In the last few weeks and months, a new supplier of rubs, seasonings and hot sauces known as Crawdad's Classics Gourmet Flavorings has been popping up all over the place in St. Louis and the Midwest in general.  This is a crowded market to try to break into, but they have done so with some great products.  My favorite I will be reviewing here – Crawmama's Gourmet Dipping sauce. I know the logo above is Crawdad's, but this is another product line of theirs that is outstanding.

The fist time I had heard of them was at a Blues game a couple weeks ago when I saw a sign over the condiments station that read, "Try a real 'hot' dog," and the logo for Crawdad's Classics.  Being a hot sauce junkie, I obliged and slathered my hotdog with the sauce. It was great.  It had nice kick but didn't knock me over. I hate spicy stuff that is so spicy I can't taste what I put it on.  What's the point of that? And it doesn't hurt to be the official hot sauce of both the St. Louis Blues and the St. Louis Cardinals to make me a fan.

Since then I've had two of their rubs as well as the habanero sauce which, much to my surprise is not hot.  Well, OK, it's not "hot" in terms of habenero's, but it's still got some heat. But normally I don't touch habanero sauce because the vast majority of hot sauce makers have no idea how to temper the heat in their insane desire to injure the taste buds of their customers. I don't fault people that do that. There's definitely a market for it, but I'm not part of the market. I prefer how Crawdad's Classics does it. I can taste the habaneros and I can taste, well, anything after the habanero hits my tongue rather than the lingering effects of third degree burns on my taste buds.

Which brings me to this lovely Crawmama's dipping sauce:

Anyone who has been on this site more than a couple times knows how much I love jerk flavoring because I get the heat I like plus many layers of flavors. That's the same vibe I get from this sauce that is sweet and spicy and thick and gooey. It's not nearly as hot as the jerk I slather on stuff and lights me on fire so all of you who shy away from that, and want that Caribbean flavor, this is it. It's got hints of pineapple that counter the spice that sticks to the food thanks to how thick and cloying the sauce is. The first time I tried it I dipped blackened steak into it, but all I could think about was how it would be on ribs since it already had a BBQ sauce like consistency, if not even thicker.

So that's what I did.  I got a bottle of the sauce, which can be found at Kenrick's and Dierberg's regularly and sometimes at Schnuck's (but you might have to ask for it as they aren't displaying it everywhere), and a couple slabs of baby back ribs from Kenrick's:

I went simple here, salt and black pepper on each side:

Then onto a grill I set up for indirect grilling with some peach wood chips:

After a little more than an hour in the smoke they were ready for some sauce:

The smell of this stuff cooking and thickening is intoxicating.

About 90 minutes later, and a couple more bastings, I pulled the ribs:

And then after some time to rest we sliced and tore into those bad boys:

Excellent smoke ring, meat tender and juicy but not quite fall off the bone, and the sauce was sweet and spicy and oh so good.  I'm already thinking of how to make this again and improve the process.  And I just figured out how to do it.  Rather than go simple with the salt and pepper, why not hit it with a rub and combine two great Crawdad's Classics products when I hit it with this rub before I slather them with the gooey, sticky sauce:

And just for fun, last night I put the Crawmama's on a steak:

Mmmmmmm…

So far everything I've sampled by Crawdad's Creations has been fantastic. I can't wait to use it more extensively.  Next up, the BBQ rub and the dipping sauce on ribs.  I can't wait.