I'm still working on mine, but I started with the Ball Blue Book recipe, and left out the celery and peppers. I couldn't quite wrap my tastebuds around having celery and that many peppers in barbecue sauce, but to each his own. Left out the sugar (but next time I think I'll add a little molasses - it did need a tiny bit of extra sweetness and I like molasses flavor in BBQ sauce) and tweaked the spices a little, too.

16 cups peeled and chopped tomatoes
2 cups chopped onions
1 teaspoon ground pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon paprika (we used 1/2 tablespoon sweet and 1/2 tablespoon hot)
1 tablespoon canning salt
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (we used Louisiana Hot Sauce)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1-1/2 cups of (5%) vinegar (we used 1 cup apple cider vinegar and 1/2 cup white vinegar)
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, bottled

We put a bit of malt vinegar in it, too (as we were tasting along the way). Still needs some work on the flavor (it does change after processing) but that's where the recipe is "tweaked to" so far.

Hope that helps a little.

NCHFP has a good recipe. Bar B Q Sauce

Then there is the one called Country Western Ketchup that is really more of a Texas-type Bar B Q sauce.

As Malna said there is also the one in the BBB and another in the Ball Complete Book.

Our personal favorite is the Classic Barbeque Sauce in Joy of Pickling.

Dave

What canning books do you have to refer to for recipes?

Dave

Dave,

Linda Ziedrich's books

Put Em Up

Ball Complete and Ball Blue

Fancy Pantry, The Good Stuff and Better Than Store Bought, none of which I've checked. (I can't believe that)

Preserving the Tastes (an old Edon Waycott book with some very scary recipes)

I've thrown away more than I have at this point, either because they don't appeal or because they're untrustworthy. The Country Wester Ketchup does sound interesting.

Deborah

Malna, molasses does sound good. Would sorghum work, do you think? I tend to use it as a substitute becuase it's what I usually have at hand.

Deborah

Deborah, we love the Ball recipe. Before I came to Gardenweb Harvest Forum, and unknowing of which sources not to use, I had done two recipes from other sources I no longer consider safe. But we didn't care for them that much. And fortunately for me, I can not get the same ending volume that the BBQ sauce recipe indicates (if it says 6 pints I will end up with 3) so I don't have a lot of the questionably safe sauces sitting around. I have plenty of tomatoes and remaining ingredients to do the Nchfp recipe next. But unless that one excites me more, the Ball recipe is just perfect for my household.

I assume my reduced volume is due to my cooking it down to get a thicker sauce along with not using paste tomatoes to start off with. Doesn't matter if I cook it slow or cook it fast. I use a Dutch Oven. I'll never have to buy BBQ sauce again. That makes me smile. :-)

Ellen, the Ball peach one is the one I didn't like. I haven't tried the others so I thought I'd get opinions before I attemped another.

I'm straying off topic a little here, but I've found I don't like peach salsas or other peach condiments. Yet, I love peaches, fresh, in jams, preserves. I can't think what my problem is.

Actually, I'm not thinking well at all, which brings me to another question. I have strep throat (started an antibiotic last night) and I've probably been shedding bacteria all over the place for the last few days. I suppose I should look it up myself, but does anyone know, off hand, if strep is killed when boiled at 210 degrees?

You know where I'm going with this. It's high harvest and canning season. I'm wondering about all the food I've put up for the last week. Ahh me!

Deborah,
If you like the taste, go ahead and try sorghum. I think I tasted it a few times (maybe on cornbread or something?), but I can't really remember if I liked it or not.

I'm trying this one today

http://www.freshpreserving.com/recipe.aspx?r=138

I haven't done the peach BBQ sauce, just the regular sauce.

I made a fabulous Peach Preserves that I can eat daily. Contains raisins and nuts. The recipe was one of those questionable sources, which I found out about after the fact. But the trusted members here checked the ingredients for me. I also did a Peach and Pear Chili Sauce that my entire family loves on chicken and turkey.

You might try a peach chutney. I did the peach/apricot from one of the good books this summer and substituted more peaches for the apricots and I thoroughly enjoy it. Great on pork loin in a crock pot for sure. I think you could probably throw some in a blender and it would make a great BBQ sauce.