Best BBQ Rubs
BBQ is wonderful; a happy vibe, delicious meat with great drippings and an inviting smoky air. I go to BBQ parties for the meat and so does anyone who loves themselves. Subpar meat is such a killjoy at a BBQ party. As the host, you must aim to please with technique and products. You don’t have to use ubiquitous spices to flavor the meat. Simply brined meat with a squeeze of lemon is alright, and if you have a BBQ rub constituting the right flavorsome ingredients, better than alright. The best BBQ rub will add a well-rounded robust flavor to your meats without taking away the natural deliciousness.
What to choose from the endless options?
I have compiled a list of the top 5 best BBQ rubs that you can get online or at a physical store near you. Whether you are in Nairobi, Timbuktu or New York, you can get the best value for your money with any of the options on the list. They are all made with high-quality ingredients, and offer a wide variety of flavor profiles. To create the list, I considered a few crucial parameters like ingredients, form, and net weight, which all relate to the rub’s quality and value.
Top 5 Best BBQ Rubs
- Killer Hogs: Editor’s Choice
- Traeger Pellet Grills SPC170 Chicken Rub: Best BBQ Rub for Chicken
- KnK Apilo African Spicy BBQ & Choma Rub:Best Store-bought BBQ Rub for beef in Kenya
- Pork barrel: Best BBQ Rub for Pork
- Cuisinart CGAA-330 Barbecue Variety Pack: Best BBQ Rub Pack
Killer Hogs-Best BBQ Rub Overall
Killer hogs takes the top spot for all the right reasons. It is the best-rated BBQ rub in the market, highly acclaimed by professional pit masters, top chefs, and backyard BBQ enthusiasts. The rub offers consistent results and is the ultimate simple choice that you can modify to get your most desired flavor.
The Killer Hogs rub is a unique combination of simple ingredients; cane sugar, paprika, garlic, chili powder, dill weed, turmeric, onion powder, orange peel and colorants. The ingredients give a well-rounded sweet flavor that compliments various meats including pork and all types of ribs.
You can get the hot variant of this rub if you love a big spicy kick. The hot variant contains less cane sugar and orange peel, which are sweeteners, hence the hotness. Both of them taste great and are modifiable. Moreover, you can the Killer Hogs rub with other spices because it does not have a domineering flavor.
Pros
- Easy to rub thick granules
- Tastes great
- Can be used with other spices
- Simple, natural ingredients
- Great for all types of meats
Cons
- The lack of an overpowering flavor may be a turn-off to some users
Traeger Pellet Grills SPC 170 Chicken Rub
The Traeger SPC174 Rub has a distinct flavor. The rub sets itself apart with a sweet apple-y taste, best suited for pork, chicken and beef. Professional chefs and BBQ enthusiasts laud the rub for its distinct savory flavors.
The rub comes in a convenient aluminum container for easy storage. The container does a great job keeping the rub’s fragrance and taste intact. It is also easily portable if you need to carry it to an upcoming outdoor cookout.
The best thing about this rub is its simple ingredients combination that imparts an amazing sweet apple-y taste to your meats without altering their natural flavors. The ingredients include; dehydrated apple, salt, honey, cane sugar, paprika, onions, other assorted spices and natural binding agents (corn starch and maltodextrin).
The distinct sweet and apple flavor is both a hit and a miss. It is a hit because it makes anything taste great, especially pork, and a miss because it isn’t modifiable. The flavor is a bit hard to combine with other common seasonings. For instance, I tried combining it with dill and boy was it a miss?
Pros
- Non-GMO ingredients
- Distinct and versatile Sweet apple-y flavor
- Convenient tin aluminum container
Cons
- Not modifiable
KnK Apilo African Spicy BBQ & Choma Rub
KnK PEPPERS is a Kenyan-based leading chilli pepper brand that is steadily gaining notoriety. The Apilo BBQ and Choma rub is one of their gems with a robust flavor. Apilo means pepper in ‘dholuo’ language. Although the rub is compatible with virtually all meats and veggies, it tastes best on beef.
The Apilo rub is an ultimate last-minute rush option when you realize you have nothing in the pantry for your upcoming ‘nyama choma’ cookout. You can rush to the nearest Naivas foodmarket store or simply order it on Jumia and have it delivered to your doorstep ASAP.
Pros
- Readily available
- Affordable
- Delicious and versatile
Cons
- The pungency may not appeal to everyone
Pork Barrel- Best BBQ Rub for Pork
Pork Barrel came to the limelight when they pitched for Shark tank and got the New York real estate mogul, Barbara Corcoran sold on their venture. The company stays true to its mission of bringing bipartisan flavor to its customers’ meals by producing impeccably flavorful BBQ seasoning products. The Pork Barrel BBQ seasoning and rub is their best-selling rub.
The All-purpose spice is Keto-friendly and does not contain sugar, gluten, MSG or preservatives. Anyone on a Keto or Paleo diet can use it.
The rub is perfect for meat, poultry and vegetables but tastes best on pork. Its unique smoky, tangy, and sweet flavor profile is inspired by traditional American barbecue flavors.
Pros
- Keto and paleo diets friendly
- No MSG
- Great classic American BBQ taste
Cons
- May be too salty for some people
Cuisinart CGAA-330 Barbecue Variety Pack
The Cuisinart BBQ rub variety pack is the real game changer, especially if you love cookouts or BBQ parties. It is also a great gift idea for a BBQ enthusiast. The three mouthwatering blends in the value pack will have your guest thinking you have a professional BBQ pit in your backyard.
The Cuisinart Bourbon Molasses seasoning can be your go-to seasoning for roasting, smoking, or grilling. It has the savory hints of bourbon and the sweetness of molasses that will make your guests reach out for more.
The Maple Bacon rub combines the salty notes of bacon and the sweetness of maple to give your dishes a savory taste.
If you love grilled chicken, add the Cuisinart’s Blue Ribbon Chicken seasoning to your ingredients palette. The seasoning’s salty and savory taste with garlic and onion notes will enhance your chicken’s natural taste (hopefully your chicken led a chicken-y life outdoors, otherwise you aren’t enhancing any flavors). The rub also causes a magical flavor on other poultry like turkey.
For each of the rubs, you can create a paste by mixing 1 tablespoon of olive oil with 1 teaspoon of the seasoning. Brush the paste on your meats before cooking. Surprisingly, the rubs taste alright on already grilled meats and vegetables. It sounds like blasphemy to apply BBQ rub after cooking the meat but curiosity got the best of me and the result wasn’t far from good.
Pros
- Value pack has great value for money
- Great flavor variety
- Versatile
- Granules are easy to rub
Cons
- The bottles are prone to breakage
Things to Consider When Buying the Best BBQ Rubs
As an enthusiastic home cook devoted to excellence, it only makes sense to have a box of ingredients ready for your planned cookouts or barbecue party. It helps if you know what to choose from the many options on the seasoning aisle. Here are some pointers to help you make the best buy;
BBQ Rub types
BBQ rubs have different flavors, inspired by different regional barbecue traditions. Nonetheless, most rubs have a few common core ingredients like salt, garlic, onions, paprika, and black pepper. According to an article by Spruce Eats, sugar is the primary ingredient in BBQ rubs and nearly all brands acknowledge it as the key ingredient necessary to achieve great BBQ flavors. Sugar and amino acids have a beautiful reaction at high temperatures (Maillard reaction) that results in a nicely browned meat exterior and complex flavors. The affair can go sour if the heat is too high, however, since barbecue is a slow, low-heat affair, burning the sugar in a rub should be the least of your worries.
Sweet rubs: These have a sweet flavor and a mix of other tangy or savory flavors. Sweet rubs are better suited for pork than beef and they usually have a generous amount of some kind of sugar, mostly brown sugar. Most sweet rubs in the market are called ‘pork rubs,’ or ‘butt rubs.’
Savory rubs: These are primarily savory and have little to no sugar. They go well with beef. In fact, most savory rubs in the market are labeled ‘beef rub.’
All-purpose rubs: These sit in between a sweet and savory flavor. They are excellent for both pork and beef but are exceptionally great for chicken. All-around rubs are made with the core BBQ rub ingredients and a bit of brown sugar and chili pepper to make them palatable with anything.
Form
Wet or dry rubs: Rubs are either a wet or dry. A wet rub has all the core ingredients in a dry rub mixed in either vinegar, mustard or tomato base. Unlike a dry rub, you have to re-apply a wet rub on your meats several times to get the desired taste. In essence, wet rubs taste different from dry rubs because of the extra ingredients used to make them like Worcestershire sauce.
Ingredients
When choosing a BBQ rub, consider brands that use all-natural ingredients. Avoid any brand that has vague information about its ingredients, or has artificial preservatives and additives on its ingredients list.
Silicon dioxide and MSG are the most common chemical additives used to make BBQ rubs. Savory rubs contain MSG more than other types of rubs because it is used to enhance the savory flavors in the rub’s ingredients. MSG is not bad unless you have an adverse reaction to it or you ingest plenty of it.
Also, if you are gluten intolerant, or on a strict Keto or Paleo diet, consider choosing a suitable rub like the Pork Barrel BBQ Rub. Take your time and go through the ingredients list to ensure that your choice suites your desired flavor profile and dietary considerations.
Net Weight
This is the amount of BBQ rub you get. Instead of picking a 100g tub that will only last you a single BBQ session, why not choose a value pack like the Cuisinart BBQ Barbecue Variety Pack that will not only last you longer but also give you a variety of flavors at a slightly higher price point?
Value for Money
I never see the point of splurging on barbecue rubs and other seasonings. For many pantry items, a higher price point hardly translates to great quality. A rub with a price tag that does not make sense, especially if you can combine its ingredients at home is not worthy. There is no special formula for combining a BBQ rub ingredients; you can easily pull it off at home. That said, always keep in mind that you are only paying for convenience when buying a BBQ rub. You should not spend more than $1 for an ounce of BBQ rub.
Final Thoughts
The best BBQ rub taste is subjective. There is no one-size-fits all as we have varied palates. The best BBQ rub is what tastes great to you, provided it has top-quality ingredients and has a sensible price tag. The product list on this guide has the best brands you can buy online or at a store near you. All the brands except the KnK Apilo African Spicy BBQ & Choma Rub, a local brand, ship to Kenya via Amazon.
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