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.

Hot And Spicy Barbeque Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup. Ketchup
1/2 cup. White Vinegar
1/4 cup. Worcestershire Sauce
1 cup. Brown Sugar
2 tbsp. Dry Mustard
1 tbsp. Ground Ginger
3 tbsp. Butter
1 tbsp. Red Hot Sauce
2 tbsp. Minced Garlic

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients in saucepan, heat over medium heat until smooth.

Barbecued Chicken Orange Glaze Sauce is a very simple barbecue sauce that can be made quickly. If you don’t like the flavor of orange marmalade, frozen orange juice concentrate can be substituted. In that case you should only use a quarter cup of OJ concentrate in place of the jar of marmalade. This recipe has a robust spicy sweet bbq flavor which goes great with fresh spring salad.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup. Honey
1 small jar. Orange Marmalade Jelly
1/3 cup. Heinz 57 Steak Sauce
2 tbsp. Texes Pete Hot Sauce

Instructions:

Start your chicken on the grill before making the sauce. This sauce is applied at the end of cooking. Take all of these ingredients and add to a small saucepan. Cook on a medium heat and stir the mixture until blended. Simmer the Barbecued Chicken Orange Glaze Sauce for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and apply it to pre grilled chicken in a 2 inch baking pan then bake at 300 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes before serving. Don’t forget the fresh spring salad and you have a perfect light meal that tastes great.

Sweet Tang Barbecue Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup. vegetable oil
1/2 cup. chopped onion
1 cup. tomato sauce
1/2 cup. water
1/4 cup. white vinegar
2 tbs. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. hot sauce
2 tbs. orange marmalade
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup. brown sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:

Saute onions in a saucepan with oil. Add all the remaining ingredients into the onions. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes or till the mixture is blended. This recipe is at its best with chicken or pork.

Caffeine Chicken Barbecue

INGREDIENTS:

3 tbs. Instant Coffee
3 1/2 cups. Ketchup
1 cup. Sugar
3 1/2 tsp. light Brown
3 1/2 tsp. Pepper
3/4 cup. Worcestershire Sauce.
1 cup. Chopped Onion
3 tbs. Red Hot Sauce
3/4 cup. White Vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS:

Mix all of the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often till sauce is well blended. Place the chicken or ribs on a baking pan or boiling pan and cook them for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Transfer the meat onto the grill until almost cooked (about 20 minutes longer). Brush on sauce and grill for about aniother 20 minutes longer, turning and brushing on sauce to keep meat from burning.

BARBECUED COUNTRY RIBS

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup. Brown Sugar
1 tbs. Salt
1 tbs. Celery Seed
1 tbs. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Paprika
1/4 cup. Vinegar
1 cup. Ketchup
1/4 cup. Honey
2 tbs. Hot Sauce

INSTRUCTIONS:

Combine all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl stir together until mixture is well blended and set to the side..

Country rib preparation:

Trim the fat from the ribs and cut them into serving size pieces. seasoning with salt,pepper and garlic. Place on the broiler and broil 15 to 20 minutes turning each side to remove as much of the excess fat as you can and until meat has browned. Apply the sauce over all, continue basting with the sauce until ready to serve.