Barbecue sauce adds flavor to meat, vegetables and sometimes fruit. Most, but not all, barbecue sauce brands use tomato bases. A few barbecue sauce producers use vinegar or mustard as sauce bases. Unique ingredients, such as chocolate, may flavor the most tempting gourmet sauces. Some sauces are very thin and others are so thick they barely come out of the bottle or jar. Many barbecue sauces flavor food before cooking, but some are purely dipping sauces for use after cooking.

Just how many different barbecue sauce types and styles there are depends on whom you ask. Regional variations often focus on different ingredients or are only useful for certain meats. Dry rubs, blends of spices applied before or after cooking, are sometimes included in the category of BBQ sauces. The variety of possibilities in barbeque sauce is nearly endless, but here are three basic categories to help narrow it down:

1. Hot barbeque sauce

2. Sweet barbeque sauce

3. Gourmet barbeque sauce

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Fire up taste buds with hot barbecue sauce

Some of the hottest peppers in the world go into hot barbeque sauces. Spiciness or heat varies by the type of peppers and spices used in the sauce. Not everybody likes the burn, so always warn your guests and offer a mild alternative.

I recommend: Hot Sauce World has a great variety of tried-and-true BBQ sauces, mostly hot with a few mild ones. Some have unique ingredients, such as A&W Root Beer. FireGirl offers many different BBQ sauce brands including its own brand of hot sauces that it can privately label for you. All descriptions include a heat level rating of one to ten, so you know what you're getting into before you buy.

Enjoy a sweet barbecue sauce

Sweet barbeque sauces can be tangy or spicy, but most are on the mild side. Fruit ingredients make for the best natural sweetness, and sauces containing more fruit and tomatoes are generally thicker.

I recommend: W & J Holdings has several sweet sauces to meet your needs, including a pack of its three best-selling sweet BBQ sauces. It provides sample sauces to potential clients. Check out IronQ for a variety of sweet and fruity sauces. Many are available in gallon sizes.

Indulge in a gourmet barbecue sauce

Everything from exotic fruit to well-known bourbon and whiskey can be in your BBQ sauce. All natural ingredients are also common in gourmet barbeque sauces.

I recommend: The gourmet sauce selections on igourmet.com include a unique barbeque sauce that can you can use with dessert. Tennessee River Barbeque Sauce offers all its gourmet sauces in larger restaurant sizes. For those looking to try it all or to give a unique gift, AmazingClubs.com offers the BBQ Sauce of the Month Club, which sends two different gourmet bbq sauces every month.

Barbecue sauce. Whether it's gourmet barbecue sauce, hot barbecue sauce or sweet barbecue sauce, it invokes feelings of a sultry summer, lots of flavor and a little blues. Maybe that is why so many people are drawn to creating their own sauce and trying to make it a business.

Barbecue sauce producers will tell you: in barbecue, as in business, risks are high, success is low and the work is hard, but barbecue lovers aren't afraid of the nitty gritty. This will just light a fire under you to:

1. Define your BBQ sauce recipe.

2. Build the perfect grill.

3. Prepare your barbecue sauce to go to market.

4. Make your sauce look great and stand out.

5. Learn how to market to local stores and restaurants with help from your home state.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Perfect and complete your barbecue sauce recipe

At the end of every barbecue, you've been congratulated on a delicious meal. Now, you've decided it's time to make it official and reveal your genius to the world. Be sure you can deliver the amazing barbecue that you are promising when you kick off your barbecue sauce business. Take your lead from other barbecue sauce companies.

I recommend: If you need to experiment with different sauces, look at BBQRecipeSecrets.com. When they say "the secret is in the sauce," they're not kidding. The Arizona BBQ Association will help you build a permanent or portable pit.

Prepare your kitchen or get help bottling your barbecue sauce

Your local university extension office can tell you what you need to do to set up your own catering kitchen. Cacklacky Jack of Cacklacky Condiment Company barbecue fame shared this insight with the Arizona BBQ Association: 'I am assuming you don't own your own 'inspected facility.' To start out with you should probably be looking for a contract bottler. These guys are called 'co-packers' in food biz lingo.' For that, Jack recommends your local extension office too.

I recommend: This U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) interactive map will get you to the closest university extension office. If you are determined to set up your own home kitchen, look at Shop 4 Barbecue Supplies. Also, the fact sheets and .pdf downloads from Public Health Seattle & King County will let you know what you are in for, including setting up a kitchen separate from your home kitchen. Be sure to contact the Health Department in your particular city to make sure you're following the laws in your community.

Bottle, label and market your barbecue sauce

With the thousands of barbecue sauce brands on the market, you will want yours to stand out. Your sauce started off as a unique idea and you don't want it to get lost in the crowd. Use these tools to put your stamp on your one-of-a-kind product.

I recommend: ebottles.com has standard barbecue or other unique looks. If you can afford a local graphic designer, get one. Your one-on-one time will help your unique brand. If that is too pricey, check out great alternatives like The Logo Loft to brand your sauce. Start at home when it comes to your marketing. Your State Department of Agriculture will help you market your product. Check out innovative programs like AgriMissouri and then look for your state's equivalent.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Remember, your barbecue sauce label will have lots of information like ingredients, nutrition and origin. Programs like AgriMissouri are also helping smaller producers get bar codes. So be sure to check with the equivalent entity in your state and save room on your label for all information.

The options of barbecue sauces on the market are endless; not to mention all of the varieties you can make in the comfort of your own kitchen. Barbecue sauce advice and ratings can help point you in the right direction to ensure that your kitchen is producing the best quality products possible.

Research the best practices others in the barbecue sauce business apply to help you create a better product and make your customers even more impressed. Count on the following resources for barbecue sauce advice and ratings:

1. Barbecue sauce enthusiasts provide invaluable input on their favorite culinary condiments.

2. Food magazines are good sources for barbecue sauce advice and ratings.

3. Websites for food lovers and consumer reviews also offer reviews of barbecue recipes and uses.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Look to barbecue sauce enthusiasts for advice and ratings

Those who know the barbecue sauce producers and manufacturers the best are the ones who devote their careers and passion to the versatile condiment. With so many bbq sauce brands and flavors, how do you even know where to start? Barbecue enthusiasts have done the work for you and offer their findings on their blogs and websites for you to follow.

I recommend: BBQ Sauce Reviews assigns each of the sauces they review a rating and an explanation of the rating using the site's seven basic principles of reviewing bbq sauce. The BBQ Report provides extensive advice not only on the barbecue sauces themselves, but how to best apply them to your recipes as well.

Rely on food magazines for barbecue sauce advice and ratings

Food magazines are a great resource for barbecue sauce application advice and ratings. These publications are dedicated to trying various recipes with a variety of sauces and reporting to you their findings and innovations made in the barbecue sauce business. Some provide advice on making your own or doctoring up an already existing product.

I recommend: The monthly specialty food magazine, The Nibble, provides product reviews including one on gourmet barbecue sauce. Revered food magazine, Bon Appetit, offers their top picks of barbecue sauce brands.

Use foodie websites to get barbecue sauce advice and ratings

There are numerous websites that are run by and produced for those who love food. These types of websites have many avid followers who offer their advice and ratings to go along with the advice on barbecue sauce that the website has to offer. Being able to read other consumer reviews is an invaluable resource when looking for barbecue sauce advice and ratings.

I recommend: Epicurious provides recipes for making everything from your own hot to sweet barbecue sauce as well as a rating and user reviews to go with them. On its website, Food Network, has several barbecue recipes with numerous consumer reviews to help you determine which is the best.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Enhance your bbq sauce business by experimenting with various flavors and types of sauces in different recipes. When you find the perfect blend and develop a following of food sauce enthusiasts, contact barbecue sauce manufacturers to inquire about the possibility of mass marketing your special offering.

Barbecue sauce is used around the world. In some areas it is a tomato based sauce, while in other areas it is mustard based or a simple combination of tomato and Worcestershire sauce. Regardless of the type or types of barbecue sauce you choose to stock in your inventory, it is important to know a few key terms associated with the product itself. Increase your barbecue sauce knowledge by learning the language associated with the grill.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Gourmet

Gourmet food products are made with the best available ingredients, and they are combined by professionals who are skilled in food preparation techniques. For barbecue sauce gourmet means the best spices and flavors that are sure to pep up any grilled entrée.

I recommend: To learn more about gourmet barbecue sauces, check out Practical-Barbecue-Grill.com.

Dipping sauce

A dipping sauce is a different type of barbecue sauce. While it can be used for grilling, it is specifically formulated for dipping meats after they are cooked. The best dipping sauces are made specifically for certain types of meats.

I recommend: Gain a better understanding of dipping sauces at Barbecue-Smoker-Recipes.com.

Hot sauce

Barbecue hot sauce is popular in different parts of the country. It is a barbecue sauce that contains different types of peppers. The peppers add additional heat and flavor. The most common peppers that are included in hot sauce are black and red peppers.

I recommend: The Cosmic Chile offers additional information about hot sauce and barbecuing.

Liquid smoke

Liquid smoke sauce is used as a seasoning for meat prior to cooking. Meats that are soaked in a flavoring that includes liquid smoke offer enhanced flavors. Liquid smoke is popular for use in marinades prior to cooking.

I recommend: Learn more about liquid smokes barbecue sauces at CBS Interactive.

Southern style

Southern style barbecue sauce is more than just a tomato based grilling sauce. It is a gourmet sauce that is commonly used in the southern part of the United States.

I recommend: Gain a better understanding of southern style barbecue sauce at Southern Things.

Hoisin sauce

Hoisin sauce is a type of sauce that is used to spice up meats in Asian inspired dishes. It is popular for making a bland piece of meat taste better regardless of how it is cooked.

I recommend: For more information about hoisin sauce, visit HowStuffWorks.