Sauce, Sauce, Sauce

If you have never ventured into the realm of homemade BBQ sauce you really should, it is just as rewarding as a perfectly smoked brisket. Sauce is easy and fun to make.

First thing I would suggest is start small (small saucepan, small amount, etc) and TAKE NOTES!!! It never fails the one time you strike gold you forgot to write down ingredient measurements. So make sure and keep notes and write down what you do so when you create that prefect masterpiece you can re-create it again and again.

Now just like the foundation of my secret rub recipe is Salt, Pepper, Sugar, and a distribution agent (Wheat Flour), the foundation of BBQ sauce is pretty much just as simple Salt, Pepper, Sugar, distribution agent (Ketchup). Ketchup is your foundation that all the other flavors and spices attach to. Now when it comes to the core elements of heat and sweet the possibilities are endless. I have tried ALL different kinds of heat and sweet agents from plain old black pepper to grandma’s homemade peach preserves. So you can make your sauce as simple or complex as you want. My daughter and I have so much fun when we make sauce. She has the most important job of constantly stirring the sauce (she says that is the secret to good sauce). My suggestion is start simple and then tweak as you go, just remember all sauce really is when you get down to the core is ketchup, brown sugar, salt and pepper.

Use the following recipe as a baseline for your first attempt at homemade BBQ sauce. Simmer the following ingredients in a saucepan for 5 to 10min, then start to add your own elements for added spiciness or sweetness, sample as you go and tweak till you have a finished product you like. Remember to write down what you add, and add small amounts at a time. Have fun with it, this process is the exact process I used when I came up with my secret Original BBQ Sauce recipe and my Black Label BBQ Sauce.

1cup – Ketchup

2 tablespoons – Brown sugar

½ teaspoon – Kosher salt

½ teaspoon – Black pepper