Big Bob Gibson Original White Sauce
v. BeerSauce x Duke’s Bama BBQ Sauce
As our previous post, A Brief History of Alabama Style White Sauce, describes, this storied, tangy white sauce from northern Ala. has come into popularity across the county! So, being the Flavor Guru’s that we are, decided to pit a couple of the best Alabama White Sauces “wing to wing” in this flavor-filled Battle of Bama.
Of course the “Grandpappy” of them all, Big Bob Gibson Original White Sauce, makes an appearance in this flavor showdown… read on for our flavor adventure taste-off!
A Brief Rundown on Big Bob’s Original
Bar-B-Q Chicken White Sauce
The Original Bar-B-Q Chicken White Sauce was created by Robert Lee Gibson in the port city of Decatur, Ala. back in the 1920s as an addition to his whole, pit-smoked chickens he’d fix for his friends and family. In 1925, Bob opened his first restaurant, and to this day folks from all across the country (and world) flock to Big Bob Gibson’s restaurants to experience his award winning unique white sauce.
Reports say the restaurants go through over 20 gallons of the tangy white elixir A DAY! Not only are the whole chickens dunked into a vat of the sauce once they come off the pit, folks add EVEN MORE sauce from table-top bottles to their chicken, potatoes, pork and more.
Big Bob Gibson’s Restaurant describes the Sauce as an all purpose sauce. Its tangy peppery taste goes well with poultry, pork, seafood, and wild game. This intriguing flavor complements salads and is a superb baste for chicken and turkey. Use White Sauce as an ingredient to add an extra kick to your favorite slaw or potato salad.
While Big Bob’s is the original, there are tons more out there with huge flavors, fun ingredients and cult-like followings all their own.
A Brief Rundown on Duke x BeerSauce Shop’s Bama White BBQ Sauce
Duke’s BBQ Shack, founded by Peter Venezia in 2017 in Wentzville, MO, a town monikered as “The Crossroads of the Nation” Duke’s features a quartet of sauces on tables including the crowd favorite Duke’s Bama BBQ Sauce.
Duke’s describes the sauce as an authentic Alabama-style White Sauce withprevalent horseradish that melds with buttermilk, lemon juice, garlic vinegar and more for a truly unique flavor experience. This horseradish-forward white sauce is great on prime rib, pulled pork, pork ribs, fresh and grilled asparagus, even burgers and big ol’ roast beef sandwiches.
Bama White BBQ Sauce is now available for sale at all BeerSauce Shop Locations and goes great on our in-house BBQ menu items like the Italian Brisket Dip, Sweet N Smoky Pulled Pork and Chicken Sandwiches. Also a great dipping sauce for Billy Goat Kettle Chips.
Battle of ‘Bama: Alabama White Sauce Showdown
First, we smoked 8 jumbo chicken wings with a minimal dusting of BeerSauce Classy Chassis for a little savor SPG. Immediately after pulling from the pit we plunged four wings each into waiting bowls featuring either Big Bob’s Original White Sauce or Duke’s Bama BBQ Sauce. We tossed to coat and plated the wings immediately and let them cool slightly before taking first bites.
In addition, a half slab of smoked ribs were prepared with a touch of a mop then pulled from the bone and shredded into a delicious, steaming pile of succulent rib meat and divided into two piles. One pile of rib meat received a smothering of Big Bob’s Original White Sauce and the other pile of succulent meat was doused with Duke’s Bama BBQ Sauce.
And Now We Taste!
After much ado (pictures, notes, etc.) and napkins were acquired, the tasting began with eager tastebuds!
First up, a giant bite off the well crisped Drumstick tossed in Big Bob’s Original Bar-B-Q Chicken White Sauce. This stuff is the glass slipper for chicken! The pairing with both the thin layer or well-crisped skin and the tender white meat is like nothing else in this world. The white sauce’s creaminess is quickly followed by a medium tang that is then edged down by the slightly fruity character from the added lemon. the generous black pepper flakes linger alongside the vinegar tang; both are then wiped away with the fat from the mayonnaise leaving your mouth reeling for another bite of delight. With a nice coating on the outside of the wing, this thin sauce sticks well enough, but a squirt or two of the stuff on your plate for dipping is highly recommended.
Followed by a swig of water to cleanse the palate, we launch headlong into another well-crisped, juicy Chicken Drumstick slathered in Duke’s x BeerSauce Shop’s Bama White BBQ Sauce. The sharp, slightly earthy scent of horseradish wafts from the wing that steams and drips rendered fat and small amounts of this slightly viscous white sauce. BAM! The savory creaminess coats the mouth and bonds with the juicy wing’s natural juices; then as you expect, the horseradish splashes down with the burst of pungent, short-lived spiciness for which the root is known. Once the blast of horseradish dissipates, the complexity of the sauce further opens to reveal pungent garlic, fresh black pepper notes and the well-melded vinegar acidity that does well to balance the mayonnaise base of the sauce and the rendered fat of chicken.
In addition to the smoked, crispy chicken wings that were slathered in Bama White BBQ & Big Bob’s White Chicken Sauce, we added a Slathering of Both Sauces to Pulled Rib Meat for another look at these creamy, vinegar forward sauces on another meat we all love, PORK!
Duke’s Bama White BBQ Sauce, with the burst of fresh ground horseradish, does well on the slightly boulder smoked rib meat. The sauce is slightly more viscous, allowing more of it to stick to the pork better than that of the Big Bob’s White Chicken Sauce. Big Bob’s Original had a hard-time staying affixed to the pork pullings, which is a good thing, because its flavor did not meld well with the smokey, fuller flavored rib meat. Guess that’s why Big Bob calls it a White Chicken Sauce?
In summation, Big Bob’s Original White Chicken Sauce is a world-class sauce to use as a mop and finishing sauce on grilled or smoked chicken wings. Not a very versatile sauce, this bad boy is a one trick pony, but it gets a 10/10 for that one trick! Duke’s Bama White Sauce has lots of tricks in its bottle, with a huge burst of it signature horseradish this sauce can do well as a side sauce to slow roasted prime rib, grilled venison back strap, even atop a dagwood roast beef sandwich.
Purchase Duke’s BBQ Shack x BeerSauce Shop’s Bama White Sauce at BeerSauce Shop Locations today! Stores will, on occasion, stock Big Bob’s Original White Chicken Sauce.