This is not a finishing sauce. It is a "mop" to be applied during grilling.

Mix all ingredients to taste. Add more pepper, salt, or hot sauce to taste. (Note: Bill recommended using Kraft Original bbq sauce, although we have successfully used others.) Reserve about a fourth of the mop to use in the last part of cooking.

Split whole chickens (or spatchcock them) and place on grill over indirect heat or in a smoker. Mop sauce onto chicken and cook over low heat for about 3 hours, basting hourly. Once the birds hit 150 degrees, turn them over and fill cavities with reserved sauce and cook until done.

Bill Martin taught me this at the 2001 CTL Pool Party when we smoked chickens. This also works nicely with bone in chicken breasts smoked with hickory or mesquite.

Be careful not to cross contaminate by returning to mop or brush back to the liquid after it's touched raw or partially cooked chicken. To avoid this, I just put it in a squirt bottle, shake it each time and squirt some on each bird, skipping the physical contact all together.