Calling all chefs-- BBQ Sauce

[Pony_Boy]

since its a rainy- grey day here and I'm bored out of my skull I've decided to attempt to make my own BBQ sauce ( yay culinary adventure!) I've never attempted to make this before so is there anything I should know? Tips/ Tricks and such?

ok go!

[TowelKing]

I made one a couple years ago for BBQ'd ribs, and I had roughly these things in it:
Crown Royal Whiskey
Heinz ketchup
Worchestershire sauce
Teriyaki sauce
Orageno
Garlic.

For everything else, just flavor to taste. Make it in small amounts. And just start throwing random shit into a bowl, but keep track of ratios so you can replicate on a larger scale.
Worst that happens is you burn two or three bowls of sauce experimenting.

[lordlundar]

That seems to be the jist of it. Any time my mom was asked what was in her homemade BBQ sauce it was always "ketchup and stuff". "What kind of stuff?" "Stuff I decided to put in." No two sauces ever tasted the same.

[Sliceanddice]

i made one with brown sugar, soy sause mustard ketchup and garlic with other stuff i don't remember right now once, i googled a recipe and adapted to me needs.

[thansal]

It all depends on what your goal is.

My one suggestion is that if you will not be using a smoker (or at least a grill) for your food, Liquid Smoke can add that flavour directly to your sauce. As an apartment living individual it's a nice thing.

[Food Lady]

That seems to be the jist of it. Any time my mom was asked what was in her homemade BBQ sauce it was always "ketchup and stuff". "What kind of stuff?" "Stuff I decided to put in." No two sauces ever tasted the same.

That's totally how I cook. Drives my mom nuts when she wants a recipe; I don't know what to tell her. As for BBQ sauce, I like ketchup, brown sugar or molasses, onion, garlic (sparing amount), black pepper, smoke flavoring.

[Pony_Boy]

Thanks for the advice I pretty much looked online for ideas and decided to just "toss stuff in the pot" and hope for the rest

It came out pretty nice except there's a heck of an afterburn to it ... I think I used to much cayenne

Here's roughly what I put in
Caramelized onions and garlic
Ketchup
Molasses
Honey
Wersheshire sauce (sp)
Frank's hot sauce
Liquid Hickory Smoke
Beer ( dark scottish ale)
Whiskey
Brown Sugar
Cayenne
Dry Mustard
Chili Powder
Cumin
Smoked Paprika

considering this was a first attempt I'm calling this a win

[Food Lady]

Sounds really good. Nice addition of alcohol. Me likes cookin' with alcohol.

[Pony_Boy]

Sounds really good. Nice addition of alcohol. Me likes cookin' with alcohol.

me too! sometimes I even put some in the food lol

[Jester]

My one suggestion is that if you will not be using a smoker (or at least a grill) for your food, Liquid Smoke can add that flavour directly to your sauce.

There are many ways to add smokey flavor to food. I recently found out how damn easy it is to create a smoker in my oven, for example. Also, there are some smokey peppers out there that work. Fresh chipotles, if you can get them, are so wonderfully smoky that I double bag them when they are in my fridge, to prevent everything in there from being smoky. Also good for this are canned chipotles with adobo sauce and ancho peppers,which are dried poblano peppers, and thus not as spicy as chipotles.

Apart from the smoke issue, I would suggest two very important tools that have come in handy for me: a notebook and a pen. Or a laptop, if you prefer. Anything to take down notes. And that you can edit notes. "Okay, just added another two spoonfuls of molasses for sweetness...let me jot that down." Etc., etc.

It came out pretty nice except there's a heck of an afterburn to it ... I think I used to much cayenne

Be careful with the spicy ingredients. You can always add, but you can't really subtract, and the only way to counter excessive spiciness is to add more of other ingredients. It's a balancing act. Best way is to taste repeatedly as you add stuff.

Wersheshire sauce (sp)

Worcestershire. (Pronounced, however, "wussed-er-shure" (as in "wussed out", not rhyming with "bust out.")

Cumin
Smoked Paprika

If you are going for smokiness, one other dry spice that works well with this is sage, which I enjoy very much. Just a thought.

Oh, and molasses and/or honey are two great ingredients for adding sweetness to your barbecue sauce.

(Amusingly, with all my suggestions, I've never actually MADE my own barbecue sauce. Go figure.)

[lordlundar]

Fresh chipotles,

Sorry Jester, but this one broke my brain a bit. Fresh chipolte peppers is at best an oxymoron, as chipoltes, by nature, can't be fresh. Chipolte peppers are a smoked and dried jalapeno. Maybe "loose chipoltes" would be a better choice?

[thansal]

I have never actually SEEN "Fresh" chipotles (only chipotles in adobo). however, if Key West has them, I am sure I can find them in NYC (I just have to go to a Mexian store instead of a Chinese one :P).

And I will agree, that Chipotles are one of the best ways to and flavor to ANYTHING. A nice amount of heat, and an AWESOME amount of smoke. I don't like Jalapenos, however once you smoke them (I actually always assumed they were fire roasted) the flavor becomes awesome. Something about chilies and fire (or smoke) makes them the greatest things ever.

That said, for some reason I never think of BBQ sauce as hot. I don't know why tbh. I mean, my favorite sauce is Eastern NC (vinegar, sugar and Cayenne), so I expect it to have some kick to it (though mainly it's there for the acid and sugar components, makes puled pork perfect).

[Jester]

Sorry Jester, but this one broke my brain a bit. Fresh chipolte peppers is at best an oxymoron, as chipoltes, by nature, can't be fresh. Chipolte peppers are a smoked and dried jalapeno. Maybe "loose chipoltes" would be a better choice?

Ah, but you knew what I meant by fresh, i.e., not the canned ones in adobo sauce. I know that technically they are not fresh, but then technically neither are ancho peppers (dried poblano peppers), etc., etc.

I have never actually SEEN "Fresh" chipotles (only chipotles in adobo). however, if Key West has them, I am sure I can find them in NYC

I've only seen them here once. But it wouldn't surprise me if a major hub of international cuisine like NYC had them somewhere. Frankly, I'd be shocked if they didn't.

I, like you, love chipotles but am not the biggest fan of jalapenos. I usually stick to serranos instead of jalapenos. Better flavor, more kick. Serranos are, basically, what jalapenos wished they could be.

That being said, my bar has spoiled me for jalapenos. They only use fresh (they cut them up every day), not canned, and I can't eat the pickled canned ones anymore. They just don't taste quite right.

That said, for some reason I never think of BBQ sauce as hot.

A lot of barbecue sauce isn't spicy, actually. Just sweet. But some of us like it with more kick.

[CorneliaMarieRocks]

I have never actually SEEN "Fresh" chipotles (only chipotles in adobo). however, if Key West has them, I am sure I can find them in NYC (I just have to go to a Mexian store instead of a Chinese one :P).

Hon, ANYTHING food related can be found in NYC....Watch any of the Food Network shows (particularly any of Bobby Flay's shows 'cause he's based in NYC) & you'll see what I mean