This week Conor Pope tests Barbecue Sauces

Cottage Delight Hickory Smoked Barbecue Sauce, €3.40 for 220ml, €15.45 per litre

Highs:This is a very fine quality product which is equally happy being used as a pour-over or a basting sauce. It is the only sauce we tried that lists distilled hickory smoke as an ingredient (1.9 per cent) and as a result has none of the obviously artificial smoky flavours commonly found in products of this nature. While it smells very, very smoky it is not overpoweringly so and the tangy tomato flavours are allowed to shine through. The tiny flecks of garlic and onion also have a surprisingly decent crunch.

Lows:While it is certainly very good, it is also expensive and availability is going to be a problem for many people. The bottle is rather small so it wouldn't go a long way at a barbie attended by more than a handful of people.

Verdict:Nice but pricey

Star rating: ***

Roadhouse Southern Sunset Bar-B-Que Sauce, €6.79 for 560ml, €12.12 per litre

Highs:The label on the bottle tells us that this sauce is "slap your mama good"; while we had no idea what that was supposed to mean, we did find ourselves agreeing wholeheartedly after a few spoons. It has a gorgeous spicy kick and is incredibly addictive. Its long but very natural ingredient list includes peach juice, dried apricots and molasses and a whole lot of pepper and paprika - it was so spicy it practically had steam coming out our ears. It is low in fat, salt and cholesterol.

Lows:It has a very thin (a kinder way of saying watery) consistency and we feared it would turn a burger bun or hot dog roll to mush in double-quick time. Finding it might be a problem too - we happened upon it during a very rare visit to Donnybrook Fair.

Verdict: Er, it's slap your mama good

Star rating: *****

Jack Daniel's Tennessee Style Barbecue Sauce, €3.69 for 275g, €13.41 per kg

Highs:By far the most interesting thing about this barbecue sauce is the label - it looks so much like a bottle of JD that a Tesco store assistant in the UK recently refused to sell it to a woman on the grounds that she didn't have ID proving she was over 18. It lacks the intense smoky kick of much of the competition and has quite a mellow flavour.

Lows:Although one person's mellow may be another's bland. We found it a little vinegary and the many flavours were impossible to discern. We certainly couldn't get any taste of whiskey at all from this, although that may well have been a good thing. There is nothing remotely special about it, and it seemed like too high a price to pay to mask the taste of cheap sausages.

Verdict: Not good at this price

Star rating: **

Heinz BBQ sauce, €2.40 for 570m, €4.21 per litre

Highs:This light-coloured sauce comes in an easy-to-squeeze plastic bottle and has a very smooth consistency. It is not a million miles away from the tomato sauce by the same maker so it is quite comforting and will have a familiarity that will appeal to kids. It is cheap and widely available, which will appeal to their parents. It is very sweet.

Lows:In fact, it has almost twice the sugar of some of the competition, something which might not be so appealing to parents. It is not remotely tangy, lacks any real fruitiness and has little or no smoke. It would be a shame to smother really nicely barbecued food in this, although it would be fine on a bog-standard burger.

Verdict:Good everyday sauce

Star rating: ***

Cattlemen's Hickory Smoke Barbecue Sauce, €2.99 for 504g, €5.94 per kg

Highs:This smooth sauce has a strong, smoky flavour that completely takes over, leaving the fruity flavours, such as they are, struggling to be noticed. This isn't any old barbecue sauce but a barbecue sauce "world champion", the label assures us, although it doesn't go into any more detail than that. It is also on the cheap side and commonly found on the shelves of large supermarkets.

Lows:The label also assures us this sauce is made with only "the finest ingredients", which is grand until we discover that that includes high-fructose corn syrup, sodium benzoate and hickory smoke flavouring - not as wholesome-sounding as some of the competition. The smoky flavour was way too strong and it all seemed a bit too processed.

Verdict:A bit disappointing

Star rating: **