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BBQ Sauces: Ratings of Sources
Total of 13 Sources

For an explanation of how we rank reviews, see our ratings criteria page.

1. Cook's Country
Apr. 1, 2005
BBQ Sauce
by Editors of Cook's Illustrated
4 stars Credibility Rating
Our Assessment Cook's Illustrated editors (many of whom are trained chefs) test seven national supermarket BBQ sauce brands by making homemade chicken strips. They prefer sauces that have a strong tomato taste and are spicy and somewhat sweet, but not cloying. Tasters dislike the sauces with a viscous consistency. Flavor balance is the hallmark of the winning sauce.
2. ConsumerReports.org
June 2006
Barbecue Sauces
by Editors of Consumer Reports
4 stars Credibility Rating
Our Assessment Editors at Consumer Reports blind-taste eight BBQ sauces both plain and on broiled and stewed chicken. Editors recommend different sauces for dipping and slathering on slow-cooked meat. They determine that at least one mass-market brand tastes just as good as (and costs less than) specialty sauces.
3. Slate.com
May 20, 2002
'Cue It Up
by Kelly Alexander
4 stars Credibility Rating
Our Assessment

Kelly Alexander and five friends sample 12 BBQ sauces in search of a condiment that will "draw out the flavor of your barbeque and grilled meats, not overpower it." Six of the sauces come from barbeque… restaurants, while the other six come from the supermarket. Iron Works, the sauce from the Austin, Tex., restaurant of the same name, emerges as the hands-down favorite. Aunt Jenny's Sauce, a supermarket brand, is a runner-up, but it's spicy and it contains "lots of cumin." Scott's, from a barbeque restaurant in Goldsboro, N.C., takes third place, and KC Masterpiece is the second-highest-rated supermarket brand, but some tasters say it doesn't linger on the palate.

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4. TheNibble.com
June 2008
Best Barbecue Sauce
by Editors of TheNibble.com
4 stars Credibility Rating
Our Assessment

This is part three in the Nibble's annual BBQ sauce taste test. The editors say that they ate barbequed chicken every day for months in an effort to taste as many sauces as possible. Their top six barbeque… sauces all come from specialty purveyors. Taste of Tassleberry is picked this time as well as in 2006. Bellycheer, one of the top sauces in 2006, is sugar-free (it's made with Splenda), while Cattlemen's Authentic Smoke House BBQ sauce, also picked in 2006, is certified kosher. This article describes each sauce in detail. Although it's one of their top picks, editors note that Buz and Ned's sweet-and-sour sauce isn't "what most folks in our neck of the woods think of as barbecue sauce."

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5. SeriousEats.com
June 29, 2008
Bon Appetit's BBQ Sauce Champions
by Hannah Howard
4 stars Credibility Rating
Our Assessment

This article describes the results of a Bon Appetit magazine taste test (the original article is unavailable online). Editors at the magazine selected their top five sauces: Big Bob Gibson Championship Red… Sauce, Peg Leg Porker Memphis Wet, Britt's Barbecue Red, Wee Willy's World Champion Original and Memphis Championship Barbecue Original. All are made by champion pitmasters, but unfortunately, we're not sure how many sauces were tasted.

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6. BBQSauceReviews.com
As of Mar. 2009
BBQ Sauce Reviews
by Brian Henderson
4 stars Credibility Rating
Our Assessment

Obsessive barbeque-sauce blogger Brian Henderson judges BBQ sauces on the basis of taste. He rates sauces on aroma, flavor before cooking, consistency, flavor post-grilling, ingredients (downgrading sauces… for artificial flavors), nutritional value and marketing/packaging. Sauces are rated on a scale of one to five stars and given a lengthy review. The most recent five-star sauces include Head's Red and The Salt Lick Original Recipe Bar-Be-Que Sauce. Nearly all the five-star sauces come from small purveyors, with the exception of Trader Joe's Bold and Smoky Kansas City-Style Sauce. Bone Suckin' Sauce is called "one of the best natural-ingredient sauces on the market."

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7. Food & Wine Magazine
June 2003
Taste Test: Bottled Barbecue Sauce
by Monica Forrestall
3 stars Credibility Rating
Our Assessment In this older taste test, editors blind-taste 27 nationally available BBQ sauces and crown four winners. The top two are Bone Suckin' Hot and Napa Valley Barbecue Co. Johnny's Original. We would give this article a higher rating if Forrestall discussed her testing methodology.
8. AOL Food
As of Mar. 2009
BBQ Sauce and Rub Reviews
by Kat Kinsman
3 stars Credibility Rating
Our Assessment

Kat Kinsman rounds up editors' favorite regional barbeque sauces. Many are only available by mail-order sellers. We appreciate Kinsman's meat-specific recommendations, but we wish sauces were ranked. She… does not list sauces that failed to make the grade. Seventeenth Street Spicy Barbecue Sauce is complex, with a strong undercurrent of spices, but it's extremely spicy. Scott's Barbecue Sauce is a taste of North Carolina's barbeque tradition, but it has a "huge vinegar bite."

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9. MSNBC
July 20, 2004
Lip-smacking Barbecue You Can Order by Mail
by David Rosengarten
3 stars Credibility Rating
Our Assessment

Food columnist David Rosengarten samples tomato-based sauces from Texas smokehouses and selects four winners. He notes that Texas sauces contain less sugar than the average barbeque sauce. New Braunfels… Smokehouse Texas BBQ Sauce and The Salt Lick Original Recipe Bar-Be-Que Sauce are two of Rosengarten's picks, but we're not sure how large his sample was or what his tasting criteria were. These are all small-batch sauces and must be mail-ordered.

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10. HomeOfBBQ.com
As of Mar. 2009
BBQ Sauce Reviews
by Eric Devlin
3 stars Credibility Rating
Our Assessment Certified barbeque competition judge Eric Devlin rates BBQ sauces on quality, viscosity, aroma, appearance and packaging. He tastes them on home-smoked chicken, brisket or pulled pork. Unfortunately, the site's black background makes it hard to read some of the type. And the site navigation is a challenge, as there's no direct way to access all sauce reviews.
11. Chowhound.com
July 2007
Best Barbeque Sauce out of a Bottle?
by Contributors to Chowhound.com
3 stars Credibility Rating
Our Assessment A member of this site for food enthusiasts asks for BBQ sauce recommendations, and members respond. Many recommend Sweet Baby Ray's, but some put forward Bone Suckin' Sauce, Stubbs, Open Pit, Cattleman's, Bull's Eye, Woody's and Famous Dave's.
12. SeriousEats.com
Feb. 2009
What is Your Favorite Bottled Barbeque Sauce?
by Contributors to SeriousEats.com
2 stars Credibility Rating
Our Assessment Contributors name their top barbecuing condiments, which include Cattlemen's, KC Masterpiece, Open Pit and Kraft Mesquite. Several contributors favor Sweet Baby Ray's.
13. Amazon.com
As of Mar. 2009
Barbecue Sauce
by Contributors to Amazon.com
2 stars Credibility Rating
Our Assessment Amazon.com invites customers to review the products they have purchased and used. Several BBQ sauces, including Bone Suckin' Sauce Original, Open Pit, Sweet Baby Ray's Honey, Stubb's and Rendevous Famous receive perfect ratings, but from only a handful of reviewers.

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