All about the BBQ Sauce

I like short simple easy recipes. I thought BBQ sauce was complicated so I never bothered, especially when I can buy the stuff for $1 on sale at the grocery store! After watching Bobby, The Neely's, and Sunny whip up sauce after sauce in no time flat with ingredients I already have in the pantry, I suddenly found myself moved to make my own BBQ sauce.

It seems nearly every meal lately has included a homemade BBQ sauce. Some are spicy. Some are sweet. Some are tangy but it must be delicious since hubby eats the left overs without a remix. This is highly unusual unless it's REALLY good the first time around!

My base recipe for homemade BBQ sauce.

• ketchup or tomato paste-huge squirt or about 4 ounces
• mustard-little squirt
• brown sugar
• cider vinegar
• red pepper flakes
• ground paprika
• garlic powder
• dash of salt
• honey or sorghum-optional
• minced onion-optional
• ground cayenne-optional
• strawberry preserves-optional
  

You noticed there's no measurements? Different measurements of the ingredients change the flavor of the BBQ sauce. We like sweet, spicy, and tangy sauces so this method works well for me.

BBQ tips I learned the hard way!

• The top four ingredients determine the consistency of the sauce.
• Use more cider vinegar or mustard for a tangy sauce.
• Add water or apple juice to thin it to a marinade consistency.
• Add honey, sorghum, or preserves to naturally and subtly sweeten the sauce.
• A little brown sugar goes a long way.
• Ground paprika and cayenne add instant heat but heat from red pepper flakes will slowly increase, especially after heating.
• Heating sauce over med low till bubbly will slightly thicken the sauce.
• Heating it is not necessary as long as you whisk it all together well.
• Start with small amounts of spices, taste as you go adding various spices till you get the flavor you like.
• You can add just about anything to a BBQ sauce and it still taste like a BBQ sauce so use what is already in your pantry.
  

Here's plenty of BBQ recipes from the folks at Food Network in case you need a more structured recipe. How do you like your BBQ sauce???