http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x68269Oh my.
InternalDialogue (1000+ posts) Thu Aug-27-09 01:53 PM
Original message
Homemade barbecue sauce question
So I've got a barbecue sauce recipe I've tried twice, after liking the flavor the first time I made it. I've got no issue with the taste, but I'm looking for input on texture.
The first time I made it, I cooked it down to what seemed like the right volume. The flavors had concentrated and become wonderful, but the sauce was still thin. Not soupy thin, but like a gravy thin. In other words, it wasn't going to stick to or coat anything that wasn't perfectly flat.
The second time I made it, I cooked it down further. The flavors tasted the same to me, but I let it simmer until it actually started to thicken to the point of being more like ketchup. When I dipped a spoon into it to taste, it didn't run off the spoon as quickly, and it actually had some "stick" to it.
I didn't notice a difference in taste from batch to batch, but I know that the thicker sauce would have benefits if I were coating something to broil or grill.
My question: Are there advantages to having a thinner sauce? On the other hand, do I risk ruining anything by cooking it longer -- are there going to be undesirable changes with a sauce that has gone from saucy to thick? (And there are no ingredients in the sauce that are there to act like thickeners, just cooking the liquid out of it far enough.)
There the primitives go again, making life more difficult than it has to be.
franksolich goes to the grocery store and buys a bottle of Heinz 57.
No muss, no fuss, less time, less trouble, cleaner, less expense.
AwakeAtLast (1000+ posts) Thu Aug-27-09 09:36 PM
Response to Original message
1. The only thing I can think of
Would be how you are going to use it.
If you are basting as you go, I would think you would want a little thinner sauce that will thicken on top of what you are putting it on. If its really thick, I think it could dry out the meat a little as it cooked. As long as both taste good I would use either! Just my $.02!
InternalDialogue (1000+ posts) Fri Aug-28-09 09:58 AM
Response to Reply #1
3. I think it's nice I discovered that it can be cooked to more than one state of thickness.
I've got the current thicker batch jarred, so I should probably mark it as such. I could make another thin batch and mark it for marinade.
The Gloria Swanson primitive:
Tangerine LaBamba (1000+ posts) Fri Aug-28-09 12:02 AM
Response to Original message
2. I'd use it as a marinade - that's one way to capitalize on the thinness of the liquid.
I'd cook it down more, until I got the thickness I wanted. Keep an eye on it - I bet it works out just fine.
InternalDialogue (1000+ posts) Fri Aug-28-09 10:00 AM
Response to Reply #2
4. So far so good.
I had it over some leftover roast pork last night, and it held together very well as a thick sauce.
As I mentioned above to AwakeAtLast, I think I'm going to keep at least a jar of each, marked as to which way I prepared it. That way I've got a marinade or a finished sauce ready to go.
Man, I'm starting to think the cooking and baking primitives are anal, with their obsession of going through so much time and trouble, when the solutions are sitting on the shelves of their local grocery stores.
