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What’s A Barbecue Without The Sauce?

Rick Bonino Food Editor

If you’re going to have a real barbecued burger - an authentic chunk of cow carcass, cooked over coals doused with a bit too much starter fluid, tucked between halves of a bland white bun - you need a real barbecue sauce.

None of those phony-baloney papaya-soy-balsamic bastes. We’re talking tomatoey, spicy, smoky sauces, like the great griller upstairs intended.

Selecting three sauces for The Spokesman-Review’s reader food panel to sample out of the ever-increasing variety on supermarket shelves was no easy task.

We finally settled for a basic, benchmark sauce from KC Masterpiece, a well-known local offering from the Longhorn Barbecue folks and a bottle of bargain-priced stuff from Kraft.

We oven-broiled burger patties basted with some of the sauce, and served more on the side.

When the scores were added up, KC Masterpiece (actually made Oakland, Calif., these days) was a slight favorite over Longhorn, although both had staunch supporters on the panel.

Kraft’s honey barbecue sauce, on the other hand, seemed better suited for accompanying a head of lettuce than a side of beef.

Just to be sure panel members got their green vegetables, we also offered one of a burger’s typical companions: pickles.

While they didn’t detect much difference in quality between Nalley’s salty dill chips, Farman’s sweeter, seedy (or “gravelly,” as one panelist put it) cucumber chips and Vlasic’s crisp bread and butter chips, Nalley’s got the nod based on price - less than 8 cents an ounce, compared to a little over 9 cents for Farman’s and almost 11 cents for Vlasic.

And if you happen to pick up pickled eels by mistake, don’t dismay - save them for the next time your trendy friend decides to cook up some Seafood Surprise Burgers.

KC Masterpiece Barbecue Sauce, Original Flavor

Price: $1.89 for 18 ounces.

Nutrition: 60 calories (no fat); 210 milligrams sodium in 2 tablespoons.

Taste: ***

Value: ***

Comments:”Smoke gets in your eyes … Liquid smoke is extremely evident. Very sweet but a nice tang, once the smoke wafts away. No subtle overtones to this one!” - Maria Ranniger.

“Kick-o-rama! Tastes like ketchup and corn syrup and nothing else much.” - Meagan Coffey.

“I like the kick and sweetness, good on burgers.” - Jan Robison.

Longhorn Barbecue Bar-B-Q Sauce

Price: $1.99 for 16 ounces.

Nutrition: 40 calories (13 percent fat calories); 125 milligrams sodium in 2 tablespoons.

Taste: ***

Value: ***

Comments: “Real barbecue flavor that’s not too sweet. Has a rich, smoky flavor and nice, dark deep color.” - Paul Norris.

“Very sweet and dark. Has a smoky chili flavor.” - Susi Faville.

“Sweet, slight afterheat, OK.” Jim McGinty.

Kraft Honey Barbecue Sauce

Price: 89 cents for 18 ounces.

Nutrition: 50 calories (no fat); 330 milligrams sodium in 2 tablespoons.

Taste: **

Value: ***

Comments: “YUK! Orange, gelatinous. Apple cider vinegar tasting - awful.” - Stacy Casto.

“Much too much vinegar. No kick.” - Jim Eggers.

“Tastes like salad dressing.” - Mary Lou Crouter.

Nalley Hamburger Dill Chips

Price: $1.67 for 22 ounces.

Nutrition: No calories (no fat); 440 milligrams sodium in 1 ounce (about 4.5 chips).

Taste: ****

Value: ****

Comments: “Tart, could be a little crunchier.” - Jan Robison.

“Crisp, crunchy, lots of ‘pucker power.”’ - Mary Lou Crouter.

“Umm … it tastes like a pickle.” - Meagan Coffey.

Vlasic Original Bread & Butter Chips

Price: $2.39 for 22 ounces.

Nutrition: 40 calories (no fat); 170 milligrams sodium in 1 ounce (about 5 chips).

Taste: ****

Value: ***

Comments:”Tasty, crunchy - nice job, good pickle.” - Mary Aegerter.

“More like a sweet pickle than a bread and butter.” - Susi Faville.

“Sweet, crunchy, solid, aboveaverage seasoning.” - Jim McGinty.

Farman’s Cucumber Chips

Price: $1.49 for 16 ounces.

Nutrition: 35 calories (no fat); 190 milligrams sodium in 1 ounce (6.5 slices).

Taste: ****

Value: ***

Comments: “Crunchy, very good. Mustard seed great.” - Larry Kelly.

“I don’t like the look of them much, but the taste is OK. I much prefer dill pickles on a burger.” - Paul Norris.

“Fit for any summer barbecue; they’d do a burger proud.” - Stacy Casto.

Update department: A few months back, the panel gave a grim grade to the chicken pot pies made in-house at Rosauers on 29th Avenue, which seemed seriously undercooked at the recommended 30- to 40-minute baking time.

I decided to try them again the other day and found that the cooking time had been increased to a more reasonable 45 to 55 minutes, the filling was devoid of the greenish tint that turned off panel members and the crust seemed flakier (although it did have to go under the broiler for a bit before it browned).

, DataTimes MEMO: Products sampled by The Spokesman-Review’s reader food panel are bought at a retail store and prepared in a test kitchen according to package instructions. Panelists are not aware of a product’s brand name or price until after they have tasted it. Products are rated for taste and for value, based on quality compared to price.

Products sampled by The Spokesman-Review’s reader food panel are bought at a retail store and prepared in a test kitchen according to package instructions. Panelists are not aware of a product’s brand name or price until after they have tasted it. Products are rated for taste and for value, based on quality compared to price.