Have the bristles on your basting brush lost their grip? Is your sauce mop shedding bits of string? If so, you need a new brush.

As to how much you should spend, there are two primary schools on grilling brushes, as with paint brushes: Buy the finest you can afford and take good care of it, or buy whatever's cheapest and replace it as needed.

Ultimately, all you're after is a simple tool that paints on the sauce and then comes clean. If it's been a while since you've shopped for basting or barbecue sauce brushes, here are some considerations to guide your selection.

In terms of design, a good basting brush for outdoor grilling has a long handle and a heatproof grip to protect the griller's hands and arms from the heat. An angled head on the brush costs a little extra, but it makes holding the brush more comfortable during multiple bastings.

Given the hot, harsh conditions grill-side, the composition of the bristles is every bit as important as the handle. Natural boar-bristle brushes and inexpensive nylon brushes or cotton string basting mops can get the sauce onto the food, but none of these matches silicone's ability to withstand temperatures as high as 650 degrees and still come out looking like new.

Although not all cooks appreciate the slick, high-tech look and feel of silicone, brushes made from this material are in the same relative price range as natural-bristle models. Here's something else to think about when choosing a basting brush: the ease of cleaning it.

Because silicone is nonporous, unlike natural fibres, it doesn't absorb stains, odours, or fats or oils. In addition, silicone and most nylon brushes can be cleaned in the dishwasher while natural-bristled brushes and basting mops must be hand-washed and air-dried.

SUCCESS TIP

— When using a basting brush in the preparation of raw beef, pork, poultry or fish for grilling, take precautions to avoid cross-contamination that could result in food-borne illness. Follow the same food-safety practices when using basting brushes on raw meat as you would when using knives, cutting boards or serving platters.

Thoroughly wash and dry any basting brush that has touched raw meats or fish before using that brush on any other raw or cooked food.

This recipe includes two barbecue sauces, both tomato-based, but one is sweet and tangy-sour and the other punched up with spicy heat. Each of the sauce recipes makes enough to brush over one chicken.

If you wish to try both sauces, use two chickens. Alternatively, halve each sauce recipe and brush half of the pieces from one chicken with one sauce and half with the other sauce.

To avoid mingling the distinctive flavours of the two sauces, use a separate basting brush to apply each of the sauces.

SWEET-SOUR BARBECUE SAUCE

2 tablespoons butter

Half a large red onion, minced

½ cup ketchup

½ cup water

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon brown sugar

A few drops hot-pepper sauce

In medium saucepan over moderate heat, melt butter and sauté onion. Add ketchup, water, vinegar, brown sugar and hot-pepper sauce. Stir until blended. Increase heat and bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Let cool before brushing onto chicken.

Makes one cup.

SPICY GARLIC BARBECUE SAUCE

½ cup ketchup

½ cup white wine

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 cloves garlic, crushed

½ teaspoon chili powder or to taste

A few drops hot-pepper sauce

In a medium saucepan, combine ketchup, wine, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, chili powder and hot-pepper sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Let cool before brushing onto chicken.

Makes one cup.