I'm not sure if your family is like mine, but we do LOVE a good BBQ sauce. It's something that gets used year-round here in our home. I find that it's hard to find a good BBQ sauce that's not too smoky in flavour. I'm not really fond of a smoky taste. To remedy that, I have taken to making my own sauce. It's quick and easy and keeps a really long time.
Here's my recipe..
3 cups of ketchup
2 cups of mustard
2 cups of white sugar
1 cup of white vinegar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon of chili powder
There is no need to buy the expensive brand of ketchup and mustard for this recipe. I use the store brand and it tastes just fine. You can substitute a grainy mustard for this recipe if you wish, but I prefer the plain yellow mustard.
I combine all the ingredients in a large pot and bring it to a soft boil on the stove. Once it begins to boil, I turn off the stove and scoop the sauce into mason jars. This recipe makes 3-4 jars (not sure of the size). They are not the large quart jars, but not the tiny pint jars either. Two of the jars I use for this are actually an odd shape. I guess I should actually measure how much they hold. (maybe next time!)
I simmer the sauce and bring it to a soft boil so that the ingredients incorporate better, and the heat helps the jars to seal. If you wish, you can skip this step, however, I would let the sauce sit for a week or two before using so that the ingredients can meld together and produce a better flavour. I store my jars in the pantry until I open them; once they are opened, I store them in the fridge.
A batch takes me less than twenty minutes to make and what I like about it is that it uses ingredients I always have on-hand here at home. This way you can whip up a batch anytime!
Do you make your own sauces? I'd love to hear about your recipes - please leave me a comment!!
Cheryl
