# BBQ Sauce Cooking Question



## bbqr99 (Mar 30, 2017)

I have looked over this forum and browsed numerous threads.  There seems to be a wealth of knowledge on this site.

I have a few questions that I am hoping someone can help me with.

I have a sauce recipe (ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, spices)  no salt no butter.

For the questions:  

After I heat this and simmer for awhile can I put this in pint/quart jars (to seal) and it be safe for say 6 months.

I may need up to 20 gallons for an upcoming cooking.   What is the best way to cook this without scorching or burning?  I have  a bayou classic burner with a 20 quart pot aluminum pot.  But concerned with the amount of heat it generates and also the pot being aluminum with all the vinegar.

I have been testing a crock pot. 1 hour on high, 2 hours on low.  I am thinking about using a roaster oven that you can turn down temperature on.  Anyone have ideas.

What does butter do for a sauce?

Also, do you think i should simmer the sauce longer?

Thanks for all the help!  I look forward to your feedback,

Cody


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## noboundaries (Apr 3, 2017)

Cody, this has been sitting for three and two thirds days, unanswered.  Been driving me nuts!

First, let me say I'm not a BBQ sauce maker.  I've played with several I've copied or created, but my wife prefers a commercial sauce, so I've set BBQ sauces aside.  That said though, I do a LOT of homemade sauces using tomatoes, spices, sugars, salts, etc.  We also have canning experience, which addresses one of your concerns.  Here's my input in a different order than you show above:

1. Butter.  Butter is a fat, which helps bind the ingredients in a sauce.  If you use all the same ingredients and change the only the fat, you'll notice a difference in the final result of the sauce.  I recently switched from olive oil to butter for making several of my pasta and pizza sauces.  The result was very subtle, but created sauces that were less sharp, somewhat smoother, to my wife's "supertaster" palate. In BBQ sauce, if you used no butter, butter, lard, or recovered fat drippings from a smoked meat, you'd have four different tasting sauces, so it really depends what you are hoping to achieve.   

2. Canning.  You can't just heat the sauce then store it in glass jars.  Follow canning guidelines for sterilizing your canning equipment and sealing it properly in sterilized glass canning jars.  Six months won't be an issue.  DON'T USE THE ALUMINUM POT for canning.  More below. 

3.  Aluminum pot and heating.  Yeah, you may very well get an off "metallic" taste due to the reactive nature of the aluminum pot and the acidic nature of a tomato product.  A chemical reaction occurs between the pot and the sauce.  Burning the bottom without using a heat diffuser is an issue with whatever pot you use, but adding an acidic liquid to a reactive pot will create an additional problem.  One of the catering folks will have to address the 20 gallon reheating issue.  Definitely a no-no when canning a sauce.       

4.  Personally, whenever I make any sauce that starts with tomatoes, or a tomato product, I simmer for a minimum of 1 hour.  Something magic happens to tomato-based sauces once you reach 4 hours of slow simmering.  In my experience the spices become well saturated, the ingredients break down completely, and the sauce just becomes a smooth blend of perfection.   

Bottom line, my suggestion is you need a large, non-reactive, stainless-steel pot.  Buy one, and it will last you a lifetime.


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## bbqr99 (Apr 3, 2017)

Thank you for the the replies.

I am trying to make something similar to a local sauce around here.  It contains Ketchup, sugar, mustard, and spices.  However, I cannot get the exact taste.  But I am close.  (I really like the one i came up with)  

I am at work now but recipe is close to

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/8 cup vinegar

3 tbl white sugar

2.5 tsp yellow mustard

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp onion powder

1/16 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp chili powder

2 tsp worcestershire sauce

3 tbl water.

Anyone have comments about recipe?  It is a mild sauce, not a hot sauce.  I tried garlic powder, but wife did not like it.  Even at 1/8 tsp in batch she said it was too strong.

I am working on a "small' batch then wanting to scale up.  I had a hard time getting it thinner so I added a little water.  I have simmered for about 30 minutes.  I will try over an hour and see how it changes.  I like this current recipe.  It is a thin sweet sauce with slight vinegar.  We mainly are using for bbq chicken fundraisers.  

I was concerned using butter and trying to "can" it.  I did not know if the butter would cause any spoiling issues.  I am not completely sure what you mean by "Follow canning guidelines for sterilizing your canning equipment and sealing it properly in sterilized glass canning jars."  I realize jars need to be clean and sterilized, but when canning preserves, jelly, pepper relish we normally place in canning jars hot with fresh seals and then tighten lid and they seal without any spoiling issues over time.  I would think bbq sauce would be similar except, i did not know how butter would affect this.

As to your comments about aluminum.  That is what I was thinking, just wanted additional opinions.

I am now looking at using a roaster oven, as was mentioned.  With my current roaster oven, I will still need to make 4 or 5 batches. 

Thanks for comments

Cody


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## bbqr99 (Apr 5, 2017)

I made another batch and simmered for 2 hours.  It both thickened the sauce as well as made it a brownish color similar to sweet baby rays.  I ended up adding 5 tbls of water to thin it.  I was wanting a more red sauce.  But the flavor was good!  So that is a positive.   Might add another tbl or 2 of vinegar after it finished cooking.

Does using light brown sugar vs white sugar vs dark sugar affect the color after simmering this long?

Cody


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## noboundaries (Apr 5, 2017)

The only difference between light and dark brown sugar is the amount of molasses added to white table sugar by the maker.  Try white sugar if you are concerned about the color. Molasses is a flavor component though, adding what I call a "toasted" flavor.


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## gr0uch0 (Apr 5, 2017)

To augment what Ray said, you could also use raw (or turbinado) sugar instead of white sugar.  It hasn't been refined, and doesn't tend to burn as quickly as white.  I don't really think that the different sugars play a huge part in the sauce color--it might have a small impact, but not that much imho.  Especially where your recipe above only calls for 3TBS of white.  I also concur with his advice about storage & canning--don't simply put this on the shelf and call it good, as someone could get quite ill from it.  Follow proper canning procedures if you're going this route.  Lastly, I agree about his stainless pot advice:  you'll be thankful you did.

Something did catch my eye that you posted earlier--"I may need up to 20 gallons for an upcoming cooking."  That's a huge amount of sauce any way you slice it--was that a typo, and if not, how much meat are you going to prepare?  Unless you're cooking half a ton of meat, that sure sounds like a lot.  Back to the sauce, you're going to have issues with a stockpot flamethrower (like a Bayou Classic) and sauce, simply because of keeping the flame low enough not to burn the sugars.  If the flame is low enough on those types of rigs, it's in a concentrated small section of the pot and you'll have to be stirring almost constantly to keep from sticking (and thus, burning also).  You may have issues keeping it lit at very low output if there's any hint of wind.  I'd be inclined to do smaller batches on a stovetop where things can be more easily regulated.  My $0.02--good luck.


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## bbqr99 (Apr 5, 2017)

Thanks for the comments.  No the 20 Gallons was not a typo.  We are doing a fundraiser and selling hopefully around 600 chicken halves.  We coat the chicken with the sauce and then also place it on the tables for people to add more.  Also, on togo plates we package a 2 oz container of sauce.  If 60% are togo plates that will be 6 gallons just in those containers.  And people want to go to 3 oz containers.  Also some people ask for additional anyways.   I am planning on 8 gallons to serve as a dipping or table sauce and then 12 gallons for grill.  This is an estimate of course, but based on past history.   Also the last 2 sales people have been wanting to buy the sauce so that wanting old be maybe and additional 3 or 4 gallons pinted up.

There was a post on here, but he must of deleted it about using a roaster oven.   The ones I have are a 22 quart.  You can cut the temp on these down and simmer essentially 5 gallons at a time.  I currently do not have a large stainless pot.   I only have an 8 qt stainless dutch oven,  I am scaling up and cooking a gallon to gallon and a half this weekend, for a test run Monday on some chicken leg quarters.

I may cut brown sugar back and add more white.   How does smoked paprika in this sauce sound?  Do you think it would add some flavor?

Thanks for the feedback.

Chris


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## gr0uch0 (Apr 5, 2017)

I always have viewed sauce as something to compliment the meat, and not as a focus or mainstay of the meal.  I typically do not sauce, and would rather instead have the meat stand on its own,   plus allow my guests to add as much or as little as they choose without me having made the decision for them.  This was something I was taught at a very young age by some amazing pitmasters--not to mention in some areas, sauce is considered an insult or that the restaurant is trying to hide something about their meat.  But this is about your event, and sounds like that's what's been successful previously, so if that's what they want, that's what they get!

So to your question about the smoked paprika:  I think it will get lost in the shuffle, since it's a very mild, light flavoring to begin with, and you're already smoking the birds.  I use it in different dishes where the meat/fish/fowl/vegetable/etc. wasn't smoked so that it brought a hint of smokiness to the mix.  If you're looking for a more robust flavor, you may want to consider chili powder in place of the mild paprika if you're going to go that route.  Experiment, as there's a myriad of possibilities available.  Also, you may want to use a water bath for the sauce--will eliminate the concern of the sauce burning or sticking to the bottom.  Since it doesn't sound like you've got access to a steam table, this is the next best thing.  Good luck.


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## bbqr99 (Apr 8, 2017)

Do you think this pot


would work?  or do you have another recommendation

It appears to have a thick bottom and is stainless steel.

I am thinking about making 5 - 4 gallon batches.  This one will give me a little extra room.

Cody


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## gr0uch0 (Apr 8, 2017)

BBQR99 said:


> Do you think this pot
> 
> 
> would work?  or do you have another recommendation
> ...


Looks nice, but how often are you going to be using this?  If it's a once a year type thing, I'd look at something less expensive--there are entire turkey fryer rigs out there (including the burner) for around half of this one.  I've had good luck with Bayou Classics or King Kooker pots, as well as some other no-name stainless pots that have held up quite well over the years.  If you're going to be using the heck out of this, it might not be a bad option with the thicker bottom.  That said, my single walled stainless pots get used frequently and are 20 years old with no signs of being replaced.  My $0.02.

Where are you located?  Academy, HD, Lowe's, Menards, Wally all carry these, and likely some other of your locals will too.


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## dirtsailor2003 (Apr 8, 2017)

As for the canning, you cannot just let the jars seal like you would with jams and jellies. 

There are some sauces that can be water bathed and some that need to be pressure canned. 

Your best bet would be to get a hold  of your counties local agriculture extension department. They will be able to help you with your recipe and wether or not it has the required acidity to be safely canned. 

You must have pretty lax laws where you are. Here even for fund raisers and charity events all food prep has to be done in a certified kitchen and cannot be home prepped.


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## pratherq (Aug 19, 2017)

Hello all,

I thought I would chime in since I make a sauce that I'm currently working to get to market. 

When I make mine at home, I mix all of the ingredients together into the pot with the burner turned off. I don't put heat on it until all the ingredients are mixed together. I'll then simmer it for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Don't let it boil!

As for acidity, I sent mine to the UNC food laboratory to get it tested. They gave me a full out nutrition label with calories, sodium, etc! I didn't cost that much.

If people really love your sauce, you should look at it getting it packaged!













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__ pratherq
__ Aug 19, 2017


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## jackdowney (Sep 4, 2017)

some of the best sauces and their usage have been mentioned here. Thanks a lot guys for it. Also i feel smoked paprika adds a fresh flavor to the already smoky dish. A must try on charcoal.


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