Let’s take a look at the rub for today — Oakridge BBQ‘s Secret Weapon Pork & Chicken Rub.

The Story

Oakridge BBQ is based out of Kearney, MO, and is owned by Michael Trump.  In 2002, Trump started his first competition barbecue team.  Trump was not satisfied with the commercially available rubs on the market at the time, so he came up with his own blends.  He is committed to using only the top ingredients in his seasonings.  Another great thing is that 10% of profit from every sale immediately goes to supporting local, national, and international outreach organizations.

The Rub

Ingredients for this rub: raw cane sugar, sea salt, onion, garlic, chiles (including paprika, ancho, chipotle, and guajillo), ginger, coriander, turmeric, mustard, celery, shallots, and other exotic herbs and spices.

Aroma – sweet, with hints of pepper and ginger
Appearance – fairly consistent granule size, overall color is a bit of a faded blue orange
A Taste – nicely balanced, with sweet, salty, and spicy working very well together

The Results

I decided to give this a go on some boneless, skinless chicken breasts (especially since it does claim to be a secret weapon for chicken). Gave the chicken a generous seasoning, then cooked on the gas grill until internal temperature exceeded 165 degrees.  One piece was left unsauced, while the other was sauced with Shed Spread from The Shed BBQ.

This rub is excellent!!  It added subtle flavors to the chicken without overpowering it with heat, saltiness, or sweetness.  Balance is the keyword here, as this is a rub that would work very well on pork also.  It plays well with your standard sweet BBQ sauces.  I had been saving this up for quite some time, and it was totally worth it!!

Website: http://www.oakridgebbq.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Oakridge-BBQ/353367773416
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/oakridgebbq

Thanks!!

Wayne Brown
http://www.bigwaynerbbq.com
@brownkw

When I first heard of and saw this bottle of BBQ Sauce from Okie’s Steakhouse, I was a bit skeptical.  I’ve had other BBQ Sauces from companies known for “steak sauce” and I really didn’t care much for it.  So my expectations were very low.  But when I tried this sauce, and then cooked with the sauce, I became a believer in this salty little number with a bite.

Lots of ingredients.

Nice story.

Yum (this is my grill pre-GrillGrates).

Nice dark color with SPECKS.  Loved the dark color and appearance of this sauce.

Here’s a spider chart that shows how I thought it tasted.   Thick, salty & spicy, with a mix of sweet, tangy and smoky flavors.

In the end, the sauce flavor surprised me but seemed to suffer a bit from just a few too many ingredients.  The end result is still tasty enough to be considered a 4 and if you like a sauce with a nice salty “bite” then you gotta check this one out.

It’s a worthy sauce with a salty bite and a good amount of complexity and a good cause – a dedication to a past father and owner of a successful steak house which became known for its great BBQ ribs.

Check out their website and consider giving this sauce a try!

Not everyone likes sauce (sad to say…), but EVERYONE loves free stuff, especially free HOT DOG stuff!

Here’s a fun one!

We’re giving away 3 of these handy dandy hot dog roller cookers that make it easy to grill a perfect hot dog!

Don’t believe me? Check out Jay Prince’s review of these modern metal meat spinners.

TO WIN YOU MUST COMPLETE BOTH TASKS BELOW:

• Like Mr BBQ’s Facebook page (tell them BBQ Sauce Reviews sent you)
• Comment on this blog answering the question:  what are your favorite hot dog toppings?

Contest Ends Sunday May 13th at 10PM EST.

Here’s a preview:  Yumm!    Time to get rolling.

WIENERS ANNOUNCED!  (I mean Winners)

Photo from Jay Prince

They say it takes a real man to wear pink, but the pink color on the label of this sauce simply made me nervous.  I was skeptical, thinking it was going to overload my tastebuds with cranberry.  Growing up in Massachusetts and spending summers down at Cape Cod driving past cranberry bogs and the Ocean Spray factory, I am no stranger to the taste of cranberry.  The flavor is strong & sweet with a slightly sour/bitter twist – and in my opinion (before trying this sauce) is that cranberry’s don’t belong in BBQ sauce in its unfiltered form – just like adding fruit to most beers will likely cause that beer to end up in the sink.

The first whiff of this Wisconsin-made BBQ elixir gave off an intoxicating blend of smoke and spice and lemon and onion and molasses – a truly multi-textured scent that gave my nose and brain something new to process.  But where’s the cranberry?

Uncooked the flavor is remarkably well-balanced: sweet but not too sweet, smoky but not overpowering, thick but not sludge-like.   In its raw form I used it as a dipping sauce for this amazing German Mac and Cheese with Kielbasa my wife made…  I put it on veggie burgers – yes, I will occasionally eat a veggie burger (especially if I’m in a rush to heat up something quick).  And I dipped roast beef sandwiches into it.  Everything ended up better with this dark, rich, thick & sweet sauce.   But WHERE’S THE CRANBERRY?

After grilling, the Big Butz sauce was just as tasty.  It was easy to slather on chicken and using my new GrillGrates, I had one of my better BBQ chicken experiences – the flavor of the sauce and the moisture-retaining qualities of the grates made for a really tasty meal.  After the cooking, the sauce caramelizes a bit but retains its essential elements.

If you hadn’t noticed, what surprised me most about Big Butz Cranberry BBQ Sauce is the subtlety of the cranberry flavoring.  I had a really hard time actually tasting it at first, but when I tried the original and the cranberry side by side, you can really tell the slightly fruit-hinted finish was done just right.  And to me, that’s how fruit should be added to BBQ sauce – enough to slightly change its flavor profile, but not enough to cause it to get poured down the sink.

So go get some… if you are man enough. 

Website: http://bigbutzbbqsauce.net/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BigButzBBQSauce

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/bigbutzbbq

For this week’s review I was sent the Cook-Air Starter Kit from Alain Dubois at Cata Marketing Inc.

The Cook-Air is a portable wood burning grill constructed of 304 stainless steel and weighs in at 17 lbs. The base of the grill always stays cool, so the entire unit can be set on a tabletop without worry of damage to it. The base also has rubber feet so it won’t slide around.

Items included in the starter kit are a cleaning brush, tongs, 120-volt electrical adapter, 12-volt car adapter, cooking grid handle, a retractable warming rack, a carry bag, as well as a bag of wood pucks and a fire starter pack. The wood pucks that are included are made of 100% natural non-resinous wood and the fire starters are made of 100% natural, biodegradable, waterproof strips.

The Cook-Air Grill runs on a combination of wood fire and a five-speed electric fan which helps to accelerate the fire in the combustion chamber so the grill reaches temperatures of up to 1100 °F (Great for searing meat).

Buttons on the front base of the grill control the on and off of the fan. The up and down arrows allow you to adjust the heat level of the fan from 1 which is the lowest speed to 5 which is the highest. Level 1 is sufficient for lighter, more delicate foods like fish and level 5 is good for searing meat like steaks.

For this review I plugged the Cook-Air Grill into an outside outlet with the included 120-volt electrical adapter. I decided to grill some steaks for the first cook.

The first thing I did was remove the lid and insert the handle into one of the four slots on the cooking grid and then removed the grid to be able to access the combustion chamber.

Then I placed a strip of folded fire starter paper into the bottom of the combustion chamber and lit it with a long handled lighter. A ball of crumpled newspaper can also be used if you don’t have any fire starters. (Make sure to never use lighter fluid or any other flammable liquids with your Cook-Air.)

Once the fire starter paper was well ignited I used the tongs to carefully place one of the included wood pucks on top of the lit fire starter paper inside the combustion chamber. (Any wood chunks can be used with this grill.) Then using the control buttons I turned on the fan and set it to level 1 (low).

I then placed the cooking grid back into place and after 30 to 45 seconds I set the fan speed to level 5 (high).

After about 4-5 minutes I dropped the fan level down to 4 and placed the steaks on the grill rub side down. The grill lid always remains off the grill while the fan is running. When your food is almost fully cooked you can use the lid to give it a little more smoke flavor. Do this for no more then 5-7 minutes with the fan off.

Once I flipped the steaks and grilled them to our preferred doneness (about 3-4 minutes each side), it was time to take them off the grill to eat. I also set the fan speed to level 2 to let the remaining fuel residue burn off safely. Once that was done the grill cooled off pretty fast.

For my next cook on the Cook-Air Grill I decided on grilling some BBQ boneless chicken breasts.

I followed all the same steps as mentioned above and then set the speed of the fan to level 3.

Then I placed the chicken on and started grilling.

Once the chicken was almost finished cooking I lathered the boneless breasts with BBQ sauce.

After they were done cooking (about 8 minutes) I removed them from the grill and brought them into the house to eat.

 Final Thoughts

The Cook-Air Grill was a very easy grill to use and the meat from both cooks turned out perfectly. I was also extremely happy with the ease of cleanup at the end of both cooks. As you can see in the picture below there was very little ash left to clean out.

With a clean combustion technology the Cook-Air Grill burns 99.6% of its gases, so it’s a very Eco-Friendly grill.

Weighing in at 17 lbs. and with its included carry bag, it’s a very easy grill to transport to a tailgate party or to the park. Plus it can run on 8 D-batteries (batteries last up to 20 hours with the fan on high and even longer on low) or a 12-volt car adapter, which is perfect for when you’re on the go.

The Cook-Air Grill has a 14 inch diameter cooking grid and a retractable warming rack. This will give you plenty of cooking space for your food.

The Cook-Air Grill also just won Tailgater Monthly’s BEST IN PORTABLE GRILL at the 2012 National Hardware Show in Las Vegas, so if you’re someone who enjoys tailgating a lot, this may be the perfect grill for you!

The Cook-Air Grill is made in China and comes with a 1 year limited warranty.

You can buy the Cook-Air Grill on their website for $199+shipping here.

For more information on the Cook-Air Grill please visit their Facebook & Twitter pages as well as their Website.

Make sure to check back soon for another great BBQ Tools & Tech Review!

Thanks!
Jay Prince
@Prince_of_Q

The Story

Carolina Sunshine BBQ is the creation of George Foley, a native of Eastern North Carolina since transplanted to Lithia, FL.  Carolina Sunshine BBQ is a competition team that offers up North Carolina flavors.  They sell a variety of BBQ sauces that pay tribute to both the Eastern and Piedmont Carolina flavors.  Their website offers up more information on how they came to be.

The Rub

This rub is one of the more unique tasting rubs I have tried.  The ingredients are as follows: salt, soy beans, vinegar, spices (including mustard and paprika), natural flavors, and silicon dioxide (as an anti-caking agent).

• Appearance – a mixture of brown and white, very different from the red/orange colored rubs I’m used to seeing.
• Aroma – hints of soy and mustard
• A Taste – soy, salt, mustard are the predominant flavors picked up here… no heat element present

The Result

As much as I wanted to try this on a pork butt, I have not had the opportunity to do so.  So I used the next best thing — pork chops.

The chops were grilled on the gas grill using Mangrates for about 15 minutes.  One chop got a coat of Bill’s Best BBQ Sauce in the final five minutes of cooking, while the other went unsauced.

The rub, when used by itself, worked beautifully!  This would work wonders on pork steaks as well as pork chops, as it gave it an excellent savory flavor.  On the sauced chop, I found that it clashed at times with the flavor of the sauce, but that could be a product of the amount of rub used.  Perhaps it would work better when paired with one of the Carolina Sunshine BBQ sauces.  This is potent stuff, so more rub will give the meat a more potent flavor.

Website – http://www.carolinasunshinebbq.com
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/Carolina.Sunshine.Barbeque?ref=share

Thanks!!

Wayne Brown
http://www.bigwaynerbbq.com
@brownkw

Like the Suburban Sweet and Downtown Heat varieties, the Hometown Hot barbecue sauce from Grill Side is packaged professionally with a great label and bottle.

Like the other varieties, the sauce has a lot going on -  chili powder, molasses, and a little extra bite from onion & garlic & tamarind.  Like the other varieties from Grill Side, I tried this product on BBQ chicken, mac and cheese, and pan-fried kielbasa and really enjoyed the flavor on each one.

But if I were a betting man, and if I could legally bet on BBQ sauce competitions, I would put my money on this tasty number.  They didn’t just add more of the other peppers in their “medium heat” sauce.  They put seven different peppers in the bottle to make sure you could see, feel, taste, and touch (if you wanted to) the texture of this great sauce.  Without much effort, you can taste chipotle, habanero, & jalapeno.

Especially after a grill session, this gives tons of flavor and heat to make your lips tingle, but not burn. And although I like the occasional hot sauce, I’m not the kind of guy who finds enjoyment in eating super-hot peppers just to see if I can eat super-hot peppers…  so this heat level was just right for me.  Like Tabasco but surrounded by way more flavor.

The texture was great, little chunks of pepper in each bite.   I love a nice chunky sauce, yet so few sauce makers let you taste and feel the raw ingredients on your tongue, instead opting for cheaper powdered blends in order to maximum their own profits.

Tip: If you are cooking chicken constantly like me… another way to boost the quality of your end-product is to step up and get your self a set of GrillGrates.  Since getting these Grillgrates my chicken has never been better.  The Grillgrates retain the heat yet blocks the direct scorch of the flame, so that your meat gets cooked perfectly without getting dried out.  Also gives you some nice sear marks too!

Kudos to Grill Side for not only making a great line of products with high quality ingredients (HFCS-free and Gluten-free), great design, and fantastic flavor and shall I say it – mouthfeel!

You can check out Grillside on their website and on Facebook.

Like the Suburban Sweet and Hometown Heat varieties, the Downtown Heat barbecue sauce from Grill Side is packaged professionally with a great label and bottle.

Like the sweet variety, the sauce had a lot going on -  chili powder for a real pepper taste, molasses for a dark rich sweetness, and a little extra bite from onion & garlic & tamarind.  Like the other varieties from Grill Side, I tried this product on BBQ chicken, mac and cheese, and pan-fried kielbasa and really enjoyed the flavor on each one.  They added Chipotle peppers in this one – and they provided a really nice heat level with just the right amount of sweet.

Again, it should be note that Grillside is HFCS-free and Gluten-free.

This is not your ordinary big brand BBQ Sauce: the little burst of heat and flavor from the chipotle peppers adds enough oomph to provide a unique chili-like flavor profile that stands out compared to the stuff you might typically find in your grocery store.

You can check out Grillside on their website and on Facebook.

Packaged professionally with a great label and a great (whiskey flask-like) shape, this one would pop out from just about any selection of BBQ sauces on the shelf.  The logo itself reminds me of the Olympic torch – and what better a symbol to choose to represent global awesome-ness or shall I say SauceSomeNess.

The sauce itself offered a few nice surprises in the taste department, named the strength of the chili powder (made from chili peppers, salt, spices, and garlic).  It is also sweetened from a combination of sugar and molasses giving it a dark rich sweetness.  Th aftertaste has a lot going on too – with onion and garlic and tamarind – giving a little bite to the end flavor.

I tried this product on BBQ chicken, mac and cheese, and pan-fried kielbasa and really enjoyed the flavor on each one.

Grillside also gets kudos for having a sauce that makes my HFCS-free and Gluten-free lists… and the reason I call this out is not because I’m a health fanatic, it’s because people with certain diets and certain restrictions can’t eat these.  It’s no surprise that these are two of the most popular pages on the site.

In the end, I thought the expectation of the sauce surprised me a bit because of the statement on the label “Pure Kansas City” – which to me is a straight-up thick and sweet sauce.  Giving an indication of the chili flavor might be a good move here, especially if you want people coming back for more.  The flavor profile is similar to Head’s Red which I gave 5 stars back in August 2008, but Head’s Red gives a strong hint that the flavor is going to be a little different, right in the name itself.

You can check out Grillside on their website and on Facebook.

Free Sauce Friday is back  and although I haven’t tried this sauce, I have agreed to give some of it away!

Trivia: The Original (KC Style) Sauce took home 1st prize at the American Royal waaaay back in 2003 – 4 years before I started this site!  So it could be good.  It could be very, very good.  Don’t procrastinate – try to win it now!

• (1) GRAND PRIZE: Both Sauces (Original and Competition Blend #9) and the competition meat rub.
• (3) RUNNER UP PRIZES: Your choice of 1 bottle of sauce (Original or Competition Blend #9)

TO WIN YOU MUST COMPLETE BOTH TASKS BELOW:

1. COMMENT on this blog post (you must use the word Daniel in your entry)
2. LIKE Daniel’s BBQ Facebook page here (and tell em BBQ Sauce Reviews sent you)

That’s It.   Contest Ends Sunday Night May 6th at 10pm EST

Winners Announced:

Runner up winners – send me your address and your choice of 1 bottle of sauce (Original or Competition Blend #9) to brian@bbqsaucereviews.com

Bob C I will need your mailing address!

The Story

Willie’s Hog Dust is the product of Willie Miller and is based out of Sumter, SC.  Like a lot of us into outdoor cooking, his passion started at an early age.  The love of cooking low and slow commenced with his purchase of a Big Green Egg.  He was unable to find a rub that he really liked, so he made his own.  After much tweaking and refining, he came up with three different flavors — original, spicy, and sweet.

The rubs make the claim of being low in sodium and free of MSG, gluten, and preservatives.  So it’s all flavor, no fuss!

The Rub

• Appearance – Orange-ish color that you see from a lot of BBQ rubs, with specks of spice dispersed throughout.  Uniform texture for the various spices.
• Aroma – smells like a BBQ rub… bit of salty, bit of heat, a touch of spicy.
• A Taste – good balance of flavors… salty, sweet, and just a touch of heat to jump in.

The Results

With this product being “Hog Dust”, this had to go on some sort of pig.  Might as well make it a big piece of pig, so let’s try this out on a pork butt.

I cooked it at between 250 and 275 degrees for approximately 8 hours using Kingsford competition briquettes and oak wood logs.

I decided not to foil the pork butt on this cook.  Looking back at it, I probably would have foiled it at about the 4 hour mark.  Regardless, it still had a great color — just a bit darker.

In addition, this rub works well as a replacement for seasoned salt (in particular on popcorn).

Website: http://www.williesrubbins.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Willies-Hog-Dust/129091182337
Twitter: http://twitter.com/WilliesHogDust

Thanks!!

Wayne Brown
http://www.bigwaynerbbq.com
@brownkw

Like Kitty’s Memphis Style Barbecue and Dip Sauce, Kitty’s North Carolina style sauce also presents itself in a very clean fashion with a great label, bottle, and label with a similar pet peeve about the width of the top spout. There’s something about a wide-open canning jar that is much easier to pour straight into a basting bowl, or if you know you are going use the whole bottle/jar- you can just use a canning jar directly.  Not a huge deal, just a preference.

Inside the bottle

The ingredients were great, and could be highlighted more, but I felt the expectations between the label and the color and consistency of this sauce were a little surprising and somewhat disappointing in the end.  I expected more of a classic Eastern North Carolina sauce, but this was clearly a Western North Carolina (mustard based with tomato) and although most people don’t really know or  care where the sauce comes from, I think the manufacturer might try to set a better expectation.

I think most people think North Carolina = vinegary type sauce whereas South Carolina is typically associated with mustard-bases.    I would call it out – Western North Carolina BBQ Sauce or even better “Carolina Red Mustard Sauce” – that way there’s no debate where it came from and you don’t surprise people with the color or flavor.

The flavor was OK…  I think mustard based sauces are very hard to get right, and this is a good attempt.   The strongest flavors were a sweet mustard and onion, and the first couple of tastes I had were pretty good, but in the end there was something about this sauce that didn’t sit well with me – the flavor and orange color and mustardy/oniony aroma…

Website

kittysbbq.com

Free Sauce Friday is B-B-B-BACK with J Dogg Phair BBQ Sauces!

Grand Prize:  J. Dogg Phair Gift Set – includes (1) Anything Goes! Marinade, and 3 BBQ sauces (2 Thought-U-Knew, & 1 Red Hot Mama or vice versa).   http://www.jdoggphair.com/Products/J-Dogg-Gift-Set.aspx

Runner Up: Pick any 1 of our sauces or marinades!

To Win:

1. Like J Dogg Phair on Facebook (and tell them BBQ Sauce Reviews sent you)
2. Enter a comment on this blog post using the word “Dogg” in a sentence.  Have fun with it. Get creative!

That’s It.  The contest ends Sunday night at 10pm EST!

CONTEST ENDED!

Grand Prize: Marie
Comment:
I’d love to try these items from J Dogg
I’d put them on some hogg
and I’d eat that hogg
while sitting on a logg
but not while wearing a coat made by London Fogg

Winner #2 JM Price
Comment:
Even my old hound dog loves it when I bring out a bottle of J Dogg sauce. His nose starts a twitchin. He’s ears start a perkin. His tail starts a waggin. Why even his fleas get to jumping all over the place. Dogg gone good sauce, mighty fine fo sure!

Winner #3 Peter
Comment:
Yo J-Dogg Dizzle – hook it up fo shizzle- so I can get some sauce to drizzle – on my BBQ and Ribs my nizzle!

Winner #4 Maddy
Comment:
I’m no Dogg, I’m a RED HOT MAMA!!!
What great fans!   Email your mailing address to brian@bbqsaucereviews.com!

For this week’s review I was sent the Mr. Bar-B-Q Stainless Steel Hot Dog Roller from Karen Behrman at Mr. Bar-B-Q.

Mr. Bar-B-Q is an international importer and distributor of high quality BBQ tools, accessories and parts.

The Mr. Bar-B-Q Stainless Steel Hot Dog Roller is made of commercial grade stainless steel and allows you to grill up to 5 hot dogs at once.

A stay cool removable handle that works both as a roller and a lifter is also included.

For this review I had some Omaha Steaks Gourmet Franks that my friend and owner of BBQ Sauce Reviews, Brian Henderson, had sent to me for my birthday. Thanks again for that awesome package, Brian!

Once my grill was preheated I placed the hot dogs on the roller and then set the roller on the grill.

Then, as I grilled the hot dogs I used the removable handle to roll the unit forward and backwards to turn the rollers in order to cook the hot dogs evenly. I repeated this process for the remainder of the cook.

Once the hot dogs were finished cooking I removed them from the grill and brought them inside to eat.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed using the Mr. Bar-B-Q Stainless Steel Hot Dog Roller. While using this product it brought back wonderful childhood memories of riding along with my dad to our local UDF (United Dairy Farmers) for a hand-scooped milkshake and a hot dog from the hot dog rollers they had in the store.

This might be a product that you feel like you don’t need, but it’s one of those products that’s fun to use! I will be using mine a lot on game days while I’m watching my favorite baseball team play on TV. Plus at around $17 it’s a minimal expense to pay for a well-made easy to clean product that allows hot dogs to roll simultaneously so that each hot dog is cooked perfectly even each and every time.

You can find a great deal on the Mr. Bar-B-Q Stainless Steel Hot Dog Roller here. (Newer model with updated all stainless steel handle instead of wood)

For more information on this product visit their Facebook & Twitter pages as well as their Website.

Make sure to check back next week for another great BBQ Tools & Tech Review!

Thanks!
Jay Prince
@Prince_of_Q

The Story

Chef of the Future is the creation of Robert Simon and is based out of Livingston, NJ.  Robert got started down the culinary path in his early teens and found inspiration in Graham Kerr, the Galloping Gourmet.  His college days were spent helping friends organize cooking feasts.  His love of food carried over into his marriage, where he soon took over cooking duties.

About three years ago, his in-laws asked for a batch of his Cajun seasoning.  The below is a direct quote from Robert:

“To make a short story long….my in-laws became permanent residents of Florida.  They asked if I could make up a batch of my Cajun Seasoning and send it down to them.

Just being me, I couldn’t send them an old jar of garlic powder with the “Garlic” scratched out, so I used my graphic skills and made up a label, complete with a baby picture of their grandson, slapped on a Chef’s Hat and mustache.  Now, what do I call it?

Ah ha!!!   The Honeymooners…Ralph Kramden…Ed Norton..Chef of the Future!

My wife, Mindy received a phone call from her parents as soon as they opened the package.  “Robert has got to do something with this”  Not only is the seasoning wonderful, but the package???  It’s GREAT!”

Not being one to take advice lightly, we figured what have we got to lose?

That was 3 years ago…..

And here we are today, getting ready to launch two more seasoning blends, with more on the way.”

The Rub

The following ingredients are listed: salt, spices, onion, sugar, corn starch, and lemon peel.  The rub by itself will be evaluated on the following criteria:

Appearance: Pale yellow, almost white in color, with specks of color dispersed throughout.  Texture appears to be very powdery throughout, with spices adding some texture.

Aroma: A blend of garlic and onion with just a touch of pepper and lemon.

A Taste: Nice salt component.  Lemon flavor profile comes through nice, not overpowering at all.  Spices blend nicely.  Not too hot.

The Results

I’ve used this product on various food items, ranging from poultry to pork to french fries.  Each time I’ve found that while this seasoning will not add any big bold flavors, it will enhance the flavors of any food.  My suggestion is to be liberal with using this — more is definitely a good thing.

Below is a snapshot of the seasoning applied to pork chops approximately 10 minutes after application.  Notice that there is very little trace of the powdery parts of the seasoning.

This seasoning won’t add a tremendous amount of color to your meat like a lot of BBQ rubs and seasonings do.  However, that does not take anything away from it.

My good friend Wilfred Reinke, the Oshawa Ogre, also reviewed this product and notes in his review that even though salt is listed as the first ingredient, the combination of the other ingredients outnumber the salt content.

My verdict: this would work nicely as a substitute for seasoned salt.  It’s an all-purpose seasoning that is not going to overwhelm you.

Website: http://www.chef-ofthefuture.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chef-of-the-Futures-Not-Your-Average-Cajun-Seasoning/115879824141

Thanks!

Wayne Brown
http://www.bigwaynerbbq.com
@brownkw

It’s Free Sauce Friday again!!   

This time it is brought to you by the fine guys behind Wicked Q BBQ.

They have a sweet sauce, a vinegar sauce, Wicked Que rub, and injection powder.

1 Grand Prize Winner Gets It All:

• Both sauces
• Bottle of rub
• Wicked Que injection powder

3 Runner Up Winner’s Receive:

• a bottle of sauce (sweet or vinegar)
• a bottle of our rub

In Order to Win You Must:

1. Like their Facebook Page
2. And enter a comment on this blog post using “Wicked” in a sentence!
3. That’s it – bonus points for creativity!

Rules:

• Winners will be chosen on Sunday April 22 10pm EST
• US only

For this week’s review I was sent TheGrillSpatula from the inventor of TheGrillSpatula.

TheGrillSpatula is a heavy duty 304 stainless steel spatula, with a thin flexible wire that slides between the food and the grill grate to keep food from sticking to the grate. The wire is also stainless steel and is extremely strong and abrasion resistant.

TheGrillSpatula comes in two sizes, to accommodate different style grill grates. For this review I used TheGrillSpatula “A”, which worked with my 22.5 in. cast iron grate on my Weber Performer.

To see which size TheGrillSpatula fits your grill grate, download this template. The instruction video is located on here.

Once I printed the template, I brought it outside to my grill and figured out that TheGrillSpatula “A” was the correct spatula to use on my cast iron grate because the black lines fit in the spaces in between the bars on my grate.

As you can see in this picture below the teeth of TheGrillSpatula fit between the spaces so the wire can slide across the bars of the grate and under the food cleanly so it doesn’t stick to the grate.

I decided for this review I would grill up some cheeseburgers to test out TheGrillSpatula.

In order for TheGrillSpatula to work properly I made sure my cast iron grill grate was clean and also lightly oiled. Once my grill was pre-heated I placed on the burgers. When the burgers were ready to be flipped, I laid the tip of TheGrillSpatula on the grill grate, holding it at an angle and applied downward pressure and slid the wire along the grill bars under the burgers. The spatula worked perfectly to get under the burgers to keep them from sticking to the grate.

 Final Thoughts

After testing out TheGrillSpatula on some burgers I can tell you the product works exactly as advertised and I found it to be a very useful tool and can’t wait to use it on something more delicate like fish.

TheGrillSpatula is dishwasher safe, but the inventor recommends hand washing it since dishwashers deteriorate the finish on the handle over time. He also recommends wrapping a soapy sponge over the tips of the spatula and squeeze several times under warm water to flush the tips clean and then wipe TheGrillSpatula dry.

The only downside I could find with this product was if someone owns multiple grills with different sized grates you may need both model “A” & “B” of TheGrillSpatula to use on the different sized grates.

I recommend TheGrillSpatula to anyone that wants a well-made product that gives you the ability to get under the food you’re grilling and help keep it from sticking to the grate.

You can buy TheGrillSpatula on their website for $19.95+shipping here.

For more information on TheGrillSpatula please visit their Facebook page as well as their Website.

Make sure to check back next week for another great BBQ Tools & Tech Review!

Thanks!
Jay Prince
@Prince_of_Q

The Story

Moo’d Enhancer follows on the heels of the wildly successful Smokin’ Sauce and A.P. Rub.  Draper’s BBQ is the culmination of three generations of pride and flavor.  Based out of Western Kentucky, Draper’s BBQ has prided itself on balance of flavors.  This balancing act has resounded well with very favorable reviews around the Internet.  History on how Draper’s BBQ came to be can be found on the About Page for Draper’s BBQ.

The Rub

While Draper’s A.P. Rub is intended to be all things for all people, Moo’d Enhancer clearly does not attempt to do such a thing.  As a result, this is a rub that you will either absolutely love or despise.  The texture is finer than A.P. Rub, making it suitable for use on larger cuts of beef.  The initial aroma and taste of the rub immediately scream “Southwestern”.  The rub does contain a small amount of MSG, so if you are absolutely opposed to anything containing MSG, then you’ll want to look elsewhere.  Which would be a total shame, in my humble opinion…

The Results

When contacted to review Moo’d Enhancer, Shane asked that I put it through its paces.  So I did.  The first two tests I did were with smaller cuts of meat — sirloin steaks and hamburgers.  Moo’d Enhancer really made the steaks and burgers pop with an added flavor explosion!

The final test was on a larger cut of meat — beef brisket.  My previous experience with cooking brisket was less than desirable, and I hoped that this time around would fare much better.  Both sides of the 5.25 lb brisket got a generous seasoning of Moo’d Enhancer — approximately 1/3 cup of the seasoning.  The brisket cooked at between 250 and 275 degrees using a combination of oak and cherry.

Both my wife and I sampled the brisket.  I absolutely loved the flavor that Moo’d Enhancer gave to the meat.  However, my wife was not as much of a fan.

My verdict: buy if you are a fan of big bold flavors (like I am)!

Website: http://www.drapersbbq.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/drapersbbq
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/drapersbbq

Thanks!

Wayne Brown
http://www.bigwaynerbbq.com
@brownkw

A friend got back from St Louis and brought a bottle of sauce with him that looked like it was straight out of the TV show Lost – a Dharma project BBQ sauce with black lettering on a white label.  The bottle came from a popular BBQ joint you may have heard of called Pappy’s Smokehouse – which has received several television spotlights in recent years such as Man vs Food & Food Feuds – to name a couple.

When a sauce comes from a popular BBQ place, I find it’s either awful or incredible. When they throw a label on something just so they can sell some sauce and make some money, it’s awful.  When they sell the actual sauce they are using every single day, then it’s great!

This one is special.  The sauce scores high in most categories and two magic ingredients that I believe are the keys to this saucess story: 1) apple jelly and 2) soy sauce solids.  I’ve made my own concoction out of BBQ sauce and soy sauce (mixed with maple syrup) for the most incredible sticky sauce I’ve ever had.  Pappy’s reminded me why I liked soy sauce and BBQ sauce mixed.

Remember learning about your taste buds?     You’ve got Sweet, Bitter, Salty, and Sour (and later they added Savory or Umami). This sauce hits you on all levels (except for the Bitter – nothing bitter here).  It’s a little tangy and you can taste some pepper but the mixture is just… different. It’s really hard to explain.

The white label on the glass bottle is simple and all that’s needed – the name of the sauce, the ingredients, and the nutrition information.  Nice picture of it over here.

Apologies for the lack of typical pictures on this one, as it had been stuck in my blog software for about a year and only now did I realize it didn’t actually publish.  Better late than never.

Please go try this sauce, and let me know what you think!

https://www.pappyssmokehouse.com/OurStore/product.php

Putting “Free Rub” in a headline is bound to get some attention, but don’t expect a free massage from us!

The rub that I’m referring to here is the wonderful Socks Love Rub, reviewed by Wayne back on April 3rd.

This week we have 3 winners of this special spice blend from Duluth Georgia:

• (1) Grand Prize: A T-Shirt and a bottle of rub
• (2) Runner Up Prizes:  A bottle of rub

To win you must complete both tasks below:

1. “Like” Socks’ Love Rub Facebook page and tell em “BBQ Sauce Reviews sent me”
2. Comment on this blog post using the words Rub and Love in a sentence (maybe I’ll throw in a prize for creativity)!

An optional/additional way to enter is to share this contest on your Facebook profile!

Good luck – the contest ends Sunday night at 10pm EST.  Winners will be notified via email.

Brian @bbqsaucereviews.com

WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

Grand Prize Henry

Love to rub our pork and pull our meat!!!

Runner Up #1 Chilebrown

Rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub,
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker,
The candlestick maker,
And all of them going to sea.

Rub-a-dub-dub
Three men in a tub
The butcher had no Socks,
The candletick maker had love for BBQ,
The baker barbequed them lunch
And all of them going to sea.

Runner Up #2 Spyder J

Cause if rubbing a rib with Socks Love Rub is wronnnnnnnnnng. I don’t wanna be right!

Please send me your physical address (to brian@bbqsaucereviews.com).  Henry – I’m not trying to get too close to you, but I do need to know your Tshirt size… put in the email please!

For this week’s review I was sent the Kettle-Q with the Cooking and Cleaning Kit from John and Vicki Button at Little Griddle Innovations, LLC.

Little Griddle Innovations, LLC is a family-owned corporation based in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The company was formed in late 2000 by husband and wife, John and Vicki Button.

The Kettle-Q is a grill top griddle made of 14 gauge 430 grade stainless steel that can be used on kettle style grills, smokers like the Weber Smokey Mountain or Kamado grills like the Big Green Egg, Primo and Char-Griller Akorn Kamado.

The underside of the Kettle-Q has vented cross bracing that prevents bending and twisting as well as providing even heat distribution.

For this review I decided to use the Kettle-Q on my new Char-Griller Kamado Kooker.

One of the things I really liked right away about the Kettle-Q besides the great quality and craftsmanship of the product was the 175 sq. in. cooking surface. I could tell I would be able to fit a decent amount of food on this griddle.

The Kettle-Q also has 2 in. tall sidewalls that help to contain food while cooking and a 1 1/4 in. deep full grease trough that is nice and wide to help catch the grease while cooking. You also use the trough to scrape leftover debris into during the cleaning process. Plus having a full trough like this helps eliminate flare-ups from the grease.

Now for my first cook on the Kettle-Q I decided to go with some ham and eggs for Easter Sunday dinner. Nothing beats breakfast for dinner. The first thing I did after I lit the lump charcoal and a couple of the new hickory Mojobricks Baby Bar-B-Qubes was to spray some PAM Grilling Spray on the Kettle-Q and then allow it to preheat.

The Kettle-Q performed like a champ and I had no real issues with the food sticking to the surface of the griddle.

My 2nd cook on the Kettle-Q I decided on cooking some beer brats with red onion and some red, orange and yellow peppers.

Cooking these foods gave me the opportunity to try out the 16 in. stainless steel tongs as well as the stainless steel turner.

The Kettle-Q did an excellent job of cooking the brats, onions and peppers. It all tasted like something you would find at your favorite ballpark.

After dinner I went back outside and cleaned the Kettle-Q. I used the flexible 4 in. wide stainless steel scraper to clean it with.

I was really happy with how easy the Kettle-Q was to cleanup and it only took me a minute or two to do so. I just used the scraper, but you can also use the high temp scrubber if you have any stubborn spots.

Final Thoughts

I was extremely impressed with how well the Kettle-Q worked. I also like the fact that I can use it on my other grills and smoker, like my Weber Performer, Weber One Touch Gold and my Weber Smokey Mountain.

The Kettle-Q is a very high quality griddle that’s worth the price and I know that as long as I take care of it, I will get many years of great use out of it.

You can find a great deal on the Kettle-Q here.

For more information on the Kettle-Q please visit their Facebook & Twitter pages as well as their Website.

Make sure to check back next week for another great BBQ Tools & Tech Review!

Thanks!
Jay Prince
@Prince_of_Q

The Story

Bigmista’s Barbecue is the joint effort of Neil “Bigmista” Strawder and his wife Phyllis.  It started in 2006 as a means to make money to enter BBQ competitions.  Two years later, the couple made their business official through vending at farmers’ markets on weekends.  The business succeeded faster than expected, and Neil was able to resign from his position in February of 2009 to devote his time to BBQ.

Through hard work and dedication, Bigmista’s Barbecue has garnered recognition in the BBQ industry.  Appearances on season 2 of TLC’s BBQ Pitmasters as well as The Ultimate BBQ Showdown on CBS have made Neil and Phyllis well known in the BBQ industry.  The success has allowed the couple to get into the BBQ rub market.  He has since followed up his Perfect Pork Rub with his Bitchin’ Beef Rub and Chicken Scratch Rub.

The Rub

The rub is sold in 14 oz. resealable bags (the sample I was sent was in a shaker bottle).  The label on the bag is very utilitarian – not a lot of frills or fuss.

The ingredient list is a simple one — salt, sugar, garlic, black pepper, and spices.   As you can see in the close-up, there are lots of different spices going on here.  The granules are fairly homogeneous.

This rub has a very unique flavor profile.  There is a salt/sugar combination going on here.  What distinguishes this rub from others out on the market is a slight cinnamon flavor profile.  The cinnamon comes in to play as an accent note, complementing the other flavors going on.

The Results

I used this rub in a couple of different scenarios.  The first was on some pork chops my wife picked up for dinner.  I seasoned the chops about 30 minutes before firing up the Weber kettle (set up with a two-zone fire and a foil pouch of wine-infused oak wood chips).  The chops got a very light coat of vegetable oil and another dusting of the Perfect Pork Rub just prior to going on the grill.

The chops were cooked over direct heat for 5 minutes per side (using a grill press), then moved to indirect heat.  Two of the chops were sauced with Cajun Sweet Pecan Garlic BBQ Sauce from Daigle Family Co., while the remaining chop was not sauced.  The chops came off the grill after registering an internal temperature in the 150 degree range.

The sugars in the rub allowed for a good caramelization on the meat.   The saltiness of the rub tones down when cooked into the meat, and I was able to pick up the hint of cinnamon again on the unsauced chop.  The rub also worked really well with the sauce, neither one overpowering the other.

In addition to pork chops, I also used the Perfect Pork Rub on a pork butt (you can see the original blog post here).  Rather than tell about the experience, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Bigmista’s Perfect Pork Rub is available for purchase at $11.00 for a 14-oz bag.  I would definitely consider it a good investment!

Website: http://www.bigmista.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BigmistasBBQ
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/bigmistasbbq

Thanks!

Wayne Brown
http://www.bigwaynerbbq.com
@brownkw

It tastes like a hybrid between a KC style BBQ sauce and a vinegar based sauce.  It’s got great ingredients, a touch of heat, and a tangy flavor that people love. It’s a thin all-natural blend that provides a lot of flavor.  And as long as you are expecting the tangier-than-usual-bbq-sauce flavor of Stubbs, you’ll be OK (it’s more Open Pit than it is KC Masterpiece).  If you prefer tangy/vinegary sauces and if you live in Texas (it’s only available in Texas Costco’s), then you should love this.  If you are a big fan of the sweet thick KC style sauces like Sweet Baby Ray’s then you should seek alternatives.

Smell/Aroma                    4
Consistency                       4
Ingredients                        5
Before Cooking Flavor    4
After Cooking Flavor      4
Marketing/Packaging     5

You can buy Stubbs over here!

It’s another Free Sauce Friday.  Whooo hoooo!   This is a great one for people who like it hot, people who like it a little spicy (I gave sassy 5 stars), and for everyone else.   It’s sponsored by Russ & Frank’s BBQ Sauce – so thanks a lot guys!

We will have 4 Winners – each get their choice of BBQ sauce and a T-shirt

To win you must complete both of these items!

1. “Like” Russ and Frank’s Facebook page
2. Comment on this blog here (not Facebook) telling us which Russ & Frank’s sauce flavor you’d get (Mild, Sassy, Fiery, Xtra Fiery).

This contest ends earlier than usual.  Winners will be announced late Sunday night April 8th at 10pm EST.

WINNERS

Jason (jtnorthwest)
CharlesV
Michelle Fairbairn
jerry greene

The Story

Socks’ Love Rub is based out of Duluth, GA.  This creation by Steven Hartsock (who was kind enough to send me a bottle of his rub to sample) boasts of a blend of 100% all-natural spices and a bold flavor that is compatible with most meats.  It started for Steven about 8-9 years ago with the purchase of his first smoker.  He tried numerous rubs on the market and found each rub possessing different elements that were appealing.  Eventually the hobby morphed into a passion.  It was so much so that when he and his wife got married, he gave his rub away in commemorative tins.  Steven knew he had a good thing going when people kept asking for more.

The Rub

The label on the bottle is visually appealing, creating a subtle association with the hot pepper and “Love Rub”.  The color of the rub itself is ideal to give your meat that ideal cooked color.  A closer look at the rub reveals the various spices that are incorporated in the rub.

The rub has a coarse texture that does not detract from the overall quality of the rub.  Coarse ground black pepper appears to be the star in this product, but it is not the predominant flavor profile.  Other spices in there pair nicely with the black pepper to give the rub a pleasant flavor.

The Results

I cooked a couple of different cuts of meat to test out this rub – beef ribs and pork butts.  I kept the prep work simple on the ribs and butts — a light coat of vegetable oil and then the seasoning.

The meat was cooked at a temperature between 250 and 300 degrees in an unmodified New Braunfels Bandera smoker.  The pork went in at 9:00am.  At around noon, the ribs went in.  At 2:00 pm, the ribs get pulled out of the smoker and foiled to be finished later, while the pork butts get foiled and put back in the smoker.

The pork butts came out of the smoker upon reaching an internal temperature of 195 degrees.   The bone slid out easily, indicating doneness of the meat.  The pork butt had a good yield.  More importantly, it had a great color.

Some close-ups give you a good feel of the effect the rub had on the product.

I ran out of fuel for cooking outdoors.  As a result, the ribs received a light glaze of Hoosier Daddy Sweet & Sassy BBQ Sauce and were reheated in the oven for twenty minutes.  It was like steak on a stick!  (Pay no attention to the membrane on the ribs… it was a rookie “misteak”).

This rub is a rub that I can recommend with no hesitation whatsoever!

Website: http://www.socksloverub.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SocksLoveRub
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/socksloverub

Thanks!

Wayne Brown
http://www.bigwaynerbbq.com
@brownkw