BBQ Sauce, Commercial or make your own?

wearcd said:

My apologies to the Bretheren.

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:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :becky: :becky: :becky:

Matt_A said:

Me? I enjoy the process of making the sauce. Inventing a new one is even more fun!

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Same here though the wife has limited me to 8 sauces at a time.

I actually get my customers involved in the process when I'm thinking of a new Sauce of the Moment. I ask my regulars what they would like for a new sauce - when I have a test batch I give samples to customers who are willing to give solid feedback - most sauces of the moment get the customer vetting process. Makes them feel attached to the sauce & they then go out & spread the word about my joint. It's a great way to build customer loyalty.

Smiter Q said:

Making money they would agree is nice, but it would not be "the reason" for their business. They say they are in the restaurant business because it is a passion that needs to be fulfilled.

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Fufilling a passion doesn't make the rent..........money does. And try telling the banker that "making money would be nice" and see how far that gets you. :roll:

Listen, I'm not saying people aren't in the restaurant business because they love it, but what I am saying is that at the end of the day, if you aren't making money, you won't be in business for long. McDonalds may not be the best food in the world, but they are successful. And back to the original point, if you use a commercial sauce and you like it and your customers like it, use it. Spend your money and time wisely and put yourself in a position to make money.

What he ^^^^^ said. We buy a small batch sauce not available here and use it. We also sell the cr@p out of it. We use plowbys rubs and sell some of it. I really dont care for my pork pork but sell 10,000#'s a year. If I want to eat pork, I do that at a contest because I like my contest pork. Cook at home. Make money at your business.

Making BBQ sauces is one of my favorite side affects of my BBQ problem. I am constantly making new ones to cater to the tastes of who we are serving. Occasionally those that have hired us have requested store bought in lieu of our house made because some people just prefer the shelfed kind....

Living in Chicago I have access to an insane amount of ethnic grocery stores. These are the places that have a huge variety of peppers. So many in fact that I think it would take me months of trying to make sauce with each one. We have tried the Chipotle Adobo sauce and I think its horrible. It leaves such a tomato paste taste in the sauce no matter how I cook it. I cant stress enough on using the real thing. Such a huge difference and you can really taste it more prominently.

Making sauce is so much fun that I honestly think its a hobby of mine. Much Like ChaCha I love to get my customers involved as well as friends and neighbors. We have customers who request shelf sauce but we always bring our own just for them to taste. 9 times out 10 when they order again they want our sauce over the shelf. Sometimes people play it safe and go with they know but give them a chance to take the risk.

I make my own rubs but for the life of me I can't seem to make a decent sauce other than my Carolina Red Vinegar sauce. I have poured out so many batches of sauce I can't count. I have read every book, tried tons of recipes and still can't get what I like enough to make it myself. I have a few favorite commercial/competition sauces but don't seem to be able to get close to what comes in a bottle. I feel like such a failure and it pisses me off. My wife doesn't understand why it bothers me so much since I can get what I want off the shelf.

Pa_BBQ said:

I have my concession trailer about finished inspector will be here Tuesday to inspect it and pick up the information for the business license.

I am starting off very small, going to start with just pulled pork, chips and drinks. I will offer sauces on the side and there are no BBQ companies around here to ask so will ask you guys about BBQ Sauce.

Do you buy commercial or make your own? I would love to make my own but have no clue where to start. I have a couple Carolina sauces I make and like (mustard based) but for the Stubs type sauce I have been buying it at walmart.

So if you use commercial types, do you leave it in the original bottle or at least make it look like you made it?

Sorry if this has been covered before I did a search and did not find an answer.

Since I do not compete, maybe someone would share a basic sauce to start with and I can tweak it to my liking.

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Make sure and check with your HD, if I make my own sauce, everything must be cooked in my vending trailer, unless you have a commissary

Does anyone see any difference when cooking their sauce at a low simmer for longer than 20mins? I have seen some people cook theirs up to 4 hours. I tried it a couple of times and I honestly didn't notice much difference.

ChicagoSizzlin said:

Does anyone see any difference when cooking their sauce at a low simmer for longer than 20mins? I have seen some people cook theirs up to 4 hours. I tried it a couple of times and I honestly didn't notice much difference.

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Two basic reasons for a long simmer...

1. The longer you cook a high sugar sauce, the deeper the flavor as the sugar caramelizes.

2. Reducing the sauce. Long simmers will drive out some of the water/liquid making for a thicker sauce.

I simmer my house sauce & high sugar sauces for a couple hours. My mustard or hot sauces only go for 1/2 hour.

chachahut said:

Two basic reasons for a long simmer...

1. The longer you cook a high sugar sauce, the deeper the flavor as the sugar caramelizes.

2. Reducing the sauce. Long simmers will drive out some of the water/liquid making for a thicker sauce.

I simmer my house sauce & high sugar sauces for a couple hours. My mustard or hot sauces only go for 1/2 hour.

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Hey Frank good to see your still haning in there give me a shout some time.

chachahut said:

Two basic reasons for a long simmer...

1. The longer you cook a high sugar sauce, the deeper the flavor as the sugar caramelizes.

2. Reducing the sauce. Long simmers will drive out some of the water/liquid making for a thicker sauce.

I simmer my house sauce & high sugar sauces for a couple hours. My mustard or hot sauces only go for 1/2 hour.

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Thanks for the tip. I make my own sauces for my own use (1 mustard & 1 KC style sweet red) and have wondered about the small differences between batches. I will pay closer attention to cook time in the future.:thumb:

chachahut said:

Two basic reasons for a long simmer...

1. The longer you cook a high sugar sauce, the deeper the flavor as the sugar caramelizes.

2. Reducing the sauce. Long simmers will drive out some of the water/liquid making for a thicker sauce.

I simmer my house sauce & high sugar sauces for a couple hours. My mustard or hot sauces only go for 1/2 hour.

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Thanks Frank! One of the problems I was having was some sauce being too thin. Next batch will have to extend my cooking times.