Commercial BBQ Sauce

jaymo said:

If you don't mind sweet there's always Blues Hog. It is really sweet though. I usually use it with some habanero hot sauce (either Melinda's or one of many jamaican varieties) blended in for some additional heat.

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Brother! Don't hear many people talk about Melinda's!!!! I LOVE MELINDA'S!!!!! My favorite is Scotch Bonnett!!!! I eat it on everything!! Even Ice cream!

Not to hi-jack..sorry I got excitted thinking about Melinda's at work. I love a sauce in stores here called Mississippi sweet and spicy. I don't use it all the time but it sounds like your taste...sweet with a little bite. It has a steamboat on the front of the bottle if you google it.

Just found the link....here ya go! I love it.http://www.mississippibbq.com/Products.html

BONESDILLIGAF said:

I am new here, I have read quite a few of the threads.... but I am rather disappointed to see how many of you use pre-made sauces. Now I am not in your kitchens, so I have no real idea why... is it more of a time constraint thing? Or is it that you have never taken the leap to experiment with making your own? I BBQ and Grill a lot, and financially it is much cheaper to make my own sauces and rubs, and quite frankly it is much easier to adjust flavors for differing uses.. ie honey base / molasses base / brown sugar / vinegar / pepper
the other advantage is of course making the sauce with the rub you are using, and enhancing the rubs flavor with the sauce instead of competing flavor profiles.

anyway, I was just wondering why the large amount of pre-made sauce use.
thanks

~BONES~

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I can't count the number of people that have said to me "I make my own sauce and I think it's the best." and the shock on their faces when I respond with "That's awesome! You should like the sauce that YOU make yourself the best." The next thing that is always asked is "Well, if that's the case, then why should I buy yours?" My response? "The best sauce anyone can have is the one they make themselves. It's precisely tuned to a persons flavor profiles, tastes, and likes. But, there are those times when you go to reach for a bottle of your perfect homebrewed sauce and find you don't quite have enough to do what you want to do or even worse, you get sprung upon to cook something and you haven't had enough time to make your special sauce. What you need in those cases is a good backup. Something that you know you can go to in a pinch that has been hand crafted and had just as much care and love go into the making of it as you put into yours. Think of my sauces not trying to outshine yours but, as a good backup that is going to be there when you need it." :becky:

Of course, if someone always wants to use a back up as their main go-to, I won't hold it against them. :becky:

As long as it doesn't contain liquid smoke, I don't mind a convenient sauce. The meat is already on the smoker, so why should I pour fake smoke flavor over the real thing? If you need added smoke flavor, I find that smoked paprika is not fake tasting.

If you want a well rounded stock of BBQ sauce, you have to have some Scott's Eastern North Carolina sauce on hand.

Lake Dogs said:

If you like straight up KC style with the smoke flavoring in the sauce, this is a +1 also for Head Country and Head Country Hot. They're both good, and I use them both in my brunswick stew and on hamburgers.

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Didn't know Head Country made a "hot" a must try for me. Thanks

Big Ron makes competition rubs and he just released a bbq sauce. I got 3 bottles in the mail
http://www.bigronswebsite.com/

I've been using big ricks sauce lately http://bigricks.com/zencart/ .
My sister signed me up for a sauce/rub of the month for christmas and this is what came last month. So far i've liked it the best, even ordered a bottle of the honey bbq and chipotle ketchup which were both good.

BONESDILLIGAF said:

I am new here, I have read quite a few of the threads.... but I am rather disappointed to see how many of you use pre-made sauces. Now I am not in your kitchens, so I have no real idea why... is it more of a time constraint thing? Or is it that you have never taken the leap to experiment with making your own? I BBQ and Grill a lot, and financially it is much cheaper to make my own sauces and rubs, and quite frankly it is much easier to adjust flavors for differing uses.. ie honey base / molasses base / brown sugar / vinegar / pepper
the other advantage is of course making the sauce with the rub you are using, and enhancing the rubs flavor with the sauce instead of competing flavor profiles.

anyway, I was just wondering why the large amount of pre-made sauce use.
thanks

~BONES~

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First of all, I have to point out that the title of this thread is, in fact, "Commercial BBQ Sauce." The OP was not asking for homemade sauce recipes. I have no doubt that 99% (or more) of the folks who posted their favorite commercial sauce here also make their own.

I can't speak for anyone else but myself here, but I *do* make a lot of sauces at home. I love to try different recipes. I started with some of the basic sauce/rub recipes in Steve Raichlen's books when I started grilling/smoking, moved on to his more specialized recipes, and now I will work from scratch or try things I find here on the forums or elsewhere if they sound interesting.

All of that said, I enjoy trying different commercial sauces as well. They can provide inspiration, or even just further inform me as to what others are doing, whether I like it or not.

I'm a professional jazz guitarist, playing with some of the top Milwaukee & Chicago musicians, and while I think I perform great music, I regularly listen to as much other good music (jazz, classical, R&B, world music, dance music, etc) as I can get my hands on, regardless of style! I also have an art studio where I paint abstracts with encaustic wax. My pieces have been shown in many galleries and museum shows. I love to go out and see other artists' works as often as possible.

To me cooking comes from the same creative place as music, visual art, homebrewing and many other things I enjoy doing. Why shouldn't I check out the sauces other people are making in an attempt to make the homemade ones even better?

edit: Sorry to hijack a bit, but I thought the point brought up by the poster was worth addressing within the context of this thread.