Rub and or Sauce choices


 
Tom Rotta

Tom Rotta

TVWBB Fan
I've been making Q for a year now. I wanted to get everyones input on this. I've used commercial rubs. I've doctored up commercial rubs. And I've mixed my own from several recipes I've found online. Same with BBQ sauce. I've not come across anything that just blew my socks off. It seems I'm in continuous search for that “go to” rub and sauce. I've looked at some of the recipes under the recipes section of this forum and intend on trying them out. The no. 5 sauce and the variation some have put on it, looks good.

So I wanted to find out what everyone else uses. Commercial? Mix your own? Does anyone have a favorite “go to” rub and or sauce? Or are you always playing with different tastes?

Thanks

Tom
 
I've been using the BBQ Pit Boys Jalapeno Beer sauce recipe (with habaneros instead of jalapenos) for a couple of months and been pretty happy with it :

http://bbqpitboys.com/recipes/55

No luck so far finding a single "go to" rub yet though. It's possible you need at least two -- one "sweet" and one "not so sweet".

Oddly enough the closest I've found to a single rub that works everywhere is Dizzy Pig Jamaican Firewalk (which is nowhere near as hot as it sounds, more lemony than hot). There was one other recipe I tried which seemed pretty good for all-round use but don't remember if it was Mike Mills' Magic Dust or Meathead's Memphis Dust. Looks like I'm going to have to start over. Guessing it was Magic Dust since that seems like more "middle ground" proportions.
 
I have a basis rub that I make that works for me. It has brown sugar in it to help with making bark. As far as sauce I make several for certain foods. I like a mustard based Carolina sauce for pulled pork and a tomato based sweet for ribs and chicken. Sweet Baby Rays make a variety that I like. I guess it's up to your personal taste. Thats the fun of BBQ. Expermentation.
 
I've mixed up my own and tried various recipes, but as far as rubs go, I'm partial to Chris Lilly's recipes, from Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book. For simple though, I really like Jamie Purvience's Ancho rub, from Weber's Smoke. I'm probably gonna start tweaking Chris Lilly's rubs, as far as the paprika and chili powder, with the addition of ancho. It's a great chile for bbq.

So far with sauces I haven't come across anything that had a real wow factor, other than white sauce. I've made tweaks to each, but Chris Lilly's and Southern Living magazine both have great white sauce recipes. Also, even though they're a lot more time consuming, truth be told I probably like some of the sauces that have onion cooked down in them.
 
I've seen a lot of good comments about recipes from Chris Lilly. I've used an injection recipe of his that I like on a few butts. I'll have to look for his BBQ book.

Brad, that rub looks good. Looking at the ingredients it has tomato. I don't think I've seen a rub with tomato. Now I've got to get some to try it out. Thanks.
 
Tom,
The rub has a few unique ingrediants. It has a great smokey flavor and some heat at the end. Works especially great on chicken.
 
I used to make my own rubs but next thing I knew I have all of these different bottles of stuff in different sizes I ran out of room storing it all. Lately all I have been using is Lawry's seasoning salt, black pepper and granulated garlic on everything except chicken. On chicken I use a few different rubs because we eat it a lot and get bored using the same thing all of the time. Regular rotation rubs on chicken is Weber's Kickin Chicken, Chef Meritos Pollo seasoning , Knox's Yummy Chicken rub, and Lemon Chicken seasoning from Costco or Sams. As far a BBQ sauce we found a local one we really like and just use that. I use Slap ya Mama a lot on veggies too.
 
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I am relatively new as well with 6 or 7 smokes under my belt since I bought my WSM in June. I also have been looking for sauce recipes. I recently came across a relatively simple doctoring of commercial sauce I really like. I have been buying head country regular sauce and adding lemon juice to thin it a little and add some acidity, sriracha sauce for heat and relatively coarsely ground black pepper for a little complexity. I simmer this for a few minutes to get everything well incorporated into the sauce. I have also tried the same additions to regular sweet baby rays and it turned out pretty good, but not as good as the doctored head country.

For rub, I have been using Harry Soo's SYD recipe and have been pleased with the results. At times it seems on the salty side, so I have made some with reduced salt. I will probably start playing with rubs just to see if I find something I like better.
 
I ordered the Rocky Mountain Products Southwest Rub and the Big Bob Gibson BBQ book. A lot of great feedback guys. Thank you.
 
My 2 cents:

DizzyPig have some fantastic rubs. Swamp venom might be the best of the ones i tryed. Kevins butt rub for Jane works with any pork.http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?32640-A-Butt-Rub-(for-Jane)&highlight=butt+rub+Jane

And a few of the Weber ones is really good. Maby expensive but good.

But back to basics is the one for me lately. Salt/pepper...Maby finish with some honey...And you are set!

But everything has to do with personal preferens. My No#1 is your #10.
 
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