Mini BBQ Sauce Throw Down

[Andy M.]

Not a throw down for mini BBQ sauces, Tom. Just a small scale throw down of a few store bought sauces.

I don't usually make my own. I have settled on Bullseye Original as my favorite BBQ sauce.

I have been seeing a lot of new products with the Weber label. Their seasoning mixes are good. Try the Chicago Steak Rub - fantastic. I have also found some Weber marinade mixes I like, such as their Chipotle marinade. Works great on pork.

That said, when I saw a whole line of BBQ sauces, I thought I should give them a try as I was out of Bullseye at the time. I bought bottles of Weber's Original, Hickory Smoke and Spicy. They're all good. The Original has a stronger tomato flavor. The spicy has a little kick to it. The Hickory smoke is my favorite of the three.

So last week I bought a bottle of Bullseye Original (the hometown favorite) and did a non-blind taste test of the four sauces.

For me the Bullseye is still the best with a richer fuller flavor and the Weber Hickory Smoke is second. I can do without the others. Separately, I had SO taste all four and her first and second agreed with mine. (We are a match made in heaven).

Weber also makes a sweeter sauce but I skipped that one as I don't like overly sweet sauces.

Consider trying one or more of the Weber products.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

My personal favorite is KC Masterpiece (original flavor) sauce.

 

[Cheryl J]

I really like the above, but I think my fave go-to is the Jack Daniels. I'll be on the lookout for the Weber's, though!

 

[Steve Kroll]

I haven't tried the Weber product, but overall I find off-the-shelf sauces to be way too sugary. When I do buy store sauce, I always end up adding a bunch of vinegar to give it more tang and offset the cloying sweetness.

If I have the time, I make a big batch of sauce from scratch. It lasts quite awhile in the fridge. My all-time favorite recipe is from some dude called meathead, who has a barbeque website.

This is his recipe. The only thing I change is adding soy sauce instead of the steak sauce the recipe calls for.

Barbecue Sauce Recipe: A KC Classic

 

[buckytom]

lol, andy. you beat me to the punch.

is this a competition for vertically challenged people? where's elfie when we need her?

 

[Hoot]

I like Hunts BBQ sauce...But the local grocer stopped carrying it.
It was a sudden thing. Shelf full of bottles one day....next day GONE!
Even the employees aren't sure what happened.

 

[CraigC]

For store bought sauce, I really like Tom's. I think that the problem with a "Throwdown" like this is not being able to compare regionally produced sauces that are not nationally distributed. Tom's, as an example, is a local place owned by Tom Jenkins. His sauce is locally distributed by Publix.

 

[Harry Cobean]

does yoshida's spicy wing & rib sauce count? not much of a bbq culture over here on account of the,ummm,"unpredictable" nature of our weather so a limited choice here.
i like yoshida's & it's less than £5 for a big bottle from costco

 

[Andy M.]

Craig, I wasn't trying to do a definitive review, just a little info on a few sauces (and my preferences).

Harry, I tried another of Yoshida's products, some kind of marinade, from Costco and we didn't care for it. But if the rib sauce is good by all means use that. Sometimes you have to make do with what you can get.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

DW has a sweet tooth the size of a football field and doesn't do well with heat (peppery, or much vinager). So the go-to store bought sauce around here is Sweet Baby Ray's original, or I make my own, one kind for her, and another for me.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Uncle Bob]

Not a big fan of Tomato Based BBQ Sauces...I'm a "dry" rib, etc, etc, etc, aficionado.... I do keep this one around however...

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Reference my Stray Thoughts posting concerning commercial barbecue sauces

 

[Andy M.]

Reference my Stray Thoughts posting concerning commercial barbecue sauces

Sir, none of the four sauces I mentioned in the OP contains HFCS or CS. They all list sugar as the primary sweetener with molasses in a supporting role.

Also, none are overly sweet as that is something I dislike. They are all tomato-based.

 

[Andypants]

Harry, I tried another of Yoshida's products, some kind of marinade, from Costco and we didn't care for it. But if the rib sauce is good by all means use that.

Mikee's Chinese Rib Sauce is also a good base for an Asian BBQ sauce. It's kind of sweet and a dark red.

For American BBQ sauce I try to buy something where sugar isn't the first ingredient (and no HFCS). That is limiting enough by itself.