Tag: rub

Review: Draper’s BBQ Rub & Sauce

I love the “microbrew” movement in BBQ sauces and rubs. It has created many new products and companies that share the love of good BBQ with a passion to make a great product.

Shane Draper at Draper’s BBQ is one of those folks who is sharing his passion and family traditions via his own “microbrew” BBQ sauce and rub. Shane is a 3rd generation pitmaster from Western Kentucky and as the label states, there’s “3 generations of pride and flavor in a bottle” that honors his family hertiage. While I had met Shane on line awhile back, it was only recently that I actually got to chat with him a little at the Kentucky Bluegrass festival where he was sharing samples of his products.

I came home with a bottle of both the A.P. Rub and the Smokin’ Sauce. I’d planned to cook with these products righ away, but a little knife accident sidelined me for a couple of weeks. I finally had the opportunity to fire up the grill and try out Draper’s rub & sauce. I like to sample rubs and sauces with pork tenderloin or chicken. I think flavors stand out a little more with these meats.

So, we had a couple of pork tenderloins ready to go for dinner last night. I applied the A.P. Rub to both and grilled them on the Bubba Keg. When they were nearly done, I gave one of them a coat of Smokin’ Sauce as a finish. Then, I sliced them and the family sat down to dinner.

Now usually, my wife and I like a finish sauce on pork tenderloin, but my kids prefer them dry. The Smokin’ Sauce definitely changed that. Much to my surprise, the kids couldn’t get enough of the sauced tenderloin. In fact, one of my daughters said, “I can’t eat any more, but can I lick the sauce off that last piece?” Now if that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is!

In all seriousness, Smokin’ Sauce is a tomato based sauce with a slightly sweet finish and just a little kick. Don’t think “Kansas City” when I say sweet, cause that’s not what I’m talking about. This is more Memphis than KC, but I’d even hesitate to put it in the category of Memphis style sauces. I have also tried the sauce on brisket and for me, I’d have to say that I prefered it on pork. But it was a good compliment to both.

The A.P. Rub is a really nice balance of salt, spice, and sweet. In fact Shane was sampling the product sprinkled on popcorn in Danville, KY. I found it just a little sweeter than the rubs I’ve been using most often. That’s probably what makes it more all purpose than rubs targeted at a specific meat. For comparison, I’d definitely put it in the cateogry of a Dizzy Pig or Yardbird type of rub. Truly, it’s an all-purpose (or A.P.) rub.

I’m very happy with the products and I’ll continue to cook with them. I’m also anxious to try the other sauces that Shane’s working on.

Check out Draper’s BBQ at http://www.drapersbbq.com

Cheers,
Braddog

Rub & Sauce

For the month of June, I’m booked solid. My BBQ commitments shape up like this:

June 4th – Pigapalooza, where I’ll be cooking for a fund raiser to support Jacob’s Ladder
June 11th – cooking pork butt for a graduation party.
June 18th – my first BBQ competition
June 25th – pork butt & brisket for my cousin’s wedding reception

So with all that to do over the next month, I realized that I needed to lay in a few supplies and settle on a flavor profile (at least for the month of June). Since I’ve been using Plowboy’s Yardbird, it’s become my go to rub. Likewise, Blueshog BBQ sauce has become my go to sauce for ribs. I’m still in search of a go to sauce to apply to sandwiches, but for now I think I’m set.

Plowboy’s Yardbird RubBlues Hog BBQ Sauce

Home to see some of you at one these fine events!

Cheers,
Braddog

Review: Peg-Leg Porker BBQ Rub

I recently attended the Business of BBQ with Mike & Amy Mills in Murphysboro, IL. I met lots of great folks, including Carey Bringle of Peg Leg Porker. I’ve read about Carey, his competition team, his team mates, and his line of signature BBQ products.

Carey is a seasoned competition cook and I’m really glad that I got to know him. As the 2-day class wrapped up, Carey tossed me some of his rub to try out and reveiw. So I brought it home and finally got around to firing up the Big Green Egg and giving it a try.

This is a classic Memphis style dry rub. It’s not sweet. In fact, I’m not sure there’s any sugar in it at all. But that’s okay. It has a very rich, earthy flavor with a slight hint of chili powder or something similar. Don’t get me wrong…it’s not spicey, but it has a nice flavor. If you’ve ever eaten ribs at the Rendezvous in Memphis, this rub is similar to the dry rub they serve.

I like to taste test rubs on chicken. I think you get a better idea of the flavor profile with the lighter flavor of chicken. I hit some chicken with Peg Leg’s rub and smoked it for a couple hours. I thought the rub had a great taste and went great with chicken. I’m sure it’ll go great on pork too, and I’ll be trying that soon.

Peg Leg has a couple of other products available at their website, as well as information on the competition team. You can also catch up with them at Memphis in May.

Here’s their contact info:

www.peglegporker.com
www.smokelikeapro.com
Follow Peg Leg Porker on Twitter
Peg Leg Porker Twitter Page
Join their Facebook Page:
Peg Leg Porker Facebook Page

Cheers,
Braddog

Magic Dust

My favorite BBQ restaurant is 17th Street Bar & Grill. I enjoy their BBQ and have enjoyed reading Mike Mills’ book “Peace, Love, and Barbecue”. It’s chocked full of recipes and today I put together a batch of Mike’s rub that he calls, “Magic Dust”.

I had all of the ingredients in my cupboard, so I figured it was time that I kept with one of my New Year’s resolutions and tried something different. When I got the rub together, I compared it with the little bit of store bought Magic Dust that I had left. It looks, smells, and tastes pretty darned closed to the commercial version.

It’s on the pork butts now. I’ll be firing the smoker this evening and will report back on the end results.

Cheers,

Braddog

Review: Dizzy Pig BBQ Rub

Over the past couple of years, I’ve read lots of comments about the products from Dizzy Pig BBQ. Now I always thought to myself, “How good could it be?”. I’ve been through a number of grocery store rubs & grill seasonings and they all seem to be pretty much the same. So it was with low expectations that I placed my first order with the folks at Dizzy Pig.

However, to say they exceeded my expectations is an understatement. They have a variety of products targeted at different foods. I ordered a gift pack of 3 of their products. When the package arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find a sample of many of their other products. Here’s a rundown of my first order.

Dizzy Pig’s Dizzy Dust (available in regular or coarse grind) – This is a great all around rub that works well on pork, chicken or beef. I really like it on pork butt or ribs.
Shakin’ The Tree – This rub is very versatile. It has become my standard rub for chicken, but I’ve also used it as an accent to everything from fish to jalapeno poppers.
Raisin’ the Steaks – As the name implies, this is great for beef. I like this on steaks and brisket. It’s sort of a variation on a Montreal Seasoning.

Dizzy Pig makes a number of other rubs that I haven’t tried yet, but if these three are any indication of what I can expect you can bet I’ll be placing another order soon. You should do the same.

Cheers,
Braddog

What’s the Rub?

In BBQ circles, you’ll hear lots of talk about “rubs”. So, I thought I’d take a minute to level set what a rub is. Simply put, it’s a combination of spices applied to the outside of a piece of meat that result in the crispy outer crust that is often found on BBQ. The name is derived from the method of application. Usually the rub is applied by vigorously rubbing into all the nooks and crannies of piece of meat you plan to BBQ.

Rubs can be as simple as salt and pepper, or very complex as found in commercially available rubs. Generally speaking, rubs are comprised of 1/3 salt, 1/3 sugar, 1/3 other seasoning to taste depending on the cut of meat that you’re applying it to. If you want to try your hand at making a rub, keep these proportions in mind.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be writing reviews of some of the rubs that I’ve used over the past year or so. I’ll also share a couple of basic rubs that I’ve used with success.

Cheers,

Braddog