Some time ago I found a basic barbecue sauce and said, “I can do better.” I added and subtracted ingredients, changed how I cooked the ingredients, then played with water-bath canning until I came up with a sauce I’m proud of. I didn’t just dump ingredients into a pot, whisk it together and come up with a sauce. This took years of changing spice combinations, base ingredients, even what order I added ingredients. Each time I made a batch, I listed what I liked and what I didn’t like. That way the next time I made up a batch of sauce I knew what to change.
I didn’t realize the sauce was that good until two things happened. The first was when I was preparing the sauce. My mother hovered over the simmering stockpot holding a bowl in one hand and a slice of bread in another. She remembered me telling her about a barbecue joint in Alabama where they greet their patrons with sauce and a loaf of white bread for dipping. Needless to say, she did eat a bowlful of sauce.
After I finished the batch, the second good thing happened. My neighbor shared her frustration with finding a barbecue sauce they liked. They’re from Texas and to date, they haven’t found a local sauce that resembles something from home… until they tried my sauce. The tomato-base and back-door heat reminded them of what they would find outside of Dallas Texas. “You’ve got to sell this! People would buy this!” she exclaimed.
Maybe she was right…..maybe people would buy this sauce.
First step – get feedback from my Mastermind group. I canned enough sauce for each member to take home. Well, instead of waiting until they arrived home, they opened a jar and tried it during the meeting. They loved it!! Next thing I knew, I had a list of To-Do’s to launch my sauce.
A sauce is born….
