How to Doctor Up Barbecue Sauce

Add you own barbecue sauce to your next cookout.

Two things are needed for a cookout that guests will remember for months to come -- tender meat and tantalizing barbecue sauce. While you can prepare your meat for grilling or cooking with prepared, store-bought barbecue sauce, you don't have to stop there. Use a bottle of your favorite packaged barbecue sauce as a starting point and create a customized flavor that's all your own by experimenting with a few common kitchen and pantry ingredients.

Things You'll Need

• Packaged barbecue sauce
• Chili powder
• Worcestershire sauce
• Butter
• Prepared mustard
• Cocoa powder
• Apple cider vinegar
• 1 bottle stout beer
• Powdered garlic
• 1 can of soda
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
• Medium saucepan
• Stovetop
• Wooden spoon

Instructions

1. Pour a bottle of a store-bought barbecue sauce into a saucepan and heat it on your stove over medium-low heat. Decide whether you want a spicy or sweet sauce -- or both -- and begin adding small amounts of ingredients until you achieve the taste you want.

2. For a sweet sauce, add 1/3-cup of cola to your sauce. Stir the cola in until it is mixed thoroughly. Add 1 tbsp. of cocoa powder or sipping chocolate to the sauce and stir thoroughly.

3. Prepare a spicy barbecue sauce by doctoring up the sweet sauce you made in step 2 -- or by starting over from step 1 and skipping step 2 with one chipotle pepper from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, which is available in the Mexican section of most local grocery stores. Stir in 2 tbsp. of chili pepper and 1 tbsp. of Worcestershire sauce for a tangy spice. Allow the sauce to heat for a few minutes and taste. If you want it spicier, add another chipotle pepper.

4. Alternatively, doctor up a bottle of barbecue sauce with sour flavors to give it a punch. Add 1/4 cup of apple-cider vinegar and 1/4 cup stout beer to the sauce and stir over medium-low heat in a saucepan. Add 1 tsp. of garlic powder and 1 tbsp. of prepared mustard for a strong, tangy surprise.

References

• Food Reference: One Way to Develop Barbecue Sauce