The Best Barbecue Sauce for Your Summer Cookout

Barbecue sauce is one of those products that can make or break a summer cookout, and even when it's cold out there's nothing that can ruin a sandwich or burger quicker than the application of crummy barbecue sauce. When shopping for sauce, though, there's always that moment when you're faced with a decision: standing there in front of a seemingly endless selection of barbecue sauces, the choice can be a difficult one.

Related: Make the Ultimate Barbecue Sauce

We here at The Daily Meal decided that choosing at random is an unworthy compromise, though. That's why we picked up 10 leading brands, the vast majority of which are available nationwide, and put them to the test. We tried each of them straight, unadulterated, right out of the bottle, and ranked them in order of overall flavor, smokiness, balance of sweet to tangy to salty to spicy, consistency, and whether or not they hit that place in your brain that says, "now that's good barbecue sauce."

Related: 15 Essential Barbecue Ingredients

Our Selection for the Best Barbecue Sauce is:

Sweet Baby Ray's

The dark horse of the bunch, Sweet Baby Ray's emerged as the near-universal favorite. "A perfect balance of sweet to spice to smoke to tanginess," said one taster. It had a good acidity and a well-executed blend of spices, and it all came together without being overwhelming in any aspect. "It has all the quintessential characteristics of a perfect barbecue sauce," another said.

Click Here for other savory barbecue sauces perfect for your summer cookout

-Dan Myers, The Daily Meal

See more from The Daily Meal:
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Get Ready for Some Barbecue!
Barbecue Tips from the Pit