Blues Hog Original BBQ Sauce

Blues Hog Original BBQ Sauce is the sauce of serious pitmasters, and its trophy cabinet backs that claim. Created by pitmaster Bill Arnold, Blues Hog has earned the designation "Best Baste on the Planet" and won the People's Choice Award at the American Royal, one of the most prestigious competitive BBQ events in the United States. The Tennessee-style sauce occupies a lane that bridges sweet and competition-grade: it is rich, heavy, and deeply flavored in a way that stands up to the long cook times of brisket and pork shoulder without getting lost. The flavor profile is Tennessee sweet-peppery: brown sugar and regular sugar provide an intense sweetness foundation, while a strong black pepper finish adds heat, bite, and complexity that keeps each bite from feeling one-dimensional. At 100 calories and 21 grams of sugar per two-tablespoon serving, it is by far the most calorie-dense sauce on this list — a reflection of how heavily sweetened and richly glazed competition-grade sauces tend to be. The texture is thick and syrupy, which means it layers beautifully during the wrap phase of a brisket cook or in the final basting minutes on a rib rack. At approximately $0.36 to $0.40 per ounce for a 20-ounce pint running around $9.99, Blues Hog is a premium product. It is made in the USA and certified gluten-free, but the ingredient list does include HFCS via the ketchup base — a trade-off that serious competition cooks accept because the flavor result is worth it. Best uses are clearly in the rich-meat category: ribs, brisket, pulled pork, chicken, and pork belly. It is available at specialty BBQ retailers, Amazon, and select grocery chains. If you are smoking ribs for people who know their BBQ, this is the sauce that will generate the most compliments.