Pit Log Ember Citrus BBQ Sauce
A bright, smoky house sauce built on ketchup, reduced apple juice, fresh orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, molasses and warm spice. Made for brisket, short ribs and grilled beef.
Test kitchen, draft 1. Not yet cooked and logged.
- Yield
- About 3 cups
- Prep
- 10 minutes
- Cook
- Simmer 25 to 30 minutes. Estimate.
- Wood
- None
Sauce
- 2 cupsketchup
- 1 cupapple juice (reduced by half first, see step 1)
- 1/2 cupfresh orange juice (about 2 oranges)
- 1/2 cuppacked brown sugar
- 1/3 cupapple cider vinegar
- 3 tbspmolasses
- 1 tbspsmoked paprika
- 2 tspchipotle powder (1 tsp for a milder sauce)
- 1 tspkosher salt
- 1 tspcoarse black pepper
- 1 tsporange zest
Pantry items to check before you start. Print the page and tick them off.
- Ketchup Heinz Tomato Ketchup, 32 oz
- Apple Cider Vinegar Bragg Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
- Molasses Grandma's Original Unsulphured Molasses, 1 Gallon
- Brown Sugar Amazon Grocery, 2lb
- Smoked Paprika La Dalia La Dalia Authentic Spanish Smoked Paprika, 2.46 oz
- Chipotle Powder Frontier Co-op Ground Chipotle Pepper
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- 01
Pour the apple juice into a small pan. Simmer it over medium heat until it drops to about half a cup. That takes 8 to 10 minutes. It builds apple flavor without watering the sauce down.
- 02
Add everything else except the zest. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
- 03
Bring to a bare simmer. Cook uncovered for 20 minutes. Stir now and then. It is ready when it coats a spoon.
- 04
Stir in the zest. Taste it. Add vinegar if it is too sweet. Add brown sugar if it bites.
- 05
Cool it, then jar it. It keeps in the fridge for 2 weeks.
- 06
On the pit, brush it on in the last 15 to 30 minutes. The sugar sets and does not burn. That is the USDA FSIS timing for sauce on smoked meat.
- Untested draft. Concept from the approved Pit Log beef graphic. The amounts are a first pass. They will move after the first kitchen test.
- Built for brisket, short ribs and grilled beef. Thin it with a splash of the reduced apple juice to use it as a mop.
- Sauce in the last 15 to 30 minutes. If using a sauce, apply it during the last 15 to 30 minutes of smoking to prevent excess browning or burning.
- SaucepanSauce recipes. Low value; probably omit.
As an Amazon Associate, Pit Log earns from qualifying purchases. We pick these by name and type, checked against Amazon’s own records. Not by what pays best. We show no prices. A price on a page goes stale fast. Checked 2026-09-03.
Open it in Pit Master Log
Log the cook this sauce goes on. Note the sauce in the rub field so you can find it again.