BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK: Cattlemen's Classic

"Thank you, Cattlemen's!" This is a vestige from our Memphis in May experience earlier this year. The stuff was everywhere. After all, the Cattlemen's website tells us that Cattlemen's sauce has been the secret ingredient in the recipes of the last 14 Grand Champions at Memphis in May.

;)

Cattlemen's has been available for many years only to restaurants and commercial buyers, so you might have had it in a restaurant and not even known it. In recent years, however, they have started selling it at warehouse clubs like Sam's Wholesale and Costco. Based on the "Classic" version of the sauce, I must say that I don't think it's anything worth buying a whole gallon of.

I can understand the appeal. This sauce, like so many that you find in the aisles of the supermarket, tastes like what Main Street America expects "barbecue sauce" to taste like - thick, sweet, and smoky. Although it's a little bit more tangy and less sweet than, say, K.C. Masterpiece or Hunt's, those are still definitely the reference points here.

Grade: B-