What Actually Sells at a Barbecue Shop: Our Number One Sauce and the Rest of the Top Three

We have more than 600 sauces and rubs on the wall. People ask which one is the best, and the honest answer is that it depends on what you are cooking. But there is a different question with a hard answer: which one do people actually buy?

For thirteen months running, as of February, it has been the same bottle. Haus-Sauce Garlic Parm Buffalo, made by Henry's in Henrietta, New York.

This post is about that sauce, the two products behind it on the list, and what a best-seller list at a Western New York barbecue shop tells you about how this town eats.

Number one: Haus-Sauce Garlic Parm Buffalo

It is a Buffalo wing sauce with garlic and Parmesan folded in, creamy enough to cling and hot enough to remind you what it is. Henry's makes it about ninety minutes east of us in Henrietta.

Pat's line about it is that if you have not tried it yet, your friends probably have. It has been the number one seller in the store since we opened, every single month.

It went into gallons in February because customers kept asking. Pat's math on the jug: roughly eight bottles' worth for the price of five.

What it is for. Wings, obviously. Also chicken sandwiches, a Buffalo chicken pizza, roasted potatoes, and, in Pat's case, packing peanuts. That last one is from a skit he filmed about his strange addiction to the stuff, and the sauce was the only true part.

Number two: Duck Fat Spray

The February top three put a can of duck fat spray in second place, which surprises people until they use it.

It is rendered duck fat in an aerosol can. Spray it on chicken before the rub and the seasoning sticks while the skin browns and crisps. Spray a grate and nothing sticks. Spray corn, potatoes, or a cast iron pan. It is the binder in our charcoal wing recipe and the reason those wings have a crust.

It is a bestseller for the same reason a good thermometer is. Once somebody uses it, they cannot go back.

Number three: Blues Hog Original

Blues Hog Original is a competition-circuit barbecue sauce, thick and sweet with a little tang, the kind that glazes ribs and pulled pork. It wins contests, and it wins in backyards in Blasdell for the same reason: brush it on in the last ten minutes and it sets into a shine.

By June, Chiavetta's Barbecue Marinade had climbed to number two, which is the most Buffalo thing that could happen to a best-seller list.

What the list says about Buffalo

Look at the three together. A Buffalo wing sauce, the thing that makes chicken skin crisp, and a rib glaze. Then the marinade that every church and fire hall chicken barbecue in the region uses climbing the list in summer.

This town eats chicken. It marinates first and sauces last. It cooks over charcoal on the weekend and wants a rub that works on a Tuesday. The best-seller list is not a trend report. It is a description of the backyard.

Try our number one selling sauce for thirteen months running. I'll make that deal.Pat, announcing the Haus-Sauce tasting

How to use the top three together

• Wings: marinate in Chiavetta's, mist with duck fat, season, grill over charcoal, toss in Haus-Sauce off the heat.
• Ribs: rub, smoke, brush with Blues Hog Original for the last ten minutes, and keep the Haus-Sauce on the table for people who want to dip.
• A Tuesday: chicken thighs, duck fat spray, any rub on the wall, and Haus-Sauce on the side. Twenty minutes.

When the best-seller is the wrong choice

Haus-Sauce is a wing sauce. It is not what you want on a brisket, and it will burn on the grill if you sauce early because of the dairy and the sugar. Blues Hog Original is too sweet for a lot of people on chicken. Duck fat spray does nothing for a steak that already has a fat cap.

The list tells you what people buy. The counter tells you what to buy for the cook you are actually doing. Bring the question in and we will point at the right bottle.