Barbecue sauces: Kraft-y shoppers should buy KC.(up front: News/ Trends/ Advice)

The word "barbecue" dates from about 1700, and the debate about how the sauce should taste seems to have raged ever since. Tomatoey? Vinegary? Mustardy? And how sweet? We're not going to wade into that discussion, but after tasting eight national, celebrity, and famous-kitchen sauces, we can tell you that Kraft, the top-selling sauce in the U.S., is merely so-so. Our expert tasters tried several samples of each product straight up, as a basting sauce on broiled chicken, and on chicken cooked for about four hours in a crock pot.

What we found. We found plenty of difference in overall quality, smokiness, spiciness, and how sauces changed when cooked. The top four were not only high-quality but also versatile, and would taste equally great on grilled, broiled, or slow-cooked meat. If you like to use uncooked sauce as a dip, Foxworthy's and Emeril's work best. Emeril's is a bit less spicy than the others. Lowest-rated Kraft was edible but not memorable and was loaded with sodium. Stonewall Kitchen, rated good, was much lower in sodium than the rest, with 95 milligrams per serving. Stubb's Original, also rated good, was lowest in calories by far, with 15 per serving.

Price doesn't correlate with quality. The excellent KC Masterpiece cost us less than half as much as the most expensive sauce, Stonewall Kitchen. And KC is available in supermarkets, as are Emeril's, Stubb's, Jack Daniels, and Kraft. The others are sold only in specialty stores or over the Internet, where shipping ratchets up the price. (We paid from $3.95 per bottle, for ground shipping, to $15.69, for overnight, and found no discount for buying in bulk.)

CR's take. KC was indeed a Masterpiece, and at $2.29 per bottle, it's a CR Best Buy. Next-best Foxworthy's Redneck is serious sauce, but it costs $4.49 per bottle, plus shipping if you order online.

 
Quick Ratings Barbecue sauces 
 
In order of overall quality. 
 
Product              Per serving                    Comments 
                     (2 tbsp.) 
                                           Sodium 
                     Cost       Calories   (mg) 
 
EXCELLENT 
 
KC Masterpiece (#) 
Original             16 cents   60         240      Balanced, with 
                                                    sweet molasses 
                                                    flavor, some heat, 
                                                    and just enough 
                                                    smoke to make you 
                                                    think ...