Competition: Who has the best BBQ Sauce.

big brother smoke said:

Big Brother Smoke’s All Purpose BBQ Sauce

256 oz. Ketchup (2 cans)
¼ cup your favorite rub (I use Sweet and Spicy)
1 quart Apple Sauce
10 oz. Apple Butter
1 cup Apple Cider
2 cup Apple Juice
1 cup Honey
¼ Garlic Powder
1/ 4 cup Onion Powder
1/8 cup Oregano
1/8 Thyme
½ cup Yellow Mustard
1/8 cup red pepper flakes

Bring to a boil and let sit in the pot for about 12 hours or until cool before storing.

This is a good base sauce and you can doctor it easily (I always do based on my mood) with brown sugar for more of a sweetner; cayenne for heat; red food color or caramel food color for more of a mahogony thing. If you need more smoke flavor use cumin not liquid choke, I mean liquid smoke.:thumb:

Click to expand...

For when it comes time to gather ingredients, is the thyme & oregano fresh or dried? Thanks again for the recipe!

OK folks, here we go! Starting with the first entry.

Thanks goes to btcg for his entry of "Bills Homemade BBQ Sauce".

#1 btcg (http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/bills-homemade-bbq-sauce.htm)

Bills Homemade BBQ Sauce

Notes:

• The Whole Food's brand's molasses and brown sugar in my recipe give the sauce a distinct profile, as does the Old Grandad whiskey.
• I use Hunts tomato sauce: not as critical, but I like consistancy.

BBQing makes any day a holiday! While many can make some darn good Q makin your own BBQ sauce will give you the edge when comparisons are made: anyone can buy it, few can make.

Heres a BBQ sauce recipe thatll have your family & friends lickin their fingers when theyre done:

16 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tbs molasses (Whole Foods organic is best)
2 tbs brown sugar (Whole Foods Dark Organic is best. Use more if desired.)
2 tbs onion powder
1 tbs garlic powder
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs black pepper
1 tbs Paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1 2 tsp chili powder (adjust for required heat. Go light, you can always add more.)
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
1 tsp salt
2 tbs corn starch

Cooking instructions:

Using a low heat, bring slowly to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook 5-15 minutes more if thicker sauce is what you prefer. Take off and allow to cool. Bottle and refrigerate overnight is best. Keep refrigerated. Will last for weeks, if you have any left, that is.

Now, Ill often make 3 batches of this at once, and tweak 2 of them with differing levels of heat (extra chili powder or habenero sauce), extra sweetness, or extra spices. A 1/2 cup of whiskey can also add some bite.

Enjoy!

Recipe Review:

Notes: I used hunts tomato sauce, but not whole foods molasses or brown sugar. I used a mixture of Brer Rabbit and Grandma's Molasses (in order to have a more neutral molasses flavour profile, rather than one dominated by one or the other). For the chili powder, I also used a mixture of Penzeys, gerbhart and mccormicks.

Ingredients: Quite a typical group of ingredients for a BBQ sauce, but with much less sugar and a much higher ratio of spices and flavourings than most BBQ sauce recipes.

Ease of preparation: Extremely easy: Simply put all ingredients in a pot and simmer, adding corn starch at the end.

Recommendations: Personally I felt 2TB cornstarch made it a bit too thick, especially after it had cooled down. It would however help if glazing or coating items with the sauce.

Modifications and variations tested: As suggested, I also tried it with whiskey added, and felt this gave it an interesting boozy overtone that worked very well on ribs.

Taste/Texture: With only about 1/3 cup of sugar (molasses, brown sugar, tomato sauce), it was not overly sweet. With less vinegar than sugar, it also was not too tangy. Due to the large amount of spices and flavourings, it was very well spiced and definitely had a kick to it... the liquid smoke did provide a slight "fake-smoke" flavour, but many people like this and it comes down to personal preference.

Ratings:

Appearance: 7/10 (a bit thick, but the colour is great due to the molasses and wooster sauce. The spices also give it a nice look - not too homogenous).

Consistency: 6/10 (once again, a bit too thick for my liking, but this is easily fixed).

Taste: 7/10

Versatility: 6/10 Perfect for sticky ribs, a bit too strong for dipping, but works very well as a glaze or when "saucing" a piece of meat. Go easy with it on the chicken, and I would thin it out a bit with drippings if using with beef but would use it VERY sparingly with brisket, but a bit more liberally with pulled chuckies. I wouldn't recommend it for pulled pork.

Overall Rating: 6.5/10. I can recommend this as a great homemeade alternative to commercial sauces, provided you use it on the right types of Q. Especially if you do not like an overly sweet, tangy or salty sauce, but one loaded with flavour.

Photos of sauce construction:

1.) The ingredients:
From left to right, top to bottom:
Brown Sugar and Molasses, Black Pepper, Cumin, Chili Powder, Worcestershire Sauce, Garlic Powder, Paprika, Dry Mustard, Cornstarch, Liquid Smoke, Salt, Garlic Powder, Tomato Sauce, Water and Vinegar

2.) Ingredients assembled in saucepan:

3.) Ingredients coming to a simmer:

4.) Sauce at the end of cooking:

5.) Sauce after slight cooling (note slight gloopiness/thickness due to cornstarch/cornflour):

Thank you once again btcg for the recipe :thumb:

Next up, Mister Bobs!

Thanks for the feedback Infernooo this is beginning to look interesting!!!

On to the second entry!

Thanks goes to Mister Bob for his entry of "Blue Ribbon BBQ Sauce".

#2 Mister Bob (http://thehogblog.com/?p=34)

Blue Ribbon BBQ Sauce

This is a great BBQ sauce! Hot, sweet and savory, all at the same time.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small shallot fine diced
3 garlic cloves minced
½ red bell pepper fine diced
1½ cups ketchup
¼ cup apple juice
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 tablespoon Louisiana Hot Sauce
½ tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
½ tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
½ teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon liquid smoke
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
½ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup honey
½ cup cherry preserves

DIRECTIONS

Heat vegetable oil on low in a medium sauce pan until it just begins to shimmer. Add shallots, garlic and bell pepper and cook until tender (about 10 minutes), stirring frequently. Add all but the last three ingredients and bring to a low boil. Lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar, honey and preserves. Mix with a plunge blender until sauce is silky smooth. Can be used immediately or stored for up to one month in the refrigerator.

Recipe Review:

Notes: I used a combination of Hunts and Heinz ketchup (to help negate any brand specific dominance) as well as Crisco Vegetable Oil. Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce was used, as was Louisiana Brand Hotsauce (regular variety). For the spices, I used Penzeys with the liquid smoke being a mixture of Tones and Colgins.


Ingredients: Looking at the ingredients, you can tell that it is quite a fruity sauce, with apple and cherry overtones. It also is a VERY sweet recipe, evident by the copious amounts of ketchup, brown sugar, honey, cherry preserves and proportionally small amount of vinegar. There is not a large amount of chilli, vinegar or spices added, so the sweetness could perhaps be overwhelmed with the lack of salty/sour/hot elements.

Ease of preparation: Almost as easy as they come - the only extra step involving sweating of the vegetables and aromatics and adding the seperate ingredients at the end (the sugar, honey and preserves).

Modifications and variations tested: Added some more apple cider vinegar, a touch of chipotle hot sauce and some salt + pepper.

Taste/Texture: With the amount of sugar this recipe has (from the ketchup, apple juice, brown sugar, honey and preserves) - approximately 1.5 cups, and only 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon of hot sauce, 1.5 tablespoons of spices, I felt that it was overwhelmingly sweet with not enough kick or sourness to back it up. The fruity flavours definitely gave it a unique and lovely taste, but I feel it is being held back by the level of sweetness. Don't get me wrong, I love a sweet sauce, but this was just a bit much for me. As for consistency and thickness, it was perfect for slathering or dipping.

Recommendations: As mentioned, I personally felt it was much too sweet, even if teaming with a cut such as pork ribs which can take quite a sweet sauce. I would suggest adding some more vinegar in the initial ingredient dump, and then another splash at the end to give it a bit of a "twang" (a bit of a fresh sourness to offset some of the sweetness) as well as some chilli powder cooked for the last 2 minutes that the vegetables are sweating at the beginning.


Ratings:

Appearance: 8/10 A great looking sauce - lovely colour due to the preserves, brown sugar and wooster sauce as well as a lovely consistency and gloss due to the honey.

Consistency: 7/10 Quite thick, but definitely clings well to the meat. Also thick enough for dipping if one were so inclined

Taste: 6/10

Versatility: 6/10 I did not find this went particularly well wtih brisket. After the modifications, I found that it went VERY nicely with both ribs and chicken thighs which I had smoked and glazed with the sauce. A bit too thick for pulled pork (though it could be thinned out with some water or vinegar), and the flavours did not seem to marry well wtih the bark of the pulled pork, but this could have been due to the rub used.

Overall Rating: 6/10. After some modifications, this recipe definitely has potential, especially as a sauce for ribs. The fruitiness of the preserves and glossiness provided by the honey make it great for glazing and slathering, I just felt it needed a bit more kick and a touch more sourness to stand up to the sweetness of the other ingredients.


Photos of sauce construction:

1.) The ingredients:
Clockwise from left:
Shallot + Garlic + Red Bell Pepper, Vegetable Oil, Brown Sugar + Honey + Cherry Preserves, Ketchup, Apple Juice + Apple Cider Vinegar, Black Pepper + Paprika + Allspice + Nutmeg, Worcestershire Sauce + Hot Sauce + Liquid Smoke

2.) Ingredients coming to a simmer:

3.) Sauce after slight cooling:

Thank you once again Mister Bob for the recipe :thumb:

Next up, Lake Dogs!