To fruit or not to fruit?

[Sixeight]

I was curious if fruit based bbq sauces have their place in competition? We often make fruit based sauces for our clients based on the season. Right now we are making a peach and bourbon sauce that we'll serve as an option with pulled pork. We will also make a smoked cherry and a blueberry or blackberry bbq sauce. All of them are very well received by the general public, but I have always been curious if a sauce of this nature can win in a competition.

 

[tduffy]

I wouldn't compete with any home made sauces, fruit or not. Use one of the many on the market that win consistently every week. Blues Hog, Swamp boys, A fine swine, Kosmos etc... Although Kosmos has a very tasty sweet apple chipotle sauce. I've never used it at a comp but there are probably many who do.

 

[Ron_L]

We have friends locally who have tried fruity sauces and not done well. I think it will be hit or miss, mostly miss.

 

[Right on Q]

I wouldn't use homemade sauces either.

However, Granny's Sauce has orange marmalade and peach preserves if I remember correctly and it does pretty well

 

[Alexa RnQ]

I wouldn't knock all homemade sauces.
Our homemade sauce just got us 3 GCs in a row, the last with a 709 and two 180s.

BUT

I don't know your area's taste preferences, but consumer acceptance for fruit-based sauces is much higher than judging, in my experience. For competition you want a sauce with balance in all its aspects, and a strong fruit note would not achieve that.

 

[Right on Q]

Very few people have the skills you and Vince do to pull off homemade sauces and rubs on wsms.

I've flipped back and forth between my homemade rub and commercial and i seem to do better with the commercial. That just gives me more to improve on my rub though:-D

 

[CBQ]

I was curious if fruit based bbq sauces have their place in competition?

Yes, they do. That place is the bottom 1/3 of the field.

Judges reward traditional BBQ flavors. All it takes is 2 that aren't in love with your sauce to put you at the back of the pack. That said, there are teams that incorporate fruit into sauces to add sweetness, but fruit shouldn't be the dominant flavor. I suspect you could be successful blending fruit flavors with a commercial sauce.

 

[JD McGee]

Our pork/rib sauce is home made...and fruit based...we do ok with it! :tongue: Our chicken and brisket sauces are kicked up commercial.

 

[WHS88]

I think it's a little disappointing that in comp cooks you have to cook to what you think the judges want to see versus what might be the best flavor. That being the case, why don't the judges announce ahead of time what flavor profile they're looking for on each meat. I get it that most people who do a lot of comps figure it out over time, but who established this "this is how is should look, and taste." Further , how can we ever evolve the "sport" if every event isn't willing to taste to what tastes best?

 

[jrbBBQ]

Depends on how well you can make your sauces, a lot of people think they are great cooks because their friends tell them so after eating their free food. I make my own rubs and sauces and then mix and layer with other sauces and rubs to get my desired affect. I don't do too bad.

 

[Wackadoo]

I tried a Raspberry based sauce in two comps. It bombed on scores. Total bummer.

 

[Jorge]

I think it's a little disappointing that in comp cooks you have to cook to what you think the judges want to see versus what might be the best flavor. That being the case, why don't the judges announce ahead of time what flavor profile they're looking for on each meat. I get it that most people who do a lot of comps figure it out over time, but who established this "this is how is should look, and taste." Further , how can we ever evolve the "sport" if every event isn't willing to taste to what tastes best?

What I hear you saying is that you want judges 5 & 6 to out themselves.:shocked::twisted::mrgreen:

 

[tduffy]

I think it's a little disappointing that in comp cooks you have to cook to what you think the judges want to see versus what might be the best flavor. That being the case, why don't the judges announce ahead of time what flavor profile they're looking for on each meat. I get it that most people who do a lot of comps figure it out over time, but who established this "this is how is should look, and taste." Further , how can we ever evolve the "sport" if every event isn't willing to taste to what tastes best?

Comp cooks don't "have" to cook what the judges want to see, you just do if you want to win. How would they announce it? They don't even necessarily know themselves. What wins is middle of the road, non offending barbecue that is balanced. Ultimately tenderness is what wins anyways. The are tasting and scoring well what "tastes best" to them.

 

[WHS88]

I wasn't trying to stir the pot, but you guys know what I'm saying. Everybody knows the general flavor profile that needs to be followed to have a chance to win. I personally like a mustard/vinegar based sauce, but that's not gonna work in most comps. Not because it's not good, but because it doesn't fit the "profile". I get it, the judges need to compare like products because it's too hard to differentiate between too many different versions. I think there's comp BBQ and there's what you cook at home and they're not always the same.

 

[Right on Q]

Mustard/vinegar sauces don't usually win because they aren't balanced enough to win. (There are some that are balanced enough to win) If I gave a vinegar sauce to 6 random people most likely 2 of them would love it, 2 of them would say its ok, and 2 would hate it.

But if I gave the same 6 people a well balanced sauce (sweet, heat, savory, etc) it would probably be given good ratings overall by all 6 people.

This is how competition bbq works. Pleasing 6 random people. Not fitting a specific "profile"

Trust me, if mustard, vinegar, or fruit based sauces pleased everyone you better believe that more teams would use them