What qualities do you like in your sauce?

Oh boy, what a broad question.

For competition/showing off...I want a sauce with a lot of shine, low build-up, clean almost faint flavor. On the sweet side.

For eating...I prefer a thinner sauce, not vinegar, but, thinner, so it soaks the meat, not coats it. I tend to use it as a dip, so thick and cold ends up yucky. I want it to be balances, with a complex flavor, sweet & sour really, the salt and pepper are on the meat.

I grew up on East Carolina vinegar and pepper sauce. Recently I started experimenting with that SC mustard style. That is becoming a quick favorite among my bbq guests and myself.

I have made 3 variations, the most recent was real sweet at first, almost like a honey mustard (I used honey in the sauce as well as brown sugar), then the vinegar and pepper hit.


Can't go wrong with "sweet then heat."

I want it thin with a little cling, transparent and balanced, a little sweet a little tart, a little spicy and enough salt to pull it together. I don't so much want to taste the sauce. BBQ aint sauce rather it is well cooked smoky meat the sauce should take the meat to another level with out covering up the delicate side of it.

This is about My favorite sauce on everything except PP then I'm a E NC addict.

Texas Red Sauce

This is a thin sauce, very
basic and good on all
BBQ.

1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 cup ketchup
1 cup water
6 Tbl white sugar
2 Tsp salt
2 Tsp chili powder (Guajillo powder, chile d'arbol powder
and ground cumin)
1tsp back pepper
1tbl New mexico chili powder
1 tbl paprika
2 tsp Cholula hot sauce

In a microwavable bowl or large measuring cup combine vinegar, water, sugar and spices.
Heat on high 1 min stir to dissolve sugar allow to cool 20 min. stir in ketchup and bottle.
Allow to sit at least 4 hrs or overnight.

BayoustateBBQ said:

What qualities do you think make a good sauce?

Click to expand...

Invisible with zero added flavor!

:biggrin1:

My absolute favorite has 4 ingredients. Vinegar, cayenne, salt and lemon. Been having that with pulled pork ever since I grew teeth.

It has to have some bite...

A little heat and a little sweet.

Balanced, but with a slight peppery bite, and thin so that it doesnt engulf, overpower, and mask the flavor of the meat, and with ZERO smoke flavoring, because IMHO BBQ already has smoke flavor in/on it, the sauce should compliment that.

Lengthy, and the first few pages are bickering, but it in are lots of great recipes and many very good details reviews:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...ight=infernooo

Like they said KISS.

Kinda depends. I don't use sauce often, but for chicken, sweet and thick sauce. Ribs, thinner and with more heat. Brisket, I like a sauce on the tangy, black peppery side.

Complexity! A sauce that when you dip your food in it, it complements it but the spices and ingredients used hit all the taste buds of the palette.
It took me 3 years to perfect the ingredients of my sauce. Don't Ask me why, but sauce comes out better IMO if made in 1 gallon quantities rather than quarts cooked in a slow cooker for 6-8 hrs on low then allowed to come to room temp before refrigerating.