Saturday, March 28, 2009

Grendeddy Dave's Hawg Rub and Hawgwash

[Standard Review Disclaimer: This product review is based on my subjective opinions only. When it comes to food, especially BBQ, what one person finds to be the best ever, someone else will call horrible. I have no business affiliation from any product reviewed and have paid retail price for the product, unless otherwise noted in full disclosure.]

I cooked two butts last night, one for me and one for a friend (I swear Ma! I'm not smoking butts, I was holding it for a 'friend'). I took the opportunity to test out Grendeddy Dave's on my pork butt so I could compare it to the other one.The butts went on the BGE at 5pm Friday. One rubbed with Grendeddy Dave's Hawg Rub and the other with what I consider the gold standard, Billy Bones Competition (green label) rub.

The BGE held steady at 250f overnight, as usual. Here's the log. When I re-read the weather column this afternoon, I started laughing. I totally forgot I did that.On edit: You might not be able to read my handwriting so I'll decipher:
5pm - cool, raining
6pm - rain
7pm - rain
8pm - more rain
9pm - building ark
10pm - collecting animals 2x2
11pm - pigs reluctant to get on board
12am - pigs consulting with big bad wolf on ark destruction techniques

I only had one working remote probe thermometer last night so I put it in the smaller butt*. Once it hit the target temp and it came off to rest, I switched the probe to the larger butt. That's why the temp changes drastically at 5am.The bigger pork butt finished almost exactly 15 hours after it started.
So both butts were cooked relatively the same so here are my opinions.

Grendeddy Dave's Hawg Rub: I wanted to like it. It has a nice aroma and gives a nice appearance. But every bite I had, the flavor of celery hit me. I guessed they used celery salt but it was actually celery seed. Either way, it was not a hit in my book.

Grendeddy Dave's Hawgwash: Loved it, loved it. This is an Eastern NC vinegar type sauce and it punched me in the mouth with heat and sweet. It tasted great on meat from either batch. I will definitely be getting this again. It's one of my favorite commercial sauces for pulled pork that I've ever had. It might be a good mop on chicken too.Alexis bought our Grendeddy Dave's products at Mast General Store, but you can also get it from Grendeddy Dave's directly online. As always, you can get Billy Bones products through his website in quantity or if you can buy individual bottles through online resellers (check link in 3rd paragraph).

*Reminds me of a funny joke, What's the difference between an oral and rectal thermometer? Leave your guesses about the punch line in the comments section and I'll post the answer later this week!