Sauce

[calmdowneight]

That's true, nothing in this world comes free! As far as Kraft and Walmart goes you can keep em both! I'd highly doubt that anyone with tastebuds or common sense would be willing to ruin a good piece of meat with it, although I know it's very popular in homes and at backyard functions all over due to the extremely cheap price.

[tduffy]

Originally Posted by calmdowneight

That's true, nothing in this world comes free! As far as Kraft and Walmart goes you can keep em both! I'd highly doubt that anyone with tastebuds or common sense would be willing to ruin a good piece of meat with it, although I know it's very popular in homes and at backyard functions all over due to the extremely cheap price.

How would you know? you are asking the forum what sauce "everyone" is using and is hot right now. What if it actually is kraft?

I was simply just making a point. Do some searching and you'll find several threads on the sauce topic. Take what you read on the internet with a grain of salt. Unless sponsorship requires a team to say so, most aren't going to freely tell you what they are winning with if they feel they have an advantage with said product. Also, what works for one team doesn't mean it will work for you. There are several other variables in the equation.

[calmdowneight]

Hey, I wasn't meaning to offend you. Wasn't being negative at all just in agreement with you. I thought that's what forums are for, to share information and help one another. I'm not asking for "secrets" and am not naive enough to think people are about to divulge them. I was simply asking experienced people like yourself what their take on particular sauces are. I'm a helpful kind of person by nature and sometimes just assume that most others are. Getting started into this as a hobby is expensive and I do want to get the most bang for my buck so to speak. I was just thinking I'd try to learn from others mistakes / successes. I will have plenty of both on my own, likely more of the former.

[erichasaces]

Originally Posted by calmdowneight

I feel I probably need to stick with a flavor profile to be competitive because sometimes it's not good to stand out. I've been playing around with SBR's modified with vinegar / juice and some spices, taste alright and is improved from the stock version but not sure about it being a competition worthy blend.

I'm thinking a lot about simplifying my program this weekend in Cedar Park, and using some of these products the exact way that the manufacturer sends them out. My chicken sauce will be straight out of someone's bottle this weekend, just not sure which. I'm pretty sure I'm going to use straight up Cattleprod for my brisket injection as well.

Originally Posted by calmdowneight

The predominant profile around here is a sweet type sauce, I'm more of a sweet and spicy vinegar guy myself. Just needing some recommendations that will give me the best odds of being competitive.

The predominant profile everywhere is just sweet. Any variation from that runs a risk of finding a judge that hates it. My brisket suffered from this in the beginning, because as a Texan, I grew up with tons of pepper on my beef, but even when I cut it to about 25% of my normal pepper level I got a note from a judge saying that it was the pepperiest thing that they've ever tasted!

Originally Posted by GreenDrake

Depends on the comp meat, things like pork I will mix it with some regular bbq sauce, yardbird it goes on straight, the shine is outstanding with this stuff.

That's interesting. I use blues hog blends on all of my meat right now, and am very happy with them on everything but chicken. For whatever reason I've never had good taste scores with blues hog on chicken in Texas. I'm sure plenty of other cooks have, but they are all better than me.

Originally Posted by Blythewood BBQ'er

I hear that there is a sauce made in a Swamp by some Boys thats doing pretty good things for some teams.

Funny you say that. My first KCBS comp ever I had the bottle of Swamp Boys that came in my west coast offense bundle from BPS, and I used the Swamp Boys Original with no blending and placed 4th in chicken. Of course, being the dumbass that I am, I've never used it again. Now that you've reminded me of that, if I had a way to get some in my hands before Saturday without paying overnight shipping I would do it again. For now, I think I am stuck using Blues Hog, Head Country, Sucklebusters, or Texas Pepper Jelly. Those are the only brands that I either have on hand, or have access to locally.

Originally Posted by CBQ

Although some judges like to complain about too many entries with Blues Hog, it still wins. Use Smokey Mountain for a little more of a vinegar accent. Blend it with something else to avoid the "Blues Hog again?" problem.

If you don't do well with a Blues Hog blend, it may not be the sauce that's the issue.

True story. Also, I don't think Smokey Mountain gets enough love. Adding it to the mix has been amazing for us.

[tduffy]

Originally Posted by calmdowneight

Hey, I wasn't meaning to offend you. Wasn't being negative at all just in agreement with you. I thought that's what forums are for, to share information and help one another. I'm not asking for "secrets" and am not naive enough to think people are about to divulge them. I was simply asking experienced people like yourself what their take on particular sauces are. I'm a helpful kind of person by nature and sometimes just assume that most others are. Getting started into this as a hobby is expensive and I do want to get the most bang for my buck so to speak. I was just thinking I'd try to learn from others mistakes / successes. I will have plenty of both on my own, likely more of the former.

you didn't offend me, i was just giving you **** for asking a question that is asked a lot without people searching. Blues hog is obviously by far the most popular sauce used by KCBS teams. It wins every week no matter how many complain about how much it's used. Some use it straight out of the bottle and many mix it with other sauces. Swamp boys, head country and A fine swine are other popular sauces people use too.

[calmdowneight]

That's alright, I did search for answers and found a lot of stuff just not as specific as I wanted. I am fairly new to this forum (use some others a lot) I do always search for answers prior to asking the questions, at times I'd like to be sure so I ask to clear the waters. I hope that one day I will have to experience and knowledge base to be helpful to others. I have gotten some great advice and am loving reading and learning all that I can here. I appreciate all the responses and look forward to more. I'm ordering a few different sauces to practice with this evening and when I get them in I will let you all know how I feel. At least the topic has made some revenue for a few companies! I have what I call a competition blend sauce that I've canned that I'm interested in getting feedback on, so I may do a blind taste test with some family / friends against some of the sauces mentioned here to see what the verdict is. I may take it to the competition in a couple of weeks and see if any competitors there are willing to give an opinion on it as well. I like to make as much stuff as I can and not just BBQ (furnishings and the such) so I hope to eventually nail down a homemade sauce that will suffice.

[calmdowneight]

I have another question for all of ya. Where do the one's of you who have to order sauces get them from? Are you going straight to the manufactures or is there a particular store that carries a lot of different brands, or even Amazon, etc...? I've found a lot of places online and prices are similar everywhere, just looking for good reputations, quality control, lower / better shipping.

[gettinbasted]

bigpoppasmokers.com

[DMDon]

When we started, we tried different things that we thought sounded good. It didn't work that well. Once we changed that mindset, things started to come into place. Their is a lot to be said for starting with a commercial product(consistency and time savings) and then fine tuning it to be your own. Rub, injection & sauce play into the scoring some, but moist and tender are by far bigger factors. A judge once told me as the year goes on, it's not really about the taste(most entries taste similar), it's really about what offends the least. Don't give judges a reason to score down your product. Having friends and family give you their opinions, really does help much, unless they are judges and have a solid understanding of what winning bbq tastes like. Fellow competitors are usually very gracious and most are too nice to say if something sucked. You may have the next great sauce, but starting out its going to be harder to know why you scored the way you did, was it the meat or the flavors that needs work? Once you can nail the meat everytime, go to your sauce, you'll know real quick how to proceed from there. I hope this helps.

[tduffy]

Originally Posted by calmdowneight

I have another question for all of ya. Where do the one's of you who have to order sauces get them from? Are you going straight to the manufactures or is there a particular store that carries a lot of different brands, or even Amazon, etc...? I've found a lot of places online and prices are similar everywhere, just looking for good reputations, quality control, lower / better shipping.

I buy almost all my comp supplies from either atbbq.com or thebbqsuperstore.com

[bpeyton89]

If I can't get what I want locally I go to bigpoppasmokers.com hint.. spend $75 and it ships free.

[Rub]

Originally Posted by erichasaces

Funny you say that. My first KCBS comp ever I had the bottle of Swamp Boys that came in my west coast offense bundle from BPS, and I used the Swamp Boys Original with no blending and placed 4th in chicken. Of course, being the dumbass that I am, I've never used it again. Now that you've reminded me of that, if I had a way to get some in my hands before Saturday without paying overnight shipping I would do it again. For now, I think I am stuck using Blues Hog, Head Country, Sucklebusters, or Texas Pepper Jelly. Those are the only brands that I either have on hand, or have access to locally.

We ship a lot of it to TX, it must work well out there.

[calmdowneight]

Originally Posted by DMDon

When we started, we tried different things that we thought sounded good. It didn't work that well. Once we changed that mindset, things started to come into place. Their is a lot to be said for starting with a commercial product(consistency and time savings) and then fine tuning it to be your own. Rub, injection & sauce play into the scoring some, but moist and tender are by far bigger factors. A judge once told me as the year goes on, it's not really about the taste(most entries taste similar), it's really about what offends the least. Don't give judges a reason to score down your product. Having friends and family give you their opinions, really does help much, unless they are judges and have a solid understanding of what winning bbq tastes like. Fellow competitors are usually very gracious and most are too nice to say if something sucked. You may have the next great sauce, but starting out its going to be harder to know why you scored the way you did, was it the meat or the flavors that needs work? Once you can nail the meat everytime, go to your sauce, you'll know real quick how to proceed from there. I hope this helps.

Yes indeed and this is why I'm wanting to start with a commercial sauce. Just so I can narrow down what needs the most improvements and the. Later if the sauce continues to develop I will sneak it in a time or two, but right now I'll be all commercial.

[calmdowneight]

Originally Posted by tduffy

I buy almost all my comp supplies from either atbbq.com or thebbqsuperstore.com

THANKS! never heard of the first one, so I've learned a new source. Superstore is on my radar.

[calmdowneight]

Originally Posted by bpeyton89

If I can't get what I want locally I go to bigpoppasmokers.com hint.. spend $75 and it ships free.

Sounds good, thanks!