Pigchaser BBQ Sauce A Hit At Rib Throwdown

Grayslake’s Downtown Rib Throwdown had an additional attraction beyond the usual sumptuous food and camaraderie of the event. Grayslake resident and entrepreneur Ron Slawek, of Pigchaser BBQ Sauce, participated in the fundraiser by selling his own line of barbecue sauces and donating 10 percent of the proceeds back to the center.

It is a great example of a local business supporting the community, with the love of barbecue mixed in.

Ron is a longtime barbecue enthusiast who made his original sauce for family and friends for years and received rave reviews and words of encouragement. He describes the start of Pigchaser in 2007 with the following description: “My wife told me to get off my rear-end and do something with it because she doesn’t want to hear me complaining in 20 years that I should have, could have, blah..blah..blah. She and a lot of other people have been telling me to do something with this sauce.”

Pigchaser was born in Ron’s kitchen, as he spent the majority of evenings for the next 18 months perfecting his original sauce. In May 2010, his commercial sauce officially was put on the market, and he has been growing in distribution ever since.

Ron continued to experiment and expand his sauces, which are all original and created solely by him. Today, Pigchaser has a five-sauce product line that includes:

• Original
• Pineapple Mango
• Habanero
• Garlic
• Bacon BBQ Sauce

The bacon sauce brings a product so fresh with bacon that it is the only USDA-approved barbecue sauce on the market. Sauces have an avid following and can be used on ribs, chicken, brisket, hamburgers, beef sandwiches, pork chops, seafood, as a marinade, or as a dip.

Ron enjoys entertaining and cooking for friends. He converted his basement into a welcoming space that allows for gatherings, food and fun. He built Pigchaser into what it is today by determination, research, innovation and hard work.

He loves hearing from people who have connected with his product and finds that the most rewarding part of the business. “I still cannot get over the fact," said Ron, "that I created something that people enjoy . . . a lot.”

The name Pigchaser comes from Ron's authentic pig-chasing experience. To do the story justice, read it in detail for yourself at his website at www.pigchaser.com.

When it came time to name the barbecue sauce, his son reminded him of the great story and said, "Dad, why don't you call it Pigchaser? Remember when you chased that pig?

And so Pigchaser was born.