We all have fond memories of great barbecues. It is hard to say no when one of our friends or a family member invites us to a barbecue. The thought of the food on the grill with the smoky aroma all around is admittedly hard to resist. The barbecue has been a traditional get together meal for decades and it will be here for many more.

There are many different methods for cooking a great barbecue meal. Some prefer to use a dry rub seasoning on the meat while grilling, others like to marinate the meat for a day or so before cooking it, some people enjoy adding wood chips to the grill for added smoke flavor, and some just like their food smothered in lots of barbecue sauce.

Traditional barbecue sauce is a blend of tomato sauce and vinegar. You can use ketchup in place of those two items. If you like, cider can be used either in place of or in addition to the vinegar. Then, the creativity really kicks in, flavors and spices are added to give each sauce its own distinctive taste.

For sweet barbecue sauces, brown sugar or honey are usually added. You can also use fruit or jelly to sweeten a sauce. To make it spicy, you can add any type of pepper or hot sauce that you like, cayenne will give it a milder flavor while you can really spice it up with something like Habanero sauce. Any combination of herbs and seasoning can be used in your barbecue sauce, garlic and onion powder are very common but for added flavor you can also use something like fresh cilantro. Another ingredient that is often put into a good barbecue sauce is smoke flavoring. This can be used in place of wood chips in the grill. Mustard is also used in the making of several barbecue recipes.

Marinades are also very popular. Try out several different methods with this as well. A good marinade can either be made by adding water to one of your barbecue sauce masterpieces or creating something entirely new. Try a soy sauce, brown sugar and sesame for something different. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things. Then, you just soak your meat in it overnight in the refrigerator to let it really soak in the flavors.

The key to making the perfect barbecue sauce is to make it the way you would like it to taste. Add any ingredients you like, switch them up and use a lot of variety. Try new things especially if you have a few favorite herbs or flavor preferences.

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Filed under: How To

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