Norman’s Barbecue Sauce

Norman’s Barbecue Sauce

After the Great Lisle Flood of 2013, I was surprised to see that both of my grills survived undamaged. Dirty, but undamaged. They were completely under water for two days until the flood waters receded. 

My two grills before they disappeared under water.

It took a lot of cleaning and I bought a couple of grates for them, but I was very pleased that they survived. I do a lot of cooking on them all year round.

When you grill, what kind of person are you, gas or charcoal? I bet you can guess how I’ll answer that question. I have two grills, one charcoal and the other wood and charcoal. I don’t believe in gas grills. Now don’t get all huffy. I’m not criticizing you if you prefer gas. I just happen to prefer cooking over wood and charcoal.

I like to cook everything from roasts to chops over the coals. I love any kind of barbecue cooked long and slow using indirect heat from a mix of wood and charcoal. Years ago, my ribs used to be a little tough, but recently I’ve been copying my neighbor’s technique, and I’m getting pretty good at that too.

When it comes to barbecue sauce, I use to doctor up store bought brands. Over the years, I’ve been adding more and more to the store bought brands until finally I said “To heck with it!” and made my own. It is easy to make.

1 Stick of butter

4 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

5 thin red hot pepper sliced razor thin

3/4 cup of sugar

2/3 cup of molasses

1 12 oz. bottle of dark beer

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. dry mustard

2 tbs. vinegar

1 tsp. Slap ya Mama or other cajun seasoning

1 tsp. hot paprika

1 tsp thyme

1 12 oz. bottle chili sauce

2 cups ketchup

1/2 tsp. liquid smoke

1 tbs. Sriracha Chili sauce

1/2 tsp. soy sauce

1/2 tsp. Louisiana Hot Sauce

Preparation

Heat a large sauce pan and melt the butter. Add the garlic and the sliced red peppers and let them cook for a few minutes, but don’t brown the garlic. Add the sugar, molasses, the dark beer, the onion powder, mustard,thyme, cajun season and vinegar. Stir well to mix and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about twelve minutes, stirring often.

Add the chili sauce, ketchup, liquid smoke, Sriracha, soy sauce and Louisiana Sauce. Return to a boil and simmer, stirring, for five minutes. Cover, remove it from the heat and let it cool.

Serving

When your meat on the grill is cooked to tender perfection, liberally apply the sauce to the top side of the meat. Cover the grill and let it cook for about ten minutes. Turn the meat over and repeat. Serve your barbecue with extra sauce on the table. I would add some potato salad, corn on the cob, dill pickles and an ice cold beer. Ok, maybe more than just one ice cold beer.