Review - D-Dog's BBQ Apple Rub
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I first heard about D-Dogs BBQ Rubs And Sauces, as many of you have, as an advertiser on Greg Rempe's BBQ Central Radio Show podcast. I had the pleasure of meeting D-Dogs owner Darin Hearn at this year's Fiery Foods Show in Albuquerque, NM; and after sampling many of his fine wares, I decided that his Apple Rub seasoning looked mighty interesting and a might prove to be a splendid review subject.
Ingredients:
Sugar, Seasoning Salt, Dry Apple Cider Mix, Paprika, Chili Pepper, Black Pepper, Honey, Soy Sauce Powder (Tamari Soy Sauce [Soybeans, Salt, Wheat], Maltodextrin), Dry Worcestershire Sauce, Old Bay Seasoning. Contains Soy, Wheat.
I'm sure many of you eagle-eyed readers will notice that items such as the Dry Worcestershire Sauce and Old Bay Seasoning have not been broken down into their individual components like they should.
Aroma:
4 out of 5. Light and sweet, with only a small hint of pepperiness.
Appearance and Texture:
3 out of 5. Not much of a deviation from a lot of standard rubs. D-Dog's BBQ Apple Rub has a fairly uniform consistency and even texture, with granules that are mainly reddish in color and are accented by white and black pieces. This rub clumped up a little at times, prompting the ol' "banging the container against the counter" trick to knock some loose.
Taste Straight Up:
4 out of 5. Nice understated apple presence that didn't taste too artificial. I was expecting more of a "sour apple" (like you'd find in candy) or a tart apple juice kind of flavor, and happily this turned out better and more natural-tasting than my initial predictions. This seasoning is sweet enough not to be too overpowering, and contains moderate amounts of saltiness and pepperiness. Good job on balancing out the flavors.
Bottom line, there's nothing earth-shatteringly original about this rub, but the integration of the dry apple cider mix pushed this to above-average overall.
Taste on Food:
4.5 out of 5. This is where the rub really had a chance to shine. I gave some pork ribs a sprinkling of D-Dogs BBQ Apple Rub approximately 2 hours before cook time, popped them back into the icebox, and then provided an additional dusting right before throwing these on the smoker.
I got my WSM up to my preferred operational temperature:
...and then gave the meat roughly 3 1/2 hours to soak up the smoke and the low heat.
When done, I cut the slab and took half for myself for a Saturday barbecue supper. The Apple Rub gave this a great flavor with the right amounts of chile powder and paprika to give it spice, salt for high-end richness, and an optimal touch of sweetness from the dry cider mix, sugar and dried honey. When the natural, fatty juices from the rib meat blended in with the rub, it created a lovely liquid of its own where no additional barbecue sauce was required.
D-Dogs BBQ Apple Rub's applications don't end with pork, or even with smoked and grilled BBQ meat for that matter. I've used it around the kitchen as an all-purpose seasoning salt. Here are some chicken breast chunks being cooked in a saucepan:
I've also employed it as a table seasoning. The sweet and salty mix works wonders to fried potatoes in particular.
This rub's only weakness is that it the flavors could have used a slight bump up in intensity. Nothing major, just a tiny bit of tweaking to make this seasoning really sing. Using heavier amounts on your food will sort of remedy this very minor flaw. Then again, Darin might already know this as his customers would have to go through more of his product quicker, prompting more frequent purchases. Very smart on his part if this was the case.
Heat:
Really no burn to speak of; but if your tongue is of the wimpy variety this might rate a 0.5 on a scale that goes to 5. This should be safe for all audiences both young and old.
Label:
Bright, colorful and cute and instantly memorable with the cartoon dog (he reminds me of Spike from the old Tom and Jerry shorts). The phrase "It's better than Ketchup" is D-Dog's distinctive slogan, and depending on your inclination towards the tomato-based condiment may or may not be true.
In Conclusion:
D-Dog's Apple Rub won't blow your taste buds away with bold flavor, nor is it a bland, uninspired seasoning mix. It's somewhere planted in the middle with a warm, cozy sensation of light sweetness and complimentary flavors that work great on pork and chicken.
An 8.5 oz bottle can be purchased from ddogsbbq.com for six dollars plus shipping. Is it a good value? I'd have to answer yes.
Related Articles:
Spicy Food Reviews - Hot Sauce Reviews, Hot Snacks, Hot Wings, Seasonings, BBQ Sauces, Condiments, and More
Comments
2010-04-30 20:36:23
Is that thermometer on the new 22.5 WSM? Most excellent!
2010-06-11 10:41:00
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