Mocha-zazz BBQ Rub

I love BBQ rubs on meats! They make the meat taste so yummy and really tenderizes some cuts. If you let the rub sit on the meat overnight, it turns into something really special because it oozes yumminess! With coffee in the rub, it turns it to Mocha-zazz and gives a rich nutty flavor to the meat. The pilot run of the Mocha-zazz rub was on pork loin roast. I baked it in the oven since the BBQ has since run out of propane (Richard needs to get some more) and it was wonderful so here is what I did:



Mocha-zazz BBQ Rub

1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup Kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp granulated garlic
2 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp coffee (right from the can, not instant)
1 Tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp season salt
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp onion salt
1/4 tsp cocoa powder (you do not need much, since it is a strong flavor but meshes well with the coffee and other seasonings)
dash nutmeg

Mix together and put into ziplock bag and label. Keep in dry cool place.

Use your favorite meat (I used pork loin roast) and rub liberally all over all of the meat. Refrigerate overnight for best flavor.

When I did the pork roast, I preheated the oven to 325 degrees. I baked the pork for 2 hours. Let it stand for 20 minutes. Slice and enjoy!

Lip Smackin', Finger Lickin', Mouth Waterin' BBQ Ribs

We love ribs! Those 3 little words say it all. Every chance we get, we BBQ up some tasty ribs. In this recipe is my husbands signature BBQ rub, and the directions to get some of the best ribs out there ready on your dinner plate. If you have access to a smoker (which we do sometimes as we have an electric smoker and smoker box), you can smoke these with the rub on for about 2 hours before cooking. This helps to tenderize the meat and get flavors to smash together. The wood that we use are alder chunks, but you can use any flavor wood you want. Other flavors that we like are apple, cherry, hickory, mesquite (great for chicken), and cedar (great for fish).

Rich's Signature BBQ Rub

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raw sugar or white sugar (using raw sugar makes it not too sweet)
1/2 cup coarse salt
1/4 cup paprika
2 Tbsp seasoned salt
2 Tbsp dry mustard
2 Tbsp freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp chili powder (not a blend)
1 tsp dry parsley flakes
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp pepper flakes (if you like a little spicy)
1/2 tsp dried basil

Mix together and store in airtight container.

For the ribs: We use a beef rib whenever we can, yeah there is more bone to deal with but if you do this just right, the meat will just fall off the bone. You can also use pork ribs and they taste good too. Note: Remember with pork ribs you need to make sure the internal temperature is 160 degrees or above or else you can get food poisoning from undercooked meat.

Rub your ribs as a slab or you can cut the slab up into individual ribs and rub that way also. We always keep the slab intact, but you have to strip the membranes off the back so they do not become tough and chewy. To do this just take a knife and get it started and then just pull it off until the ribs are very pliable (meaning you can bend the slab in half then you know all the membranes are off because the slab is not very pliable with the membranes intact. It just looks like a thin white skin on the underside of the ribs. The rib rub will not penetrate the membrane so do your best to get it off). Rub liberally with BBQ rub and put in the refrigerator for minimum 8 hours, but 24-48 hours is best for optimum flavor.

If you are going to smoke the ribs, put them in the smoker with your wood chips and turn it on, smoke for about 2-3 hours, changing chips at least twice when they burn down. You can tell you need more chips when the smoker stops showing visible smoke. If you have a charcoal grill, you can get a smoker box and smoke them as you cook them, that works well also. Just get a smoker box (take a look at this picture to know what you need to get if you are not sure about what a smoker box looks like: Smoker Box Picture ) and you put the chips in there and put it on the BBQ rack in the center and place ribs around the smoker box so all the ribs get evenly smoked while cooking.

After you smoke them, or if you are skipping the smoking; turn on the BBQ grill on low and let it heat first. Place ribs on rack and cook it very low heat farthest away from the BBQ burner if you are using a gas grill. Cook it about 4 hours or until done, some grills cook at different pace so check them frequently.

If you like wet ribs, put on your sauce in the last 30 minutes of cooking so it carmelizes on the ribs. Here is the link to the sauce that we make and enjoy frequently: Sweet and Smoky BBQ Sauce Recipe. IF you like dry ribs, just skip the saucing and have some on the table just in case you like a little dipping sauce.

**Note: if you like corn on the cob on the grill: Husk and corn making sure you get the threads off as best you can, butter your corn (we use a honey butter consisting of butter and honey until a spreadable consistency), wrap your corn in foil and place on grill rack with ribs in the last 40 minutes of cooking to get some great BBQ corn to go with those ribs**

Are you hungry yet? I thought so, now go and BBQ up some ribs and corn!

BBQ Sauce Recipe

In addition to the BBQ Beef I had in my last post, I also make my own BBQ sauce. It is much cheaper to make your own than to buy it at the store and it tastes better (I think so anyway; but that's a matter of opinion). The particular book I always use is called BBQ Bible: Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades. It is a fantastic book! It describes how to make sauces, BBQ rubs for different kinds of meats, marinades, techniques, and much more! It is written by Steven Raichlen, and he is a BBQ guru. I highly recommend getting this book if you love BBQ. It opens up a whole new world in the area of BBQ.

Steven Raichlen's BBQ Bible: Sauces, Rubs, Marinades, Bastes, Butters & Glazes book

(this is the Sweet and Smoky BBQ Sauce from the book)

Sweet and Smoky BBQ Sauce (this is what I used with my BBQ Beef)

6 Tbsp packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup cold cider vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp dark rum
2 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 Tbsp liquid smoke
1 Tbsp pure chili powder (not a blend)
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
4 cups ketchup
Coarse salt (kosher or sea salt) and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Combine all ingredients, except for the ketchup, in a large, deep saucepan and bring to simmering over medium heat. Cook uncovered, until all ingredients are dissolved, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes. Stir in ketchup and bring to a boil, stirring well, as the ketchup has the tendency to spatter. Add salt and pepper to taste.

2. Reduce the heat slightly and gently simmer the sauce, uncovered; until dark, thick, and richly flavored; about 30 minutes, stirring often. Use right away or transfer to jars, cover, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate. Sauce will keep for several months. Makes 5 cups.

I highly recommend using this sauce, it is so yummy! I use it on everything I need sauce on for BBQ. You can get this book at about any bookstore that sells cookbooks such as Border's, Barnes and Noble; I bought mine at my Safeway grocery store one day on a whim and needed something for hubby's birthday to go with new BBQ tools I bought him a few years ago. I have this book and others he wrote (about 3 pages of his books) in my store which is here: Other BBQ books by Steven Raichlen