The time I made my own barbecue sauce

[alan Maples]

I once decided to make a honey barbecue sauce for some country style ribs I was planning to smoke for a barbecue. The sauce turned out excellent. People raved about the ribs and said that I should open a restaurant. Now to the funny part. I do not remember how I made it.

 

[smokinsquid]

Always, always, always write down what ingredients you used and how you made something. Start a BBQ notebook and keep detailed notes on everything, losing recipes like that sucks....

 

[schlotz]

This is what a good recipe app is for. Hopefully one that allows you to continually add notes to each recipe.

 

[Sven Svensson]

We’ve all done that. The fun is getting to do it again.

 

[jcam222]

This is what a good recipe app is for. Hopefully one that allows you to continually add notes to each recipe.

Which one do you like?

 

[Nate52]

I used to make this mistake all the time. Most of my recipes are combinations of a half dozen other recipes I've found online. I have plenty of them bookmarked on my laptop, but I quit doing that when the smartphone became my main browser. I ended up trying to recreate old google searches so I could find the many links to try and come up with the same version I made before.

When I started to get more serious with cooking as a hobby, I started a journal. It's just the classic black and white composition notebook. A new page for every cook, and the back pages are like an index to refer back to old cooks and tweak recipes if I need to.

If my house ever caught fire, my third trip back inside would be to grab my book, after the kids and grandpa's rifle.

 

[SmokinAl]

I have a couple of recipes that I just eyeball the ingredients. So they come out a bit different every time. Once in a while they are spot on, and the fun is trying to recreate them again! I guess I should measure them accurately so I can have the same outcome each time, but what fun would that be!
Al

 

[bbqjefff]

Always, always, always write down what ingredients you used and how you made something. Start a BBQ notebook and keep detailed notes on everything, losing recipes like that sucks....

Absolutely write it down! I have my own bbq book that I write my recipes in. It has helped a lot.

 

[noboundaries]

I use Google Docs on my phone and poke the keyboard immediately after making something new or copying a recipe off the Internet. Why? It's stored in the cloud. Everything will be there if I change phones. And I won't lose access to 1500+ recipes I've saved or created if a software company decides to stop supporting a program I bought. Grrrrrr!

 

[alan Maples]

Absolutely write it down! I have my own bbq book that I write my recipes in. It has helped a lot.

I'm probably not going to make another one. Lots of good barbecue sauces out there

 

[gmc2003]

I used to write things down, but that has faded over the years. Now I just start with the basics and alter to my taste that day. I will go back and reread cooks that I remember here on SMF.

Chris

 

[bauchjw]

It drives my wife nuts, but I do the same thing a lot!

 

[alan Maples]

It drives my wife nuts, but I do the same thing a lot!

 

[SmokinEdge]

You should write things down, but then again until you nail what you are doing those writings can be confusing. Start with basic ingredients, and don’t use to many ingredients. Usually the best things are simple. This way you can build it again by eyeball because you know what went in it. If you add something strange maybe write that down but you should only do that if you liked it. My advice just keep it simple. Good sauces generally don’t have a lot of ingredients.

Here is a good one.

Apricot jam (enough to do the job)
Garlic powder to taste.
Soy sauce to taste.

Add garlic and soy until it tastes right. It’s delicious on ham, pork and chicken.

 

[alan Maples]

You should write things down, but then again until you nail what you are doing those writings can be confusing. Start with basic ingredients, and don’t use to many ingredients. Usually the best things are simple. This way you can build it again by eyeball because you know what went in it. If you add something strange maybe write that down but you should only do that if you liked it. My advice just keep it simple. Good sauces generally don’t have a lot of ingredients.

Here is a good one.

Apricot jam (enough to do the job)
Garlic powder to taste.
Soy sauce to taste.

Add garlic and soy until it tastes right. It’s delicious on ham, pork and chicken.

I might try this

 

[SmokinEdge]

I might try this

Just mix up a little for personal taste. It’s a nice simple salty sweet. And goes good with most rubs.

 

[SmokinEdge]

If you want a straightforward tomato based sauce,
Ketchup
Molasses
Hot sauce
Brown sugar
Garlic
Pepper.

Enough ketchup to cover everything, then the rest to taste. Simple ingredients.

 

[bbqjefff]

If you want a straightforward tomato based sauce,
Ketchup
Molasses
Hot sauce
Brown sugar
Garlic
Pepper.

Enough ketchup to cover everything, then the rest to taste. Simple ingredients.

Did you simmer the ingredients or just mix them?

 

[alan Maples]

Just mix up a little for personal taste. It’s a nice simple salty sweet. And goes good with most rubs.

Thanks.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Did you simmer the ingredients or just mix them?

You can try a small Batch taste it cold, then simmer and taste the difference. I don’t simmer mine, but you may prefer it. You also may want to add other flavors, but get the base down first that you like, write that down, then rewrite a new separate sheet with the basics and add what else you want. Herbs, citrus, worshestershire , onion, mustard whatever floats the boat, but don’t do them all at once. Get your base dialed in, then add a couple things and no more at a time. I make a list of ingredients that don’t work. Saved me more than once but you won’t know till you try.