Old Bay BBQ Sauce

Old Bay BBQ Sauce

BBQ sauces and styles are highly debated topics, and everyone involved has strong feelings, one way or the other. Most BBQ styles in the South are regional, but the lines of where one begins and ends can be blurry.

BBQ sauce is purpose-driven, though- there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. This sauce leans towards a Memphis-style sauce, except using fresh orange juice and old bay as the spice mix. This sauce is built for pork ribs, but chicken is also excellent with it as well.

As you finish cooking your ribs, brush it on towards the end, and it will glaze up perfectly. It comes together quickly and can be made just before you are ready to use it, but it will thicken up as it cools, giving you a thicker sauce glaze. We use it on Baked and Grilled BBQ Ribs but have also tried it on pulled pork sandwiches and smoked chicken thighs. The orange and old bay give this sauce a brighter note but never overly fruity. 

Main Ingredients:

Ketchup: For cooking, I prefer Hunt’s 100% Natural ketchup. It’s thicker than most other ketchup and has more baking spice. You can use any ketchup you like, but you may need to cook the sauce a little longer or reduce it to get the desired thickness.

Brown Sugar: I use light brown sugar for this sauce.

Molasses: Plain molasses and blackstrap molasses will both work. I like the more robust flavor of blackstrap molasses, which is slightly more bitter than the standard version.

Orange Juice: This recipe calls for fresh-squeezed juice from two oranges. Fresh orange juice will be more flavorful and tart than store-bought. Feel free to experiment with different oranges, but I’ve made this recipe with navel, Cara Cara, and Seville oranges. I really liked the sourness of the Seville oranges in the sauce, but all three versions were wonderful.

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Old Bay BBQ Sauce

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Course: Sauces + Dressings

Yields

2

cups

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

5

minutes

Total time

10

minutes

This sauce is built for pork ribs, but chicken is also excellent with it as well.

Cook Mode

Keep the screen on while I cook

Ingredients

• 1 cup ketchup

• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

• 2 tbsp molasses

• 2 oranges, juice only (about ½ cup)

• 2 tbsp pickapeppa sauce
  (can substitute 1 1/2 tbsp
  of Worcestershire sauce)

• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 1 1/2 tsp old bay

• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Method

• Mix and cook: In a small pot, mix all ingredients and bring to a low simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep the lid on in between stirring to keep the sauce from splattering.

Field Notes

• RELATED RECIPES: Baked and Grilled BBQ Ribs