Brand X BBQ Sauce

I am the Sauce Boss 2013! I finally won our annual Father's Day barbecue sauce competition after being beaten in past years by my spouse and daughter-in-law, I came up with the winning recipe, but only after a taste off against my sister-in-law.  It was close, I tell you.  I'd tried a vinegar base, mustard base and a sweet concoction, but none were popular enough to win in the past, so I figured you have to play to the audience with a ketchup based blend and a balance of everything - sweet, smokey, tangy and the right amount of heat.  Mine isn't tricked up with bourbon, coffee or fruit juice but it did have a very *secret ingredient that no one else had access to. Just a little of the drippings of the pork butt I personally seasoned with dry rub and smoked with hickory.  It's the same principal I use when I save the "essence" of a roast chicken. I chill the excess juices, skim off the fat and freeze it to later flavor sauces and gravy.  After smoking the pork, I use most of the defatted drippings to keep the meat moist after the shredding or pulling part.  There's plenty left over to save for flavoring and it's a heap better than liquid smoke. It's the color of coffee and when chilled, assumes a gelatinous consistency and can be frozen for future use.

Here's my sauce recipe.  It's fine without the the *secret ingredient but better if you have access to those rich meat juices and it doesn't take much.

1 cup Heinz Ketchup
1/2 cup French's yellow mustard
1/2 cup finely diced Vidalia onion
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup Heinz apple cidar vinegar
2 tbls molassas
1 tbls Dijon mustard
1 tbls Worstershire sauce
1 tbls bacon drippings
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
apple wood smoked bacon bits

*1 tbls defatted, seasoned, smoked pork butt drippings ( if your lucky)

Cook several slices of the bacon until crisp and drain on paper towels.  Crumble one slice into bits. Cook the onion in 1 tbls of the bacon drippings until just golden and set aside. Combine with the remaining ingredients in a nonreactive sauce pan and simmer 10 mins on low heat.  Add the bacon bits and the *secret ingredient it you have some.  Makes about a pint.

Tip: Use the rest of the bacon in baked beans and add a little of the this sauce to make them extra good.