Even though summer is almost over, the beautiful Australian weather still allows us to spend some time outdoors and enjoy a typical weekend gathering around the barbecue. Lately this tradition has become a very common occurrence around Melbourne, and even me and my neighbours had a contest about the best homemade BBQ sauce. The competition was fierce, and it was really difficult to decide who the winner is. But during all the fuss, I had the chance to check out all the recipes and all the ingredients my neighbours were using, and after some experimenting, I came up with a very tasty recipe for a BBQ sauce, which will blow everybody's mind next time. So, here it is:

Ingredients:

½ onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

â…“ cup molasses

1 cup ketchup

â…“ cup brown sugar

4 tbsps minced chipotle peppers

4 tbsps distilled vinegar

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Salt

1 tbsp canola oil (by choice)

Preparation:

1. First get the oil and heat it in a saucepan. It needs to be heated to a little over medium in order to achieve the results you're looking for.

2. Once the oil is heated, add the diced onion and garlic, and cook them for at least 5 minutes. Keep stirring the vegetables while they're cooking and be very careful not to burn them. The difference between cooked and burned onions is very small.

3. Reduce the heat to low. Add the other ingredients in this order: ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, chipotle peppers, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and some salt. Stir the sauce after each ingredient, to make sure everything will mix together well.

4. Leave it to simmer for about 20 minutes, so all the ingredients can be well cooked.

5. After that you can taste your homemade BBQ sauce and add whatever you feel it still needs. Some people add more sugar, and some more salt, depends on the taste.

Additional advice:

In one of the versions of this recipe I also added 1 tablespoon of canola oil, and the result was very delicious. If you want, you can also add some. But the recipe will work out and it will be amazing even without it. This advice was given to me by the local BBQ cleaning team I call from time to time to clean by barbecue grill. They were also the ones, who enlightened me, that if you wipe the barbecue while it's still warm, you'll have a bigger chance of removing all the dirt and food particles. And that it's good to wipe it with some vinegar after each use, because it kills odours and food smells, which will help you achieve a clear taste next time you're cooking.