Five Barbecue Sauces That Will Test Your Regional Allegiances

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- For pitmasters and barbecue pros, sauce is the coup de grâce on a long, slow cooking process. Sure, it highlights the qualities of the meat they’ve been sweating over all day (and sometimes all night). But it’s also a powerful expression of regional identity—whether a tomato-based Kansas City glaze, a sweet-but-sharp mustardy elixir from central South Carolina, or a splash of North Carolina-style vinegar to cut the richness of whole-hog cooking.

Even within the bounds of tradition, there’s room for creativity. Barbecue lore is filled with secret, and not-so-­secret, ingredients. Some, such as the Southern sweetener sorghum, have a long history in their region; others, like pineapple or coconut, might make a traditionalist shudder. After an extensive round of testing with brisket, Hawaiian rolls, and more than 30 barbecue enthusiasts here at Bloomberg HQ, we’ve selected a few favorites that will make you say, in the words of one of our sauce tasters, “Awww, hell yeah!”

Lewis Original Red

Charleston, S.C., wasn’t brisket country until the arrival of John Lewis, a pitmaster with Texas bona fides that include Austin’s Franklin Barbecue and La Barbecue. This tomato-based sauce works beautifully with his beef brisket, which is available online and arrives fully cooked, frozen, and Cryovaced, ready for reheating. “Very traditional, and just the right amount of sweet” was the consensus from our taste testers. $8.95 for 12 oz.

The Shack Sorghum Yellow Mustard

Beloved in Staunton, Va., the Shack is known for its ambitious use of Southern ingredients. Sorghum syrup, with a rich, rounded, molasseslike sweetness, balances out the yellow mustard in this sophisticated sauce, which “could double as a really good salad dressing,” according to one of our judges. It’s equally at home on duck breast or baby back ribs. $15 for 16 oz.

Jones Coconut Pineapple Sauce

If you watched the Kansas City-based episode of Queer Eye where the gang transforms Deborah and Mary Jones (“Shorty” and “Little”) and their restaurant, Jones Bar-B-Q, you’ll know that getting their classic sauce bottled was a highlight of the season. The tropically tinged version was eyed with suspicion, but even skeptics fell hard for it. “Could go on everything that’s edible,” one observed. $7 for 15 oz.

17th Street Little Kick

If there’s a competition that Mike Mills and his daughter Amy, of barbecue legend 17th Street in Murphysboro, Ill., haven’t won, it’s probably not worth winning. “Yes, vinegar! Definitely hits you,” an aficionado wrote. Little Kick expands on its Mike’s Original sauce—savory with ketchup, mustard, and vinegar—with a boost of cayenne pepper. $18 for three 16-oz. bottles

Sam Jones East N.C. Sweet Heat

Another Jones—Sam, a third-generation pitmaster who excels at North Carolina whole-hog barbecue—designed this extremely thin but zingy vinegar sauce to add to chopped pork after cooking. “Whoa!” was the reaction at our test. “Spicy. Tangy. Amazing.” $7 for 17.25 oz.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Gaddy at jgaddy@bloomberg.net, Chris Rovzar

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