Not many sauces come in that cause me to snicker at their potentially unintended double-meaning – is this sauce a candidate for Engrish.com? Instead of being home-made sauce or homemade sauce or maybe even “homade” (if we want to start inventing words)…. the makers of this sauce chose “ho-made.” I’ve seen a few BBQ sauce forums posting a pic of this one and wondering the same – is it intentional or is it a mistake? Here’s a Flickr pic. Here’s a post on Foundshit.com.
The sauce itself is a semi-unremarkable sauce which tastes a bit like slightly modified ketchup. Notable usage of nutmeg and clove, but not enough to make the taste stand-out in the crowd. The ambiguous usage of the word “ho” might be all the free marketing this sauce is going to get. Medium thickness, medium taste, and peppery – but a bit on the bland side.
Aroma
Average BBQ sauce smell – vinegar and tomato with a hint of perhaps tamarind to round it off.
Taste
Expected a bit more based on the ingredients list. Tasted vinegar, tomato, pepper, garlic. Was hoping for more nutmeg or allspice or clove flavor to come out.
Consistency
Medium thickness. Right in the middle, but almost leaning on the watery side.
Ingredients
Water, Tomato Paste, Sugar, Tomato Paste, Vinegar, Salt, Corn Syrup, Garlic, Turmeric, Tamarind, Smoke Flavoring, Modified Corn Starch, Xanthan Gum, Nutmeg, Black Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Allspice, Clove, Preservatives (Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate).
Sauce Score: 3
Website
www.palmettocanning.com (their contract packer)
I disagree with your review. No where near tasting like ketchup, first of all. I hate ketchup and to me Pat’s doesn’t taste like ketchup at all. Pat’s has a spicy taste to it. The Cayenne Pepper, listed in one of the ingredients, you can easily taste not over powering though. Surprised your taste buds couldn’t pick up on that. You haven’t reviewed it yet but it’s similar to Corky’s BBQ sauce except Corky’s is sweeter, maybe a tad thicker, and Pat’s is spicier. Pat’s is good for any kind of meat. Good to grill with. I want to know more about the person(s) doing these reviews if at all possible.
I agree it’s damn tasty. I spice it up a bit with more pepper. But hey, for $1.95 you’ll be hard pressed to find a tastier sauce with no high fructose corn syrup. Most are 2/3 times as much and are NO better.
I agree with Frank. Who ever wrote that review is nuts! Just discovered ho-made and it is Great! Not too watery, not too thick. Not too sugary, and certainly not too vinegary. And it will be the only BBQ sauce that I buy in the future.
I’ve been using only Pat’s for years. Absolutely the only BBQ sauce I use. Perfect spice, tang, & consistency in my book.
Publix hasn’t had it for months, I’m down to my last bottle. Is there any other brand that is similar if they don’t make this anymore?
It’s OK to disagree. I have no reason to rate one sauce over another as I don’t sell any of them. I thought it tasted like ketchup, and that’s my opinion. People are free to disagree with my opinion and my tastebuds!!
Here’s some more about me
http://www.bbqsaucereviews.com/advertise-here/
I’d like to know more about you if possible!
Tastes nothing like ketchup. Go put some actual ketchup on your chicken and let us know if it tastes like Pat’s BBQ sauce.
Damn straight. I grew up in Sarasota in the 70’s.. Pats Ho-made.. Is straight up the best especially on grilled chicken. Trust me there are many over priced sauces out there. Can’t beat Pats in a pinch.
This is the best sauce there is for use as a base to some home made magic. Add a little butter and apple cider and heat it up and…good stuff. Actually 30 some years ago there was a trailer in land-o-lakes that said it was the original home of this sauce,
My great uncle invented this BBQ sauce & use to give out samples on crackers at the local grocery in Merritt Island, Fla. He sold the recipe and rights. His name was Pat Patterson. He has since passed away. He never imagined it would still be selling all these yrs later.
My favorite Bbq sauce and I’ve tried a million of them. I can understand if someone doesn’t like it, but it tastes nothing like ketchup. Kind of ruins the reviewers credibility. Kudos to your great uncle for making a great sauce!
can i buy it online anywhere ???
I live in Lutz/Land o lakes, we use to buy it in any grocery store, but now I can’t find it, it was my favorite
Did he also have a auto mechanic shop on Gunn Hwy, Odessa, FL?
Wish I could still find Pats at Publix. It’s the
best!
Publix still carries Pats. If your store doesn’t have it, ask the manager to order it.
Pretty good stuff, not too tangy, not too sweet. Nice change from most of the super sweet sauces on the market these days… Reminds me of the old Open Pit line, albeit, better tasting.
yes it was made in trailers in land o lakes my name is gary l brown and made it with pat.and his wife
Did Pat also have a auto mechanic shop on Gunn Highway?
This sauce sucks
rob, you suck, and so does your mom
Well I’m buying it again because it’s extremely good. Whoever Pat is keep it coming.
I love it’s smokey flavor, I live in N.J and bring it back from Fl. every year, yummm my favorite
Where can I order it? I found it @ Publix in Lake Placid, Fl. but when I went back to buy more, they didn’t have it. My husband & I both loved it.
Publix has been a reliable source and Winn Dixie also carries it. First ran across it 35 years ago in the Land ‘o Lakes/Lutz area where the family made it. Been my go to sauce since then. Not too sweet, not too spicy, nice all around flavor and quality ingredients. Deserves wider distributiion.
I think you changed the ingredients. It used to be more sweet and less hot. I don’t care for how hot it is now.
My wife & I love Pat’s but can’t find it anymore
Best sauce I’ve found since I moved to FL from San Fran, reminds me of Leon’s Spicy BBQ sauce, no longer available. Got my family back in the Beautiful City by the Bay hooked on it and I send it by the dozen for the perfect Xmas gift every year! Best characteristic… not too sweet with a kick and favors Texas vinegar-based BBQ sauce. Glad to have found it and lucky Publix carries it!
My husband and I have used Pat;s BBQ SAUCE for years, the bottle we just bought was like water. Could not use it, had to buy another brand.
I have been addicted to Pat’s for years. My parents buy me a gallon jug for my birthday and Christmas. It is especially good when it’s brushed on meat we are smoking. Tastes great with blue cheese dressing too.
Just tried it and this was not the sauce for my famous baby-backs. The sauce is a spicy and not sweet enough to have on pork (for my taste). However, I smoked some beef ribs and this is a PERFECT complement to the savory expectation of the cow. I am going to the store tomorrow to stock up for the summer. Thanks, Pat!!
I still remember that sign coming up 41 just before the old overpass in Land O Lakes…I grew up on this sauce and would stock up on it when I moved away. The combination of spices, especially nutmeg, really satisfies the palate and gives your food a little dignity rather than an overpowering sweet sticky mess. I like to use it with a little mustard on pulled meat sandwiches. If there was ever a BBQ sauce that could be identified with the Tampa Bay area, Pat’s Ho-made is it and we’re darn proud of it!!
I love Pat’s Homemade BBQ!!!! It is very hard to find in Naples, Florida, only one store carries it. Our family can not find any other BBQ sauce that is as good as Pat’s!! Finally, was able to buy a case of it today!!
I am a BIG fan of Pat’s sauce !!
Can not find any I like better !
Back in 1974, I was managing a Print Shop on Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa. I believe it was Pats WIFE, who used to bring me bottles of the stuff when I printed the PATS bottle labels… red on white Crack and Peel 3M brand paper. Good days. I’ve been HOOKED and purchasing Pats ever since. AWESOME SAUCE!!
However lately, in Seminole area of Pinellas County, I cannot find any place that stocks it…
Perhaps someone on this site can hook me up with a local vendor??
I’d like to become a distributor for this stuff…
Wheelz
I stumbled across Pat’s a few years ago. My wife and I have hit bbq joints all over the country and, although it doesn’t qualify us as experts, we have quite a few sauce miles behind us.
I like enough to have driven across Tampa to find a store that had it in stock. I cleaned them out to take home to Ohio… : )
hoping to buy a case online…………who sells it ??
rob, you suck, and so does your mom
For what this sauce is, it’s not too bad.
Kinda thin. Not bad on brisket, and smoked chicken.
Mix some mayo with it and it’s great with onion rings.
I go out of my way to get this sauce. I’m from Texas had some of the best. Lived in Tennessee, Louisiana, and now Florida. They sold this at Publix for quite a while at a great price. You have to special order it now I’m told. I will be going in tomorrow to do just that. Five Star Sauce……I’m not lying
Pat’s is the best. My husband and I have been buying and enjoying Pat’s for a long time. We’ve had countless other sauces, and none measured up. The others tended to be too sweet, too thick, too smokey, too vinegary, or too something else. And often too expensive as well. Pat’s is low on the carbs and big on taste and easy on the wallet. What’s not to like? It’s perfect for us.
Jim Danek says:
I have been using Pats BBQ sauce since in sold me his first bottle out of the back of his van at my auto lot in 1982.
I buy it now at Publix Asheville, NC
I’ve never tried it. But I kinda want to now, just to see what BBQ sauce made by loose women tastes like! 😉
But in all seriousness, the ingredients list looks promising. And the review being as lukewarm as it is sets my expectations low enough that they should be pretty easy to exceed and have me come away thinking “hmm..better than I was led to believe”.
I kinda doubt it’ll be easily found just sitting on a grocery shelf all the way up here in the Midwest (Des Moines). But if I find it, I will surely buy it!
I love Pat’s it’s been pulled from our local Publix, I’m so disappointed. It’s the only barbeque sauce I like.
We are from Texas and after moving to Orange Beachhead, Al I discovered Pat’s at our local Publix. Pat’s is my new GO To sauce! It compliments my brisket & ribs while still allowing to taste the flavor of the meat itself. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this sauce!
“Orange Beach”
Just found Pat’s again in my local Publix in Niceville. It had been missed for at least a year. So happy that it is being stocked again.
Our Publix in Brooksville Florida stocks it so that means any Pubix anywhere can special order it for you. Palmatteo Canning now makes Irvin Palmetto Fl. Cant beat it!
I’ve tried just about all commercially available sauces, and this is by far my favorite. Not too sweet. Tastes like old-fashioned BBQ sauce when joints had only one flavor. I love it. Thanks to Publix for carrying it.
I love this sauce, it is great to grill with, and one of the few with no high fructose corn syrup (which is what got me to try it in the first place). A lot of other sauces have jumped on the No HFCS bandwagon, but I’ll stay loyal to Pat’s. But, I haven’t seen it in my Publix in Orlando for almost a year now…is it still being made?
This is one of the best tomato base BBQ sauces out and beats the big names out there hands down. Sauces is a perfect balance of heat,spice,tang,and not too sweet. Publix is Lighthouse Point had it so I stocked up! Not all locations carry it .
Exactly!!! 💖
Don’t just taste it right out of the bottle and judge it, grill with it. Definitely comes into it’s own on grilled meats. Fantastic sauce, yet very simple and complex at the same time. I’ve been using it off and on since 1982.
Its so delicious and unique tasting. Im a picky eater so for 2$ its 5 stars for me. I love that its not to thick cause that smokes up entire place when way to thick like other sauces – yuck 😉😂
This Q Sauce is absolutely awesome on chicken and pork. The flavor is a crowd pleaser and keep my business running……Shhh I never let them know what the sauce is. Great stuff, you will not be disappointed
Last year it disappeared for a while from Publix, and the manager said he couldn’t get it. Then it was back in stock for a while, now gone again and unavailable. It’s the only BBQ sauce I’ve liked for the last 40 years. Is there anything similar? The nutmeg, clove and allspice really add flavor.
It tastes just like the Kraft bbq sauce from long ago, which is what my wife and I use on our meatloaf
recipe. Haven’t been able to find it in our local Publix lately. We’re gonna’ have to go on the hunt for it.