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See why.Barbecue Basting Bottles
Are barbecue basting bottles better than a bowl? We tested four to find out.
Published Sept. 1, 2009. Appears in Cook's Illustrated September/October 2009
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What You Need To Know
Plastic basting bottles with brush heads eliminate messy dripping between your bowl of barbecue sauce and the grill. Just fill the bottle, screw on the brush head, and squeeze to release sauce onto the brush. We tried out four bottles, basting grilled chicken. Brushes with soft silicone bristles gently distributed sauce, while stiffer bristles tore and even removed delicate chicken skin. We also preferred long-necked bottles, which kept our hands far from the heat.
Everything We Tested
Highly Recommended
Flexible and small, with a 2-inch diameter, this bottle was easy to squeeze, allowing good control over the amount of sauce dispensed. Soft silicone bristles gently glided over chicken pieces, keeping skins intact. Milliliter and cup measurements on the side of the bottle let us know exactly how much sauce we were using. Storage cap was handy during transport.
Recommended
Soft silicone bristles and an angled brush head basted sauce onto chicken effectively. The 12-inch bottle ensured your hand was far away from the grill. But stiff bottle material made it more difficult to squeeze and control the amount of sauce dispensed.
Recommended with reservations
The flexible, small bottle (with a 2-inch diameter) was easy to hold, squeeze, and control. But stiff nylon bristles brushed the skin right off a few pieces of chicken.
Not Recommended
Holes that released sauce from the bottle onto the brush were so small that chunks of spices got stuck in them. When trying to dispense sauce, one tester squeezed the bottle so hard that the top shot off, spraying barbecue sauce on the chicken, the coals, and another test cook who was standing nearby.
Reviews you can trust
Reviews you can trust
The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval on them.
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