Heinz Memphis BBQ Sauce

I like to think I am a bit of a BBQ sauce aficionado. I like boutique and small batch sauces that give complexity and different tastes.

My buddy, Bill, told me that Heinz had a line of BBQ sauces that were dedicated to specialty sauces like mesquite and Memphis BBQ. He said they were really tasty. Yeah, right. Big brand commercial sauces use a lot of sugar or a lot of heat and maybe try and add one additional note like onion or garlic. They rarely make anything that has different flavour notes and complexity

However, Bill is a good guy who has developed some serious cooking chops. I could not discard his opinion out of hand. So, I picked up a bottle of Heinz Memphis BBQ Sauce. My expectations were low.

You need to know that I have received nothing from Heinz to do this review, I just went to the store and bought a bottle.

The first thing I do is taste a BBQ Sauce straight up. I tasted the sauce. Hold on. This wasn’t right. It started off sweet but then some herb notes came in and a slow building heat that wasn’t all burn but just warming. Big brand sauces don’t have that kind of layered taste.

The next test for a stop is as a glaze. I used it on my Bacon Burnt Ends. It gave a great sweet/spicy glaze that didn’t take over and had a good consistency to coat the bacon.

Then I used it on the burnt ends from my PIA Brisket. This time, I noted the sweetness was not so strong that it interfered with the rich brisket beef taste.

The final test for a sauce is how it works as a sauce after cooking. I chopped some of my PIA Brisket, tossed it with this sauce and made a sandwich. Again, there was a great blend of sweet/spicy that added to the beef and didn’t fight with it.

The Verdict

I hang my head in shame for being a snob. This is a high quality BBQ sauce with a medium sweet and heat that has complexity and adds to beef and pork dishes. It stacks up with the great boutique sauces. I apologize first to my buddy, Bill, for doubting him. I apologize next to Kraft for not believing a major manufacturer could make a great BBQ sauce.

I can recommend this product totally.

The Old Fat Guy