ROB’S SAVORY CHIPOTLE RUB

Rob Ryan of ‘Rob’s Smokin Rub’ has created and released a new bbq rub to add to his ‘Award Winning” lineup of bbq sauces and rubs. Rob’s tagline is;” Rub It With Rob's or Don't Rub It At All”  ‘Rob’s Savory Chipotle Rub is a new flavor which boast to be a Competition Blend Sauce. We know Rob from barbeque competitions. He is a colorful fixture with his bright neon “Frog Sauce” shirts at many events. This new rub is comprised of many fresh ingredients such as; sugar, salt, brown sugar, chili powder spices, ground chipotle powder and natural hickory flavor. Chipotle is a smoked dried jalapeno which will add both a heat and smoky component to this rub. We purchased a bottle and decided to give it a test run on some ribs.

The convenient combination pour slash shake top was opened to reveal an inviting aroma of smoky fresh spices. I dipped a finger in to taste and revealed a sweet and savory type flavor. My first impression was of salt and brown sugar with a hint of smoke. It finished with a slight heat from the chipotle. This flavor combination was pleasing from the get go. To be fair, rubs should be sampled on a protein with heat applied. We liberally dusted some St. Lois style cut pork ribs. A fire was stoked in our smoker. The ribs took a sauna at 240 degrees for three and one half hours.

Look how beautiful they turned out. The sugars had caramelized with magical seasoning properties. I tried a rib before the finishing sauce. The rub ingredients transformed these ribs into savory treats. I thought the all-important balance of heat to sweet was perfect. We did finish these ribs with a bourbon bbq sauce. With the proper cooking technique Rob’s Savory Chipotle Rub very well could win a competition. They sure won at our dinner table.

Rob’s Savory Chipotle Rub.

http://robssmokinrub.com/index

BACON BBQ

“Bacon BBQ’ is an all-purpose rub created by “Meat Church BBQ”. I was informed by “Meat Church BBQ” this rub would change my life. Does my life need changing? Regardless, we purchased ‘Bacon BBQ’ rub and will take it out for a test spin. This should be interesting. Will this rub have any resemblance to bacon? We will try this rub on some chicken and ribs. Let’s start the barbeque.

Ingredients:

Sugar, salt, spices including paprika, dextrose, dehydrated garlic, natural flavor, no greater than 2% silicone dioxide to prevent caking and spice extractives are the listed ingredients. It strikes me rather odd that there is not even a hint of bacon listed in this list. I am not sure what natural flavor might be but let’s give it a shot.

  I opened the top and I smelled garlic and paprika. There is a slight smokiness in the background. I took a little taste and immediately got a sweet salty bite. This was expected. I would venture to say it was on the sweet side. Did I taste bacon? Maybe, but I was wishing really hard and that might of effected my perception of the flavor. Okay, it does not taste like bacon. To be fair this is a rub and using this with heat and cooking will change the flavor profile.

Food:

We dusted our chicken thighs liberally with Bacon Rub. We cooked the chicken in a covered kettle bbq with indirect heat. The chicken looked fantastic. The sugars in the rub caramelized and with the paprika the colors of this chicken were fantastic.  Ms. Goofy and I both agreed this rub was great. Sugar is the first ingredient listed and this rub is on the sweet side in a good way. The other ingredients were present in the flavor background and complimented the overall taste.
 Next up were some St. Louis style ribs. Once again a liberal dusting of Bacon Rub was applied. Three hours in a smoker and this masterpiece was revealed. These ribs were competition worthy. They looked and tasted fantastic. Did we get any nuance or hint of bacon? No.

Overall:

Bacon Rub is a fantastic all-purpose rub. I would recommend it to anyone. We had great results with both of our cooks.  Why do they use the term bacon in this rubs name? I know why. They hooked me with my weakness for all things bacon. This is misleading but we will forgive Meat Church BBQ because this is a good all-purpose rub. In conclusion, Bacon BBQ rub did not change my life but we had some fantastic meals.

Meat Church BBQ

DOG DAY SPICE RUB

Last summer we judged a local bbq contest in Martinez California called 'King of the County BBQ Challenge.' This was a great competition showcasing local bbq talent. Greg & Kerry were winners of first place chicken who also happen to own a small batch bbq spice rub company called 'Dog Day Spice Rub'. This company is more than just a business but a passion to help people make fantastic food. This mission statement rings true to my heart. Through social media we connected and I was sent this fun line-up of spice rubs. Dog Day Spice Rub makes six different unique rubs for different meat applications.

Gluten free, no msg, no preservatives make these rubs flavor bombs in a package. A fun feature of these rubs is the label depicting a dog that has impacted Greg & Kerry's lives. Today we are sampling 'Jack's Paw Lickin' Rub'. Jack was their easy going black Labrador.. Jack's Paw rub was opened to reveal a very pleasant fresh spice aroma. I took a pinch to sample the flavor. The flavors were vibrant and fresh. The balance of peppers, spices and salt were balanced. This rub was mild with no noticeable heat from peppers. Of course, will all rubs, the test will be with the cook.

Jacks's Paw Lickin' Rub is an all purpose rub that is reported to work well with beef, chicken, pork, vegetables and even popcorn. It did win first place with chicken in Martinez. We are going to use this rub with a steak and a very special American Kobe brisket. We rubbed the aged New York steak with the rub. It was cooked over a very high heat. The sugars caramelized and melded with the spices to create a crust that was scrumptious. This rub worked well to enhance our steak experience. Next was a very special brisket. I believe the image will speak for itself. This rub was one components of the best brisket experience we have ever had. WoW.

We really enjoyed Dog Day Spice Rub Jack's Paw Lickin' Rub. It is an all-purpose rub that we enjoyed on beef. It has won awards in chicken in our local bbq contest. Dog Day Spice Rub company has a fun line-up of spice rubs that uses fresh and vibrant ingredients. We cannot wait to explore some of their other unique and special rub offerings. Anybody that names spice rubs after their dogs is okay in my book. Our dog Lucy would love to have her own lineup of  bbq spice rubs. Stay tuned for more Dog Day Spice Rubs.

Dog Day Spice Company
1 (925) 917-0416

NIKKI'S HOT ASS SEASONINGS

This past Holiday weekend our smokers, grills and Dutch ovens got a full workout. We got to try out and review a fun rub called 'Nikki's Hot Ass Seasoning' Bacon topped meatloaf, wings and Atomic Buffalo Turds all got a healthy dose of this new rub.You can read all about it by clicking the link below..

Read Review Here

ROB’S FROG SAUCE

Rob Ryan’s presence with his rub’s and sauces is felt at competition barbeque events. He is the owner and proprietor of ‘Rob’s Smokin Rubs’, a sauce and rub company. He sponsors some competitors and we are gong to mention one in particular today. Zack Galiste is a 16 year old barbeque sensation. He is on a fast track to win the 2013 Rookie of the Year award. He took second place in Chicken at the ‘Brentwood Cook-off & Car Show’.  I am friends with Zack and his father and I purchased Rob’s rub to help support his effort to achieve BBQ greatness. The barbeque community is a small tight knit community. When Rob heard I bought his rub from Zack he gave me a ‘Frog Sauce’ to accompany it. Today we are going to attempt to make some competition style chicken using Rob’s Frog Sauce and ‘Smokin Rub’. My wife, Ms. Goofy will be the barbeque judge in attendance. Gentlemen start your grills.

This chicken will be similar to Zack’s award winning entry. He cannot reveal all his secrets but this will be close. We will be using a Weber Rocky Mountain Smoker. The first step is to trim your chicken into equal sized pieces. This will insure even cooking and will be pleasing to the judge’s eyes. Once they are trimmed they will be rubbed down with Rob’s Rub.

Robs Smokin Rub (Mild)

Ingredients:

Sugar, sea salt, chili powder, spices, (including paprika, and cayenne), garlic powder, onion powder, silicon dioxide, (anti caking agent) molasses are the listed ingredients. This is a pretty straight forward list of ingredients to provide a good seasoning for numerous applications.

Aroma:

Chili powder is the prevalent odor. The spices smell fresh and vibrant.

Heat;

N/A This is a mild rub.

Taste:

Salt, chili powder and garlic are what I taste. To be fair it needs to be applied to a protein and cooked to do its magic.

The chicken was rubbed and put in the refrigerator for several hours to work its magic. We are using a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker with a combination of charcoal briquettes, applewood and hickory as our smoking fuel. We placed our rubbed chicken in a foil pan. It was cooked for an hour and one half turning several times until the internal temperature was 165 degrees. It was time to finish our chicken with Rob’s Frog Sauce.

Rob’s Frog Sauce

Ingredients:

Cane sugar, tomato puree (tomato paste, water), distilled vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, (Distilled vinegar, molasses, water, sugar, onions, anchovies, salt, garlic, cloves, tamarind extract, natural flavorings, chili pepper extract), salt, less than 2 % of the following spices, pepper, garlic powder, celery seed are the listed ingredients.

Aroma & Texture:

Kansas City here we come announces the aroma. A sweet tomato with a hint of vinegar wafts through the open top. The texture is of a thick puree and pours freely from the bottle. Seeds are present. I have no problems with seeds but some competitors will strain a sauce to remove all the seeds. It is all about impressing the judges.

Taste:

Straight out of the bottle, a tomato base, sweet molasses and a Worcestershire type finish will greet your BBQ hungry senses. The garlic, onions and cloves sing back up in this chorus of flavors. It is a savory sauce with just the right amount of sweetness to make one crave more.

Heat:

N/A

The Verdict;

We took our cooked chicken and dipped it into the Frog Sauce. We then returned the chicken to the smoker for 4 minutes. We only wanted to set the sauce. It looked beautiful with a shiny glaze and sheen. This was some good looking chicken. Ms. Goofy got her score card ready.
  The chicken was so very tender. A bite revealed a flavor journey starting with the Frog Sauce. This is a familiar taste that we all love. The sauce is sweet and savory. Dare I say lip smacking? Messy and a little sticky that will have you craving that next bite. Further into our taste journey we will taste chicken that is seasoned perfectly. The combination of salt, chili’s and sugars enhances and brings out that chicken flavor. Ms. Goofy’s score card was covered in Frog Sauce but it revealed a whole mess of ‘9’s”. This is what competition chicken tastes like.

Overall:

Do you want to cook competition tasting BBQ? Are you a backyard warrior that wants to step up their BBQ game? Rob’s rub is a great foundation for seasoning and flavoring chicken and other cuts of meat. Rob’s Frog Sauce is a great tasting finishing sauce. With the right technique and Rob’s sauces and rubs you too can create great tasting competition style barbeque

Zack is resting up for his final two competitions of the year. He is gunning for the title of ‘Rookie of the Year’. Regardless of the outcome he is and will be a BBQ force to be reckoned with. It is great that Rob is supporting Zack with his rubs and sauces. Robs Frog Sauce is a solid advantage in Zack’s conquest. We are fans of Zack and ‘Rob’s Smokin Rubs’.

Rob’s Smokn Rubs
http://robssmokinrub.com/

BBQ BLESSINGS & CARIBBEAN KISS

We had the pleasure to try several new rubs from La Pan's Food Corporation. We never need an excuse to fire up the grill but it did get a work out. Give it a look, it may make you hungry.

                                            Read Review Here

SLAP YO' DADDY CHICKEN RUB

Harry Soo, ultimate pittmaster has a created a new rub for chicken. We gave it a try and you can read

The Review Here

OAKRIDGE BBQ RUBS

We have been having a lot of fun trying out different rubs from Oakridge BBQ. It is not like we ever need an excuse to fire up the grill but these rubs have kept us busy. One of our favorites is the 'Habanero Death Dust'.Even though it has an ominous title it has flavor that cannot be beat.

Continue Reading Here

TACO FRIDAY

It just seemed like a good day to have taco's. There is a new "Mexican Giant 'Wally-Mart" style store in San Pablo. This store has all of your Mexican food wants and needs in a one-stop shop. Some flank steak, chicken, fresh salsa and some hot off the grill tortillas were purchased. More about this store later. Our meat would be seasoned with a new rub from 'Arizona Rub'. I was given this rub for review purposes. The taco's turned out wonderful. Please read my latest review by clicking the "Peppers & More' link below.

Peppers & More

RUB

I actually had a couple of requests for my Rub recipe. It is no secret I use ‘Wild Willy’s Number One-derful Rub’
recipe from “Smoke & Spice” (Cheryl and Bill Jamison).This is an all purpose rub that I use for Pork, Beef and Chicken. There is a secret that I will share with you. You need to use the freshest spices you can find. I am lucky to have access to several spice stores that sell in bulk. I go to
Milan International
990 University Avenue
(between 8th St & 9th St)
Berkeley, CA 94710
(510) 843-9600
They have every spice you could ever imagine. They also have a lot of Indian products that are very interesting and unusual to me. They have a high turnover of their products. That means that they have fresh spices. That is the key to this recipe. The ingredients are simple and easy to put together.

Wild Willy's Number One-derful Rub

3/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup black pepper (freshly ground, important)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup tablespoons coarse salt
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 teaspoons cayenne

Stir together. That’s it.

This rub has so many uses. It is great on Ribs, Chicken etc. I even use a tablespoon in my baked beans tomorrow it is going on a Boston Butt for pulled pork sandwiches. Oh Yeah!