Bourbon BBQ Sauce

[AVB]

I've made this a few times and passed the recipe on to some other folks who liked it. Just made a batch today getting ready for the weekend.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter (can skip if you add more olive oil)
1 tablespoon olive oil (can skip if you add more butter)
1 large Spanish onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 bottle bourbon (3 cups)
1 cup water
3 cups canned plum tomatoes and their juices, pureed
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (optional to taste)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoon honey (can use more and skip the molasses)
1/4 cup molasses (can use a bit more and skip the honey)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon chipotle pepper puree (add extra chili powder or fine chopped Jalapenos if you don't have this)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Makes 4 cups

Heat the butter and oil over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan or pot. Add the onions and garlic and cook until translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add 3 cups bourbon and cook until completely reduced. Add the tomatoes and water, bring to a boil, and then simmer for 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, excluding the salt, pepper and simmer for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth or just screen the mixture to remove the onion and garlic bits . Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool a little then whisk in 2 additional tablespoons of bourbon.

[Sijan]

"1 bottle bourbon (3 cups)"

Damn! Not often you see that much bourbon in a recipe!

I'll have to tive this a try sometime.

How does the sauce come out? What style? Thick/thin? Sweet/spicy? Better for beef or pork or poultry?

[AVB]

If you do it right it comes out really thick and is on the sweet side but not terribly so. I've used it for pork, chicken and ribs (beef & pork) but haven't done a brisket yet with it.

[T47]

Looks like a good one, I am going to have to give that a try myself.
What kind of cooker do you use for your Q? I have a WSM and a BGE which I have had a blast using. Nothing better than the smell of Pork and Alder smoking away on the deck, and a nice glass of Bourbon to sip.

[AVB]

I have a JennAir grill with a 50lb rotisserie attachment, smoke box and a basket. I can do 18 thighs or 24 legs at a time or 2 racks of ribs. Not as slow as charcoal but it still takes a few hours.

[T47]

Thats cool. I have a great recipe for rotisserie ribs done with nothing but oil, lemon juice and a good dusting of herbs de provence. Its a nice change for ribs if your ever interested.
My father in law cooked some ribs for us last week on his gasser. He steamed them in the oven then finished them on the grill. They were only on the grill for 15 minutes...I was prepared not to like them...but they were excellent.
Thanks for the sauce recipe. I will have to cook up a batch of that in the near future.

[ratcheer]

The last time I made ribs (Fourth of July), they were some of the best I have ever tasted. I have a large CharBroil charcoal grill with heavy cast iron grates. I build a large charcoal fire on one extreme end of the grill and I put the meat on the opposite end, so that it is not directly above the fire. I also put chunks of water-soaked hickory wood on the fire for the smoke.

I dry rub the ribs with Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning before cooking. I turn them over and/or around every 45 minutes or so. About every hour, I add more charcoal and hickory to the fire to maintain the heat and smoke. I cook them like this for about 2 hours or a little longer before saucing them.

On the Fourth, I used a store bought sauce, Sticky Fingers Original Memphis Style, to which I added a little apple cider vinegar. I only cooked them for about 20 minutes after adding the sauce, to keep the sauce from burning.

The next time, I would like to make your sauce and try them with it, AVB. It sounds awesome!

Tim

[AVB]

Here is a pic of someone who made the sauce earlier this year. I'll try to remember to take some pics myself.

[AVB]

From about 3 today.

You wanted to know how thick? And the finished product. I took them out of the rotissere and then let them cook for 10 min per side after I sauced them up.