Oranges can add just the right amount of tang to certain barbecue sauces.
Barbecue sauce can be an extremely personal thing. Cooks who spend a lot of time at their grill often alter commercial barbecue sauces to suit their own tastes. Some want a sharp bite of heat while others prefer something a little tangier. Adding a tangy flavor to barbecue sauce is simple enough so long as you pay attention to the other flavors of the sauce. The ingredients added to a mustard-based barbecue sauce to increase the tangy flavor are different than those used in a vinegar-based sauce. When altering the flavor of a barbecue sauce, continually taste check it.
Instructions
Adding Tang To Vinegar-Based Barbecue Sauces
1. Heat up the vinegar-based barbecue sauce in a saucepan. Empty the entire contents of the bottle or only the amount you're intending to use that day into the saucepan. Stir it continuously with a wooden spoon until it begins to simmer. Decrease the burner to low heat.
2. Measure out a teaspoon of wine (red or white) vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Add it into the barbecue sauce and stir thoroughly.
3. Taste the barbecue sauce. If there's not enough tang, continuing adding more vinegar to the sauce in 1-teaspoon amounts until the tangy taste is sufficient. Remove the sauce from heat when finished.
Adding Tang To Mustard-Based Barbecue Sauces
4. Pour the mustard-based barbecue sauce into a microwave safe bowl. Place the bowl in the microwave and cover it with either a paper towel or wax paper to keep the sauce from splattering all over the interior of the microwave. Heat the barbecue sauce all the way through. The exact timing is dependant on the type of microwave and the amount of sauce being heated.
5. Measure out a teaspoon of either orange or lemon juice. Add it into the barbecue sauce and stir thoroughly. Juice squeezed directly from the fruit can also be used for this step. Add one squeeze at a time, checking to make sure that no seeds fall in.
6. Taste the barbecue sauce. Add an increasing amount of juice until the sauce has the right amount of tang.
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