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Thoughts on how to tame the heat in my BBQ Sauce

500
500 Posts: 3,184
in EggHead Forum
Last night I put together a BBQ sauce for pulled pork I'm making for Sunday.  The sauce has all the usual players; ketchup, cider vinegar, brown sugar, honey, yellow mustard, beer, worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and crushed red pepper.  While it was simmering, I tasted it along the way.  I realize it needs tang from the vinegar and heat to cut through the richness of the pulled pork, but I think I went too far.  I ended up adding more ketchup and brown sugar, but it is still a bit hot.  I think it has good depth in flavor, with sweetness up front, and heat at the end, but I think the heat stays a little too long. even imagining it on pulled pork.  What should I do?  Should letting it sit for two days mellow the heat or intensify it?  Thanks for your thoughts.  HAPPY FRIDAY!
I like my butt rubbed and my pork pulled.
Member since 2009
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Comments

  • Mosca
    Mosca Posts: 456
    Add some mild store-bought sauce, or more ketchup.
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  • GATraveller
    GATraveller Posts: 8,207
    Time will intensify a bit.  I'd add more ketchup.

    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community [...] but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots."
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    2 Large
    Peachtree Corners, GA
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  • buzd504
    buzd504 Posts: 3,877
    Add bourbon.  And put some in the sauce.
    NOLA
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,580
    did you taste it after it chilled down, that might be a better test and test it on something
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    Can't do anything but dilute it. Means more of everything (if you want the same recipe with less heat) or thinning it

    even so, if it is extra hot, even doubling it may not be enough for some
    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

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  • 500
    500 Posts: 3,184
    I did taste it again this morning.  Seemed calmer when cold, but still the heat lingers on at the end.  I'll try unjarring it all again and adding some butter.  I've already added more ketchup and brown sugar.  The volume is growing exponentially.
    I like my butt rubbed and my pork pulled.
    Member since 2009
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  • Wardster
    Wardster Posts: 1,006

    Or make another batch and call one HOT and one MILD


    Apollo Beach, FL
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  • HendersonTRKing
    HendersonTRKing Posts: 1,803
    Honey and butter.  Honey or butter.  And beer.  
    It's a 302 thing . . .
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  • sumoconnell
    sumoconnell Posts: 1,932
    More cowbell!


    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Austin, Texas.  I'm the guy holding a beer.
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  • sumoconnell
    sumoconnell Posts: 1,932
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Austin, Texas.  I'm the guy holding a beer.
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  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,528
    Mosca said:
    Add some mild store-bought sauce
    That's what Sweet Baby Rays is for, best cutting sauce there is. Also as noted above, add some butter, the fat really helps with turning down the thermostat. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
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  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
    edited February 2016
    I have done this before as well and I thought "just how much of this do I have to make??".  I ended up just starting a new batch with "everything else" and ended up with a hot and a mild batch.  My oldest daughter and I both liked the hot version and the rest of the fam liked the mild.  The hot version was great for wings.  

    Which came first the chicken or the egg?  I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg. 

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  • 500
    500 Posts: 3,184
    I tried adding more cowbell.  It has a brassy taste now.
    I like my butt rubbed and my pork pulled.
    Member since 2009
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  • onedbguru
    onedbguru Posts: 1,648
    Yes, most "hot" stuff gets hotter the longer it sits.  maybe add some molasses in addition to more ketchup and br sugar - sugars tame the heat in the capsaicin.  Basically, dilute what you have. 
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  • Mosca
    Mosca Posts: 456
    Skiddymarker said:
    Mosca said:
    Add some mild store-bought sauce
    That's what Sweet Baby Rays is for, best cutting sauce there is. Also as noted above, add some butter, the fat really helps with turning down the thermostat. 
    I use SBR for that, too! In fact, almost any time I have a homemade sauce where the profile seems off, adding SBR and/or Dinosaur Sensuous Slathering sauce smooths everything out.
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  • 500
    500 Posts: 3,184
    I got it tamed down.  Added ketchup, honey, and butter.  I'll post the recipe later if anyone's interested.
    I like my butt rubbed and my pork pulled.
    Member since 2009
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  • blasting
    blasting Posts: 6,262
    500 said:
    I got it tamed down.  Added ketchup, honey, and butter.  I'll post the recipe later if anyone's interested.

    Glad you got it sorted out.  Yes, I'd like the recipe if you're happy with it.  Thanks.

    Phoenix 
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  • 500
    500 Posts: 3,184
    Here's the finished recipe:

    500's PULLED PORK BARBEQUE SAUCE

     

    1 1/2 CUPS DISTILLED WHITE VINEGAR

    1 1/2 CUPS APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

    2 1/2 CUPS LIGHT BROWN SUGAR

    2 1/2 CUP KETCHUP

    1 CUP HONEY

    1/4 CUP YELLOW MUSTARD

    1/4 CUP LAGER BEER

    1/4 CUP WHITE SUGAR

    2 TABLESPOONS BUTTER

    1 TABLESPOON BBQ RUB

    1 TABLESPOON WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE

    1 TABLESPOON LEMON JUICE

    2 TEASPOONS GROUND BLACK PEPPER

    1 TEASPOON KOSHER SALT

    1 TEASPOON GARLIC POWDER

    1/2 TEASPOON CAYENNE PEPPER

    1/2 TEASPOON CRUSHED RED PEPPER

           

    SIMMER FOR 45 MINUTES.  MAKE AHEAD AT LEAST 2 DAYS TO ALLOW FLAVORS TO BLEND TOGETHER. HALVING THIS WOULD STILL MAKE PLENTY.



    I like my butt rubbed and my pork pulled.
    Member since 2009
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  • johnkitchens
    johnkitchens Posts: 5,234
    500 said:
    Here's the finished recipe:

    500's PULLED PORK BARBEQUE SAUCE

     

    1 1/2 CUPS DISTILLED WHITE VINEGAR

    1 1/2 CUPS APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

    2 1/2 CUPS LIGHT BROWN SUGAR

    2 1/2 CUP KETCHUP

    1 CUP HONEY

    1/4 CUP YELLOW MUSTARD

    1/4 CUP LAGER BEER

    1/4 CUP WHITE SUGAR

    2 TABLESPOONS BUTTER

    1 TABLESPOON BBQ RUB

    1 TABLESPOON WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE

    1 TABLESPOON LEMON JUICE

    2 TEASPOONS GROUND BLACK PEPPER

    1 TEASPOON KOSHER SALT

    1 TEASPOON GARLIC POWDER

    1/2 TEASPOON CAYENNE PEPPER

    1/2 TEASPOON CRUSHED RED PEPPER

           

    SIMMER FOR 45 MINUTES.  MAKE AHEAD AT LEAST 2 DAYS TO ALLOW FLAVORS TO BLEND TOGETHER. HALVING THIS WOULD STILL MAKE PLENTY.


    Is this the tamed version after you got the heat problem resolved?

    Louisville, GA - 2 Large BGE's
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  • 500
    500 Posts: 3,184
    Yes sir. 
    I like my butt rubbed and my pork pulled.
    Member since 2009
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  • johnkitchens
    johnkitchens Posts: 5,234
    500 said:
    Yes sir. 
    I just bookmarked this thread. Thanks! 

    Louisville, GA - 2 Large BGE's
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  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,109
    edited February 2016
    Use less sauce.   Put less sauce on the meat.  Or dilute it like Stike said.  Or chalk it up to learning experience and make a new batch.  Or get drunk before you eat food with the sauce so it doesn't hurt so bad.  Or make another batch less picante and have two heat levels in your cooks.  Sauce is good in the fridge for months if sealed up.  I've heard of people that store more than one for regular use.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
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  • 500
    500 Posts: 3,184
    nolaegghead said:
    ....Or get drunk before you eat food with the sauce so it doesn't hurt so bad....
    That will be happening.  This is for my birthday party, Sunday.
    I like my butt rubbed and my pork pulled.
    Member since 2009
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  • HondaHawk
    HondaHawk Posts: 98
    Drink a IPA with your meal. It actually cuts right through it. 
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