Kansas City BBQ Sauce

Description

Kansas City BBQ Sauce is the one our customers ask for most often when they say “just a regular BBQ sauce.” It’s our take on the classic KC profile — thick, sweet, deeply red, with a long molasses backbone and just enough vinegar and pepper to keep it from being one-dimensional.

We build it slowly. Tomato paste cooked dark in cast iron, then dark molasses, then fire-charred onions, then dark brown sugar and a long pour of cider vinegar, then a careful blend of smoked paprika, dry mustard, garlic, allspice, and black pepper. Two hours of low simmer thickens it without any added gums or starches.

It’s a versatile sauce — slathered on a pulled-pork sandwich, brushed on a half-rack of ribs in the last 15 minutes, stirred into baked beans, served alongside a cast-iron mac-and-cheese, or used as a glaze on grilled chicken thighs. Most of our customers keep two bottles on the shelf: this one and the Maple Bourbon.

Ingredients

Tomato paste, dark molasses, fire-charred yellow onion, dark brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, water, smoked paprika, dry mustard, toasted garlic, allspice, smoked sea salt, cracked black pepper, cayenne, ground cloves (trace). No high-fructose corn syrup, no liquid smoke, no anti-caking agents, no artificial color.

How it cooks

Apply in the last 10–15 minutes of grilling or smoking — the sugars in the sauce will burn if applied too early. For a thick caramelized glaze on ribs, brush every 5 minutes for the last 20 minutes of the cook. The sauce thins slightly when heated, which is desirable for application — it returns to thickness as it cools and caramelizes.

12oz hand-bottled. Refrigerate after opening. Best within 12 months unopened, 90 days opened.