What is an easy way to make a homemade BBQ sauce for chicken on the grill?!
What is an easy way to make a homemade BBQ sauce for chicken on the grill?
Answers:
Look at the ingredients on a bottle of something you like, make your own out of the same stuff, leaving out the crap like xanthan gum, msg, etc.
It's usually a mix of tomato paste, molasses/brown sugar, and vinegar, maybe a little oil, with spices like powdered onion and/or garlic. You'll have to experiment on your own for spices and proportions, or search the web for specific recipes.
You can marinate your stuff in a thin mix of the sauce (minus any sugar/syrup), grill, and then baste the sauce on in the last 10-20 minutes. If you put sugar-based sauce on too early, it just burns.
Oh, and brining your chicken or pork is the #1 way to make those meats juicy, tender, and flavorful. Once you try it, you'll never go back. Add about 1/2 C of salt per gallon of water, and any seasonings you want (like 1/2 C of honey, maybe some onion/garlic powder, etc). The salt should be kosher or non-iodized, but that's not critical. For a chicken breast or pork chop, soaking in the brine in the fridge for 2-4 hours is plenty.
(I just finished eating a brined pan-fried center-cut pork chop with carmelized onions and mushrooms - really good!)
If you find chicken or pork on sale for a good price, buy it, brine it, wrap each piece separately in plastic wrap, pop them all in zip-lock plastic bag, and freeze it. Move it from the freezer to the fridge 24 hours ahead of when you want to cook it.
If you are looking for something different from a tomato based BBQ sauce here is an excellent one. This is from a family recipe.
1/2 stick of butter or margarine, melted
1 clove of garlic crushed and diced
dash of seasoned salt
slightly less than 1/4 cup of dry vermouth
Juice of one half lemon
Stir together, no cooking required. I don't start brushing on this sauce until the chicken has been turned once and is brown on both sides, because the fire is too hot and will flare up when the butter drips on to it.
Tomato paste, small drop of smoke flavor, sweeten with your choice of : honey, molassas, brown sugar or corn syrup. add some spices, I like to use a little white pepper...nice kick, some use chipotle or red pepper or cayanne. there you go!
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, like soy, corn or peanut
1/2 medium Spanish onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch of crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 (28-ounce) can whole, peeled tomatoes (with puree), pureed in a blender
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and crushed pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 1 minute more.
Add the tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until deep red in color and reduced to about 4 cups, about 25 minutes. Season with pepper to taste. Use now, or store, covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.
Here are my 2 favorite homemade BBQ sauces for chicken:
No-cook sauce:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ordinary white vinegar
2 tsp Coleman's mustard powder
2 tsp Worcestershite sauce
Louisiana hot sauce to taste
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tbl soy sauce
1/8 cup olive oil
Mix all ingredients and brush on the chicken near the end of the cooking. Brush on 3 or 4 times.
Cooked sauce:
3/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1 onion, diced very finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed and diced
1 tsp Louisiana hot sauce, or to taste
2 tsp Coleman's dry mustard
Olive oil for sauteing onions
1 small lemon
Saute the onions in olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes, add garlic and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients (except the lemon), plus a cup of water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Simmer for at least an hour. Add more water if it gets too dry. When ready to use, if it's too liquidy then raise heat to high and reduce until it thickens, stirring constantly. When sauce is ready, turn off heat and stir in the juice from one small lemon. Brush on chicken near the end of the cooking.
Note:
Both of these recipes are sugar based. This means that they need to go on near the end of the cooking. If you start the cooking with the sauce on at the beginning, the sauce will get charred before the chicken is done.
YOU WANT EASY? Step up to the plate chef wannabe! There are several traditional ways to prepare sauce. Vinagar based, tomato based, dry rub, you must be the maestro! I live in the Caribbean, although many would deny it, the word barbeque comes from Spanish " Barbacoa" which is a word borrowed from the indegineous people of the region when they "discovered" America. Use your imagination to make that "perfect Sauce" I can hardly wait for the next BBQ cook off here in Puerto Rico, "The Jack Daniels BBQ cook off" was rained out last year, only rerquirement is JD in the sauce. Be craetive in your sauce, use traditional ingredients but don't fear to use pineapple, mango or other fruits in the sauce, pork LOVES apple. GO FOR IT, YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE.