cdkitchen > cooking experts > pamela chester
What better way to celebrate this Independence Day than the traditional way with a backyard barbecue? Along with fireworks, watermelon, and blueberry pie, one of the great joys of July 4th is the time to kick back, spend some time with your loved ones, and enjoy an open air meal.
I have talked about my love of barbecue in some of my other articles. One of my favorite things about barbecue is the sauce— there are just so many different ways to make BBQ sauce that you could come up with a new variation for each day of the year. Slow cooking really develops the flavor of the sauce.
It’s kind of like chili; you can add just about anything and it will enhance the taste in a slightly different way. This reminds me of a story my brother, a great culinary improviser, tells of his college days in which he and some of his fraternity brothers won a chili cook-off. The secret to their success was that they kept adding various ingredients (including at least one can of beer and some other things that he refuses to reveal, but possibly involving a small amphibian) and slowly cooked the sauce all night until they had achieved the perfect flavor. Now I am not suggesting that you add a salamander to your barbecue sauce, but a little culinary experimentation can go a long way in making a good barbecue sauce great!
For Fourth of July, you could try a variety of different sauces to go with whatever you are throwing on the grill. Or you could ask each of your guests to bring a different type of sauce so that everyone can experiment together. It’s so much fun to play around with different ingredients and see what you can come up with. You can use the slow cooker to cook your sauce on low for many hours, and keep tasting it, and adjusting to balance the flavors based on your preference. The personal touch will make the sauce you come up with yourself infinitely better than what you can buy in the bottle. Barbecue sauce can be used as a mop for grilled chicken or ribs, and once it is time to serve, you can also keep the extra sauce warm in the slow cooker so that it can be served on the side.
The base of most barbecue sauces is more often than not a tomato-based ingredient such as ketchup or tomato sauce, almost always combined with one or several sweet elements such as molasses, honey, maple syrup, or brown sugar. Sour ingredients such as vinegar or citrus juices add a tangy note. Then, spices and other flavors can add even more complexity. Another great addition is beer or some other type of alcohol; in this case the sauce should be cooked over a high enough heat to cook off the alcohol.
One of my favorite barbecue sauces starts with a root beer base, which adds an intriguingly spicy note. Root beer gives the sauce both sweet and aromatic flavors, which are qualities that are sought after in a good barbecue sauce.
This 4th of July, consider hosting a get-together where you bring a new twist to a favorite patriotic tradition. Grill some chicken, ribs, or burgers, and try out some creative slow cooked homemade barbecue sauces on the side. Happy Independence Day!
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/306-barbecue-sauce/
4th of July BBQ Sauce Improvisation
What better way to celebrate this Independence Day than the traditional way with a backyard barbecue? Along with fireworks, watermelon, and blueberry pie, one of the great joys of July 4th is the time to kick back, spend some time with your loved ones, and enjoy an open air meal.
I have talked about my love of barbecue in some of my other articles. One of my favorite things about barbecue is the sauce— there are just so many different ways to make BBQ sauce that you could come up with a new variation for each day of the year. Slow cooking really develops the flavor of the sauce.
It’s kind of like chili; you can add just about anything and it will enhance the taste in a slightly different way. This reminds me of a story my brother, a great culinary improviser, tells of his college days in which he and some of his fraternity brothers won a chili cook-off. The secret to their success was that they kept adding various ingredients (including at least one can of beer and some other things that he refuses to reveal, but possibly involving a small amphibian) and slowly cooked the sauce all night until they had achieved the perfect flavor. Now I am not suggesting that you add a salamander to your barbecue sauce, but a little culinary experimentation can go a long way in making a good barbecue sauce great!
For Fourth of July, you could try a variety of different sauces to go with whatever you are throwing on the grill. Or you could ask each of your guests to bring a different type of sauce so that everyone can experiment together. It’s so much fun to play around with different ingredients and see what you can come up with. You can use the slow cooker to cook your sauce on low for many hours, and keep tasting it, and adjusting to balance the flavors based on your preference. The personal touch will make the sauce you come up with yourself infinitely better than what you can buy in the bottle. Barbecue sauce can be used as a mop for grilled chicken or ribs, and once it is time to serve, you can also keep the extra sauce warm in the slow cooker so that it can be served on the side.
The base of most barbecue sauces is more often than not a tomato-based ingredient such as ketchup or tomato sauce, almost always combined with one or several sweet elements such as molasses, honey, maple syrup, or brown sugar. Sour ingredients such as vinegar or citrus juices add a tangy note. Then, spices and other flavors can add even more complexity. Another great addition is beer or some other type of alcohol; in this case the sauce should be cooked over a high enough heat to cook off the alcohol.
One of my favorite barbecue sauces starts with a root beer base, which adds an intriguingly spicy note. Root beer gives the sauce both sweet and aromatic flavors, which are qualities that are sought after in a good barbecue sauce.
This 4th of July, consider hosting a get-together where you bring a new twist to a favorite patriotic tradition. Grill some chicken, ribs, or burgers, and try out some creative slow cooked homemade barbecue sauces on the side. Happy Independence Day!
Slow Cooker Root Beer Barbecue Sauce
Made with ground ginger, root beer, ketchup, lemon juice, orange juice, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, molasses, liquid smoke, orange peel
Made with ground ginger, root beer, ketchup, lemon juice, orange juice, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, molasses, liquid smoke, orange peel
Serves/Makes: 1.5 cups
- 1 cup root beer (not diet)
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsulphured light molasses
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke, optional
- 1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Combine all the ingredients in the crock pot. Cover the crock pot and cook on low heat for 4-6 hours, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and is reduced to 1 1/2 cups. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if needed.
Let the sauce cool. Use immediately, or transfer the sauce to a covered container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
share this article:
related articles
Write a comment:
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/306-barbecue-sauce/