Tangy, sharp, sweet, or vinegary that most glorious substance called barbecue sauce comes in more consistencies and flavors than you can taste in a lifetime. There are topics of debate in the world of barbecue that will continue until the world ends; method of cooking and type of sauce.

Cooking methods are typically categorized as charcoal, gas, propane, or wood. Barbecue sauce, however, is generally broken out be region. Mustard and vinegar based sauces from the Carolinas, ketchup or tomato based sauces from Kansas City and thicker often chile based sauces and rubs from Texas. While there are exceptions, most sauces are comprised of ingredients from each of these four different categories, specifically: tomato, aromatics, sweet, and sour. Barbecue sauce is normally applied during one of three phases, those without a great deal of sugars are applied during the cooking process which helps to impart additional flavors as the sauce cooks into the meat, at the end of the cooking process to impart flavor and sweetness as sugars caramelize, and finally others applied during consumption which are commonly referred to as dips.

No barbecue is complete without sauce and there are so many incredible variations to choose from. Search out an assortment of sauces that sound good to you and then armed with the flavors that appeal to your taste buds begin developing your own.