Booyah Bayou Barbecue Marinade

Ingredients

• 9 cups cider vinegar, keep the rest handy
• 5 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup salt
• 1 cup seasoning salt
• 3 tablespoons cajun spices
• 4 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 medium onions, peeled and pureed
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 3 tablespoons ketchup (or catsup)
• 5 ounces sweet Hungarian paprika
• 4 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

Directions

1. 1

   Dump the vinegar in a huge mixing bowl.

2. 2

   Open a Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer (or Natural Light, if there happens to be one around, or whatever tickles your fancy. Non-drinkers can have a Coke).

3. 3

   Drink the beer (or Coke).

4. 4

   add the brown sugar.

5. 5

   add the onions.

6. 6

   add the ketchup.

7. 7

   add the mustard add the vegetable oil.

8. 8

   in a separate, smaller bowl, add the blackening spice, the seasoning salt, the salt, and the crushed red pepper flakes. Mix them until blended, and add them to the vinegar mixture.

9. 9

   whisk it all together for a while and drink another beer (or Coke). Or two. Just stir it.

10. 10

    Get a pretty damned big stock pot out. Put it on the stove.

11. 11

    Dump the mixture into the stock pot, put it on high until just starts to bubble, maybe 5 minutes. Rinse the bowl out with additional, vinegar to make sure you get it all.

12. 12

    Once it starts simmering, turn it down to low and stir it until the sugar is dissolved.

13. 13

    Taste it, and adjust it to suit you. Use as a barbecue sauce, a marinade, mopping sauce, or whatever. It is supposed to be hot AND spicy. Adjust the crushed red pepper flakes to taste or to your own good sense, if you don't like things like this to be TOO hot. I like it to make me break a sweat. In its honest mix, it is as much flavor as it is heat, and balances on the smoker or grill really well.

14. 14

    If you are smoking your meat pile, marinade your meat for a minimum of three days. It goes fine with Hickory or Mesquite, I am sure its good with Apple or Alder, but I haven't tried them.