I Asked Pro BBQ Cooks What Sauce to Buy At the Grocery Store. One Bottle Dominated

For the past three decades, Jack Daniel’s has hosted one of the world’s premier BBQ competitions. Hosted down the road from the Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, TN, the Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue — better known as “The Jack” — is one of the world’s preeminent BBQ competitions. Championship professional BBQ teams from around the world compete at The Jack, and I was in attendance at last year’s competition.

I had the chance to speak with six of the 81 teams competing ahead of the competition, where I asked one question that I thought would be of interest to the casual at-home BBQ cook: In an emergency situation where you couldn’t make your own sauce, which supermarket BBQ sauce would you buy off the shelf? The answers varied, but one very common BBQ sauce came away as the clear consensus winner.

Most Recommended BBQ Sauce: Sweet Baby Ray’s

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Most Recommended BBQ Sauce

Sweet Baby Ray’s Original Barbecue Sauce

This ubiquitous BBQ sauce out of Chicago is a crowd favorite thanks to its addictive sweet taste.

Specs

Number One Ingredient	High fructose corn syrup
State of Production	Illinois

Pros

• Pro BBQ cooks recommend it
• Good consistency

Cons

• Contains a lot of high fructose corn syrup
• Too sweet for some

• 
  $2.28 at Walmart

I’ll admit, the love for Sweet Baby Ray’s surprised me. I knew the brand was popular among the general public, but I assumed professionals would scoff at its mass appeal and high fructose corn syrup. I was wrong.

With 50 percent of our teams choosing this sauce, including the only two teams I interviewed that finished in the top ten (Heifer’s, Butts & Clucks finished in eighth place, while B’Mackin BBQ was the runner-up for the entire competition and earned a $10,000 prize), it’s clear that Sweet Baby Ray’s — which is very sweet, sticky and just a tad smoky — is doing something right.

Famous Dave’s Rich and Sassy

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Famous Dave’s Rich & Sassy

From the midwestern restaurant chain of the same name, this thick Kansas City-style sauce brings the sweet with just a hint of heat.

Specs

Number One Ingredient	High fructose corn syrup
State of Production	Minnesota

Pros

• A classic Kansas City-style sauce
• Solid balance of flavors

Cons

• Contains a lot of high fructose corn syrup
• Doesn’t really stand out like some other sauces

• 
  $7.59 at Sam’s Club

Rich and Sassy is Famous Dave’s bestselling, most-awarded sauce, and Holman’s take explains why: It’s just agreeable with a lot of different tastes. It’s a typical KC-style sauce, meaning it’s very thick and rich, leaning toward the sweet side with just a little bit of heat.

Blues Hog

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Blues Hog Original Barbecue Sauce

A choice for connoisseurs, this “sticky” sauce is designed to cling to your meat rather than glooping off onto your plate.

Specs

Number One Ingredient	Brown sugar
State of Production	Missouri

Pros

• “Stickiness” clings to meats
• Very popular at pro competitions

Cons

• Pricier than other sauces
• Can be difficult to find

• 
  $7.98 at Walmart
  
  $8.49
  
  (6% off)

Blues Hog’s own take isn’t too dissimilar from Nieto’s, as the brand boldly proclaims itself the “best sauce on the planet” while also claiming to be used by 90 percent of competition bbq teams nationwide. It’s known as a sticky sauce that does an excellent job of clinging to your meat, while offering a more balanced blend of sweet and spicy (though still leaning more to the sweet side).

Head Country

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Head Country The Original Bar-B-Q Sauce

If you’re not into sweet BBQ sauces, then Head Country is for you as this tomato-based sauce leans savory and contains no high fructose corn syrup.

Specs

Number One Ingredient	Tomato Puree
State of Production	Oklahoma

Pros

• No high fructose corn syrup
• Very balanced savory flavor

Cons

• Some may find it lacks sweetness
• Not available everywhere

• 
  $13.76 at Walmart

Oklahoma’s Head Country is the least sweet of the sauces our respondents recommended. It’s the only sauce without a type of sugar as its first ingredient, and the only one to eschew high fructose corn syrup completely. It’s more of a blend of savory, sweet and spicy, making it similar to Texas’s Stubb’s BBQ Sauce, which also contains no corn syrup and was Top Gun BBQ’s second choice.