What effect would boiling for 1 minute and resting have on a vinegar-based BBQ sauce?
I'm making a Carolina-style BBQ sauce (specifically Piedmont-style), so it's supposed to be a thin and vinegary sauce. The recipe is basically: 2 cups vinegar, 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, 1 tablespoon each of ketchup and hot sauce, plus some salt and pepper. The instructions call for it to be brought to a boil for a minute, and then it should be refrigerated overnight.
Since the sauce is supposed to be thin, and we're only boiling for a minute, the desired effect cannot be to reduce the liquids. Is there some other sort of chemical reaction that this is supposed to produce? Also, what effect would the overnight rest have on the sauce -- I don't see the flavors mellowing in the bottle, really. I'm wondering if these are just some urban lore bits being passed down that have little actual effect on the end result.
Best Answer
I would think that the boil is simply to dissolve the sugar and salt. I am sure you could consume it right away, but there is definitely something to flavors melding with time.
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How do you reduce vinegar taste in BBQ sauce?
To make your sauce last even longer you can add a natural preservative (benzoic acid) which you can buy as sodium benzoate. My understanding is that you have to add this sparingly to the tune of 500 to 750 parts per million and by my reckoning that equates to 1 teaspoon in every 22 pints of sauce.What makes BBQ sauce shelf stable?
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