Review - Bronco Bob's Chipotle Sauces
Digg
Share
Here's a pair of chipotle-themed sauces that come in large (15.75 oz, to be exact) bottles, and are also dark, thick and stocky, so visions of BBQ finishing glazes jittered through my head. As the bottle labels proclaim, Bronco Bob's can be used "for grilling, dipping and appetizers"; that suggestion coupled with the fact that anything but run of the mill ingredients are listed right in the sauce names can clue you in that these strive to be unique and special.
In ways, Bronco Bob's Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce and Smoked Bacon Chipotle Sauce achieve that goal as well as being highly flavorful, and earn big points in my book...
Bronco Bob's Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce
Ingredients:
Raspberries, sugar, jalapeno peppers, apple cider vinegar, salt, chipotle peppers, garlic powder, natural mesquite smoke flavor, pectin
Aroma:
4.5 out of 5. A lovely blend of sweet berries and hickory-like smokiness.
Appearance and Texture:
Super thick and purple in color, Bronco Bob's Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce is a beautiful thing to look at. It's littered with seeds, but thankfully it has little of the overly-crunchy, hard-to-eat aspect of regular raspberry seeds - it's mild enough and relatively easy to chew while still retaining texture. This sauce is by no means "sticky" in the traditional sense yet adheres wonderfully to food.
Taste Straight Up:
4 out of 5. Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce is richly and wonderfully sweet, and the namesake fruit is the dominant tone in its taste. The underpinnings of flavor in this sauce contain a light smokiness and an even lighter spiciness.
Taste on Food:
4 out of 5. For the first sampling on food, I created a appetizer with Wheat Thins and cream cheese, topped with a dollop of Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce. This was a superb snack, and neither this batch nor the second bunch lasted very long.
Being the ice cream fanatic, I just had to pour a hefty amount into a bowl of french vanilla and mix the concoction together. Amazing! For those of you who may be a bit turned off by the prospect of a smokey flavor and ice cream, let me tell you it simply works in was never overpowering. Great stuff here.
Heat:
Very little burn to speak of. On a heat scale of 1 to 5, this would barely clock in at 1.5. If you're adding Bronco Bob's Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce to dairy product like cream cheese or ice cream, the heat will be cut down even further. Should be safe for most mild palettes.
Rating: 
Bronco Bob's Smoked Bacon Chipotle Sauce
Ingredients:
Tomato puree, sugar, molasses, vinegar, soy sauce, bacon bits, salt, chipotle peppers, dehydrated minced onion, onion powder, mustard, flour, spice
Aroma:
3 out of 5. Compared to the raspberry sauce, this is more lucid and complex. Bright yet heavy, it's densely tomato-y with a tad-more-than-subtle notes of smokiness, bacon, garlic and onion.
Appearance and Texture:
Very much like a barbecue sauce. This dark brown, medium-thick viscosity liquid has a bit of a crunchy texture to it, which is probably due to the presence of miniscule bacon bits and pieces of dried garlic. Just like the Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce, this thankfully does not impede the chewing process. Similarly, it's delightfully adherent to meats and other foods on which this would be applied.
Taste Straight Up:
3 out of 5. What the smell hinted at the flavor delivers. It reaches out with many arms into several categories: big and bold, sweet and tangy, subtle and savory, and moderately spicy. The first taste gives the impression a BBQ sauce would, with a tomato base and sweetness, followed my a smokey, bacon-y edge. It's not a punch-in-your-mouth type of annoying, artificial smokiness, but a natural feeling of hickory, chipotles and cured, smoky bacon. Bronco Bob's did a good job of avoiding any type of nastiness in this department.
Taste on Food:
3 out of 5. The Smoked Bacon Chipotle Sauce is weakens a tad when being applied to food. My initial test was on a few grilled chicken breasts. I cooked the bird pieces over high temp charcoal and used the Smoked Bacon Chipotle as a finishing sauce. The bacon and smoked flavor was nice on chicken, and proved to be admirable as a barbecue topper.
The next trial run was on grilled burgers. Again, Bronco Bob's was tasty on the ground beef patties. The rich, fatty beef flavor melded admirably with the complex and spicy tones of the sauce.
You may have your favorites when it comes to a grilling or BBQ sauces. Bronco Bob's Smoked Bacon Chipotle Sauce may not be a permanent substitute for them, but if you're in the mood something different to wipe on your meat this is a good alternative.
Heat:
Smoked Bacon Chipotle packs a wee bit more kick than the Raspberry Chipotle; probably 2 on a 1 to 5 heat scale. This may be a touch too hot for milquetoast tongues yet tolerable for everyone else.
Overall Rating: 
Labels:
Both labels are nearly identical in their Southwestern-style appearance, except for the actual name of the sauce. Since the sauces (and other Bronco Bob's products) vary greatly in color, its easy to tell them apart; yet if the color of the sauces were similar I might have trouble distinguishing between them.
In Summary:
Both are good products worthy of your dollar, and I'd give a slight edge to the Raspberry Chipotle because of its dessert-style capabilities.
You can pick up either sauce in select supermarkets nationwide or online on various outlets such as Amazon (just do a search) for around $8 a bottle. For more information, visit the Bronco Bob's website.
Related Articles:
Spicy Food Reviews - Hot Sauce Reviews, Hot Snacks, Hot Wings, Seasonings, BBQ Sauces, Condiments, and More
Comments
2011-07-26 08:13:00
2011-07-26 11:31:22
2011-07-27 07:54:21
I'd say that either one of them would make a decent wing sauce.
2011-07-27 21:20:53
Add Your Comment: