Salt and sugar

Using sugars in a homemade barbecue sauce

To add sweetness if necessary to your homemade barbecue sauce, you can use sugars and sweeteners that suit your personal preference. Palm sugar has a unique and distinct flavour that has an Eastern influence, cane sugar, molasses and dark brown sugar are also widely used.

You can use any sugars that you prefer, though darker sugars generally have more flavour and are more suitable for use in a BBQ sauce. More exotic sweeteners such as passion fruit and guava syrups can also be used to good effect, along with regular honey and golden syrup.

If your homemade barbecue sauce is going to be used to baste your meats and poultry during cooking over a hot grill, remember that the high sugar content can burn easily and it will invariably result in blackened food.

Take this into account when cooking your food and adjust your technique accordingly. Using the “low-and-slow” method of cooking is the perfect way to cook food that is coated in a high sugar content BBQ sauce.

Using sugars in a homemade barbecue sauce

Salt is a very important part of cooking, seasoning any food improves the flavour and when used in BBQ sauces, it is used in the same manner, to add flavour and also balance the sweetness and acidity. Use salt sparingly during the last 15 minutes of reduction time to adjust the taste to your liking by allowing the salt to cook through the sauce slowly, while stirring continuously.

Taste a small amount of the sauce, not forgetting to allow it to cool first beforehand, and determine whether you have reached the right balance.

Other sections in the homemade barbecue sauce guide