Review - Benito's Maple Chipotle Vermont Rib Rub
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One of my favorite sauce makers, Benito Maniscalco, has ventured outside of the liquid flavoring world and is trying his hand at dry rubs. With a track record as beloved as his - from my point of view, of course, I was raring to test out his salt-free Maple Chipotle Vermont Rib Rub on some 'que now that the weather has gotten warmer (what can I say? I'm a fair-weather barbecuer).
Ingredients:
Organic Vermont maple sugar, organic chipotle flakes, organic ground chipotle, organic cinnamon, organic black pepper
Appearance and Texture:
Maple Chipotle Vermont Rib Rub comes in a little flip top jar, with one of those lids that seal when you hook the metal wires and clamp it down. For a second or two I wondered why ol' Benito didn't simply opt for a regular plastic shaker bottle. After staring at the size of some of ingredients, I thought perhaps that Benito thought that some of pieces wouldn't make it through the plastic lid's holes, even if there was also a larger "pour" opening. There's always a few nitwits out there who would ruin the party by attempting to shake out this rub through the smaller holes, thereby getting only the tinier granules of sugar, cinnamon and black pepper.
Now for the actual critique of this rub's texture. The size of the particle vary greatly, from huge chunks of chipotle peppers and seeds to the itty-bitty pieces of cinnamon dust. Inside the jar the spice mix was not blended very well (partly due to settling), and since the jar was jam-packed to the rim, it was not to impossible to shake or stir the rib rub. The only immediate solution was to pour some out on the meat and mix it directly on it. My suggestion would be to pack a bit less in each jar or tweak the blending process so that the ingredients are better intermingled.
One other point about the texture was the wide array of contrasting colors. You get the blackish chipotle crumblings sitting amongst the light sugar and seeds, and all of it was accented by the dots of brown cinnamon. The look was rather unique and pretty interesting.
The Cook and the Taste
I doused a slab of baby backs heavily with the Maple Chipotle Vermont Rib Rub about 2 to 3 hours before cook time. After watching the competitors prepare their meat on TLC's BBQ Pitmasters series, I've learned not to be shy with the rub. There's nothing elegant about applying this - just dumped out a bunch out of the jar and spread it around by hand:
I sprinkled an additional dusting of Maple Chipotle Vermont Rib Rub to cover any bare or thin spots about 20 minutes before slapping these bad boys on the smoker. After cooking these between 220 - 225 degrees over applewood smoke for about three and a half hours, the rack of ribs was removed and let to sit for approximately 20 minutes while the sides were finishing up.
The ribs had a very nice coating. The sugars had caramelized well without burning, and in concert with the dark chipotle flakes, provided a mostly dank, almost black bark on the rib meat.
It was time to sink my teeth into one of these dry rubbed ribs. The first flavor to bust through was the sweet maple. A few seconds later I noticed a medium smokiness from the chipotles with light black pepper giving it complexity. Hints of cinnamon danced around with the other ingredients but was never dominant enough to become a major player in the overall taste factor.
Depending on the bite I took and where the pork meat hit my tongue, the chipotles were more noticeable sometimes and weren't as much during others. It didn't vary so much that I would call it inconsistent, but perhaps if the chile fragments were ground a bit finer this might have been eradicated.
The heat surprisingly built up after about 3 or 4 individual ribs. While never shooting above medium territory, Benito's Maple Chipotle Vermont Rib Rub is unmistakably a spicy seasoning for those comfortable with a small burn.
I did throw some BBQ sauce on one rib (an old reliable standby, Sweet Baby Ray's) and the flavors complemented each other decent enough. If I had my druthers, though, I'd druther chow down on pork ribs dry-style with Maple Chipotle Vermont Rib Rub on it than with a mixture of this rub and a sauce. As long as your meat is moist enough, Benito's seasoning and the smoke taste in the ribs should be sufficient enough.
Overall Taste:
4 out of 5.
What other foods could I imagine this rub being on? Chicken's a no-brainer, and a nice beef steak would be even nicer with Maple Chipotle. Pork shoulder? You bet. I think it would be a bit too bold, harsh and plain unpleasant on fish, but most other types of animal flesh would probably benefit from this rub.
Maple Chipotle Vermont Rib Rub can be purchased from http://www.benitoshotsauce.com for $10 plus $4.95 for shipping. I think this is a tad pricey for a small jar one would easily use up in two applications, but if you're craving a sweet and smoky taste it may be worth it for you.
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2010-04-14 04:40:30
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