All About Barbecue Sauce

Would you soak raw hamburger meat in Ketchup and then cook it? (Hmmm...I might have to try that) Many people think that in order to call something barbecue it has to be covered in barbecue sauce while it is being cooked. Nothing can be farther from the truth. In fact, most grill masters will tell you they do not apply barbecue sauce to their meat until after it leaves the cooker, or at least right before taking it out. Barbecue sauce is very high in sugar content. Sugar burns very easily when heat is applied. Putting sauce on your meat should only be done at the very end of cooking, if even at all. I personally never apply sauce to the meat until after it leaves the grill, when the meat is in it's settling phase. After you remove meat from the grill you should put it in a container and cover it with foil. This lets the meat settle in its own juices. This is also a great time to apply barbecue sauce. It will soak into the meat, and create the flavor you are looking for. Using this method, you can also use different types of sauce on the same piece of meat. For example, you could split a rack of ribs by putting spicy sauce on one half and sweet on the other.
For some types of barbecue recipes, sauce is applied to the meat during cooking. If you do this you must watch the meat very carefully, so you just caramelize the sugar in the sauce into the meat and not burn it on. This should only be done in the last few minutes of cooking. And the meat should be turned frequently.
The use of marinades and rubs is the way to properly prepare and baste meat for the grill. There is an entire section on this site dedicated to that. So now on to barbecue sauce.
Barbecue sauce gives the meat its final character, and allows you create whatever final taste you are looking for. Not all sauces are created the same, and depending on the area of the country you come from I'm sure you will have your preference. Below are a list of the most popular types of barbecue sauces and their basic recipes. When making your own sauce, try slight variations to get whatever flavor you are looking for.

Memphis
Kansas City
St. Louis
North Carolina
South Carolina
Alabama
Georgia
Arkansas
Texas
Hoisen
Tandorri