Best Barbecue Sauce Recipe

This post is sponsored by Ball® Canning

Best Barbecue Sauce Recipe

Summertime is synonymous with barbecues. It’s so fun to be outdoors with family and friends, enjoying delicious food fresh off the grill. You can make your gathering even more special with  homemade barbecue sauce. It’s easy to make and it’s so much more special than buying the premade sauce from the store. Make extra jars to give guests as a takeaway gift.

By the way… I have some exciting news. Scroll down to learn all about Can-It-Forward Day!

Best Barbecue Sauce Recipe

(This recipe for Barbecue Sauce is courtesy of the Ball® Blue Book Guide to Preserving and Ball® Canning)

Yield about 8 half-pint or 4 pint jars.

Ingredients

4 quarts of chopped tomatoes (about 24)

2 cups of chopped celery (about 3 stalks)

2 cups of chopped onions (about 2 medium)

1 1/2 cups chopped green bell or red bell peppers (about 2 medium)

2 hot red peppers

 teaspoon peppercorns

1 cup of brown sugar

2 cloves of garlic

1 tbs dry mustard

1 tbs paprika

1 tbs Ball Salt for Pickling and Preserving

1 tsp hot pepper sauce

1/8 tsp cayenne

1 cup vinegar, 5% acidity

Directions

1. Wash the tomatoes, bell peppers, and red hot peppers under cold running water and drain.

2. You need to peel the tomatoes and the easiest way to do this is to blanch them. Blanching is pretty simple. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and fill a large bowl with ice water.

Cut a little X shape on the bottom of the tomatoes.

Boil the tomatoes in batches of 5 for a minute.

Then immediately plunge the tomatoes into the ice water.

Peel the tomatoes.

Remove the core and chop tomatoes; measure 4 quarts of chopped tomatoes.

Remove leafy tops and root ends from celery. Chop celery; measure 2 cups chopped celery.

Peel and chop onion. Measure 2 cups chopped onion.

Remove stems and seeds from bell peppers. Chop bell peppers; measure 2 cups chopped red peppers.

Remove stem ends from hot red peppers. Finely chop hot red peppers. (I could not find hot red peppers, so I used green).

Peel garlic and mince.

Tie peppercorns in a spice bag.

Combine tomatoes, celery, onions and peppers in a large saucepan (I didn’t have a large enough saucepan so I used a pot).

Bring mixture to a simmer (180 degrees F); simmer 10 minutes.

Puree vegetables using an electric food strainer or food mill. Simmer until the puree is is reduced by one-half. Add spice bag and the remaining ingredients to the puree. Simmer until the puree is the consistency of ketchup, stirring to prevent sticking. Remove spice bag.

Ladle hot sauce into a hot jar, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Clean jar rim.

Center lid on jar and adjust band to to fingertip-tight. Place jar on the rack elevated over simmering water (180 degrees F) i boiling-water canner. Repeat until all jars and filled.

Lower the rack into the simmering water. Water must cover jars by 1 inch. Adjust heat to medium-high, cover canner and bring water to a rolling boil. Process half-pint or pint jars 20 minutes.

Turn off heat and remove cover. Let the jars cool for 5 minutes. Remove jars from canner; do not retighten bands if loose. Cool 12 hours and check seals.

 Label and store jars.

Grab these printable labels and tags.

Just click the link, save to your computer and print!

Best Barbecue Sauce Labels

Barbecue Sauce Tags

Can It Forward Day

Can-It-Forward Day is just around the corner! On August 1st Can-It-Forward Day will be broadcast live at FreshPreserving.com from the new state-of-the-art Jarden Home Brands headquarters in Fishers, Indiana. This fun event celebrates the joys of fresh preserving. I am thrilled to be one of four blogger ambassadors from across the country who will be sharing out preserving expertise during the live webcast. Each of us will be sharing a recipe unique to our communities. Since I’m from Washington state, I’ll be sharing a Apple-Blueberry Jam Recipe.

Tune into the live webcast of canning demos on the website for the Ball brand home canning www.FreshPreserving.com or click this link from 11:00am – 4:00pm EST. You can even submit your home canning questions and get answers in real time.

Plus you can host a home canning party on August 1st. Visit www.FreshPreserving.com for the official Can-It-Forward Day Recipes

Finally, use the hashtag #canitforward to share your home canning creations, tips and tricks via social media!

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