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For Dummies is a registered trademark of Wiley Publishing, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Used here by license.Concocting rubs and saucesEven though sauce recipes are held precious, the basic formula for creating sauces gives you everything you need to know to start working out your own recipe (which you, in turn, can refuse to share).
Any sauce starts with a base that provides the underlying flavor and holds everything together. That base may be ketchup, vinegar, mustard, tomato paste, chili sauce, or anything along those lines (or a combination of all of them). From there, add some sweetness with sugar or molasses, and then throw in the spices you like.
They may not admit it to you, but a lot of competitive barbecue cooks start out with bottled sauce and doctor it to their taste. Playing around with a sauce you know and enjoy is an easy way to start experimenting without investing too much time in building sauce from scratch.
Rubs follow more or less the same formula, starting with something fairly neutral that will mix easily with the primary flavors you want in the rub. Paprika generally fills this slot. To that, you add salt, sugar, and whatever combination of spices tickles your fancy.
You want something with a little kick, like cayenne pepper, chili powder, or even curry powder, and you want some lower-profile seasonings like cumin, black pepper, or garlic powder. You can toy around with it easily until you like the way it hits your tongue.
From meat to magicThe slow-cooking process that takes even the saddest cut of meat and turns it into a dream-invading delicacy relies on time and a steady temperature. The equipment you use to make that happen depends on how much and how often you intend to cook, along with how much money you want to spend.
The unfortunate fact is that the less-expensive versions actually require the most barbecue smarts to produce great results. Spend more money, and you usually get better temperature control. Without that, you end up a slave to your thermometer, regularly checking in and adjusting your vents or adding charcoal to bring the temperature back to its sweet spot.
Reasonably good barbecue smokers start out at around $200, and high-end equipment can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars.
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For Dummies is a registered trademark of Wiley Publishing, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Used here by license.