Looking for homemade barbecue sauce recipes

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What kind of sauce are you looking for?
I usually use Carolina-style sauces. Super easy and delicious, if you like vinegar.
 
This is among my favorites:


Hmmm good! It's amazing how 19 lbs turns into 10 pounds after all the fat & connective tissue has rendered out.

Here's my NC style vinegar based BBQ sauce for Pulled Pork.

EdWort's Pulled Pork Vinegar Sauce

Directions

Take a 1/2 liter (16.7 oz) bottle of water. Pour the water in a glass, drink the water.

Using a funnel, add the following ingredients to the bottle.

4 tablespoons sea salt
2 tablespoon turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw)
1 teaspoon ground Chipotle Pepper
1 teaspoon ground Cayenne Pepper

Top off with Heinz apple cider vinegar (use the real stuff, not flavored).

Put cap back on and shake till sugar and salt dissolve.

Let stand as long as possible, at least 1/2 a day, but the longer the better.

Poke a hole in the cap with a clean nail and you have a squirt bottle.
 
Here's my house recipe for the past 30 years. All measures are approximate
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup good Dijon mustard(Maille)
1/4 cup malt vinegar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 bottle of good porter(Black Butte), or Guinness or Moose Drool
1/4 cup very finely chopped shallots,
1 medium clove of garlic, very finely minced
hot/very hot red chile powder to taste
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
sautee onions and garlic in butter or oil, but just for 30 seconds-don't burn them
Add all the other ingredients, stir to dissolve the sugar and mix all ingredients, then simmer at very low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until thick.
When the meat is cooked, baste with the sauce, turn the meat and baste the other side. Continue until all the meat has a crispy sauce crust. reserve a little sauce for the table.
I use this for pork. For chicken I use honey instead of brown sugar and add a good dose of ground ginger.
 
What kind of sauce are you looking for?
I usually use Carolina-style sauces. Super easy and delicious, if you like vinegar.

Anything really! I haven't had all barbecue styles, but I'm willing to try them all. :mug:
 
I almost exclusively smoke pork. For pork, my favorite sauce is a basic east Carolina mop sauce. This is the grandaddy of American BBQ sauces. The most basic sauce will just have vinegar, black pepper, and chili flakes. Simple but delicious. The acidity balances the fatty pork. Use fresh black pepper, which will give it almost a lemony flavor.

(I can't take credit for this, but it's a good starting point)
1 1/2 cups of distilled (white) vinegar
1 teaspoon hot sauce (Tabasco or similar)
2 tablespoons sugar (white, light brown, or dark brown, but I usually use dark brown)
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper (optional)
2 teaspoons finely ground black pepper

When I make it, sometimes I mix half-and-half cider and white vinegar. You use it as a mop sauce while you're cooking, then squirt some on as a finishing sauce when you're eating it.

Here's a similar recipe I'll use when I want a sweeter sauce. It's a west Carolina / Piedmont dip:
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne or 1 teaspoon Tabasco

Simmer ingredients together until sugar dissolves.
 
We don't get the carolina-style BBQ too much here in Texas. Our sauces tend to be sweeter. I might have to give these vinegar sauces a whirl to cut back some calories but still get some BBQ flavor.
 
Here's one I've used before and it's always gotten good reviews. It's from purplesmoke.com. It's got a fair amount of mustard and vinegar so even people that don't normally like tomato-based sauces seem to like it. Not super spicy, but warm.

1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
3 cups beef stock
1/2 cup prepared mustard
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/8 cup (plus a bit more) Liquid Smoke
1/2 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1 cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon chile powder
1 teaspoon hot sauce

Mix well and slow simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours or until the desired consistancy. Stir often. .
 
We don't get the carolina-style BBQ too much here in Texas. Our sauces tend to be sweeter. I might have to give these vinegar sauces a whirl to cut back some calories but still get some BBQ flavor.

If you want to go really crazy, there's a south Carolina-style mustard sauce. I make it the same as the Piedmont dip I posted above, only sub yellow mustard for the ketchup, and use white sugar instead of brown. It's probably the most obscure Carolina-style bbq sauce, but it's great if you love mustard.

Here's a breakdown of the Carolina bbq regions:
http://www.amazingribs.com/images/recipes/carolinas2.gif

With any of the recipes I've posted, you can tweak them to suit your personal taste, but I like the simplicity, and the flavors complement, but don't obscure the meat you're putting them on. If I spend all day smoking a butt, I want to be able to taste the porky goodness, not have it covered up by the sauce.
 
Here's my house recipe for the past 30 years. All measures are approximate
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup good Dijon mustard(Maille)
1/4 cup malt vinegar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 bottle of good porter(Black Butte), or Guinness or Moose Drool
1/4 cup very finely chopped shallots,
1 medium clove of garlic, very finely minced
hot/very hot red chile powder to taste
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
sautee onions and garlic in butter or oil, but just for 30 seconds-don't burn them
Add all the other ingredients, stir to dissolve the sugar and mix all ingredients, then simmer at very low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until thick.
When the meat is cooked, baste with the sauce, turn the meat and baste the other side. Continue until all the meat has a crispy sauce crust. reserve a little sauce for the table.
I use this for pork. For chicken I use honey instead of brown sugar and add a good dose of ground ginger.
Winner. Sounds fng fantastic.
 
Subscribed. I make a Kansas City style sweet BBQ sauce and am looking for a really good NC style vinegar based BBQ sauce. Also looking for a tomato sauce based one.
 
Here is mine,

1 pound of tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste
3 Tbsp Worshire sause
1/3 C honey
4 chopped smoked jalepeno halves
1.5 Tbsp chili powder
3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Hot smoke the tomatoes for about an hour and smoke the jalepenos as desired. Discard the tomatoe skins, they will be peeling off anyways. Mix with all the other ingrediants together and boil until you get your desired thickness.

I made this once with a 1/2 cup of honey and thought it was too much, thus the 1/3 cup in this recipe, if you think honey BBQ sause is awesome bump it up to 1/2 cup. If you like a lot of heat the four jalepeno halves wont come close to being good enough. Im pretty proud of this because it was made with just the tomato paste and tomatoes and I added stuff as I saw appropriate. There is nothing about this recipe that absolutely demands a smoker, except for smoke flavoring.
 
OT

HBT really is a great place. I was in a BBQ forum a couple years ago and asked for a recipe of a certain commercial sauce. I was absolutely blasted by the regular members. Seems I committed a huge faux pas by asking for a commercial recipe.

Ask for a recipe here, and there is a chance you'll the recipe directly from the brewer.
 
I'm pretty partial to my recipe, of course. It's pretty versatile - if you cook it for a short period you get a thin, tangy sauce but if you let it reduce you get a thick, sweet and smoky sauce. Fantastic on pulled pork and hickory or apple smoked chicken.
 
Depends on what you are using it for. I have a sauce I make for bbq ribs thats really good, but it isnt something you would make for something other than ribs, Here it is:

Rub the ribs with cayenne, paprika, allspice, garlic, salt, pepper, ginger, chili powder then put a good layer of brown sugar on top, wrap in tin foil and refrigerate over night.

Next day add 6oz of pineapple juice to tin foil pouches with ribs, cook for 2.5-3 hours in oven at 200F

Once done remove from oven and snip tin foil and drain juices into pan. Add ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, a little soy sauce and simmer down until bbq sauce consistency.

Heat grill and brown ribs on grill and baste with sauce.

This is sweet with a little spice (depending on the amount of chili and cayenne you use) and compliments the ribs since it uses the juices. Can work with any kind of rub that you enjoy and any kind of juice, I like pineapple, but orange is good as well.
 
Try it before you knock it, its a very low heat, more of a braise, ribs shouldnt be cooked on a grill entirely, too high of heat.

Dont have a smoker so oven braising is the way to go, and they make for fall off by the bone soft and tender
 
Try it before you knock it, its a very low heat, more of a braise, ribs shouldnt be cooked on a grill entirely, too high of heat.

Dont have a smoker so oven braising is the way to go, and they make for fall off by the bone soft and tender

Huh, I thought smokers were standard-issue in Arkansas. But I mean, if you're not smoking ribs, what's the point? Braising is the way to go with low-fat meats. Fatty meats are just begging to be smoked.
 
Cause I dont smoke stuff and while it is delicious, this method does the same thing, just imparts different flavors. Low long heat to break up the connective tissue is what makes for tender delicious ribs. The finish on the grill gets a good char and flavor and the bbq is amazing.

This is actually a very common technique for many restaurants, they do wet smoking which is the same thing they just use a bigger oven. A smoker is just a low heat oven with wood flavoring.
 
This is actually a very common technique for many restaurants, they do wet smoking which is the same thing they just use a bigger oven. A smoker is just a low heat oven with wood flavoring.

Like most people with a liberal arts degree, I know my way around a commercial kitchen. You're right that restaurants don't dry smoke, which is why I've never had ribs in a restaurant that were as good as those I make at home.
 
Cause I dont smoke stuff and while it is delicious, this method does the same thing, just imparts different flavors. Low long heat to break up the connective tissue is what makes for tender delicious ribs. The finish on the grill gets a good char and flavor and the bbq is amazing.

This is actually a very common technique for many restaurants, they do wet smoking which is the same thing they just use a bigger oven. A smoker is just a low heat oven with wood flavoring.

I've done ribs by smoking and by the method you describe. I prefer the latter. Brew your beer, make your sauce, cook your ribs the way YOU want to eat them. Each to their own.
 
I use a basting sauce and a finishing sauce (For ribs)

Basting sauce
:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup prepared mustard
3/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsp black pepper (I like it coarse)
2 tbsp crushed red pepper
3-4 garlic cloves (just smashed, thinly sliced or minced)
2 3/4 cups red wine vinegar
1 3/4 cups water
3/4 cups dry white wine
2 tbsp sea salt

Reduce until you achieve your desired thickness.
(Usually about an hour on medium heat)

[Edit] I added a "splash" of Southern Comfort Fiery Pepper last time I made the basting sauce and it turned out pretty good. [/Edit]

I usually baste my ribs once every half an hour or so, (depends on how long I plan on cooking them) and cook them between 225-300 degrees for 2-3 hours.


Finishing Sauce:


1 tbsp salted butter (or extra virgin olive oil)
1 medium onion*
3-4 cloves of garlic*
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup liquid steak seasoning
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp cajun seasoning

* (I usually do a rough chop on my onion, prep my garlic cloves, and put them through the food processor together before I add them to the pan)

So, heat your butter or oil in a large skillet on med-high and then add your onion and garlic mixture. When it is fragrant/tender, go ahead and add the other ingredients and simmer for about 15 minutes and it's good to go.

[Edit] I grill my ribs on a propane grill. (I know, I know) I would much rather smoke them or grill over coals but I use what I have and what is convenient - I apologize in advance! [/Edit]

Adjust garlic to taste. I'm a firm believer in the more garlic the better! You can also substitute the crushed red pepper in the basting sauce and the cajun seasoning in the finishing sauce with caribbean jerk seasoning for a different flavor profile. Use shallots instead of onions, hoison sauce instead of worcestershire, you can even add liquid smoke in the finishing sauce, whatever... It's a fun recipe to play with.

Enjoy :drunk:
 
Youtube recipe Slightly modified to fit ingredients here.

1 large red onion, minced
3 cloves garlic fine minced
1 tbs olive oil,
sautee the onions, once they start looking "translucent" then add the garlic
DO NOT BROWN, just tenderize and cook. THE onion remains in "chunks in the sauce".
Add
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups light ketsup (or tomato paste)
3+dashes cholula chipotle sauce (5-6 texas pete or lighter hot sauce for pussies like me)
1/2 cup dark beer, I added my amber lager homebrew. Dark beer is perhaps more bitter?
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbs worchester sauce
1/2tsp honey (original called for honey mustard)
1 tsp mustard
2tsp papricka
1/2 tsp celery seed (we used celery salt and reduced salt)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp coarse ground black pepper
1 tsp chili powder
Simmer 20 minutes to reduce to paste. Use and can remainder in jars. We ended up with a quart and some, the "youtube guy" used some really thick "sun dried tomato ketsup" and he ended up with a pint and half???? in the large skillet in the beginning ours looked like more volume.. Stirring them onions as they cook is gaseous, stirring the vinegar mix is too.. choking.. I may try to add the vinegar later in the mix next time. Vinegar (acid) helps break down tough meat and other spices into mix.

TASTES really good on a spoon, Barbeque is coming off the grille at 12:00 today. We got people/friends coming over and the main "sanke keg" is not fully carbonated yet, the stuff in the bottles has enough gas to tig weld with.. Hope they bring their own. (I may hide my chocolate-coffee beer keg)

EDIT:(end of afternoon taste testing completed)
Kinda sweet, I think for my version here I'm shortening the sugar a bit and lengthening the vinegar to sour it up a tad.
If you hit the perfect combo, please post it. No pictures of the cookout.. I was having too much fun to worry about it.
 
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