B. J. Bull Hot Sauce Review

B. J. Bull Hot & Spicy Special Sauce

I want to preface this by noting that there is only one place in the world, at least as of this writing and of which I'm aware, where this can be obtained and that is the B. J. Bull Bakery in Elko, Nevada. This is also done, from what I understand, in-house, in small batches.

The original intent is to go with pasties, ala the Cornwall variety and in that case, it does exceedingly well, particularly with the creamier ones, such as the chicken type made in the store. I imagine it would also do particularly well with beef. I have tried it on a number of other foods, as I had to take a bottle home with me and it has done, for the most part, remarkably well, with enough assertiveness not to get lost, but not so much as to overpower things. I've used it as dipping sauce and as accent and it performs equally well in either setting. It won't work for all foods and the very strong-flavored type, such as Mexican, for example, will clash in a big way, but it does very well overall.

It has quite a lot of ingredients and usually in that type of setting, I begin to worry if there is some masking or amateurish "kitchen-sink" notions going on with the chef, but I tell you, it works to perfection here and most of the things can be picked out and all of them combine to a stunning effect. Some of the things included here are chiles (obviously, but 3 or 4 different types), garlic, cloves, tomato puree, light brown sugar (if you're thinking a little barbeque sauce aspect here, you're not far off, but it is definitely NOT a barbeque sauce), currants, curry and good old cracked black pepper.

I'll be honest (as always) and mention this is not a super-roaring "tear your face off" type sauce. There is some heat, but it is mostly of the nice and subtle variety, enough to be present, but, again, not to be overbearing. It is a welcome addition, but part of the entire picture, as all of the components are. It also comes in a very large bottle for a very minimal $6, making this one of the best deals around.

Bottom line: Is this worth the drive to Elko? Probably not (and I'm guessing they would ship you some), but I would, however, detour out of the way a bit to get some of those pasties, pies and another bottle of this sauce. Definitely worth taking for a spin (all of them).


Breakdown:

            Heat level: 2
            Flavor: 8
            Flexibility: 8
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 10

Overall: 7