BBQ Sauce: Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Chipotle

As promised, I'm finally going to finish up the Sweet Baby Ray's Monday spotlight.  I've already reviewed these SBR flavors:

• Hickory & Brown Sugar
• Sweet 'n Spicy
• Original

Our reviews will continue for three more weeks, finishing up with the secret Sweet Baby Ray's sauce.  Today's flavor is Honey Chipotle, one of the newer additions to the Ray family.

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FLAVOR - Sweet honey and deep smoky chipotle, with a peppery, medium heat finish
CONSISTENCY - Thick and gooey
APPEARANCE -  Typical BBQ sauce reddish-brown, visible black flecks when spread thin

SMELL - Similar to Original (sweet smoke with a mild vinegar bite, hint of chipotle)

AVAILABILITY - Readily available

INGREDIENTS - HFCS, vinegar, tomato paste, honey, chipotle pepper sauce (red jalapeno peppers, vinegar, sugar, salt, onions), modified food starch, worcestershire concentrate (vinegar, molasses, corn syrup, water, salt, caramel, garlic powder, sugar, spices, tamarind, natural flavor), pineapple juice concentrate, spice, natural smoke flavor, caramel, sodium benzoate, red bell pepper, natural flavor, garlic

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While the consistency, appearance and smell of the SBR sauces have been very similar across the board, flavor is where each sauce really stands out.  The Honey Chipotle makes good use of the now-ubiquitous smoked jalapeno taste.

I find this sauce to be the spiciest of the lot (even more so than Sweet 'n Spicy).  I really like to use it on Latin American cuisine (especially great on anything Mexican) as well as meatloaf.

A People's History of Condiments, Part III

The Condiment Bible covered Part I and Part II of Tom Nealon's condiment history series a while back.  In Part III, Mr. Nealon provides us with a comprehensive diagram entertaining the age old question: What is a condiment?

While TCB doesn't necessarily agree with his entire classification, we wholeheartedly support any project that employs John Venn's life work.

Note:  This is the third post of a series, so stay tuned. 

Image: condiment_venn2.11, by Tom Nealon

Hot Sauce: Frank's RedHot Sweet Heat BBQ Wings Sauce

 

I eat a lot of Frank's RedHot sauce...I really do put that sh*t on everything...so it's surprising that TCB hasn't reviewed it yet.

While Frank's Original is my all-purpose, vinegar-based hot sauce, their Sweet Heat BBQ Wings Sauce caught my eye in the grocery store and turned out to be pretty freakin' good.

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FLAVOR - Smoky mix of vinegar and pepper, with a smooth medium heat finish; subtle hint of buttery sweetness.
CONSISTENCY - Slightly thicker than the average hot sauce, but still on the thin side; holds food coating well
APPEARANCE -  Carnelian red with tiny black and white flecks

SMELL - Strong vinegar scent with noticeable pepper undertones

AVAILABILITY - Readily available

INGREDIENTS -Distilled vinegar, HFCS, water, aged cayenne red peppers, tomato paste, salt, modified food starch, honey, molasses, sugar, canola oil, paprika, mustard bran, natural flavors, garlic powder, sodium benzoate (as a preservative), xanthan gum, spices, caramel color, corn syrup

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This sauce is similar to some of the homemade concoctions I've made mixing Frank's Original with various BBQ sauces.  I really enjoy the flavor of Frank's Original and the Sweet Heat stays true to that flavor, but with a BBQ sauce spin.  It's obviously great on wings, but I also apply liberally to turkey burgers and roasted chicken.

And, We're Back...

After a two-month hiatus, The Condiment Bible is back in action!!!

After October's McRib madness, TCB hit peak daily traffic, so we did what every responsible condiment blog should do: quit posting and alienate as many potential readers as possible.  TCB: 1, interwebs: 0.

Over the past two months, we've dedicated ourselves to intense condiment research, comprehensive design overhaul and writing style improvement eating McRibs.

Seriously though, TCB is back.  And we've got things to look forward to:

• Our simple new blog design (and a pending switch to Tumblr).
• Continuation of our Sweet Baby Ray's Monday spotlight.
• More great condiment reviews. 

Image: mustard and hot dog love, by zen