Great barbecue from Jack Daniel’s

Nice work, Jack.

The food panel tasters are suckers for good, rib-sticking fare, and they were licking their fingers after tasting of two heat-and-eat entrees made with Jack Daniel’s glaze and barbecue sauce.

Of the 10 panel members at the tasting, eight people gave the Jack Daniel’s Baby Back Ribs and Pull Beef our highest rating for taste. Both received an overall rating of four and a half stars out of five.

“Delicious! Could not have tasted better,” Lindi Messenger said of the baby back ribs. “Wonderful barbecue sauce (that is) not too sweet and not too spicy. Fall-off-the-bone tenderness that melts in the mouth. More please.”

Tasters praised the ribs for being meaty and tender, and they loved the flavor of the sauce.

“The sauce is fantastic,” said Larry Inman. “Meat was tender, not too chewy. Very good.”

Vicki Deschaine was surprised that the entrees didn’t take hours of smoking. “Is this from a grocery store?”

The entrees are made by Completely Fresh Foods and can be found with other completely cooked entrees in the meat section of many stores. They can be warmed in the microwave or in the oven.

Tina Johnson raved about both the ribs and the barbecue. “My husband will be so jealous. This is divine pulled beef with just the right zing in the sauce. Hook ’em horns!”

Nancy Robinson agreed: “Yum. This was great, good sauce, meat and flavor. Perfect-o! The only bad part was a couple of chunks of fat, but overall it was great.”

And Jenny Whittaker gave the pulled beef a thumbs-up. “Wow – very flavorful. I rarely say this, ‘I would buy this!’ ”

Only Skip Hubbard said he would have liked a bit more zip to the barbecue sauce in the pulled beef, but he conceded that the flavor was good. “Much better than average,” he said.

Jack Daniel’s Baby Back Ribs

Price: $6.99 per pound

Nutrition per serving: 580 calories, 37 grams fat (13 grams saturated, 57 percent fat calories), 28 grams protein, 34 grams carbohydrate, 135 milligrams cholesterol, no dietary fiber, 760 milligrams sodium.

Taste: • • • • 1/2

Value: • • • •

Comments: “Now you’re talking! Pig rib heaven – delicious. The sauce is just the correct amount of smoke and sweet.” – Tina Johnson

“Finger-licking good. Very good. Nice tender ribs, nice sauce.” – Nancy Robinson

“Meaty ribs with a great barbecue sauce. Very tender meat. Yum.” – Peggy Kazanis

“Finger-licking ribs. Meat falls off the bone – tender with great barbecue flavor. Lots of napkins for these.” – Jenny Whittaker

Jack Daniel’s Pulled Beef

Price: $6.99 per pound

Nutrition per serving: 220 calories, 4 grams fat (1 gram saturated, 16 percent fat calories), 19 grams protein, 27 grams carbohydrate, 35 milligrams cholesterol, 1 gram dietary fiber, 750 milligrams sodium.

Taste: • • • • 1/2

Value: • • • •

Comments: Perfect blend of brown sugar, maple and hickory smoke flavor. Tender, flavorful pulled beef with plenty of barbecue sauce. Great!” – Lindi Messenger

“Tender and rich – uniformly good – but not for dieters.” – Andy Hoye

“Tender and tasty.” – Larry Inman