A classic late afternoon on Lake Greenwood on Sunday hearkened the arrival of Sauce Wars - No 6. On the guest list was Paul and Robin with son Dylan & friend Bree (Team Crutcher + One), John and Karen (Team Bautista), Baby Girl Beth and Erin (Team Chancho Nacho), Jenny Bishop (Team Jenny), and Jeff and Page (Team Owens). Yes, we had a full house, or I should say porch for this round.
This round was named "The New Contenders" since we had just had a finals from the first four Sauce Wars. For the first time ever, we introduced beef brisket to the event. It turned out tasty and tender after a nice brine soak and roasting in my Magic Chinese Cooking Box. The second meat option was baby back ribs. We added in a batch of Asian slaw, grilled pineapple salsa, Denine's amazing cornbread and we were ready for battle.
We had thought the sauces from the last Sauce Wars were great because they were all finalists, but this time we were pleasantly surprised that we had another batch of heavy weight contenders in our competition. These were some mighty fine sauces. Oh, what an evening. Oh, what sauces! Here is the list of contenders:
Notch 8 BBQ - Owner John Bennett claims a few years back a good BBQ Sauce recipe was passed on to him. After a bit of tweaking he turned it into a great recipe. The name "Notch 8" stems from the railroad industry. Locomotives have 8-notch positions (gears): 1-8, 1 being the lowest and 8 being the highest, hence the term Notch 8 (or as we say in The South... wide open!).
John claims many folks say his sauce is sweet, tangy, and fruity. It is no surprise that the ingredients include ketchup, mustard, and apple sauce that is slow cooked with other tasty flavors.
This sauce did well with our judges. Dylan said, "Who daddy!! That's some sauce". Bree was less enthusiastic and claimed it had too much seasoning and had mad vinegar. Robin reported it as sassy and sarcastic while Baby Girl said it was the only sauce worthy of a refill. Erin claimed it had the mysterious character of "I need you".
Top Dawgz Original BBQ - Back in July I went to a "Art of Barbeque" cooking class to see how a "Top 5 Pro" does it. I did pick up a few good tips. One of the guys at my table during the class casually mentioned that he was competing that weekend in the Festival of Discovery BBQ Competition with a Greenwood buddy who had just introduced a new BBQ sauce called Top Dawgz.
According to my new pal, Top Dawgz, is made by a group of friends and is now selling in a few local spots. I dropped in to Corley's Market (by the way, a great place to purchase meat) and staring me down from the "Sauce Aisle" was 4 kinds of Top Dawgz. Now, I am sometimes leery if you need more than one or two sauces to your name, but I had to give the local boy a try.
They are just now getting the web site up and running. The label says this sauce is born in The South and has southern tradition going for it. The slogan is "A sauce so good it makes you want to slap somebody! C'mere Grandma!!". Funny, but that's not right!
Paul said this stuff could go on ice cream while Erin called it The New Chocolate. Denine said sweet mama right off the bat and compared it to molasses. John said "Sweet. Save it for the ice cream". Page eloquently stated "Ketchupy". Jeff hit it up with an Arby's comparison and Jenny compared it to a black jelly bean.
T. Bill Lee's Secret BBQ Sauce - Who is T. Bill Lee? According to company owner Gina Garcia he was the funniest Daddy on the planet, the most charming man around, a great cook and one heck of a griller. Born in South Carolina he was George man who enjoyed a great mustard sauce. When he passed in 1996 daughter Gina ventured out in business to share his "secret" sauce with the world.
One thing I have learned is nothing divides a sauce war more than a mustard sauce. On the pro T-Bill side was P Funk claiming he could be a Bessinger Brother. Robin had Paul's back with "Hangs out and you don't want to send him home". Bree was hanging with the family stating it was very tangy & tart with a good balance. Page, not to mince words, jotted "tangy" on her tasting notes.
Dick's Bodacious Bar-B-Q - Dick was born and raised in Texas. In 1996 he moved to Indiana. A few years later he opened his first BBQ joint bringing the Texas flavor to the mid-west. The rest, as they say, is history. The web site says "Slap your tongue silly!" which you have got to like. Dick also offers BBQ cooking classes to teach how the pros do it.
Karen simply said this sauce was "Deliciousable". Denine did not go this direction saying it overcompensated and then said she is not a fan of Smokey the Bear. Beth asked "Is this generic?". Paul countered commenting that it was lush and tight with puckery flavor. Erin chimed in saying Dick's tastes like the holidays. Jeff, using twice as many words as Page, said "simple, tart".
Pushing for Results - After initial tasting and discussion there was a significant majority ready to give the boot to Top Dawgz BBQ. Our great hopes for the local team were over. The problem was the remaining three sauces had a fairly even split of fans and supporters. These were some very, very good sauces. This was going to be difficult. We did the only thing we could do...load more BBQ on our plates for final tastings.
After everyone was reseated the commissioner was faced with a dilemma on how to move through the dreaded three sauce stalemate. However, there was a slight indication that a few voters had swung over to the Notch 8 BBQ camp so we set it aside as finalist. This left T. Bill's mustard sauce head on with Bodacious Dick's. The competition remained intense, but by a show of hands Dick's went down despite a smooth and elegant effort. It was a nice run.
The Final Result - After a last pass the tasting ballots were passed and votes were gathered. The breeze settled over the lake. The faint whisper of the ceiling fans swished. Short prayers may have been faintly uttered. With a sudden rush to the finish, Notch 8 BBQ took down T. Bill Lee's Secret BBQ Sauce by a 9-3 margin. There was one protest write-in vote for Bodacious Dick's Bar-B-Q which must be honored.
Great Comments Overheard (or written on the tasting notes)
Arby's - Jeff
Not into yellow mustard this round. Sorry T. Bill! - Denine
Tastes like beef jerky - John
Tasted the squeal! Tasted the squeal! - Karen
Disappears. Good while it lasts - Robin
Very French's Mustard. Would be good on a hot dog. - Jenny
Makes me wanna say "yowza" - Erin
That name is out of control! - Beth
Oh, that's a little bit country, a little bit rock & roll - Paul
Bust! Mad Vinegar! Yummy! - Bree
Most popular in the Chinese BBQ eating contest! - Dylan
Hot - Page
The Wrap - By now dusk was falling so we lit a few tiki torches and enjoyed conversation on the porch. Several in the group opted for a last minute boat ride. Later, Jenny unveiled a magnificent dessert that included poached pears, lady fingers, ice cream, an orange garnish, and a sweet wine reduction sauce. It was fantastic and a fine way to conclude the evening.
We do not have the next round of Sauce Wars on the schedule, but it sure was fun to meet with great friends and share good times over a meal. Thanks for visiting and following the adventure.
