My Best Competition Barbecue Sauce Ever

Posted on December 22nd, 2009

Season’s greetings,

It’s taken me three years but I have finally completed my competition barbecue sauce. I have been tinkering here and there, mixing this and that, trying to get the perfect combination of sweet, spicy, and hot. A few people have tried the new sauce and have asked me to either give them the recipe or sell the sauce.

While I will not divulge my exact sauce (no one knows the true recipe except for Moi) I will give a close proximity.

This is a tomato based Kansas City style sauce with some zip. The ingredients listed are fairly generic and there are vast differences between brands, believe me I’ve tried a LOT of different brands for most of the ingredients. Think of how many different beers, hot sauces, and rubs exist. Use your favorite brand of ingredients for your unique flavor. I have updated this blog to include all the ingredients in the recipe, but removed which brands I use.

My Best Competition Barbecue Sauce Ever
Yields about 3 Cups (reduced)

8oz Can Tomato Sauce
1 Cup Ketchup
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Beer
1/4 Cup Molasses
2 Tablespoons Red Wine
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tablespoons Yellow Mustard
2 Tablespoons Hot Sauce
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon Bacon Bits
1 Tablespoon Butter
1 Tablespoon Table Rub
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke

I blend all the ingredients in a pot and bring the sauce to a boil on high heat while stirring. I then lower the temperature, simmering the sauce for 20 minutes, stirring every so often to keep the bottom from sticking and burning. This reduces the sauce to about 3 cups. I let the sauce cool and then pour it into a bottle.

The sauce will be thinner when hot and then thickens up when kept in the fridge. I suggest using the sauce any time after 6 hours, letting the flavors meld.

Be careful when using this sauce while grilling because of the high sugar content, which will caramelize and burn at high temps. But maybe you like a little burnt flavor.

Happy grilling,

Jer