Rub with a little heat?


 
PeterD

PeterD

TVWBB Super Fan
Guilty as charged; my rubs are a little boring.

I've used BRITU, Meathead's magic dust, Chris Lilly's and most recently Jane's Butt Rub on baby backs. I get raves from everyone and the ribs almost always come out perfect but I'm not satisfied.

A few weeks back I was at the NYC Barbecue Block Party and I tried a few different rib vendors' products. Invariably they all had a little spicy "pop" to them, which mine are perpetually lacking. Not cayenne's tongue-burning fire but something more subtle. The very best ones I tried at that event were St. Louis spares from Baker's Ribs outta Dallas. They had such flavour from the rub (far more distinct than my own), plus a kick of heat that didn't reveal itself until about two minutes after you'd eaten the first rib and it lasted for about 20 minutes. I don't like heat all that much, but this was just the right amount of zing and I'd love to add that kind of flavour to my own ribs. I got the same type of thing from The Checkered Pig out of Virginia.

Any thoughts on what I can do to add a touch of spice that sneaks up on you? I don't want to bite into a mouth full of fire, but I really want that last little "SURPRISE!!" to kick in at the very end.

Thanks in advance!
 
There are others around here, Kevin is one, that have a lot of knowledge on various chile's. I have heard aleppo has a sneaky heat. I have started to sub out some paprika with ancho, and I have some aleppo to try as well.
 
I use cayenne pepper in my rubs and by varying the amount you can get anything from "subtle" to "tongue-burning". I personally like a good kick from my Q.
 
My experience with Cayenne has almost universally been "BAM" in-your-face heat, right upfront. It's about as subtle as flying brick from the times I've had it. What proportions of Serrano or aleppo should I be looking at?
 
I'd rather not buy rubs since we have a pretty good supply of spices already in use around the house. I'd just like to tweak a little bit. Maybe layer rubs could work?

I guess it's hard to describe how much/little heat I'm after, but basically enough for a non-spice-loving person to go "ooooh...that's a little warm" about 2 or 3 minutes after digging in. On a 1-10 scale, maybe a 3 or 4, tops.
 
I think you will get what you are looking for my playing around with different chiles. Look at the ingredients in oakridgebbq rubs. They list they various chiles used. Keep in mind that heat disapates with the cook.
 
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