The truth about barbecue sauces is that most of them taste great warm or hot! They are typically made of ketchup, sugar, salt, and flavorings like pepper, garlic, onion, and/or liquid smoke.
Many people spread the sauce on their meat just before cooking it so it can melt into the flesh and be absorbed. This helps create more flavor for the cook to enjoy!
However, some smokers and grill owners over-do this process and end up with burnt, overly salty toppings that do not agree with your mouth.
Fortunately, there are ways to avoid this by either buying new bottles of sauce or changing how you make your own when running out. Here we will talk about the second option!
Making your own barbeque sauce
When you run out of an ingredient used in making a barbeque sauce, you can usually find recipes for what element you lack online or through recipe books.
General tips: remember that dried ingredients like chili powder, brown sugar, dry mustard, etc., will rehydrate as needed while adding intensity and depth to the finished product.
Agave nectar is a good alternative to plain old white sugar because it does not chemically change during baking or combustion. It has a similar texture and function but does not contribute too much glucose which could turn acidic in the stomachs of those eating it.
It depends
Over the years, people have spent hours in creative ways to find new uses for barbecue sauce. Some will test it out as a cooking ingredient or use it as dip for something like pretzels or bread.
If you are very careful about how to use this product, then there is not much need to refrigerate it. However, our advice is to always keep some around!
Barbecue sauces can go bad if they sit too long before being used. The flavor may deteriorate and/or acidity could potentially weaken due to exposure to air.
General tips: make sure your hand is wet when you take a spoonful of the sauce to prevent sticking and/or burning. You also want to be sure to scrape all of the leftover bits off of the spoon so that you do not spread any extra liquid outside of the container.
Yes, but not always
The truth is, some barbecue sauces can be eaten within one week of purchase! That’s right, you don’t have to keep it in the refrigerator unless the instructions say so!
BBQ sauce that has sugar as an ingredient will usually call for refrigeration because the sugar crystallizes and does not mix into the other ingredients when baking or boiling. This is why we recommend never buying plain bottled barbecue sauce at first – instead, try making your own!
If yours doesn’t set properly, no worries – just whisk in some more liquid until it forms a paste and let it cook down while melting any leftover crystals.
No, it does not go bad
When recipes call for sweet barbecue sauce like ketchup or honey-based sauces, they do not need to be refrigerated because these types of sauces will set and harden as they are used, thus preserving their flavor.
However, most hot pepper sauce is liquid at room temperature, which means you should always check your bottle before using it!
Some brands gel or thicken when exposed to heat, making them very difficult to use without causing burning or dripping in the mouth.
It’ll keep for a little while
Having run out of barbecue sauce at our last cookout, I was forced to make do with the ingredients we had left in our fridge. As it turns out, you can actually use this leftover barbeque sauce years down the road!
BBQ sauces will remain stable when stored in a sealed container in your refrigerator or freezer until used. The only thing is that it should be opened within a year to ensure full flavor and function!
Making sure it’s open and exposed to air is key as they will begin to degrade and lose flavor that way.
You should keep it in the fridge
While many people believe that barbecue sauce will not taste good when you let it get warm, this is simply untrue! Many of these recipes call for hot sauces or other types of liquid toppings to be mixed with your grill or meat cooked-towards before being poured onto the food.
These liquids can contain alcohol which evaporates as the meal cooks, leaving a flavor behind in its place. The thing about alcohol is that it does indeed go bad once it’s been opened so there you have it!
Grilling doesn’t seem like much of a fun idea unless you have prepared ahead of time but don’t want to waste any leftover bits! Luckily, keeping them in the refrigerator will preserve their quality slightly longer.
You should use it up
Like any other recipe ingredient, barbecue sauce can “go bad” if you don’t use it within a year! That is, unless you keep it in a tightly sealed container at room temperature or refrigerate it.
If you do not use your bottle of barbeque sauce within a year, the flavor may fade, and it may go out of style. However, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing!
Some people say that the alcohol content helps preserve the taste of the sauce, but that doesn’t mean it keeps it from disappearing. The acidity also contributes to the loss of aroma and flavor, so make sure to use it up soon!
Thick and sweet barbeque sauces will last longer because they contain more liquid, but even very thin types will still stay good for a few months if used right away.
You should not use it up
Many people have become very attached to their favorite barbecue sauces, making every batch they make part of their culinary repertoire.
If you run out of your current bottle of sauce, you can simply leave it at room temperature and it will quickly go bad. The flavor may be affected slightly, but that is the only drawback!
Never refrigerate a full container of barbecue sauce as doing so will likely cause it to spoil due to exposure to the air. If you must keep some for later, pour off some of the liquid and place in an opaque glass jar with a lid.
It doesn’t go bad
Many people believe that barbecue sauce will get thin or even completely disappear when refrigerated, but this isn’t true! The best way to preserve your favorite sauces is to keep them in a sealed container at room temperature.
BBQ recipes often call for hot sauces which are typically fermented (like ketchup) or distilled liquids (like molasses). These two components evaporate as they cool, leaving your final product with less liquid than you started with.
This can sometimes be confusing because most recipes also ask you to stir the sauce as it sits in the pan or heats up, making sure there is enough fluid to mix with the meat.