I've very probably developed the world's best barbecue sauce recipe! There's nothing like it anywhere else, it tastes superb, easy to make, cheap to make ,and everyone likes it!

Ok, so I might not have the World's best BBQ sauce recipe, for all I know you have, or you think you have. What I'm getting at is that there are scores of homemade BBQ sauce recipes and I'm sure that for each recipe the inventor thinks that their recipe is the best. So, when you're looking for a good BBQ sauce recipe where do you look and how do you know that it's a good one?

Homemade or Shop Bought

There are thousands of commercial barbecue sauces available covering all regions and countries of the world. Examples being, Kansas, Texas, Alabama, Jamaican, Korean, Chinese and Mexican BBQ sauces, the list is endless. Some famous personalities such as Paul Newman have also produced their own sauces. So you have to ask, "Why make a barbeque sauce when you can buy it"?

I have to say that there are masses of barbecue sauces available in jars and bottles, off the shelf, that are extremely good and I do try new varieties every so often or when I need a sauce in a hurry.

The big differences in making your own though is that the ingredients are fresh, there are no preservatives, you can make the sauce exactly to your own taste, and there's nothing better than when you get praise from someone that enjoys it and asks for the recipe.

Homemade BBQ Sauce Recipes

As I mentioned earlier there are numerous recipes for BBQ sauce, just search the internet or look through some recipe books. The best recipes though are kept secret and are used by restaurants and competition barbecue chefs. There are exceptions; I'll get to that later though.

Every good barbecue sauce recipe has seven main constituents to i

The Foundation: the vast majority of sauces have tomato as their foundation, but there are others which include mustard, vinegar, mayonnaise, or stock.

The sweetening agent: you have to balance the sourness of the other ingredients in the sauce and this can be done with sugar, honey, syrup, some fruit juices, and even chocolate.

The seasonings: traditionally salt and pepper, but you can also add the likes of anchovies, Hoisin sauce, capers and soy sauce. Take care not to add too many different 'salty' ingredients at the beginning. Add some, taste and add more if needed.

The heat: I always like to add some heat to my sauces but you need to take care not to use a sauce that's too hot for delicate foods. The heat can come from pepper, mustard, chilli (fresh, dried, flakes), cayenne pepper, paprika, ginger and hot sauces.

The flavour enrichers: add a bit of subtlety to the sauce; a bit of depth. These include garlic, onion, bell peppers, Worcestershire sauce, herbs and spices. In most cases these can be in fresh and/or dried form.

The fats: these include butter, oil, meat stocks, animal and vegetable fats, and lard. We all know that most fats aren't good for us, but they hold all of the other ingredients together and give that pleasing, smooth feeling on the palate. All good sauces include some sort of fat ingredient, choose carefully and add sparingly.

There are other ingredients that you can add as well; whiskey is found in many BBQ sauces, but you'll also find beer, wine, brandy, rum, vodka, coffee, orange juice, cola, and many others in a sauce.

Assembling Your Barbecue Sauce

I want you to create your own homemade barbecue sauce recipe and I want you to think about how you want your sauce to taste.

Start with the foundation; let's say you want a tomato based sauce. Get some tomato ketchup and pour it in to a pan, add some chopped onions and some garlic, throw in a little dried chilli flake (or a lot if you're a bit of a hot head), turn on the heat and give it a bit of a stir.

Ok, that might be a bit haphazard for you but what I'm trying to get at is that it's easy to create a barbecue sauce recipe with a few basic ingredients.

For more consistency make a note of the ingredients and quantities that you're using so that you can repeat it.

Once you've perfected your basic all purpose barbecue sauce recipe you can add to it to make slightly different sauces.

I mentioned earlier that it is possible to buy top quality BBQ sauce recipes. These are generally sold by people who have an old family recipe, are top BBQ chefs, or are willing to share their BBQ championship recipes.

Three such sources that I can recommend are:
Barbecue! Bible : Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades, Bastes, Butters, and Glazes
The Top Secret Barbecue Sauce Recipe
Barbecue Champ - The Best Competition BBQ Recipes

Related barbecue sauce recipe articles.
Homemade Barbecue Sauce
Chinese Barbecue Sauce
Texas BBQ Sauce
White Barbecue Sauce