Outdoor Cooking Magic

By Chris McCarthy

If you ask the BBQ experts rubs and mop sauces are key to every Championship BBQ team. They have distinct purposes in the smoking process to make the meat taste moist and delicious.

- Rub that meat

The bbq rub is a must have ingredient for the bbq or smoking process. There are two key concepts to keep in mind when creating you own rub. The proportion of salt should be great enough to trigger osmosis and begin to draw the moisture from the surface of the meat, and the amount of sugar should not be excessive because it will caramelize and burn during smoking and leave the meat with a bitter taste. Dry rubs are used to coat the meat and adds a flavorful crust to the meat.

Below are rub bases that you can create a variation of to create your own dry rub.

InsaneChicken’s BBQ Rub

3 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons crushed red pepper

1/2 tablespoon dry rosemary

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

2 tablespoons cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon dry sage
In a large bowl, mix salt. crushed red pepper, dry rosemary, chopped garlic, cayenne pepper, dry sage and paprikaTexas BBQ Rub

1 bottle seasoning salt (16 ounce)

1/4 cup paprika

2/3 cup chili powder

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground dry mustard

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon dry mesquite flavored seasoning mix

2 tablespoons garlic salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 cup packed brown sugar
In a large bowl, mix seasoning salt, ginger, nutmeg, dry mustard, cloves, paprika, chili powder, dry mesquite flavored seasoning mix, garlic salt, black pepper and brown sugar.- Mop that SauceMop sauce is often referred to as a basting sauce, are vinegar or other based liquids that are applied to meats during the slow cooking process of traditional bbq, to keep the meats moist and add flavor. Mop sauce gets it’s name from the tool that looks like a small kitchen mop used to apply the sauce. Most competitive bbq teams swear by their mops almost as much as they do their dry rubs.

Mop sauce protect the moisture level of your meat, mops will usually contain a vinegar or other liquid to replace some of the fat that is lost during the cooking process. It is all about maintaining moisture as well as adding great flavor.

Below are sauce bases that you can use to develop your own mop sauce.

Texas Mop Sauce

2 cans (12 ounces) light beer

6 ounces yellow mustard

8 ounces Worcestershire sauce

12 ounces hickory flavored barbecue sauce

4 ounces honey

4 ounces wine vinegar

1 white onion chopped

2 lemons, sliced

Pinch hot chile flakes
Combine all the above ingredients in a pan and cook at medium heat for 30 minutes. Mop sauce on meat every few minutes during cooking.Georgian Style Mop Sauce

1 1/2 cups beer or water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 yellow onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups tomato puree

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

salt and freshly ground pepper, to tasteWarm oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add garlic and onion and saute for about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, vinegar, mustard, orange juice, ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cook until thick it should take about 15 minutes.Chris McCarthy is the owner of InsaneChicken’s Hot Sauce and BBQ Sauce Catalog. Check out InsaneChicken’s large selection of BBQ Rubs. Visit their website http://www.insanechicken.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_McCarthy
http://EzineArticles.com/?Championship-BBQ-Ingredients—Rubs-and-Mop-Sauce&id=206979