Homemade Barbecue Sauce variation

12.5 pound Brisket

While up in Wisconsin for  golf trip a few weeks ago, I cooked a small (5 pound) brisket for the boys, and as usual, I made homemade BBQ sauce using some of the dry rub.

Last weekend, we took advantage of $0.99 / lb brisket, and cooked up a 12.5 pounder on Sat. That gives us several nights of brisket dinner and brisket sandwiches for school lunches.

The reason I'm posting this is the BBQ sauce. With just a couple tweaks on my last favortie recipe, this one really hit me as my best ever. The complexity of flavors is increadible, and the taste is smooth, despite a slightly chunky texture. Who said barbeque sauce needed to have smooth texture? The people who sell in squeeze bottles, that's who.

Key changes: less pimenton, ancho chili powder, chunks of fresh tomato


Dry Rub for Brisket
Or make a 1/4 batch to use for making just barbecue sauce. There will still be some rub leftover.
4 tablespoons smoked paprika (sweet, or sweet-bitter)
3 tablespoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons fresh ground pepper
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1.5 tablespoon sugar
1.5 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoon ancho chili powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
----- Combine all ingredients
----- Reserve 4 tablespoons of dry rub to use for the BBQ sauce.

BBQ Sauce

1/2 cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
------ Heat in a medium saucepan until onion is wilted
4 tablespoons reserved dry rub
------ Add and stir to combine
1 cups crushed tomatoes or homemade tomato sauce
1 cup fresh tomatoes, coarsley chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
Juice of one lemon
Cayenne pepper to taste
---- Combine, bring to a boil, simmer 20 minutes or more.
Drippings from cooked brisket or ribs (see note).
---- Add drippings to sauce. Create a small batch in side bowl, with a 50-50 mixure of drippings to sauce, to determine the texture and tase you prefer. Mix remaining sauce and drippings in your preferred proportion.

The last step is highly variable, depending on the amount of fat in the drippings. there's always ALOT of fat, but briskets differ in fat content and amount of trimming. Non-fat juices also emanate from the meat. The idea is NOT to simply add fatty oils, but rather a mixture of the fat and juices.

Note: If cooking ribs, you'll need employ the "Texas Crutch", a method of wrapping partially cooked ribs in foil, midway through the cooking process. The wrapped ribs are cooked for about 45 minutes, then unwrapped again to finish cooking. A reasonable about of juices will develep in the foil, which can be used in BBQ sauce.