Comments on: Trader Joe’s Bold and Smoky Kansas City Style Barbecue Sauce (5/5)

By: Doug

Doug — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:11:29 +0000

Can trader Joe’s BBQ Sauce be purchased online? If so, can you send me a link.

Thanx!

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:50:04 +0000

Thanks Brian,

I’ll share my experiences, both good and bad, as I try new sauces.

By: brian

brian — Tue, 19 May 2009 01:30:18 +0000

sounds good - everyone’s got their favorite, the website is simply a list of mine It would be great if you would come back and share your Minneapolis finds as you learn more about the area and native sauces.

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 17 May 2009 21:26:08 +0000

As a transplant to Minneapolis from Kansas City, I was really looking forward to trying this sauce. I was incredibly underwhelmed with this TJ sauce (I do like TJ and many of their products).

I did not find that this sauce compared favorably to any of KC’s best sauces (Arthur Bryant’s, Gates, Jackstack, Haywards).

Instead I found it to burdened with a heavy dose of Molasses and a tar-like color that should have raised flags.

I do like trying different products and I look forward to the day that I find a great BBQ sauce here in Minneapolis.

By: Smokey Joe

Smokey Joe — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 13:58:20 +0000

A plus for Trader Joe’s sauce is no modified food starch in the ingredients list. Modified food/corn starch is just another name for MSG. Not good.

This goes along with TJ’s avoidance of HFCS. TJ is one of the more credible purveyors of nutritious food. I live in Europe now and TJs is one of the few things that I really miss about the states.

There is another good BBQ sauce that my daughter sent me. It is made in Ponca City, OK, called Head Country. The first bottle was wonderful, but another sent to me a few months later was watery. I finally got around to looking at the ingredients… not good.

I puree and freeze my own tomato sauce from the garden each year. I think that this year I will begin to experiment on creating my own BBQ sauce, from all natural ingredients.

By: Eric Devlin

Eric Devlin — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 02:32:21 +0000

Brian, I know EXACTLY what you mean. They aren’t going to send it to you if they know it isn’t up to snuff.

Eric

By: brian

brian — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 01:36:41 +0000

Yeah, I guess. Personally I find I’ll take a good KC style any day over some of the sludge that is on the market. The interesting thing is that as the site gains exposure I’m having to go out and buy sauces to round out the lower score sauces - because many of the people who actively seek out and send me sauces just know they have good sauce.

BBQ vendors, please be patient, I’m about to send up a large list of reviews but things have been crazy around the household with a new baby…

By: Eric Devlin

Eric Devlin — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:19:34 +0000

Thanks. I appreciate the kind words.

The variant sauces makes life a little easier. Sometimes I debate shooting myself in the head when I have to sample and discuss another KC style sauce.

Eric

By: brian

brian — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:48:34 +0000

Fair enough.

Yeah I liked this because it reminded me of Bullseye. And many people disagree with me on Bullseye being “up there” as far as sauce, but I really like the flavor. I gave Bullseye a ‘4′

I actually did a side-by-side grill off between these two and found them strikingly similar with TJ’s having a bit more spice flavoring. So I could only go to a 5. I’m currently debating half-star increments, but I’m not sure if it’s worth it.

One thing I like about your site is how you introduce yourself and some other folks in the beginning of your posts… it’s a nice touch. Also you got some crazy sauces - like that Tequila one.

By: Eric Devlin

Eric Devlin — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 05:21:07 +0000

I had a very different take on Trader Joe’s sauce. I thought it was very pedestrian. I guess that’s why taste is subjective. I usually love their products, so I was very disappointed.

Eric Devlin