Results - Product Testing 101 - Basting

The masses have spoken!

Well, a couple of you have expressed interest in hearing the results of my first official Product Test of: The Original Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce.

According to the company brochure, Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce got its start in 1968 when Country Bob himself "perfected the sauce of his dreams."

"After years of giving the sauce to friends and family Country Bob began to sell it 1977." There's more, but you get the idea.

Anyway, that's what the company brochure says, but what does The Good Cook say?

The first test I conducted using the sauce was basting various foods. I wanted to see how this vinegar based sauce stacked up to other BBQ sauces.

The taste testers consisted of me, The Best Husband In The World, the 19 year old college student, the 17 year old girl, the 15 year old video game addict, and a collection of teenagers who seem to always knock on the door around dinner time.

Shrimp, Lamb and Rotisserie Chicken:

Shrimp:

The Good Cook: Because it is a vinegar based sauce there was were no flame ups or charring of the shrimp. I used Jumbo Shrimp, threaded on skewers, and began basting the shrimp as soon as it hit the grill. The flavor was smoky and sweet with a hint of spice. Very nice.

Taste Testers: Yum. Really liked this sauce on the shrimp compared with other sauces. Not too sweet and really delivered a nice punch of heat at the end.

Lamb:

The Good Cook: I love lamb - cooked the traditional way with garlic, lemon, rosemary and a hint of mint. But this was a nice change. I chose lamb chops, cut thick, for this particular challenge. I would make this again. Again, no flare ups, coated the chops nicely, without being too thick or cloying.

Taste Testers: "Oh, this is good.. can I have some sauce for dipping?" " Can you make it this way again?" "Uh, is this steak?" (this from a visiting teen)

Rotisserie Chicken:

The Good Cook: I basted the chicken throughout the cooking process - every 15 minutes for 1 1/2 hours. The skin crisped nicely without burning or charring (again, because it is vinegar based). The chicken LOOKED beautiful when done. However, if you didn't get a piece of meat with skin on it, you could not taste the sauce. Next time I would use chicken pieces, not a whole chicken.

Taste Testers: Okay, but didn't get a lot of flavor through the meat. The tasters asked for sauce on the side and said the chicken was great dipped in the sauce.

In basting conclusion, I would stick to smaller cuts of meat or fish. Country Bob's is a bit thinner than other bottled sauces I have used and I like that as it makes it easy to brush on evenly.

Tomorrow - marinating (pork tenderloin) and using Country Bob's as an ingredient (hamburgers and home made baked beans).