The 10 Best BBQ Sauce Brands for Your Baby Backs Ribs and More

If you fancy some baby back ribs or pulled pork, the only thing you need to finish these off with is a great BBQ sauce! Without getting into the serious debates of which States or regions make the best BBQ; there is a BBQ sauce for everyones tastes, whether southern-style, North Carolina, West Texas or one of the many other types of sauces available.

Quick Comparison: Top 10 Best BBQ Sauces

Things to Consider Before Buying BBQ Sauce

Barbeque originated along the eastern coastline, where the southern-style of slow cooking over a wood grill, often done by slaves, evolved from cooking techniques of indigenous people who were living in Florida and the Caribbean during the Spanish colonization. This style of cooking was called babacots, which the Spanish translated to barbacoa and the name then evolved to barbeque.

The original cooking method of barbacoa was to dig a pit in the ground and fill it with burning wood. The pit would then be filled with cows heads and left to slowly smoke and cook as the wood burned.

In 1748, a botanist and naturalist observed slaves in Philadelphia pounding and preserving Guinea peppers to be used as a sauce for meat and fish. The botanist, called Peter Kalm, noted that adding the pepper sauce to food was a very fine taste.

Although the cooking methods and meat cuts are often the identifiers of regional barbeque, the types of sauces can be just as important. The many styles of sauce can usually be grouped into one of four main types of sauce although over time, variants of the different sauces have made their way into the pits of other States or regions offering a wide variety of sauces to suit whatever flavors you prefer.

The main types of BBQ sauce bases are tomato, vinegar, mustard and mayonnaise:

Tomato-Based BBQ Sauces

Usually containing tomatoes in the form of ketchup, this is usually a thicker sauce that can be used on any meats whether barbecued or smoked, although it is popular for grilled or smoked meat or hamburger sandwiches.

These sauces usually have tangy, sweet, spicy flavors along with smokiness from liquid smoke.

The introduction of ketchup by Heinz in 1876 was a major point in the evolution of barbecue sauces and tomato-based sauces developed in Tennessee where a wider variety of meats were barbecued compared to in Carolina. When these tomato-based sauces arrived in Kansas City in the early twentieth century, another important time for BBQ sauce occurred.

Often used as a dipping sauce or spread, the Kansas City (or KC-style) barbecue sauce along with ketchup contains molasses, vinegar, brown sugar, cayenne pepper and other spices and is popular for smoked beef brisket, chicken and spare ribs, or any other meats where the tomato will not overwhelm the flavors or the palate.

Other tomato-based sauces include Texas-style sauces which are usually spicier with less sweetness as they omit molasses, while the central Texas BBQ sauce is thinner and is usually used on beef as it contains beef drippings. A Memphis-style sauce is also thinner and does not contain any molasses.

A tomato-based sauce is usually added at the end of cooking or at the table to reduce the risk of the natural sugars in the sauce from caramelizing and then burning the meat. It can be added for smoking as long as the temperature is kept below 265F.

Vinegar-Based BBQ Sauces

Thinner than tomato-based sauces, vinegar-based sauces are popular in North Carolina-style barbeques where they are a key accompaniment to pork - including of course whole hog - as the vinegar in the sauce helps to balance out the pork fat.

These sauces are usually made with cider or white vinegar and spices. An Eastern North Carolina vinegar-based sauce is a thin sauce with a more acidic profile and is made with vinegar, spices, red pepper and hot sauces.

Some variants of vinegar-based sauces such as the Western Carolina (Lexington or Piedmont) do contain tomatoes, although these are still thin and maintain the vinegar notes; often alongside a pepper bite. Like a traditional vinegar-based sauce, this can also be used for pork dishes, whether served as is or on sandwiches.

Mustard-Based BBQ Sauces

Typical along the Mustard-Belt in South Carolina, mustard-based barbeque sauces are usually used on a whole pit-smoked hog, pork shoulder or on smoky pulled pork, where the sauces tangy and rich flavors will complement the pork much better than a tomato-based sauce.

A mustard-based sauce is mainly made with mustard and vinegar, with other seasonings added and for this reason is best served on the side to prevent it from overwhelming the pork. These styles of sauces probably developed from when German settlers arrived in South Carolina with mustards.

Mayonnaise-Based BBQ Sauces

The Alabama white barbecue sauce is made from a mayonnaise base which is thinned out with vinegar and lemon and has other seasonings such as black pepper added to give a distinct sauce that complements smoked chicken and pulled pork recipes.

Using Barbeque Sauces

Barbecue sauces are usually better suited for barbecuing rather than grilling just because the sugars in a BBQ sauce will not burn during barbequing at the lower cooking temperature of 225F.

If you add BBQ sauce to meat for grilling, it can cause the sauce to smoke and burn as the grilling temperature is higher. Adding a BBQ sauce while grilling at higher temperatures can also cause the sauce to turn gummy-like.

If you are grilling meat and want to use BBQ sauce, then it should be brushed on the meat at the end of cooking or around ten minutes before the end; although sauce can be added to ribs around 30 minutes or even longer before the end of cooking as most people want a thicker and stickier coating on ribs.

When you add BBQ sauce towards the end of grilling, the caramelization of the sugars will give a rich and complex flavor to the meat. You can just add the sauce carefully to the ribs or meats coat by coat and if it does start to flare up, just move the meat to a cooler part of the grill. Continue to keep an eye on the meat and the grill temperature to ensure that the sugars do not start to burn.

If you smoke meats with a BBQ sauce, then the lower temperatures of the smoker means the sauce will not burn. Some caramelization of sugars will usually occur, particularly when the sauce is left on for longer periods of time, but otherwise it is rare that smoking meat with BBQ sauce will burn.

Of course, the other way to serve BBQ sauce is on the side.

A Few Tips for Using BBQ Sauce

If you are new to BBQ, then a full slab or spareribs with the tips will take around three quarters of a cup of thick sauce, while a slab of baby back ribs will take around a third of a cup, plus of course, extra sauce on the table for dipping. If you are cutting ribs before serving them then do not sauce the cut sides.

If you are applying the sauce after cooking, the sauce will often benefit from being gently warmed on the cooktop or in the microwave before being added to the meat. If you brush the meat with sauce, then always pour the sauce into a bowl before using and once you have finished brushing, discard the leftover sauce in the bowl to reduce the risk of any foodborne illness.

If you are serving pulled pork, then you may want to just make the sandwiches and allow people to add their own sauce rather than covering them yourself as some people always like a lot of sauce, while others prefer just a little.

If meat isnt your thing, or you just have a lot of BBQ sauce to use up, then try some on your grilled seafood or fish or mix some sauce with olive oil and lemon for a quick salad vinaigrette.

You can also add some to nachos or quesadillas, potato salad, slaws and even mix it up in savory frostings for cornbread muffins. A tomato-based BBQ sauce can make a great substitute for marinara on pizza, or add a little to your baked beans, rice or stuffed potatoes.

Conclusion

In this review we have looked at a selection of different BBQ sauces, as well as the origins of one of our favorite dishes and how the style of BBQ sauces vary across regions. We have also offered a few tips for using BBQ sauces, such as when to add them when grilling and just how much sauce to use to coat a slab of baby back ribs. We have also provided a few ideas on how else you can use BBQ sauce in everyday cooking to bring some BBQ flavor to variety of foods.