I Tried 17 BBQ Sauces. These 7 Are So Good You'll Find Excuses to Use Them

When it comes to summer condiments, barbecue sauce stands alone. Ketchup and mustard have their place all year, but smoky, sweet, and tangy barbecue shines when the grills come out; over ribs, on wings or straight from the bottle when no one's looking.

I tested more than a dozen small-batch and mass-produced sauces and found a few clear winners out of 17.

The real challenge is picking a sauce from the grocery store aisle: a smoky, spicy sprawl of big promises and regional pride. The bottles worth buying are the ones that get the balance right, whether that means hitting the sweet spot between tang, smoke and sweetness or doubling down on heat or molasses depth. The only way to find your favorite is to taste your way there -- and that's a pretty good problem to have.