I get asked a lot if we use Yardbird on other categories besides chicken. The answer is, “Everything but brisket.” IMHO, Yardbird is by far best on Pork Butt/Shoulder. We admit that the product was named too early. It was our initial chicken rub. It wasn’t until we started selling it that we tried it on anything else. DUH!!!

Here’s a picture of our first place ribs this weekend with Yardird Rub and Blues Hog sauce.  Ignoring the black spot, I’d kill for ribs that look this good each week.

My ribs are rubbed the night before I plan to cook them for a contest. They usually get rubbed down before I go to bed. Mostly around 11p-12a. My ribs go on at 8a. They NEVER turn out “hammy” or taste cured with that length of time. However, I got my ribs prepped at 10am at a contest once. Two of the three ribs definitely tasted cured. Learned my lesson not to depart from my process. The cause of “hammy” or cured tasting ribs is the presence of salt in the rub. Don’t be afraid of salt in rubs. It can be your best friend just as sugar can be. I’m convinced that judges taste salt as “flavor”. But if you don’t respect the salt and either watch your amounts or rub times, it can be your enemy. For ribs, our rub seems to be fine overnight, but I wouldn’t push it past 10-12 hours.

Hope this helps those of you using our product and trying to find your own signature flavor profile.  Don’t be afraid to mix rubs or sauces as well.  Another rub can change your color and definitely change your flavor. The same is true with sauces.

After more than a week of not using the Big Green Egg, we broke it out tonight.  Our boys’ favorite meal is barbecued chicken.  The using four hickory chunks and lump charcoal, I preheated the Egg to 325 degrees.  The chicken was seasoned with River City Smokehouse rub and sauced with Carribean Queen sauce.

The side is Uncle Ben’s Wild rice made per the directions on the box.  After the liquid is absorbed, add a 1/4 Cup of maple syrup and a 1/4 cup of walnuts.  It was fantastic.

My grandmother used to make “Chex Mix” by the truck loads when I was a kid. During the holidays, she’d pull out 3-5 ice cream buckets of the stuff. Now you can buy it already made in bags at the store. That still strikes me as odd, kinda like Rice Krispie Treats. You couldn’t buy those when I was a kid. Mom always made them. Mom would never have bought them if she could make them herself.

Saw a recipe on the back of a box of cereal and thought that would work great in the smoker. Made my own version below.  The mix had a smokiness that add that extra something to the seasoning.  Going to go for a hot mix tonight.  Party mix is beer’s best friend.

1/4 stick butter, melted
4 tsp Worcestershire
1 TBSP BBQ rub (This is where you can create your own signature mix.)
1 TBSP Honey

Mix all above ingredients together.

6 cups mix of Rice Chex, Corn Chex, and/or Wheat Chex
1 1/2 cups mixed nuts or peanuts
2 cups pretzels
1 cup oyster crackers

Smoke at 250 for one hour stirring every 15 minutes.

With left over pork from a whole hog cook, I created my own sesame pork stir fry. Place the chunks of cooked pork in a hot skillet with some oil. Once the meat was thoroughly warmed, in went a generous pour of Blues Hog Tennessee Red BBQ sauce. After 2-3 minutes of cooking it down and caramelizing some of the sugars, the stir fry was ready to serve over white rice. A little toasted sesame seed was added for garnish and texture.

A great Monday’s Leftovers recipe.

This article was posted by Chuck Marting on GetYourGrillOn.net.  We use mustard slathers here at home on chicken leg quarters.  My wife hates mustard, but she loves that chicken.  Chuck provides some great insight and recipes in this article.  Enjoy.

One of my favorite rituals over the years when preparing chicken, pork or beef for barbequing or grilling is the use a good mustard slather as part of the preparation process.

Does mustard make a difference? Will it give your food an overwhelming mustard taste, taking away from the grilling and smoking ? This article will address these issues and a couple of my favorite slathers for you to try.

When I first started to barbeque competitively, I had heard that mustard was a great tool to use during the process of preparation, adding flavor and texture to barbequed foods. I began experimenting with this process by barbequing meat both with a slather and without the slather. The end result was an overwhelming YES, slathers do make a difference.

I‘ve discovered that a good mustard slather goes a long way, adding moisture, texture/or bark to the meat being barbequed, while adding a positive taste to the overall end result. You would think that by putting this bright yellow mixture on meat, the end result would be yellow meat. Absolutely not. You’ll never see it in the final product.

When I prepare a pork butt for barbequing, I first rinse and trim the butt and then pat it dry. Using a pastry brush, I apply a thin layer of mustard slather to one side of the butt and then apply one of my favorite rubs to the surface of the mustard slather. The butt is then turned over and the process is repeated.

I allow the butt or any other meat I’m barbequing with a slather to sit for 15-20 minutes before placing on the smoker. It is important to allow time for this tacky process to happen prior to placing on the smoker. It adds to the end flavor and helps the rub stick to the meat being barbequed while adding a wonderfully flavored bark to the finished barbequed meat.

Keep reading for mustard slather recipes I use and recommend to friends and family:
Basic Mustard Slather
2 cups prepared mustard
½ cup honey
½ cup dill pickle juice
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs Tabasco sauce

Combine the above ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and blend together until smooth. Paint thinly over meat before applying rub. Mixture will keep in a plastic sealed container for 5-7 days.

*makes 2 ½ cups*

Mustard/Bacon Slather
2 cups prepared mustard (Brown or Dijon mustard can be used)
¼ cup of honey
½ cup bacon drippings (warm-up if neccessary)
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup seasoned salt or rub your choice
3 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs Tabasco Sauce

Combine the above ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and blend together until smooth. Paint thinly over meat before applying rub Mixture will keep in a plastic sealed container for 1-3 days.This rub is especially good on pork shoulder/pork butt.

*makes 2 ½ cups*

Honey Mustard Slather
1 cup prepared yellow mustard
½ cup spicy brown mustard
¼ cup honey
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup distilled vinegar
2 tbs prepared horseradish
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper

The above mustard rubs are recipes that I have enjoyed and feel go well with any meat you decide to barbeque. To develop your own mustard rub experiment with flavors and ingredients that you and your family are familiar with and enjoy. Any of the ingredients can be taken out or more added if desired.

Hawgeye’s BBQ is one of the premiere BBQ mail order businesses on the Internet.  Hundreds of different BBQ products are available through their online store and their retail store in Ankeny, Iowa.  Hawgeye’s BBQ has developed a major cult following of competitive and backyard barbecuers from across the country.  In addition to great customer service, the greatest aspects of their business is the ability to select from products you can’t always get locally, shipped in one box right to your door.  You may want a rub from Missouri, a marinade from Florida, mesquite wood from Texas, and a sauce from Memphis.  It can all be done with one order from Hawgeye’s BBQ.

Starting this week, our Yardbird Rub will be one of the barbeque seasonings available through the online retailer.  Plowboys BBQ is excited to partner with this powerhouse of all things BBQ.

Jim Cunningham of Hurricane Smokers used Plowboys BBQ’s Yardbird Rub for this very first time over Memorial Day weekend. The occasion was the 2007 Louisiana State BBQ Championship at Lake D’Arbonne State Park in Farmerville, La.

The LA State BBQ Championship is an ICBA sanctioned contest. The ICBA is different from KCBS which we are used to here in Kansas City. A primary difference is chicken where KCBS teams can turn in any chicken parts. ICBA contests call for half chickens. Oh, and no garnish in a ICBA turn in box.

That I’m aware of, this was the first ICBA contest where Plowboys Yardbird Rub was used. Jim’s lone “walk” of the day was an impressive 5th place in chicken. As you can imagine with any state championship, this was a strong field of ICBA competition cooks. The Grand Champion was Ronnie Wade of Blazen BBQ, 2006 ICBA Team of the Year.

HoDeDo’s BBQ Team, the self proclaimed Kansas City legends of BBQ, placed 1st in chicken at the 2007 Great American Barbeque Memorial Day weekend. Of the 230 or so teams, the HoDeDo’s placed 5th overall.

Their secret: Plowboys BBQ Yardbird Rub! This was the first contest that Plowboys BBQ sponsored Andy Groneman, HoDeDo’s chief cook. Andy is also the chief cook for Smoke On Wheels. I was as proud of Andy as if I had secured the trophy myself. Way to go, my friend!

Another KCBS team, Jeanie’s Got Wood, applied Yardbird Rub to her pork this weekend placing in the top 10% of the Open contest. Jeanie’s Got Wood is flying a Yardbird Rub banner this season as well.

Plowboys BBQ Yardbird Rub is now available at the Backyard Bash store in Parkville, MO. Backyard Bash is the self proclaimed Barbecue Headquarters in Kansas City. They carry virtually everything barbeque related:

• Barbecue grills
• Grilling tools and accessories
• Barbecue sauces and rubs
• Novelty items
• Cookbooks
• Party supplies

We are proud to have our Yardbird Rub grace the shelves of Backyard Bash. Please pay them a visit soon and tell them that Plowboys BBQ sent you.

Plowboy’s Yardbird rub won several honors at the Great American BBQ Sauce, Rubs, and Bastes contest. Honors included #1 Hot Rub, #2 Mild Rub, #2 Overall Rub, #2 Overall Product, and best new product.

This weekend, we hosted a dinner for friends at a local BBQ contest.  They love chicken wings, but don’t do an extreme amount of heat.  I grabbed my favorite chicken rub and tried a little experiment.  The result was rave reviews by my friends.

Ingredients

- Parted Chicken Wings
- Your Favorite Chicken Rub
- One Stick of Butter
- Blues Hog Tennessee Red Sauce

After seasoning the wings with the rub, place on the grill.  In the smoker would be any better. As the wings are almost fully cooked, get your sauce bath ready.  Using a half aluminum pan, melt the stick of butter.  Once melted, add a your Blues Hog Tennessee Red sauce.  Move the cooked wings to the bath and fully coat them.  Move the bath to a cool part of the grill and they’ll stay hot until your guests are ready to eat.

Blues Hog Tennessee Red is a thin vinegar and tomato based sauce.  Very tangy and interesting.