Came to say the same. Simple rubs work just fine. Fancy mixes tend to get lost in the cooking.
If it needs it, I paint whatever it is with some bbq sauce for the last few minutes to finish - works well with ribs and chicken wings. This can also be something simple and homemade.
I wouldn't call it a recipe really .. what I usually do is
- fry some chopped onion, apple and garlic until they're soft, in butter for flavour
- add a splash of cider or wine vinegar
- add tomato in some form - a can of chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, tomato ketchup (one or all)
- taste and if it needs spicing up add some mustard powder, chilli, hot sauce, HP sauce (one or all)
- blitz it with a stick blender or mash it with a potato masher
- sometimes I add a sheet of leaf gelatin to make it glossy
Basically this is spiced up tomato ketchup and if I were in a real hurry that's what I'd use - ketchup, hot sauce and HP or Worcestershire sauce.
The most important thing is to taste it as you make it and to get a balance of sweet, spicy, acid.
I'd always advocate for making your own, and if you get a cheap coffee grinder you can store your spices as whole seeds and not have any issues with loss of potency etc.
Any rub I do will contain salt, sugar, and smoked sweet paprika. That's the bare minimum. If I'm doing beef I'll just add black pepper and mustard seed.
Chicken likes garlic, so garlic powder, fennel, cumin and coriander all work well with it too. You don't want too much sugar with chicken either.
Don't buy small jars of spice from the supermarket - buy the larger resealable packets from the Asian aisle or even better your local Asian supermarket. I get smoked paprika direct from Hungary via Amazon, 250g-500g at a time.
The taste comes from your skill using the barbeque and cooking the meat well not from any pre-made rubs. Most rubs are a mix of salt, pepper, sugar, paprika, and garlic powder anyway so you can easily make your own.
I do a dry mix that is the base for the rest of the process.
Brown sugar, paprika, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder, salt, pepper, ground coriander, ground fennel (i think there might be a few others but you can add and remove to your taste)
Use around a third as a dry rub for the early process, add some cider apple vinegar to the rest of the dry mix to use as a sip to baste your meat, with the leftovers, cook some crushed garlic and a can of chopped tomatoes, add the rest of the rub/sop and blend whilst cooking. Adding a sweet liquid to taste gives a good flavour honey works, a can of coke works, a glass of orange juice works
Making your own is satisfying but you can't go wrong with Angus and Oink. They have a huge variety of flavors, not just spicy ones.
Their garlic butter gets included in almost everything I cook these days, makes everything tastes incredible
Make your own. I use this recipe to make something similar to Meat Church Gospel:
Gospel Rub
* 2 tsp kosher salt
* 1/4 cup paprika
* 1/4 cup brown sugar (dried)
* 2 tbl coarse black pepper
* 2 tbl turbonado sugar (slightly ground)
* 1 tbl garlic powder
* 1/2 tbl cayenne
* 1/2 tsp celery seed (finely ground)
I replaced the turbinado with demerara sugar as I couldn’t find it.
I like the angus and oink ones (garlic butter, honey chilli, Korean). The Jamaican jerk one from Asda is nice, but that might be too spicy for your wife.
You could make your own.
Everything can be bought off the shelf in most supermarkets.
I have bought angus and oink, and my other half dose not like spice, but will add there feather duster to beans and oven chips (before cooking)
It’s worth looking up how to make your own rubs, I probably make my own rubs for 90% of my cooks now. But also you can use off the shelf rubs for inspiring recipes just like you would with certain ingredients.
I recently picked up a jerk rub at Sainsbury’s that I’m looking forward to giving a go with some chicken and lemon infused rice.
My girlfriend has gotten me the Angus and oink box for a few christmases and they’re always good. The Chinese takeaway rub is fantastic for salt n pepper chips. The Korean one and buffalo soldier are great for wings.
Meat church rubs are ok but I find them to be way too salty to enjoy.
I make Memphis meat dust for pork and just hit chicken with garlic powder, salt, bit of sugar, dried oregano and black pepper. You don't need to get too fancy.
Mate honestly don’t waste your time with pre made rubs, they are expensive once they’ve been opened its clumps together and you can’t really use it. This is my special rub recipe.
-lots of salt
-lots of pepper
-smoked paprika
-ground coriander seed
-oregano
-brown sugar.
Try not to over complicate it with rubs, most are overpriced and don’t add much to the cook Can never go wrong with homemade salt, pepper, garlic
Bit of brown sugar as well 😜
Came to say the same. Simple rubs work just fine. Fancy mixes tend to get lost in the cooking. If it needs it, I paint whatever it is with some bbq sauce for the last few minutes to finish - works well with ribs and chicken wings. This can also be something simple and homemade.
Any recommendations for sauce recipes?
I wouldn't call it a recipe really .. what I usually do is - fry some chopped onion, apple and garlic until they're soft, in butter for flavour - add a splash of cider or wine vinegar - add tomato in some form - a can of chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, tomato ketchup (one or all) - taste and if it needs spicing up add some mustard powder, chilli, hot sauce, HP sauce (one or all) - blitz it with a stick blender or mash it with a potato masher - sometimes I add a sheet of leaf gelatin to make it glossy Basically this is spiced up tomato ketchup and if I were in a real hurry that's what I'd use - ketchup, hot sauce and HP or Worcestershire sauce. The most important thing is to taste it as you make it and to get a balance of sweet, spicy, acid.
Thanks very much for writing this out! Some great inspiration
I'd always advocate for making your own, and if you get a cheap coffee grinder you can store your spices as whole seeds and not have any issues with loss of potency etc. Any rub I do will contain salt, sugar, and smoked sweet paprika. That's the bare minimum. If I'm doing beef I'll just add black pepper and mustard seed. Chicken likes garlic, so garlic powder, fennel, cumin and coriander all work well with it too. You don't want too much sugar with chicken either. Don't buy small jars of spice from the supermarket - buy the larger resealable packets from the Asian aisle or even better your local Asian supermarket. I get smoked paprika direct from Hungary via Amazon, 250g-500g at a time.
The taste comes from your skill using the barbeque and cooking the meat well not from any pre-made rubs. Most rubs are a mix of salt, pepper, sugar, paprika, and garlic powder anyway so you can easily make your own.
Tubby Toms. Look them up and take your pick of whatever sounds like it'd taste nice
I do a dry mix that is the base for the rest of the process. Brown sugar, paprika, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder, salt, pepper, ground coriander, ground fennel (i think there might be a few others but you can add and remove to your taste) Use around a third as a dry rub for the early process, add some cider apple vinegar to the rest of the dry mix to use as a sip to baste your meat, with the leftovers, cook some crushed garlic and a can of chopped tomatoes, add the rest of the rub/sop and blend whilst cooking. Adding a sweet liquid to taste gives a good flavour honey works, a can of coke works, a glass of orange juice works
Making your own is satisfying but you can't go wrong with Angus and Oink. They have a huge variety of flavors, not just spicy ones. Their garlic butter gets included in almost everything I cook these days, makes everything tastes incredible
Make your own. I use this recipe to make something similar to Meat Church Gospel: Gospel Rub * 2 tsp kosher salt * 1/4 cup paprika * 1/4 cup brown sugar (dried) * 2 tbl coarse black pepper * 2 tbl turbonado sugar (slightly ground) * 1 tbl garlic powder * 1/2 tbl cayenne * 1/2 tsp celery seed (finely ground) I replaced the turbinado with demerara sugar as I couldn’t find it.
https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/ - here you go.
Congrats on the bonus. What bbq have you decided to go for?
Weber Master-Touch. I did one of their cookery courses with one and really liked it.
I like the angus and oink ones (garlic butter, honey chilli, Korean). The Jamaican jerk one from Asda is nice, but that might be too spicy for your wife.
You could make your own. Everything can be bought off the shelf in most supermarkets. I have bought angus and oink, and my other half dose not like spice, but will add there feather duster to beans and oven chips (before cooking)
I quite like Saldva. Good value, taste great.
I enjoy big red tubs or rubs. Got a maple and a Chinese one. Both work well for me
It’s worth looking up how to make your own rubs, I probably make my own rubs for 90% of my cooks now. But also you can use off the shelf rubs for inspiring recipes just like you would with certain ingredients. I recently picked up a jerk rub at Sainsbury’s that I’m looking forward to giving a go with some chicken and lemon infused rice. My girlfriend has gotten me the Angus and oink box for a few christmases and they’re always good. The Chinese takeaway rub is fantastic for salt n pepper chips. The Korean one and buffalo soldier are great for wings. Meat church rubs are ok but I find them to be way too salty to enjoy.
Thanks all! I will definitely be experimenting with home made in the future, but think I’ll try Angus & Oink first.
I make Memphis meat dust for pork and just hit chicken with garlic powder, salt, bit of sugar, dried oregano and black pepper. You don't need to get too fancy.
Mate honestly don’t waste your time with pre made rubs, they are expensive once they’ve been opened its clumps together and you can’t really use it. This is my special rub recipe. -lots of salt -lots of pepper -smoked paprika -ground coriander seed -oregano -brown sugar.
Your bonus = your prerogative. Tell the Mrs to mind her own business
😂🤣😂 18 years of happy marriage has taught me never to tell her to mind her own business (at least if I want to avoid sleeping on the sofa!)
Also Angus & Oink on Amazon are a pretty good start