Product Review: Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce

Here's another product review for you guys, The Original Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce by Country Bob Edison.

I received two bottles of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce (list price $4 a bottle) in the mail to review. To be honest, I was surprised to get this as I had forgotten that I agreed to review this sauce. It was a pleasant surprise and well timed as I was grilling steaks for dinner that evening.

A little background from their website...

"It was 1968 when Country Bob Edson perfected his steak sauce recipe and he called it an All Purpose Sauce because it was more than just a steak sauce. Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce has remained the flagship item since 1982 when Country Bob, Inc. was established. Along the way we have been dedicated to offering our customers the best tasting and highest quality steak sauce or All Purpose Sauce, Barbeque Sauce, and Seasoning Salt available anywhere in the world. To accomplish this we have placed our trust in God and we believe that goal has been achieved."

So with that bit of hype I poured some on my steak. The first thought that came to me was that it smelled much like Worcestershire sauce, but with a little something else. It's a dark and thin sauce that poured and seemed very much like a Worcestershire sauce. Until I tasted it.

First thought, wow this stuff is sweet. Very sweet. But it does have a bitterness and tang to it. It's interesting, but I've had this before. Country Bob's tastes very similar to Heinz 57 Steak Sauce, which unfortunately is not one of my favorites. To me and my wife, Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce simply overwhelmed the taste of the steaks.

I put the sauce away until we made some hamburgers for lunch. I've often said that many sauces change character when it meets the flames of the grill, so I thought I'd give Bob's another chance in burgers. I'm always playing with hamburger ingredients. I've mixed in tomato paste, onion soup mix, ketchup, horseradish, etc, anything to boost the flavor of the meat.

I took about 1/4 cup of Country Bob's and mixed it into 1 1/2 lbs of ground sirloin. I grilled the burgers to medium rare and topped them with Swiss Cheese, ketchup and relish. Now here Bob's shined, giving the burgers a flavor boost they needed.

So, from my two experiments with Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce makes me think that as an ingredient, Country Bob's works very well. But to my wife and I it's just too sweet to use on its own. But you should try it out; I'd love to hear your experiences with it.