The first thing to note is that you should not coat your meat (any type) with the Barbecue sauce until it is almost finished cooking. The reason for this is that the sugars and tomatoes in the BBQ sauce will caramelise and burn on the outside of the meat before it is actually cooked on the inside!
Instead you use a Basting Sauce (aka basting stock) while it's cooking to keep it moist and add flavour. Use a 1” paintbrush to coat the basting sauce over the meat as it is cooking.
When your food is cooked, brush the BBQ Sauce over the meat and give it another few minutes on the grill to glaze and finish the flavouring.
When your food is cooked, brush the BBQ Sauce over the meat and give it another few minutes on the grill to glaze and finish the flavouring.
My Basting Sauce Recipe:
500ml apple juice
100ml olive oil
50ml malt vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Chicken stock cube
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tspn thyme
1 tspn rosemary
½ tspn paprika
½ tspn black pepper
½ tspn salt
Put everything in a pot and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat and let it cool. Use this to moisten your meats as they cook.
My BBQ Sauce Recipe:
50ml olive oil1 medium onion
5 cloves garlic
1 red chilli (deseeded)
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 green pepper
2x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
50g brown sugar
4 tbls honey
50ml soy sauce
300ml tomato ketchup
100ml brown sauce
1 tbls Treacle
1 tbls Sesame OIl
1 tbls Dijon mustard
1 tbls Worchester sauce
juice and zest of 1 lemon
juice and zest of 1 orange
1 tspn Tabasco sauce
½ tspn cracked black pepper
100ml water
Chop the vegetables roughly because your going to blitz the sauce in a food processor when it's cooked. Put them into a large pot and add all the other ingredients. Bring it all to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer the sauce for 30 minutes. Blitz in a food processor or with a blitzing gun, you can make it smooth or leave it a little rough for a bit of bite. You can use this BBQ sauce straight away or you can put it in the fridge overnight to help the flavours develop.
When your beef, chicken, ribs, lamb, Kebabs, burgers, sausages, fish, prawns, or whatever you're using, is cooked to your liking, simply brush the BBQ sauce over your meat, give it another few minutes on the Barbecue to add a tasty, shiny, crispy delicious glaze that will have your guests licking their fingers with delight!
My BBQ Sauce is also excellent for rubbing on Chicken Wings or Pork Ribs. Cook the meat in a pre-heated oven at 180°C until its done. Take it out and brush with the BBQ Sauce and pop back in the oven for another 10 mins. Delicious!
Both sauces can be made in advance and kept in the fridge. The BBQ Sauce will keep for months, if you jar it when its still hot.
Enjoy the Sunshine and insist on locally-sourced Irish food for your BBQ!
Zack