Basics of Barbeque Sauce

If you're new to the world of barbecue, you might not know that there are several different varieties of barbecue sauce.  Even experienced barbecue cooks might need a little clarification on the types and use of various barbecue sauces.  To begin, let's talk about the different base ingredients found in most barbecue sauces.

Sauces are usually based around a central ingredient and then spices are added to complete the barbecue sauce.  Common base ingredients are tomato sauce or ketchup, mustard, vinegar and beer.  Each of these base ingredients lends a different quality to the finished sauce and the finished barbecued food.

Tomato sauce or ketchup is a common base used to make sweet and thick barbecue sauces.  Often brown sugar or honey is added to this sauce to make it thicker and sweeter.  Most barbecue sauces you buy at the store are based on tomato sauce.  These are good for almost any kind of barbecuing that you might do, however, you have to keep in mind that these barbecue sauces burn easily.  It is better to apply a very thin coat of these sauces to your food and cook slowly.

Mustard is another common base ingredient for barbecue sauces.  Mustard in a barbecue sauce tends to lend the cooked meat a tangy flavor.  Many times beer or liquor is added to mustard based sauces to mellow their pungent flavor a little.  Mustard based barbecue sauces are great on chicken or pork.

Vinegar can also be used as a base for a good barbecue sauce.  Vinegar can be combined with almost any spice.  This makes vinegar a good option for those home cooks that like to experiment by making their own sauces.  Try adding spices like cayenne pepper, garlic powder, or chili powder to the vinegar and see what kind of sauce you get.

Beer is the newest addition to basic ingredients for barbecue sauces.  Many hearty and tasty sauces can begin with beer as a base.  Add sugar and garlic to beer and you have a very basic all purpose barbecue sauce for any meat.

Once you identify the base ingredient you want for making your own barbecue sauce, it's just a matter of experimenting with the combination of spices and sweeteners to get it to come out just right.