Barbecue Sauce
Barbecue Sauce
I had a nice conversation with a friend about barbecue sauces and as always, I’ve got some new ideas. I’ll start here with what I did, and then tell you about what I learned and want to try.
I started with about a table spoon of butter and a small onion sliced thin. (In the past I’ve grated it, but it seems to strain out easier sliced.) Add the onion to the melted butter and soften it on medium heat. To this I added about a tablespoon of my spice rub (equal parts cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic salt, black pepper, Coleman’s mustard powder, and two parts kosher salt) and some crushed red pepper pequins.
De-glaze with a shot of bourbon and add cup each of cider vinegar and honey. Next I like to add some ketchup (about a table spoon) for color and a little tomato flavor. Let the sauce simmer for about an hour and adjust seasonings if needed. It should thicken as is simmers. Strain the sauce and let cool before bottling. It should thicken even more as it cools.
Next time, instead of butter, I will try dicing a little bacon and rendering it to start the sauce. Other variations I want to try include using different combinations of sweetener in place of the honey. Things like sorghum and brown sugar for example.
