What is the purpose of vinegar in a barbecue sauce recipe?
Is it for tanginess, or is there another purpose? I tried a new barbecue sauce recipe last night – and it turned out that the recipe called for way too much vinegar. It still smells like the night before Easter in my house. Is there something else I can substitute and still get the same apparent flavor? Or, can I reduce it without compromising the sauce?
gojenni: You asked how much vinegar the recipe calls for — for one batch, the total amount of liquid in the recipe (including the ketchup) is 1 1/2 cups, with 1/2 of THAT being cider vinegar. I doubled the recipe and there was WAY too much vinegar. Thanks for your help!
This entry was posted on Friday, July 23rd, 2010 at 3:09 am and is filed under BBQ Talk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
October 9th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
It moistness the meat so it wont be so tuff.
October 12th, 2008 at 1:36 am
It adds a little tang and allows more sugar without being overly sweet.
Try this recipe. I developed it after years of trial and error.
Norm’s Sweet & Sour BBQ Sauce
1-40 Oz Bottle Catsup
1-Cup White Vinegar
1-Cup Water
2-Cups White Sugar
1-Cup Brown Sugar
4-Tsp Onion Salt
2-Tsp Celery Salt
1-Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1-Tsp Ground Cloves
1-Tsp Ground Allspice
1/4-Cup Liquid Smoke
Mix all together in saucepan and heat to boiling. Reduce heat & simmer 1 hour.
Yield about 7 cups.
October 13th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Vinegar adds acidity to the sauce, which ultimately helps tenderize. What type of vinegar are you using? I would suggest an apple cider vinegar as it will add a little bit more flavor instead of the harshness of ordinary vinegar. Also, how much are you putting in? You shouldn’t need more than a few tablespoons at the most.
October 15th, 2008 at 6:26 am
Taste and another thing is that vinegar can tenderize the meat as it cooks, marinates or however you are using vinegar(sauce it is in)
October 17th, 2008 at 2:34 am
It gives it a tang and it helps to tenderize the meat too.
October 19th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
the acid in it helps to make the meat tender. Just cut the vinegar back to a couple tablespoons. It will not taste right if you don’t put it in.