Adjustments

A while back I had to make some meatball appetizers. You know the ones. Crock pot full of bubbling BBQ Sauce and pre-cooked frozen meatballs. Yeah, you've seen them at parties and probably the occasional reception/buffet. I used store bought BBQ sauce for this, as making my own for some meatballs seems like a waste. Normally, my bbq sauce of choice for a base/home doctoring is plain Kraft bbq sauce. They didn't have this at my local Sam's, so I bought the KC Masterpiece original that was available, as I remembered liking it when I was in college.

I was wrong. Or maybe my tastes have changed. I don't know, but this stuff is way sweet, way thick and not nearly "zesty" enough. I doctored it a little for the meatballs, adding some beef broth, chili powder and Sriracha for some heat. The meatballs turned out ok, everyone seemed to like them, but I was dissatisfied with my sauce. KC Masterpiece got tossed into the fridge and forgotten about.

Last night, after digging up seven Boxwoods in my backyard, I decided we needed BBQ'd pork chops for dinner. Rubbed the chops with some standard BBQ rub and let them marinate for a while. Open the fridge, and cringe when I realize that if I'm going to sauce these chops, I'm going to have to do it with that crappy leftover KC Masterpiece sauce. So, I made some adjustments to the sauce.

As you might have realized, I don't seem to like my BBQ sauce sweet. So, here's what I did to make my bottle of KC Masterpiece a real masterpiece: (someone please shoot me for saying that)
For salt -- probably around 1/4 cup of Soy
For tang -- probably about 2 Tbsp of Worcestershire
For sour -- 2 Tbsp each white vinegar and rice vinegar (I'd have used cider or red wine, but didn't have any)
For heat -- 1-2 Tbsp Sriracha
For flavor -- 1.5 Tbsp of my BBQ Rub

So, what I'm trying to say here is that you don't have to be a slave to the store bought. And even if you are, don't be afraid to add something to make it more "your own". Decide what you think is missing (salt/sweet/sour/spice), and then add something you've got around to punch up the flavor. Little things like using soy instead of salt can really make a difference in flavor. Don't be afraid to make changes, if you screw it up, remember, you really didn't like it that much to begin with.

--Brad