DIY Texas Rib Candy and Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub

[GoAnywhereJeep]

Hey Gang,

I have been meaning to try out the Texas Rib Candy that I have seen shown on YouTube channels and have read about on forums. I ended up trying my hand at recreating it. In the process of making the video, I found that I was out of rub so I made up a batch of rub using the list of ingredients I read on the side of a Killer Hogs bottle.

While I do not know if I got the flavor profile exactly right, the candy finishing sauce is a great idea and I will probably do something similar on my rib cooks going forward. The finishing sauces is a lot like the juice or juice/vinegar combo that you may already be spraying on your ribs. What makes the Rib Candy what it is, is by increasing the sugar content and adding a heat-activated thickening agent. Rib Candy uses pectin and in this recipe I used arrowroot.

The Killer Hogs rub seems to be a fairly simple paprika based rub using ingredients that I usually include in the rubs that I make anyway (salt, pepper, sugar, garlic etc). The ingredient that I found unique was the use of dehydrated orange peal. That was fairly easy to find in the supermarket. Glad I tried this because I really like the flavor that the orange peal brings to the rub. It really makes a difference - at least to my pallet. I will be using the dehydrated orange peel in more of my future rubs.

edit: A bonus to making your own rubs is that you can leave the MSG out. Malcom's rubs all seem to contain MSG.

Sorry for a 40 minute video but i hope you like it and that others try to make their own too. I am verbose, what can I say? I also show highlights of the rib cook and the sauce going on. The thing about arrowroot is that it seems to settle so you have to keep shaking the bottle and it also makes the concoction look a little cloudy. It clears up once it gets heat activated.

Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/bsI3HiTwMH4

[GoAnywhereJeep]

Okay, I used the rub on salmon and have been instructed by the family to do it exactly like this every time.


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[Mike in Roseville]

Ok...

One thing about Killer Hogs "The BBQ Rub" is that while it does have msg...one of the ingredients Malcolm uses is extractives of paprika. Not sure if that makes a difference...but no other rub (or paprika combo) gives a color like that one.

@JordanW and I did some wings this weekend and while we agree other profiles had a better flavor,
Killer Hogs "The BBQ Rub" offers the best color.


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[GoAnywhereJeep]

Ok...

One thing about Killer Hogs "The BBQ Rub" is that while it does have msg...one of the ingredients Malcolm uses is extractives of paprika. Not sure if that makes a difference...but no other rub (or paprika combo) gives a color like that one.

@JordanW and I did some wings this weekend and while we agree other profiles had a better flavor,
Killer Hogs "The BBQ Rub" offers the best color.


Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

I noticed that as well and not sure how to incorporate it into the recipe. I also have a couple of different brands of Paprika and some are redder than others. Safeway Organics is among the least red for example.

The dehydrated orange peal really makes a difference to me and I will be using it in rubs for now on. The dark cherry juice that I used in the spray and the candy finishing sauce seemed to also add a good amount of color.

[au4stree]

What form does the dehydrated orange peel come in?  Powder? Pieces?  Also, it looks like a SnS in that Summit, you recommend?  Will have to watch vid later, salmon looks great


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[GoAnywhereJeep]

What form does the dehydrated orange peel come in?  Powder? Pieces?  Also, it looks like a SnS in that Summit, you recommend?  Will have to watch vid later, salmon looks great


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It is a medium coarse powder. It does not specifically say dehydrated but it does say orange peal and it is dry. I really like the flavor that it brings to the rub.

McCormick Gourmet also has a California Lemon Peal powder that i may try out.

I think these products allow you to use what would otherwise be lemon and orange zest in your dry rubs.

[Jon]

GAwJ I dig that you are home brewing that rub, it is a good one. I'll try that.

But I usually ask for "Extra MSG."

[blksabbath]

What's wrong with MSG? 


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[GoAnywhereJeep]

GAwJ I dig that you are home brewing that rub, it is a good one. I'll try that.

But I usually ask for "Extra MSG."

I almost always make my own rubs, even garlic salt where I use the salt, pepper and garlic separately (and the Lawry's Garlic Salt could be sitting on the counter staring me in the face).

Yeah, MSG is a flavor enhancer. It is probably in a lot of other things that I like.

What's wrong with MSG?

Probably nothing. I am just old school and grew up with the idea that it was bad for you - too much of it anyway.

[Mike in Roseville]

GAwJ I dig that you are home brewing that rub, it is a good one. I'll try that.

But I usually ask for "Extra MSG."

I almost always make my own rubs, even garlic salt where I use the salt, pepper and garlic separately (and the Lawry's Garlic Salt could be sitting on the counter staring me in the face).

Yeah, MSG is a flavor enhancer. It is probably in a lot of other things that I like.

What's wrong with MSG?

Probably nothing. I am just old school and grew up with the idea that it was bad for you - too much of it anyway.

MSG is old school

I have the LBJ Presidential BBQ Cookbook from the 60's and his pit master has it in a bunch of recipes.

Agreed. Its good in moderation, but I wouldn't use it all the time...everyday.

[GoAnywhereJeep]

Hey gang, I did another rib cook this weekend using this recipe. I'm telling the family that these are called "Killer Candy" ribs.

Minor differences in today's cook.

On the rib rub,  I used regular brown "cane" sugar instead of the light brown (and not necessarily cane) sugar that I used in the video. Also, instead of the ancho chili powder, I used "chili powder" which is a blend of spices.

On the candy finishing sauce, I used the same juice/vinegar mixture that I used last time and that I use in the spritzer. The difference is that I used a ton more sugar to give it a little more syrupy consistency before it is applied. I also used filtered/clear apple juice. I also used liquid pectin instead of the arrowroot. Because i jacked up the sugar content so much, I used the candy sauce more sparingly and applied it just once in the last 20 or so minutes of the cook. You need to get the sugar/pectin ratios correct to get it to gel once it hits the hot ribs. So far, arrowroot and pectin seem to work about the same. The arrowroot just makes the liquid look cloudy until it gets heated up then it gets very clear. In the sauce with the liquid pectin, it looks great in the bottle because of how clear it is.

Here are some pics of the finished product....

This is two of the thee racks of non-spicy ribs in this batch.



I made one rack of ribs spicy. For this I used the left over rub from the first cook in the OP above and added up some ground up dried piri piri pepper that I keep around. And then to the candy sauce, I added a couple of generous teaspoons of cayan pepper powder. It turned the candy sauce a little cloudy.

[Transit98]

MSG is the KCBS contest secret finishing dust!


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[GoAnywhereJeep]

MSG is the KCBS contest secret finishing dust!

So maybe I will give MSG a try in my rubs. IIRC, it can be purchased in the spice rack aisle.

[Transit98]

MSG is the KCBS contest secret finishing dust!

So maybe I will give MSG a try in my rubs. IIRC, it can be purchased in the spice rack aisle.

I never serve it to kids. I only put a dusting on right after the meal is done and all other finishes have been applied.

Once in a while is fine and in contest its an unspoken given to shake some MSG on top of your turn in box.


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[GoAnywhereJeep]

accidental double post. please delete this copy.