Thomas Kobelsky's Blog

March 10, 2010

Second is Jim Beam's Original BBQ Sauce on a 22oz sirloin steak, baked for 20 minutes, then broiled for 10 minutes.

Information: Bourbon and BBQ are indespensable to true American hospitality. Jim Beam (R) BBQ Sauce adds a rich and subtle bourbon profile to grilled meats, baked chicken, even shrimp and fish. It's made from only the most natural, authentic ingredients, not the least of which is Jim Beam (R) Bourbon. The Jim Beam family is proud to have their name on these fine BBQ sauces.

The only reason I wanted to give this a shot is because Stephen (one of my ex-co-workers) pointed it out to me, saying he used to drink Jim Beam's whiskey like crazy back in Ireland. He figured that since the whiskey was so great, the BBQ sauce should be as well.

Price: 4/10	$8.99 for a 500mL bottle is not a decent price for a BBQ sauce, in my mind.
Presentation: 7/10	A stout, fat bottle with a label saying JIM BEAM in huge, red arcing lettering on a black background is eye catching.
Smell: 5/10	Just a generic BBQ sauce smell. Not much of a bourbon aroma either.
Color: 2/10	Honestly, it looks like dog diarreah.
Consistency before cooked: 4/10	Runny. I could see it being more as a marinade than a BBQ sauce.
Consistency after cooked: 5/10	Still runny, even after broiling for 10 minutes. I'd be scared I'm losing half of the sauce to the fire if this were over a real BBQ.
Flavor: 7/10	Surprisingly, it tasted kind of good. It didn't have that full-bodied flavour I was hoping for though, almost like they watered it down too much.
Total: 34/70	Not even a passing mark.

I revisited this sauce tonight (March 23rd, 2010) and had it over a previously frozen Wild Coho salmon fillet (skin still on), baked for 25 minutes at 350.
Sadly, the majority of the sauce slid/melted off the fish rather than cook into the meat (probably since salmon is an oily fish). And by "majority," I mean nearly all of it. I originally put it on so thick that I could not see a single bit of meat through the sauce, but after it was cooked there was just a tiny film of it left, with the odd chunk of garlic stuck on. I give it a 2/10 for Consistency After Cooked for this.
Because of the tiny bit of sauce that was left on the meat, I could hardly taste anything other than fish. In order for me to even get a tiny bit of the sauce flavor, I basically had to turn the meat around on my fork so that the sauce was the first thing to touch my tongue. It did not cook into the meat at all and was strictly a surface flavor (which, by the way, was actually tasty). 4/10 in the Flavor department.

Jim Beam Original BBQ Sauce:
Red Meat - 34/70
White Meat - 0/70
Fish - 28/70

Side note: This was written on February 26th at 1:03 AM. I just hadn't published it until now.

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