Sauce Review: Big Butz Cranberry

Big Butz Cranberry Sauce

Wander off into the woods of northern Wisconsin and you may very well stumble upon an artisan BBQ sauce maker known as Big Butz. They craft a home made barbecue sauce which I had heard was some of the best. Their mainstay sauce is available in regular, hot and extra hot. When I spotted the Big Butz Cranberry sauce, it really peaked the inquisitive curiosity of my taste buds. The bottle claims it took seven years to develop. One would think that amount of time would give way to something spectacular. We shall see.

Initial Impressions

 If you’re looking for a fancy pants bottle or label, you won’t find it here. Nope, simple and plain with just the facts. “Home Made” and “ No Artificial Preservatives” jumped out at me immediately. A simple jar is all Big Butz figured they needed.

The smell test was phenomenal! It had a sweet and spicy smell with a hint of smoke whereas not much cranberry smell. It had a medium thickness and creamy texture, which is something I look for since it really grabs a hold of the meat…and stays there.

Out of the Bottle Taste Test

What the Cranberry sauce lacked in smell was made up with taste. Granted it’s sweet, yet the flavor was something I could not wait to try on a piece of meat. Although it didn’t have the level of cranberry flavor I thought it might have, it was quite tasty nonetheless. I didn’t detect much of the smoke in the flavor which is good. I hate when sauce makers try to smoke my meat. It’s hard for me to put my finger on, but there was just something I liked about this sauce.

Apply the Meat Taste Test

On a batch of grilled chicken thighs and smoked pulled pork, I ran the sauces through some paces. The sauce seemed a bit thinner and required one more application on the chicken before serving, yet blended nicely into the shreds of the pulled pork. The subliminal smoke flavor left my hickory smoke on the pork alone yet gave the chicken a mild smokey taste.

The Final Verdict

If you prefer a sweeter style barbecue sauce, you can’t go wrong with  Big Butz’ Cranberry sauce. Don’t be expecting a cranberry flavor, though. What you’ll get instead is a rich and flavorful barbecue sauce that is well suited for any kind of meat.

I would highly recommend giving the Big Butz product line a try. They are sure to add to your grilling and barbecuing repertoire. You can check it out…Here

Enjoy your ribs and always remember…admire the fire!

What Ya Be Fixin’ Wit Dem Barbecued Ribs?

Man can’t survive by meat alone…OK, maybe we could, but your barbecue ribs sure taste better with a side dish or two. Here’s some good ideas:

Grilled Cornbread

The Lazy Man

Bacon & Shrimp

A Great Appetizer!

Grilled Peaches

Good For Any Course

What’d Ya think?

I’d love to hear your thoughts…good or bad. Leave a comment below and don’t forget, you can stalk me at Twitter or Facebook.