The grill is calling and you are thinking about the best chicken bbq sauce to slather over the bird that is prepped in the kitchen.  Do you go to the grocery store and pick up a classic, or do you make a concoction of your own?  You can search for hours online to find the perfect sauce, but you first need to ask yourself a few questions…

There are four great regions in the United States known for barbeque – Texas, Memphis, North Carolina, and Kansas City.  Interestingly, none of these regions are known so much for their prowess in bbq chicken.  East of the Mississippi you’ll find that pork is most served.  West of the Mississippi you’ll be treated to beef, mainly ribs.  However, because many of us are looking for lighter fare, chicken has become a very popular addition to barbeque stands and restaurants in all of the country.

North Carolina is best known for its sauce, whereas the other areas are better known for dry bbq or rubs.  In this state, there are also different types of sauces.  In the northeastern part of N.C. the sauce is clear and thin made from cider or distilled vinegar, and seasoned with hot red pepper flakes, salt, and a touch of sugar.  The western part of the state will be common to find ketchup or tomato sauce added to the sauce.  This is a tart, peppery red sauce unlike anything else in the United States.  In southern N.C. and in South Carolina, the preferred sauce is a lurid yellow sacue made from vinegar; either sugar, molasses, or honey, and ballpark mustard.  Although this is the sweetest of the Carolina sauces, it still isn’t overly sweet.

If you are looking for something sweet, the Kansas City barbeque sauce may just be what’s best on your chicken.  This condiment is sweet and thick with a complex mixture of tomato sauce or ketchup, corn syrup, brown sugar, molasses, vinegar, garlic, onion, hot red pepper flakes, liquid smoke, and you might even find apple juice in some.  Two well known commercially available sauces are KC Masterpiece (available in many flavors) and Arthur Bryant’s sauce.  Very different from each other, indeed.  Kansas City is also very well known for “burnt edges” (or “brownies”).  These are charred crisp edges of brisket.  If you want the best, you’ll want to look for Arthur Bryant’s bbq house.

So considering the aforementioned, what flavor do you prefer?  If you want a little more sweet and tangy, you’ll be better off with the Kansas City bbq sauce.

Here’s a pretty simple sauce you can make and flavor it to taste:

1 part Ketchup (I prefer Heinz for a more robust flavor)

1 part brown sugar

Liquid Smoke

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Mix ketchup and brown sugar together.  Then add a little (and believe me, a little goes a long way!) liquid smoke.  Then add about 2 to 1 Onion to Garlic powder.  Heat on medium to a boil.  Then let simmer for 10 minutes.

You really don’t even have to heat.  I will often use the sauce “as is” for chicken and many other meats.

Now that you have your sauce, do you know when to apply it?  In many of the different barbeque capitals in America, you will have the sauce applied either near the end of cooking, or after the chicken is served.  I prefer to have the sauce applied during the last 5 – 20 minutes of cooking.  Shorter times are ideal for cuts such as skinless breast meat, and longer for cuts or whole chicken with the skin on.  You will benefit by having a nice caramelized sauce with longer cooking times or higher cooking temperatures for shorter time.

Here’s a great tip:  if you are cooking a whole chicken, try breaking the skin of the breast and either putting a rub between the skin and the meat, OR pouring sauce between the skin and meat.  The flavors are trapped and you will LOVE the result!

A chicken bbq sauce really doesn’t have to be that complicated.  BBQ sauce will add much flavor to grilled chicken, barbecue chicken (do you know the difference between “grilled” & “bbq”?  That’s a topic for later!), baby back ribs, bbq beef, barbeque pork, pork spare ribs, bbq brisket, and even chicken wings.  Are you hungry yet?!  So get out there and experiment.  Make your own sauce and impress your friends AND your stomach!