For those of you who do not know what a mop sauce is, it is a sauce that you put on meat while you're barbecuing it. The mop sauce is very important. Not only does it help to keep the meat moist during the smoking process, but it also sets up the meat for the barbecue sauce. Tomatoes and sugars tend to burn at very low temperatures, so you cannot use barbecue sauce while it's smoking, even at a low temp. Keep this in mind if you make modifications to the mop sauce.

As a basic mop sauce, most people use lime juice and water. My dad always used merlot, lime juice, and cayenne. Below is my recipe, inspired by mom, as well as my spice cabinet.

1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp mustard flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup Merlot
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp lime juice

That's it! Mix it together well and mop the meat every half hour or so while it's smoking.

If you do not have a barbecue mop, you can use a brush. However, it is important that you not brush the sauce on, or you risk losing the dry rub, and the mop sauce will not keep the meat as juicy. Simply "clump" the sauce on with the brush.