Bacon Sauce

Intro: Bacon Sauce

Everything tastes better with bacon. With this sauce you can carry the flavor of bacon everywhere you go and apply it to everything you eat. This sauce is great with pork, chicken, or beef. I found it when I was making ribs in a family competition. The recipe is one of Tyler Florence's with some changes by me based on my preference or what I had on hand. 

The layers of flavor in this sauce are amazing and the best part is bacon lies at the bottom like a foundation lifting everything to new heights. 

STEP 1: Ingredients/Tools

Ingredients
salt
black pepper
2 bacon slices
4 sprigs of thyme
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 cups of ketchup
1 cup apricot preserves
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. dijon mustard or 1 tbsp. dry mustard
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. ground cumin
extra virgin olive oil

Tools
jar
pan
tongs
spoon
measuring cups and spoons

STEP 2: Wrap the Thyme

Wrap the bacon around the sprigs of thyme. Make sure that most of the thyme is wrapped or it will burn. You want the bacon flavor to mix with the thyme.

STEP 3: Cook the Bacon

Cook the bacon wrapped thyme slowly. Use the tongs to flip the bacon over. Once the outside of the bacon is cooked you can remove the thyme using the tongs. You do not want those green sticks hiding in your sauce. 

STEP 4: Add the Rest of the Ingredients

Now add the rest of the ingredients. It does not matter what order you chose. Just mix well after adding each one.

I added in this order
Ketchup
Apricot Preserves
Dry Mustard
Brown Sugar
Honey
White Vinegar (not pictured)
Ground Cumin
Garlic Powder

The salt and pepper are optional. Just add to taste.

STEP 5: Cook for 20 Minutes

Like the title says you will cook this for 20 minutes on low. 

STEP 6: Jar the Sauce

Now you will want to remove the bacon at this point. Let most of the sauce drip off the bacon. Now pour the sauce into a bowl or jar if you plan on keeping some. I would not recommend keeping the bacon in the sauce. The sauce will not last as long if you keep the bacon in it. If you plan on eating it all then it would be okay. 

I have been making this sauce for years and nothing from the store compares. It is great. 

Comments

[Futhermuckerr]

Hi,
The recipe looks great and I'm about to try it. How long does this last after making it? Have you ever tried preserving it in a canner?
Cheers,
Ken

[nateinvestor]

Ok, so I tried making this last weekend.

I was struck at how sweet it was - probably shouldn't have been with the 1/4 cup of honey and the brown sugar, but even so.

I used 3 bacon wrapped thyme for mine, but still did not taste the bacon at all.

Though I shouldn't have been surprised at it's sweetness, I added 3/4 tsp of cayenne to give it a kick. It actually turned into a nice sweet taste initially, but the heat builds up on you.

I am likely to try it again, any suggestions on how I should go about making it less sweet, bring the bacon out more, and coorespondingly add heat. Thank you for the recipe, it was fun.

[chipf]

Instead of the regular salt try bacon salt to taste

[ehudwill]

Glad you enjoyed the recipe. I have a huge sweet tooth so I really like this recipe. I will think on how to bring out the bacon flavor thanks for the question.

[tonygoffe]

Hi, guys..I'm from Jamaica and have made all kinds of sauces,jams, and used to run a cold smioke house in the backyard doing Marlin for the tourist trade..(now an endangered species..the marlin, that is!!) .
...Anyway..re "nateinvestor" ..and the LACK of bacon taste ...its all about surface area.. My suggestion is cut the bacon into 1/2 " sq. pieces, strip the green leaves from the thyme and cook those two together..I know this sounds long-winded..put that in a mesh bag ( I think they call it "cheesecloth"..and cook THAT in your sauce body..I'll bet you get MORE flavour from the greater surface area!! ..AND no bacon bits to go off on you!! (..oh, dont worry bout the thyme, it can take the heat without becoming bitter ..better yet, use DRY thyme)

[ehudwill]

Thanks for the idea. I will have to try it out sometime,

[mtc2012]

Maybe throwing some bacon in a food processor and making it into a paste to add in might enhance the bacon flavor..

[ehudwill]

Yes, it would.

[wcgems]

Any idea how long this will last UNREFRIGERATED and also REFRIGERATED?

[ehudwill]

I used it for two week refrigerated. I would not use it unrefrigerated. Great question.