I love making my own BBQ sauce, and this was my first attempt at making it in the smoker from start to finish. A couple things right off the bat that I would of done differently. First, and I am not sure if it is a combination of the second thing, is that I maybe should of used a little more molasses to try and thicken it up. Another thing I should of maybe done was cook it in the smoker for another half hour to 45 minutes to let it reduce a little more. As you can tell, I was not happy with the thickness of the BBQ sauce. Tasted awesome, just a little thin.

Here is what you are going to need for the BBQ Sauce

– 2 Cups of Dr Pepper (You can really use anything you want. I have used Root Beer and Coke in the past)

– 2 Cups of Ketchup

– 1/2 Cup of No Pulp Pineapple Juice

– 1/4 Cup Of Worcester Sauce

– 1/4 Cup of Molasses

– 1 Teaspoon of Ground Ginger

– 1 Teaspoon of Paprika

– 2 Teaspoons Minced Garlic

– 2 Teaspoons Onion Powder

– 1/2 Teaspoon of Red Pepper Flakes – I used a 12 Pepper blend mix that I had

So, first things first. I got my Masterbuilt Electric Smoker cranked up to 275 degrees and I got my wood chips smoking. I went with a Hickory wood chip for this sauce. I opened the vent at the top of the smoker to really pull some air through and get the smoker filled. You burn through more chips this way, but that smoke gets intense.

Next step is to A) get a pan you don’t mind using in a smoker. I used a old bread pan. Or B) get one of those disposable aluminum foil pans from the store. The overall yield of this recipe will be around a Quart.

Once you have the pan, go ahead and start mixing all of the ingredients together. I like to just add them in the order of the recipe. No special whisking or mashing needed. Once everything is in the pan, stir it up till you get a reddish brown look. Once the temp is ready in the smoker, go ahead and throw this in on the middle shelf. Close the door, and wait for about 30 minutes. When you go out to check it at the 30 minute mark, stir it up. It will look a lot thicker on top but will smooth out when it is stirred. The over all goal is try to get it hot enough to reduce down a little. You want to wait until the mix is down about a 1/2 inch or so from the starting level. I think about a hour and a half would be good.

Once you pull it off of the smoker, let it rest on the counter for about 20 or 30 minutes to cool down and thicken up a little more. Once that is ready, I recommend pouring it into a Quart mason jar. It looks cool, and its practical. Since a big ingredient in this is Pop and Juice, the shelf life of this is limited to about a week and a half. I usually make this when I know I am going to make ribs or chicken. Don’t be afraid to experiment with this a little, but you will enjoy it just the way it is!