Guest review by Paul Zonfrillo from Team ZBQ
The best way I can describe this sauce is KC BBQ meets Carolina Vinegar sauce. It is on the thin side for consistency, has a noticeable deal of acidity, but it is balanced out by a good dose of sweet. The result is a full bodied base to the sauce.
The spiciness is done very well in this sauce. It produces a pleasing back heat that builds as you continue to eat the sauce – most noticeable if you are trying a few spoons from the jar, but it never overwhelms. There are chunks of red pepper flake – about one or two per tablespoon of sauce. Ingredients that contribute to the heat also include cayenne, chili powder and liquid smoke. In lower amounts, as in this sauce, I find that liquid smoke tends be less of a smoke component and more of a heat enhancer. A number of other spices such as nutmeg, allspice round out the flavor. The sauce has the “one flavor” feeling that I like, no ingredient really
dominates, and they all work together to make one taste.
It is not a very aromatic sauce, you get a ketchup and vinegar sort of aroma. It does have highly processed ingredients in it such as ketchup and high fructose corn syrup. I am not opposed to these ingredients on philosophical grounds, but the very best sauces seem to shy away from these ingredients in high proportion.
The sauce worked well on boneless grilled chicken breast. I marinated the chicken in Italian dressing, applied mustard and a chili based rub and finished with the sauce. The sauce worked really well as a flavor layer, since it is not overpowering. I suspect it will work very well on pulled pork. I could also see using this as part of a mop sauce for ribs or pork butt, perhaps mixing it 50/50 with some apple juice or beer, though Big Billy does offer a mop sauce as well that is mustard base. Overall, a very solid and pleasing sauce.
Smell 3
Taste 4
Consistency 4
Ingredients 3
Label and marketing 4
Website: bigbillybbq.com
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Site Editor, BBQ Sauce Lover, Family Guy, Hi Tech Marketer by Day. He recently wrote the Ebook “How to Market Your BBQ Sauce” which can be purchased on this site.
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