe), and about 1/4c each ketchup, soy sauce, and worcestershire sauce. (I *seriously* broke from the recipe here when I realized I was almost out of worst. sauce.) What I did have was about half of a rum and coke - which I dumped into the sauce along with about 2 or 3 tablespoons of vinegar. Then, another really odd addition was the juice of a "plucot" (aka pluot) which is a fruit I'd just tried that day - a plum/apricot hybrid that was awesome, but the ones I bought were too juicy to eat normally, so using a reamer, I very messily juiced a couple and stirred it into the sauce, following with some fresh black pepper. Remove about 1/2 to 3/4's from the pan & put in a mixing bowl to use as a marinade for the ribs later. Cook down the remaining sauce over medium high heat, stirring constantly until thickened - you can add a little cornstarch mixed with water to really thicken it, as well, but this works best as a cooking sauce, not a dipping sauce.

[coll]

I used to make my own BBQ back when calories didn't count, similar to this but I used Jack Daniels (JD is one of my most used ingredients, along with worchestshire). I also used to put a spoonful of peanut butter and/or honey to sweeten, people used to go wild!

[Shan]

I have to admit, I'm normally a lower-carb kinda chick than that, but I couldn't resist as I was skimming the recipe. It's one of the few things I've ever made that I can't think of any specific changes I'd make next time. Though - I bet it'd make a killer marinade w/out the brown sugar at all.

[Caitlin McGrath]

This sauce tastes to me like what I think of if you say "barbecue sauce" in the way you mean it - a basic sauce, the kind I smother on baked chicken. It's adapted from a Food & Wine recipe. It's medium on the spicy scale (that is, it has some spice, but isn't hot), but you can adjust its spiciness to your taste. I put it on the chicken around 20 minutes before it's done.

2 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil
1/2 cup minced onion
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons pure ancho chile powder (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (to taste)
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup tomato paste
2 tablespoons unsulfured molasses

In a saucepan, saute onion and garlic in oil until softened. Add paprika, chile powder, and red pepper, and stir until fragrant. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt to taste.

I make multiple batches at a time and freeze some, or just keep in the fridge (it keeps a good while in an airtight container).

[Sthitch]

While I like Worchestshire sauce in many things (especially in hamburgers), for a BBQ sauce try to leave it out and substitute tamarind paste or concentrate. It give it a nice bitter flavor.

[Funwithfood]

These are fantastic! (My very detailed review is under SoCal dated 5/27/03.)

Link: http://www.epicurious.com/run/recipe/...

[Funwithfood]

The Bourbon BBQ sauce would taste great on most anything. I make a big batch and freeze what I don't use.

[T in DC]

While not of the smother-and-BBQ variety (it's a little thin), this sauce is excellent for basting and then serving. My husband believes all grilling is better with bourbon so these ingredients are always found in our home.

COFFEE BOURBON BARBECUE SAUCE linked from epicurious.com (in the event the url is too long to work)

Link: http://www.epicurious.com/run/recipe/...

[gtrekker2003]

Wondering if there are any tasty BBQ sauce recipes that do not have any alcohol inside it?

[Sthitch]

The one that I mentioned earlier from Cooking with Patrick Clark does not contain any alcohol.

[bbqboy]

Your basic ingredients should encompass:
Tomato sauce or puree
vinegar
Molasses and/or brown sugar
Ground red chile
Cumin
Salt
paprika
lemon juice
Black Pepper
Dried Mustard powder
Celery seed
Adds:
Worstershire sauce
soy sauce
diced Jalepenos
Orange juice
lime juice
+anything else you think sounds good
I'd try a 3-2-1-ratio on Tomato to sugar to vinegar, then add the rest of the spices to suit your tastes, which is what it's all about..
Too much sugar when used during cooking will burn. Most Q'ers don't put the sauce on while cooking, but it works if used sparingly.
I'm not a fan of using Ketchup as a base, but many do.

[bbqboy]

I forgot the obvious step of simmering.
Sorry.
Lots of people like to use onion and garlic powder in their sauce, but if you use a rub on the chicken first, you won't need those.

[Sallie]

Thanks for all of these recipes. They are making me really hungry!