Sweet & Smokin’ Hot BBQ Sauce

This is what you’d call five-napkin chicken!

We’re going old school today with a dish from my childhood. This is one of those meals where the messier you got the better it was. We ate a lot of barbecued chicken back in the day. At times, I’d hang with Dad as he’d fire up the charcoal, just chillin’ waiting for the bricks to turn ashen. To this day the sound of a lighter fluid can bring me back to those never-ending hot summer days, our picnic table set in the corner of the yard and Mom’s barbecued chicken. There’s definitely something with me and burnt food…I love my toast and my chicken as charred as they can be while still maintaining their inherent flavor. Dad would grill it to a perfect burnt. There’s something you probably won’t read every day in food-writing.

As fun as going back into the memory archives is, today’s post is actually about the sauce. Sweet & Smokin’ Hot BBQ Sauce. It’s so exciting to make something from scratch when you have every ingredient in your pantry. I didn’t have to shop for a thing…right down to the Mesquite Liquid Smoke…how often does that happen?

Of course, we have our favorite bottled sauces, but there’s really nothing better than homemade. And when you’re sharing the development of the recipe with some of your favorite peeps – better still! Dom and Nick happily assisted with the taste testing and it was Dom who came up with the idea for the liquid smoke. Brilliant.

Putting this sauce together is as simple as grabbing a medium sized bowl from your cupboard, dumping all of your ingredients in said bowl and giving it a little juj. Using a whisk, mix until the sugar is dissolved and the spices are fully integrated. Done.

We used a little more than half the recipe to marinate four chicken quarters for a few hours before delivering them to our gas grill.

Grilling chicken requires focus. You’ll need to make time to stand and watch your dinner evolve. We initially put the chicken on non-stick grill foil then removed it to get the char we were looking for.

Be sure to cook your chicken to 165 degrees.

Add a nice side of butter & sugar corn and your summer meal is made!

Buon Appetito!

Sweet & Smokin’ Hot BBQ Sauce

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• Author: Ciao Chow Bambina
• Category: Sauce

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Description

Sweet & Smokin’ Hot BBQ Sauce turns the flavor up on a favorite summertime meal!

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Ingredients

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• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cups ketchup
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground mustard
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. ground cayenne red pepper
• 1/2 tsp. Mesquite liquid smoke

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Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients and whisk well until the sugar is dissolved and the spices are thoroughly distributed.
2. Serve immediately or cover and store in fridge or freezer.

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