I had tried one of Rufus Teague’s barbecue sauces before and quite liked it. I was inviting some guests over and some of them are heat adverse. So I decided to try some Rufus Teague Honey Sweet Sauce.
Of course, I wanted to try it before serving it to my guests. I decided to put it on grilled boneless chicken breasts. They are not a strongly flavoured meat and should do well with a sweet sauce that isn’t overly spicy.
I preheated my Weber Genesis Grill by lighting the front and back burners to medium high. If you have a barbecue that only has two burners, only light one burner to medium high. Preheat for at least 10 minutes.
I gave the chicken a light rub with a barbecue rub. In this case, I used my Basic Barbecue Rub. Then I brushed one side with a very thin layer of the barbecue sauce. This will give a nice dark grill mark. I put the chicken, sauce side down, on the grill over the unlit burner. I brushed the chicken with a very thin layer of barbecue sauce.
I cooked the chicken over the indirect heat for 15 minutes.
I flipped the chicken and gave it a generous brush with barbecue sauce. I cooked for 10 more minutes and made sure the internal temperature was over 165 F. If it isn’t 165 F, continue cooking until it is.
Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving.
The Verdict
I am not big on really sweet sauces on my meet. I am also a fan of a touch of heat. This honey sauce has a definite honey background but it is not overpoweringly sweet. There isn’t a lot of heat and even the most spice averse diner should be fine with it.
I started by tasting the sauce right out of the bottle. It starts of with a bit of spice but quickly gives the honey taste from the name. The blend of spices and honey are very pleasant. The finish is a nice sweet honey kiss on your tongue.
As a glaze on the chicken, it is quite thick and clings well to the chicken. Although it is quite sweet, it didn’t immediately blacken on the chicken and gave it a good shiny glaze. The cooking intensified the sweet a bit but it still had a good balance.
As a dip for the chicken, it is very good and not as overpowering as some barbecue sauces.
This would not be my first choice of sauces as I like a bit more spice but it is a great sauce for a wide range of palates and I will use it again for less adventurous guests.
I can recommend the sauce as a high quality tasty product.
The chicken was delicious cooked in the sauce and was still moist. This is a go to method of cooking chicken for me.
The Old Fat Guy
2 Responses
Nice write up. I make my own BBQ sauce, have been for years. Won’t go back to store-bought. About the temperature, cooking chicken breast to 165F is overcooking them. At the very most you should cook to 158-160F. Let the meat rest for 5 min and will get to 165F. Better yet, cook to 155F, making sure it stays at that temp for 40 seconds. I read about this on ThermoWorks’s blog. This was a revelation. 165F tastes pretty overcooked now.
Thanks! I make a lot of my own sauces too but I like to have some commercial around for convenience. As for 165 F being overcooked for chicken, in Canada, the health regulations require 165 F unless they are long cooked like sous vide. You would be putting yourself in an awkward liability situation if you published a recipe calling for a less cooked chicken. Also, I prefer chicken cooked to 165 or even 170 just from my own tastes. I’m not saying your wrong. I’m just saying it isn’t my preference.