My Johnny Harris-style BBQ sauce

[BARDSLJR]

Developed this sauce recipe trying to get as close as possible to Johnny Harris's  (Savannah) barbecue sauce. It isn't QUITE there, but it is in the ballpark:

Johnny Harris- Style Barbecue Sauce

 

2 tbsp chili powder

2 tbsp fine ground black pepper

2 tsp white sugar

½ tsp salt

 

4 cups catsup

1 cup yellow mustard

1/4^th  cup Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup real cider vinegar (may experiment with other vinegars, like champagne vinegar or sherry vinegar)

¼ to ½ cup packed brown sugar (prefer dark) (May substitute honey, and add dark molasses. Should be to your taste.

2 tbsp butter

3 Tbsps fresh lemon juice

 

Directions:

Combine catsup in mustard in large pot. Warm on low heat. Stir in all ingredients except butter and lemon juice and mix thoroughly. Cook on low and stir frequently until well blended- 15 minutes.

 

Remove from heat. Cool for 15 minutes. Add butter, stir until thoroughly blended. Add lemon juice to taste.

 

Best if heated before using. Do not boil.

 

This is the base recipe, and it is good for all meats- beef, chicken, pork, etc. I also usually use both honey and dark molasses (as above) for the sweetener. Taste at the end and add more honey or sugar or salt if needed. You could add cayenne pepper or hot sauce if you wanted it hotter- most of the heat in the recipe comes from the black pepper. I have also added several shots of espresso sometimes; tried dark chocolate once to good result; tried adding (separately orange marmalade or raspberry jam to give it a more fruit base.) You can also experiment using different vinegars (like champagne or Spanish sherry), but this is usually a lot more expensive for very subtle difference. You could also try adding a little cinnamon, Chinese five-spice, or both (not more than a teaspoon.) In my last patch, I doubled the recipe, added one tablespoon each ground ginger and  five-spice.

[Tyrus]

I prefer a good sauce, gravy or marinade over a rub anytime if done well, just think it penetrates and adds to your dining pleasure more. Anyhow, how about a little Cumin for an earthy addition, not too much. I've found some BBq sauces at Trader Joe's to try, found out that I liked them and upon returning for more....they're gone. Threw the bottle away, the search continues. I will try this Bardsljr, anything from Savannah and it's BBq history can't be bad.

[BARDSLJR]

Regrettably, Johnny Harris's closed some years back, and this recipe is close, but not exact. For store-bought sauce, I think Stubb's Original is just about the best on the shelf (their Sweet  version is great on chicken), but there are thousands . You might want to go on-line on the Trader Joe's website and see if you can recognize any of the sauces there as the one you are looking for.