Back in the day, and I am talking 50's/60's here, there was The Shack in Little Rock with the best BBQ beef sandwich on the planet. People would drive 3 hours round trip just to eat his sandwich. It was simple, chopped smokes brisket topped with thinly sliced cabbage that was in ice water and a sauce that would make you cry. If you like your BBQ sauce spicy and tangy, this one is for you.
His brother had a place in Southwest Little Rock called HB Slaughter's and the sauce was actually his recipe. My uncle was the GSM for Portable Kitchens back then and through his connections and a night of drinking got the recipe and I have been making this since the early 70's and people rave about it. However, if you like that think and sweet BBQ sauce, this is not for you. I am giving you the recipe as it was given to me and I have changed it to suit my tastes like subbing AC vinegar for white and brown sugar for white. This was the exact recipe as given to me and I omit the onions for shelf life and just put some in when I am going to have BBQ. This sauce is great for brisket, ribs, pork and sausage, it is not a good chicken sauce. Need a thicker and sweeter sauce for that or that Alabama White sauce is tasty.
3 14oz bottles of Heinz ketchup
1 Qt. of vinegar
1 Qt. of water
3 Tbls of salt
3 Tbls of pepper
3 Tbls of chili powder
3 Tbls of sugar
I small while onion chopped fine
Cook that for a minimum of 3 hours, partially covered and stirring often. The beauty of this simple sauce is that you can balance it in any direction you want to go, heat, sweet or tangy. I am partial to a vinegary sauce.
I did modify this for chicken by reducing the water to make it thicker and adding Mike's Hot Honey. If you haven't tried that product, you are missing something special, he's got that down and you put that on a piece of fried chicken and you'll have a smile a mortician couldn't get off your face.