Homemade BBQ sauce

I have recently become obsessed with making my own sauces, dressings, and condiments. I prefer the way they taste and feel good about knowing exactly what is going into them. Some of the few things I've tried are: ketchup, cream of chicken soup (which I use in a lot of casserole dishes), thousand island dressing, dry taco seasoning (like the kind you buy in a package), and BBQ sauce. I just barely made the BBQ sauce last week, and I thought it was so good I had to post the recipe. It was also very easy.


BBQ sauce

• 2 cups ketchup (if you are super ambitious you can make your own)
  
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cups red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
• 4 teaspoons hickory-flavored liquid smoke
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, mix together the ketchup, tomato sauce, brown sugar, wine vinegar, molasses, liquid smoke and butter. Season with garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, paprika, celery seed, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and pepper.
2. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for up to 20 minutes. For thicker sauce, simmer longer, and for thinner, less time is needed. Sauce can also be thinned using a bit of water if necessary. Brush sauce onto any kind of meat during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

This recipe makes A LOT of sauce, so you could half the recipe and be just fine. I used this sauce for beef ribs, and they were awesome. I braised the beef and then cooked them in a crockpot on low with the sauce on top. So good!