Adding body to a BBQ sauce?


 
J

James Harvey

TVWBB Pro
I've been trying to build a BBQ sauce for a while now. I started with the No. 5, tried to doctor a few commercial sauces and now I'm back to building my own.

I'm working on a sweet tomato based sauce with a kick. I started with Kevin K's recipe (great) and have been playing around to try and change it up. I've tried including a few spoons of mango chutney, I've included beef broth, I've tried a litle tamarind and all had their merits.

What I feel I'm missing is body. I don't know how to describe it but, the sauces are good though I just feel I'm missing the final "something". Meat juices definitely add something so that's what I've been pursuing, using some reduced au jus, or demi glace but I'm still not there.

Does anyone have a direction I could try?
 
2T of balsamic vinegar added to my 8 quart pot of chili adds a certain something - a small amount might be worth trying in your sauce.
 
James, I thought I might have the answer until I read the last sentence -meat juice. i also thought about worcestershire.

But if you want BODY. What I have found in several dishes that really makes a difference is the addition of just a little butter. It might be a difference maker.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">the addition of just a little butter. It might be a difference maker. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

add it to a warm sauce (off the heat) and stir until just melted.

demi glace, or any hyper reduced stock should provide some gelatin and improve the mouth feel

If you are looking for body, in terms of thickness, you may want to try playing with xanthan gum. It's available through Bob's Red Mill and can be found in health food sections as it's a good thickener for people on gluten free diets. It's pretty much added to every commercially available salad dressing in order to give it a consistency that clings to the greens. A miniscule amount can make a runny sauce stand up on your plate.
 
Thanks all. I made a fairly complicated sauce, by backyard cook standards this past weekend and included the drippings from ribs. It tasted great (and still does since I have a squeeze bottle left in the fridge). Just for clarity, by body, I mean flavour, not consistency. I understand the use of xantham or other thickeners for that but I think the consistency is fine. Also, I've tried butter at the end and have noticed a difference but neither better nor worse, just different.

In layman's terms, I'm feeling that most of my tomato/ketchup based sauces don't seem to taste that different from the No. 5 sauce. The base ingredients are pretty similar but I'm starting with carmelized onions, garlic, ginger, a few different spice and chile adds and layering as I go. I'm also a fan of using fresh lemon as a mid add and a final finish (thanks Kevin).

When I taste mine vs. a commercial sauce, they just don't have that same punch. It's not sugar, smoke or heat, just... thin tasting.

Perhaps I'm confusing many years of bottled taste with that of a fresh sauce. I.e., it IS good, but I'm not used to it.

I see tamarind in many commercial sauces but am not a fan. Is this the difference I'm tasting?
 
Dumb question here. I'm assuming that your finished sauce needs to be refrigerated especially if you add meat drippings???
 
Paul, I keep it refrigerated, maybe up to a week? I usually refrigerate most sauces but especially so with the meat drippings added.

I'm a little less fussy about a vinegar based finishing sauce.

Good question though. I'm wondering if someone can provide input on refrigeration of sauces (when you should and how long they last etc...)?
 
The tamarind you are seeing in commercial sauces is there because of the common inclusion of Worcestershire.

'Body' usually refers to thickness/consistency/mouthfeel. If it is a flavor thing you're seeking that's different. Many commercial sauces start with already cooked ingredients and cook them further. You could try a longer cooking time or higher temp cook - in either case to the point of some notable reduction. (It's the often - to me - overcooked flavor that I dislike about commercial sauces. But I am not used to them at all, the opposite of your experience.) I look for brighter, more distinct, less muddied flavors when I make sauces - unlike, imo, commercial sauces - so my recipes call for shorter cooking, less reduction.

Most commercial sauces use dried ingredients (dried onion, granulated garlic, and so forth) rather than fresh. If using fresh only keep doing so, but add some dried versions as well. (Here's an example: try making a typical ranch dressing with only fresh ingredients. Can't be done.) Add the dry versions at the same time you add the fresh - unless you are browning/caramelizing, in which case add the dry at the point the item in question (garlic, ginger, onion, etc.) is cooked to your liking. As a starting point add about 1 tsp granulated onion per 1/2 fresh onion you started with; 1/3 tsp granulated garlic per 2 cloves fresh; 1/4 t ginger powder for every tsp or so of fresh; 1/4 tsp dry herb for every 1-2 tsp of fresh, if using fresh herbs.

Typical Q sauces are acidic enough (or contain enough sugar) not to require refrigeration, meat juice inclusion or not. Refrigeration maintains quality however, especially if meat juices or fats are included.
 
Thanks Kevin. It's not body I'm looking for, it's taste. I'm using a takeoff of a tomato based sauce you posted quite a while back. I think my interpretation of body is a stronger taste. My sauce is very fresh tasting but lacks punch. I want to say it should be beefier. I've tried adding more meat juice but I still can't get that fuller flavour. I guess I won't know until I find it.
 
Kevin, I'm assuming you are talking about the acidity in commercial sauces. A homemade sauce may not have enough acidity to offset the fats and meat drippings. How would you gauge it?
 
So if viscosity is not equal to body in the discussion - I tend towards things that compliment the base recipe or recipes of the ingredients. Something that compliments the meat say in this case - what are the ingredients of the rub, marinade, paste, overall prep and how to compliment.

Then you have glaze, sauce or other treatment you apply after and how it will compliment.

And of course what you are after.

That's the fun.

A couple good books for the library as you play with all this:

Sauces: Classic and Contemporary Sauce Making by James Peterson

The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg

Marinades, Rubs, Brines, cures & Glazes by Jim Tarantino

Then posts by Kevin Kruger and Jay Beisinger
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You get a feel for things the longer you play and have the ingredients available to make adjustments, add, etc.
 
I've found that adding hot pepper flakes tends to provide a late finish "kick" to sauces.

Obviously you have to suit the amount of flakes to the amount of sauce but I'm talking 1/4 to a scant 1/2 tsp or so (to start).

I've got a sweet/hot "chinese" dipping sauce that uses h.p.f. and is just perfect--sweetish/vingarish (rice vinegar) for about 3/4 of the "chew" and then a hit of heat to say "hi there, we're here"
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