How much barbeque sauce do you go through in a year? A case
or two? Just a few bottles in the summer?
If you’re like me, there’s always something to cook, and
something to slather with sauce. But which one?
A quick walk through the grocery store shows there
are dozens and dozens. And that doesn’t count regional favorites, small batch
sauces, mail order offerings and even local or restaurant choices. Whew.
That’s
a lot of bbq sauce.
In this, the First Annual Bare Moose BBQ Sauce Cook Off, we
try to narrow the big name choices. (For those wondering what the heck Bare
Moose is, it started as a name idea for a store
. . . Bare Moose Provisions . . . and has kind of taken off from there
to encompass many things food . . . Imaginary, but, hey what the heck.)
So we tested a bunch of readily available barbeque sauces
(yes, it can be spelled barbecue as well), and narrowed it down to four of the
better options. All are pretty reasonably prices, too, so you don’t have to
worry about any of them jacking your cookout budget when Aunt Martha calls and
wants to bring the other side of the family. With some sauces costing upwards
of $8 to $10 a bottle, that $2.50 to $5 looks pretty good. And check around,
too, since there’s always something on sale. Stock up and you’ll have bbq sauce
ammo for the season.
We tested the sauces on hamburgers, chicken and ribs. We
selected sauces of the sweet, ketchup-based variety, since that’s what most
people around these Northeastern parts use, so they’re easier to find than
Carolina-type sauces, as an example.
After stuffing ourselves with meaty goodness, the four left
standing . . . KC Masterpiece, Bulls-eye, Stubbs and Sweet Baby Ray’s . . .
Made it to the finals.
Generally speaking, three of them are sweet . . . real sweet
. . . All three contain high fructose corn syrup. The Stubbs Original doesn’t.
That tale is told on the labels, as well, with the Stubbs having 6g of total
carbs and the others between 13g and 18g. High fructose corn syrup is listed as
the first ingredient in the Sweet Baby Ray’s and Bulls-eye, and the second
ingredient in the KC Masterpiece.
If you like sweet, then Sweet Baby Ray’s is for you. Solid
bbq taste, with some spice showing and a touch of mild heat, thick and sticky.
The Bulls-eye, too, is thick, darker, typical flavor, but
not overwhelmingly candy-like.
The KC Masterpiece is similar to the Bulls-eye, but a touch
less sweet (just a touch) and didn’t seem to have the more round smokey flavor
of the Sweet Baby Ray’s or the Bulls-eye. Both KC Masterpiece nd Bulls-eye had
decent spice flavors.
The Stubbs was lighter in color and thinner, with a much
more pronounced vinegar and pepper flavor, better heat, and mild molasses, but
not much hickory-like flavor. It tastes cleaner than the others, but those
looking for the usual sweetness may be disappointed.
The Verdict
If you like thick and sweet, the Sweet Baby Ray’s is for
you. It has a slightly better rounded flavor than Bulls-eye and Masterpiece.
But it is sweet, so get a small bottle to start before you buy the big
double-bottle warehouse size.
But try a bottle of the Stubbs for some variety. It’s all
natural (which doesn’t mean it’s good for you, just that you can understand what
the label says) and tastes cleaner and less processed than the others.
(Coming soon . . . our take on mustard and steak sauce . . .)
