Tastefully Simple Chipotle Honey Grill Sauce with BBQ Pork Chops

Tastefully Simple Chipotle Honey Grill Sauce

I've been using Tastefully Simple products for quite some time now, so I was looking forward to trying out the new Chipotle Honey barbecue sauce.

The sauce smelled great when I opened the bottle. I picked up the honey smell right off the bat.

I decided to grill pork chops with the Tastefully Simple BBQ sauce. We've been doing pork chops quite a bit lately with some good sales in this area. If you tend to dry your pork chops out, check out my tips for grilling boneless pork chops.

Chipotle Honey Pork Chops Setting up on the Grill

The pork chops grilled quickly. Above you'll see them the last couple of minutes while the barbecue sauce "sets."

I grilled these when my older son was home, since the younger son does not like much heat (but he does love honey). The Chipotle note was there but just a hint. The honey was the stronger flavor. The balance was very nice. This is a barbecue sauce that you could serve to any group. I plan to grill something for my younger son with the Tastefully Simple barbecue sauce, because I'm sure he'll love the honey flavor, and the peppers are not hot enough to put my mild guy off.

* Tastefully Simple did send the product free in exchange for an honest review. Regular readers will know I am one to say what I think.

Cowboy Joe's Pit and Grilling Sauce - Vinegar Sauce Review

Cowboy Joe's Pit & Grilling Sauce on Pork Chops

Leslie got in touch. She'd found Barbecue Master and thought I'd like to try out Cowboy Joe's Pit & Grilling Sauce. They have just taken first place in the Austin, Texas "Man-Up" annual competition and then 4th in the National Barbecue Association competition with 600 entries.

Life has been crazy around here as some of you know with a kid out of the country and an airline take-over with some questions about when I'd get him back. I still had to eat, and this sauce interesting, since it's a vinegar, and North Carolina is the vinegar capital of sauces.

Leslie sent out samples of the mild and spicy, and made my quick and easy boneless pork chops. I also tried the sauce (or really a mop) on some chopped pork as well that I had from our last low and slow smoke.

Here's What Cowboy Joe's Barbecue Sauce Looks Like in the Jar
 

When I first opened the box, I thought I had what I'd call a sauce - thick like Kansas City sauce. In North Carolina, Bone Suckin' Sauce is a thick sauce billed as a vinegar sauce, but it's certainly not a classic North Carolina BBQ sauce. It's more like Kansas with a hint of vinegar.

The darker color was throwing me off, but when I opened the jar, this was what I call a mop. It's thin like a classic North Carolina vinegar sauce but with a sweeter smell. What this means is that you can use it as a marinade, and you can brush it on while grilling where on thick sauces you need to wait until the meat is almost done, or the sugars will burn, and your barbecue meat will be charred on the outside.

I did marinate the pork chops for about 20 minutes in Cowboy Joe's Pit & Grilling barbecue sauce. And, then I sauced a little. It does not take long to grill boneless pork chops, so I didn't need to mop much. Just on each flip.

On the chopped pork, I just heated the sauce and poured it over as we do here in North Carolina on pork butt or shoulder sandwiches.

This was a really robust and tasty sauce. Cowboy Joe's was sweet just as it smelled. So, it's not a North Carolina knock off which is almost totally vinegar in flavor with some heat (hot pepper seeds) and in the western area (piedmont) a little red (some form of tomato).

I love a wide range of styles of barbecue sauces, but I do associate vinegar with NC. Our sauce does seem to be an acquired taste though, and many kind of freak out on the big hit of vinegar.

You get a little vinegar flavor in Cowboy Joe's but more sweet than tang, so I'd have to say that it would be more mainstream and appeal to a wider audience. You get the mop style which is great for moisture as you can see in my pork chop photo.

I go thumbs up, unless you are looking for NC style vinegar sauce. Then I'd say go with Ralph's (very small batch) or Scott's (easier to find). If you're looking for your first vinegar mop sauce, Cowboy Joe's is much less tart so a great bet if you're not used to vinegar sauces.

I love our NC vinegar sauces, but I have to call things the way I see them. Our barbecue sauce here can be kind of a shock. You get something similar here with Cowboy Joe's Pit & Grilling Sauce but with more balance and less bite. Someone may come by and revoke my North Carolina citizenship card. But, I adore out sauce style. I just know it's a niche product. Cowboy Joe's would be broader in appeal.

On a side note, I did get my son back. Now, I need to make him some smoked pork with Cowboy Joe's.

 

Garlic Head Barbecue Sauces Pack the Flavor Both Hot and Not

Garlic Head Barbecue Sauce

Keith emailed to ask if I'd like to walk on the wild side and try his Garlic Head barbecue sauces. He told me that these are not your typical barbecue sauces, and he was correct.

The first thing you'll notice is that Garlic Head bbq sauces are THICK. You've probably had thick barbecue sauces before, but they were not likely this thick. You could almost pack these in red Solo cups and make barbecue sand castles. Yes. That thick.

Pouring it on Thick with Garlic Head BBQ Sauce

I didn't pour on the barbecue sauce. I spooned out the Garlic Head and kind of painted the chicken. It does spread. Kind of like cake frosting. I wasn't so sure how this would work out, but the sauce was smelling good.

Grilling Chicken with Garlic Head Barbecue Sauce

The heat spreads the Garlic Head around a bit, and then it doesn't drip all down in the grill. So, that's nice. The grates are going to need some tender loving care. Then again, if you're saucing, you're going to have to elbow grease it the next day. Just the nature of the beast. Personally I'd rather pull grates and have the mess there versus dripped all down inside the grill as with many barbecue sauces.

Garlic Head BBQ Chicken with Grilled Cheese Bread

Here you can see our grilled boneless skinless chicken breasts which are super easy to grill up when you're tired. Today I was, because I painted the bathroom and shoveled out my son's bedroom. I am tempted to mail him those icky socks he hide in the closet. Is it really harder to put socks in the hamper than in the bottom of the closet? I can only guess this is a guy thing.

But . . . back to the sauce.

There are two versions of Garlic Head. One is Gold. That one is the garlic sauce with little heat. Garlic Head Spicy is garlicky but much hotter. They say 8 times hotter, and that's hard to measure, but I'd say spot on.

The plate you see above is the Garlic Head Spicy. To be honest, I got mixed up. I meant to do the garlic but not hot, since my mild son was home. So, I told the guys that the sauce was mild, and then I fired them up. OOPS!

Garlic Head is a thick tomato based barbecue sauce - bold in all ways. Both are great for garlic lovers. I'm a garlic lover. The spicy really is hot (like HOT), so it's not for the mild folks (even if they do love garlic). I'm a heat lover (no prob - but I did break a sweat). It's hard to find a barbecue sauce style I don't like. Figs. Ugh. Most other flavors or heats, I'm fine (if the sauce is balanced and good). I have had some gosh awful sauces, but Garlic is Head is not in the gosh awful category. I go thumbs up, but I would say to be sure that you have garlic fans in general and heat fans if going for the spicy.

Yadkin River Smokers North Carolina Western BBQ Sauce

Yadkin River Smokers Barbecue Sauce

I tried out a new western North Carolina vinegar based barbecue sauce made by Yadkin River Smokers this evening.

Yadkin River Smokers were at a barbecue competition with a team and with a booth for pork skins and sauce this weekend. Since I adore pork skins and especially those fried fresh on site, I had to stop by. The pork skins were absolutely amazing, and Robert hooked me up with a bottle of their barbecue sauce.

Robert said that he likes Yadkin River Sauce on chicken, and that it's extra good warmed up and used as a dipping sauce. Barbecue people know their products, so I decided to do my first quick grilled chicken smoke just as he had suggested.

When I opened the bottle, I got the vinegar kick smell, but it was not as strong as many North Carolina barbecue sauce products. There was an extra sweet layer in there. The scent was very nice, so I was curious to see how the sauce would taste grilled on the chicken and also on the side as a dip.

Grilled Chicken Breast Strips with Yadkin River BBQ Sauce

I would call Yadkin River Barbecue Sauce a mop as is the tradition in North Carolina, but it had just a little more body than the NC sauces I've used before. This meant that the sauce stayed on the chicken better than mops which was nice, since I was doing the boneless, skinless chicken breasts which can be on and off in minutes. After a long weekend at a barbecue competition, I really wanted something fast and simple.

I let the chicken rest in the sauce for about a half hour while I got the grill fired up and hot. Preheating a grill really is important. If it's not hot, then grilled foods will stick.

My yard was smelling great, and we were all looking forward to dinner. I was hoping the chicken would taste as good as it smelled.

Grilled Chicken Breasts with Yadkin River BBQ Sauce

I pulled the chicken and had some sauce that I heated on the stove. Sometimes I heat sauce on the side of the grill, but the boneless breasts grill really fast, so it seemed a good idea to heat the mop sauce inside and have it ready.

The grilled chicken with Yadkin River Barbecue Sauce was excellent and even better with extra warmed dipping sauce. Robert told me right on that.

Yadkin River BBQ Sauce is a North Carolina sauce - clearly. But, it has an extra layer of sweet to cut the twangy vinegar. I adore our North Carolina vinegar sauces, but they can be a bit much for those outside the area. I think Yadkin River BBQ Sauce will appeal to locals but also to those who are not used to the real high octane vinegar sauces. It's in the spirit of our sauces but with more layers and not so "in your face" on the vinegar.

You can buy Yadkin River Sauce direct, and they hope to be in grocery stores soon. Since Food Lion is based here in North Carolina, I hope they will be carrying Yadkin River Barbecue Sauce. They are good about stocking local products, and this is a thumbs up.

Easy Peasy Foods Chicken Insurance Marinade and BBQ Sauce - review

Grilled Chicken with Chicken Insurance Marinade and Barbecue Insurance Sauce

Easy Peasy is out of the gate with a new chicken marinade and barbecue sauce, and Aaron emailed to see if I'd like to try out sample bottles. We grill a lot of chicken around here, and I'm always looking for ways to jazz grilled chicken up, so I said I'd give it a try.

I went to pick up some chicken breasts on sale at the IGA, but they said someone got the last pack about a half hour before I got there. I grabbed some boneless, skinless chicken tenders instead. As hot as it is outside, that was probably a better idea. Grilled tenders are our fast food out here in the country, since they take 10 minutes or less to grill.

Easy Peasy Chicken Insurance Marinade

With boneless, skinless chicken, marinade is a good idea, but there are not a lot of good marinades on the market. Chef David Moncur who developed these Chicken Insurance products had noticed the same thing. He was using Italian dressing like I often do but wanted something better, so he came up with his marinade recipe.

Chicken Marinating in Chicken Insurance by Easy Peasy Foods

I put my chicken in a bowl and poured on some Chicken Insurance marinade. It poured out rich and thick and smelled really great. I had a little taste, and the flavor was excellent as well.

Since I planned to use the companion barbecue sauce, I did grill a couple of chicken strips with just marinade to see how it would do and how it would taste. The marinade stayed on well (prevented any sticking) and held in the juices, and I didn't have any grill flare problems which can happen with some marinades. The flavor grilled was also rich without overpowering the chicken. The chicken in marinade only as our appetizer got three thumbs up from the crew here.

Barbecue Insurance from Easy Peasy Foods

The Easy Peasy barbecue sauce was also thick and the smell was sweet. This is a natural barbecue sauce made from fresh ingredients. That does make a difference.

If doing whole chicken pieces, I'd sauce with this the last 10 minutes or so, since it has a tomato base. If you put tomato based barbecue sauces on too soon, they will burn. Since I was doing the small chicken tenders, I sauced them and put them straight on. Since they only grill around 10 minutes total, that works out perfect.

Grilled Chicken Tenders Sauced with Barbecue Insurance

I grilled the chicken around 5 minutes until the sauce was set and then flipped it and did the same on the other side. That's why I call this fast food. I was in and out super fast.

The Chicken Insurance marinade and Barbecue Insurance provided a nice layered flavor on the chicken. The overall taste was rich and sweet but there was a light kick of heat. One son can't handle much heat, and he was fine with this barbecue sauce. So the heat note was there but is not zippy enough to rule this barbecue sauce out for a big gathering with a range of people who may or may not be able to handle heat.

Both the marinade and the sauce by Easy Peasy were very good. The products were easy to use, and the flavors were very nice.

Easy Peasy products are available in limited areas now (Michigan, Texas, Florida and parts of the Midwest) but are slated for expansion. If you don't live in those areas, then you can get Chicken Insurance and Barbecue Insurance at Easy Peasy Foods online.

Bob Evans Wildfire Barbecue Sauce Review from the Barbecue Master

Bob Evans Wildfire Taste of the Farm Barbecue Sauce

The Bob Evans company got in touch to see if I'd like to try out their new Taste of the Farm Wildfire barbecue sauce. I check out bbq sauces often - from the grocery store, from vacation trips, and also order them online when I have a little extra spending money. When a company gets in contact, I just let them know that I tell my readers what I think no matter how I get ahold of sauce. Tastes vary, so it's a roll of the dice if someone sends sauce.

I am familiar with the Bob Evans company. My youngest son adores mashed potatoes. I make great homemade mashed potatoes, but that takes quite a bit of time. I've tried out most of the quick mashed potatoes in the refrigerator section of the grocery store, and my top pick on the quick mashed potatoes would be Bob Evans. I haven't seen the new barbecue sauce at our grocery store which is in a small town, so I was looking forward to see what Bob Evans would do with sauce.

Bob Evans Wildfire BBQ Sauce on Chicken

Most times when I test a new barbecue sauce I try it on skinless chicken or on pork chops. Those meats are pretty neutral, and I get a good test of the flavor of the barbecue sauce. I never review without grilling with a bbq sauce, because cold sauce simply does not always taste the same as sauce grilled on food.

IGA had a sale on bone in chicken breasts, so that was my test grill food for the Bob Evans barbecue sauce.

The first note I would make on Bob Evans bbq sauce is that it is a thinner sauce - more like our mop sauces in North Carolina. When the sauce is cold, it is thinner than mainstream barbecue sauces like Kraft. When it's hot on the grill, it really is more in the mop range. With most store brand bbq sauces, I only sauce the last 5 minutes or so due to the sugar and thickness. This sauce could go on earlier and more often. I was offset on the charcoal (lower and slower in terms of heat due to the thickness of the chicken breasts), but Bob Evans did work like mop.

To get Bob Evans on thicker, then I'd go with skin on (something to stick to) chicken breasts or with pork chops (which are flat). Or, I'd look at Bob Evans as a mop sauce on a pork butt of shoulder where I'd generally use a North Carolina vinegar based barbecue sauce.

As far as the flavor on Bob Evans, the taste is nice. It gave a bit of extra umph to the chicken, but I'd say that Wildfire is not a good description of the barbecue sauce. In my mind, that would suggest a spicy or zippy barbecue sauce. This barbecue sauce is, in fact, quite mild. I noted this on the chicken test and also tried some barbecue sauce on a spoon just to double check. I did not find the fire in Bob Evans barbecue sauce.

For grilling, I would consider Bob Evans a mop barbecue sauce and a mild sauce that it would work for general crowds. I can't imagine anyone would find it hot at all. The flavor is pleasant though, so it would not be a problem with a mixed group of flavor lovers. I'd also mop it on often while grilling the next time and would also have some on the table, since it is a thinner sauce than typical for store brand barbecue sauces.