Western NC BBQ Sauce

So I promised a writeup on rubs and BBQ sauces as my next post. Unfortunately for you, fortunately for my visit count, I’m going to be posting them gradually over time. Truthfully, the primary reason for this is that I don’t know the exact measurements in any of my rubs, as I use an eyeball and taste-o-meter to get it right. That said, I’ll be taking down measurements over the next couple of weeks and doing writeups for various rubs.

That said, not to leave you dangling, I do have one recipe on hand which I’d like to share and I think you’ll enjoy it – all my friends do! It’s pretty easy to make and comes in two varieties – normal and spicy. The recipe will make a little over two full “squeeze” bottles which you can get at Wal-Mart or elsewhere for about $.99 each, and they make great pieces for storage as well as saucing.

The Basic Recipe

Ingredients

½ Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

¼ Cup Water

1 ¼ Cup brown sugar

2/3 Cup Molasses

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

5 Tablespoons worstershire sauce

2 Tablespoons Texas Pete (substitute something else if you’d like, but this is my favorite)

2 “Squeezes” of mustard (whatever the heck that means!)

2 Tablespoons of lemon juice

1 ¾ Cup Ketchup

3 Tablespoons of ground pepper (fresh if possible)

¼ Cup sugar

1/3 Cup Flower (sifted)

Use this recipe in a stove-top sauce pan.

Once all of your ingredients are together, mix the Apple Cider Vinegar and Water and bring it to just before a boil. Right before the boil, mix in the Garlic Power first, then the Brown Sugar, then the Sugar. Mix thoroughly to dissolve as much as possible. Once well mixed, add in the ketchup, worstershire, and then the remaining ingredients except the flower. Mix this all together and let it simmer for 20 minutes. One the consistency is smooth after simmering, sift in the flower. This step should be done slowly, sift a little bit of flower in, and stir it vigorously to mix it in. If you dump too much flower at once, it will clump, and the only reason you are adding flour is consistency.

Once the flower is mixed in, let it simmer for about 10 more minutes. Let it cool down to a temperature that is warm to the touch, and you are ready to transfer it to the bottles with a funnel.

The Spicy Recipe

What I like to do is transfer one bottle’s worth of the recipe above, then make a spicier batch. It is very simple to do, just add in ½ teaspoon of Cayenne and ½ teaspoon of Chili powder. Mix those in well. After that, mix in ½ teaspoon of Dave’s Gourmet Ghost Pepper. Mix vigorously over low heat for about 5 minutes. If you don’t have Dave’s, use a substitute that is also very hot, or something less spicy and adjust the portion to taste!