Dad’s Secret BBQ Sauce

I wasn’t always a vegetarian. I grew up as a red-blooded youth, raised on hamburgers, pot roasts and the occasional grilled steak. It wasn’t until I turned 25 that I became a vegetarian. But that’s a story for another time. This story is about Dad’s secret barbecue sauce.

I remember Dad grilling hamburgers on his charcoal grill on a Sunday. I was probably 8 or 9 at the time. He took the grill off the round barbecue and asked me to get a paper bag. I ran into the kitchen, grabbed a bag and hurried back out to Dad. He told me to hold the bag while he scooped out the old ashes. When the ashes were completely out of the barbecue, I ran to put them in the garbage can. I rushed because I didn’t want to miss any of Dad’s barbecue rituals. 

Dad poured charcoal briquettes into the center of the barbecue, letting them fall where they may, and doused them generously with lighter fluid. He lit a match, and that was when the magic happened. He tossed the match at the coals and stepped back as the coals erupted in flames. 

We retreated to the kitchen, waiting for the coals to burn to ash. While in the kitchen, I watched Dad prepare his secret barbecue sauce. 

“What is your secret?” I asked. 

Dad said, “Can’t tell you. That’s why it’s a secret.” 

Dad never did tell me his secret, but a few years after he passed away I found his recipe written on a scrap of paper. It was tucked in with my mom’s handwritten recipes. She used 3×5 index cards.

When the sauce was ready, my brother John and I dipped potato chips and munched while Dad patted the ground round into burgers. Dad let me carry the tray of burgers out to the grill while he followed with the bowl of barbecue sauce and a basting brush. 

I watched Dad as he brushed a little sauce on each burger. He then placed the patties carefully on the grill and turned each one over after a few minutes. After a few more minutes, the burgers were perfectly grilled. Dad let me brush a little more barbecue on top, and then he carried them inside where Mom had set the table and laid out potato salad, pickles, thick slices of tomatoes, thin slices of red onion and fresh leaves of head lettuce. Dad put four hamburgers on a plate at the table and returned to toast the buns. When he came back with the buns, he also brought the bowl of extra barbecue sauce. 

Makes 3 cups of sauce.

Ingredients:

¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1½ teaspoons garlic powder

1½ teaspoons celery seeds

1½ teaspoons chili powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

½ teaspoon black pepper (finely ground)

¾ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon cayenne

2 tablespoons yellow mustard

2 cups ketchup

1 cup water

½ cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1¼ teaspoons liquid smoke

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour into half-pint jars with tight lids. Refrigerate until ready to use. 

Chef Randy Graham, the healthy chef. Providing consistently good vegetarian comfort food recipes. See his cookbooks at Amazon.