Central Texas Barbecue Sauce

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup meat drippings or 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat or 2 tablespoons lard
• 1 -2 tablespoon hot sauce, your favorite
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
• coarse salt
• fresh ground black pepper

Recipe

• 1 combine the meat drippings, ketchup, vinegar, bacon fat, hot sauce, and liquid smoke with ½ cup water in a large pot.
• 2 slowly bring to a boil over medium heat; decrease heat to med-low and let the sauce simmer gently until richly flavored and slightly reduced, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.
• 3 taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste.
• 4 let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate, covered, until serving; will keep for 3 days.
• 5 bring to room temperature or warm before using.
• 6 variation—to approximate the flavor that comes from pit smoking, there is liquid smoke in the recipe; as an alternative, you can put the pot in your smoker and cook it for several hours in the presence of hickory smoke.