Five Delicious Brands of Barbecue Rubs and Seasonings

In of The Smoke Sheet, we shared five delicious sauce collections for barbecue and grilling that we enjoy using in our backyard cooks. We thought it would be a good idea to also share some of our favorite barbecue rubs we use to season our recipes.

Here are five great companies we recommend that produce tasty barbecue rubs and seasonings.

The artisanal seasonings from B.T. Leigh’s Sauces & Rubs are individually prepared from small batches with care. (Photo by Ryan Cooper)

B.T. Leigh’s Sauces and Rubs
B.T. Leigh created his barbecue sauces in a small kitchen in Ohio before he fell in love with a Kentucky girl and moved to the Bluegrass state. There, he expanded his repertoire to include artisanal spice rubs. Each package is individually prepared from small batches in order to ensure the finest quality and care. Seasonings in this line include Somethin’ for Rubbin’ sweet and savory barbecue rub, Somethin’ to Cluck About citrus herb rub, Somethin’ to Beef About artisan steak rub, and Somethin’ to Cry About spicy barbecue rub. Learn more.

The award-winning Smokey KC Barbecue Rub from Burnt Finger BBQ is versatile enough to use on a variety of proteins and sides. (Photo by Wai Chan)

Burnt Finger BBQ
Kansas City’s Jason and Megan Day are the couple behind the Burnt Finger BBQ competition team and brand. In addition to competing and teaching classes, they sell their smoked meats on the Home Shopping Network and have a successful line of sauces and rubs. Their Smokey KC BBQ Rub was developed through the years on the competition circuit and was named the winner of the 2020 American Royal Best Rub on the Planet in the Hot Category. This rub is extremely versatile and can be used on a variety of proteins and even as a seasoning on side dishes. They also have a bacon-flavored version of their barbecue rub as well. Learn more.

DennyMike’s Seasonings were developed to offer high quality barbecue seasonings without high sodium and unnatural sweet flavors. (Photo by Wai Chan)

DennyMike’s Sauces & Seasonings
Maine barbecue enthusiast DennyMike Sherman spent more than 30 years traveling across the country in order to discover authentic barbecue flavors. After years of research and recipe development, he launched his all-natural, super-premium DennyMike’s Sauces & Seasonings line in 2006. We love using all of his rubs, including the National Barbecue & Grilling Association 2019 Awards of Excellence-winning Cowbell Hell beef rub as well as the Sublime Swine pork rub, Chick Magnet chicken rub, Fintastic seafood rub, and Pixie Dust all-purpose rub. A limited-edition seasoning called Turkey Lurkey was released this week just in time for the holiday season. Learn more.

Dirty Dalmatian Rubs from Texas pitmaster Derek Allan was created to help cooks build a savory and flavorful bark on their smoked meats. (Photo by Ryan Cooper)

Dirty Dalmatian Rubs
Fort Worth pitmaster Derek Allan of Derek Allan’s Texas BBQ has a line of all-natural, premium spice blends called Dirty Dalmatian Rubs. These rubs were created to help build a savory, delicious bark on smoked meats. Each container of rub is handmade in Texas with premium natural spices and contains no filler or anti-caking agents. The line includes Bark Builder Beef Rub, Pork Rub, and the fantastic TX Black, made with Tellicherry pepper, applewood smoked sea salt, ancho chiles, and kosher salt. Learn more.

Legendary North Carolina pitmaster Sam Jones launched a new line of barbecue seasonings this year. (Photo by Ryan Cooper)

Sam Jones BBQ
Acclaimed whole hog pitmaster Sam Jones grew up in the barbecue world as the grandson of Pete Jones, founder of the legendary Skylight Inn in Ayden, North Carolina. In 2015, he opened his restaurant Sam Jones BBQ in Winterville, North Carolina, building and even expanding upon his family’s tradition of barbecue. This year, he launched a new line of seasonings, which unsurprisingly includes an excellent barbecue rub for pork called Rub Potion No. Swine, as well as beef seasoning called For Goodness Steak, a seafood seasoning called Fish Out of Water, and an all-purpose seasoning called Salt of the Earth. Learn more.

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While these are just a few of our favorite barbecue seasonings, there are, of course, many other excellent rubs out there. Other notable barbecue rubs we often love to use in our backyard cooks include all of the rubs from Blues Hog, Plowboys BBQ, Dizzy Pig BBQ, Kosmos Q, Sucklebusters, and many more.

Do you have a favorite barbecue rub that we should know about? Send us an email!

Ryan Cooper (BBQ Tourist)
Co-Founder, The Smoke Sheet

—Dozier’s in Fulshear, Texas has gotten even better under pitmaster Jim Buchanan. (Photo by Daniel Vaughn)—

HOT OFF THE PRESS

Daniel Vaughn, barbecue editor of Texas Monthly, recently profiled Dozier’s, which has been serving the town of Fulshear (just west of Houston) since Ed Dozier opened it in 1957. He writes that under new pitmaster Jim Buchanan, it’s even better. Notably, those who visit the restaurant and meat market should try the “spectacularly juicy smoked turkey, excellent sausage, and peppery house-made mustard.” READ HERE

Chef Matt Hill recently opened the family-friendly barbecue restaurant Ruthie’s All-Day he opened in Arlington, Virginia. It loosely follows the old, Southern “meat and three” format, except with a twist. The joint has plans to be open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and offers a stunning array of proteins such as brisket, pork shoulder, spare ribs, hanger steak, salmon, trout, duck, and honeynut squash. READ HERE

Russell Roegels of Roegels Barbecue Co. and his team have made it through the pandemic in part by getting incredibly creative with specials, reports J.C. Reid of the Houston Chronicle.  “We’re just trying to spark some interest and bring in new customers,” Roegels says, referring to his rotating menu of daily specials that is one of the most creative in Houston barbecue. Specials include pastrami Rueben sandwiches, pork belly burnt ends, smoked turkey Katsu sandwiches, smoked Cuban sandwiches, beef cheek, whole hog, smoked burgers, and oxtails. READ HERE

After keeping its doors closed for more than six months, Husk Greenville in Greenville, SC will soon reopen as Husk Barbeque, a more casual, takeout-friendly spin on the original Husk concept. The "famous Husk cheeseburger is not going anywhere, and same goes for the fried chicken, pimento cheese, and abundantly stocked bar." While Husk’s three other locations in Charleston, Nashville, and Savannah have reopened with relatively minor changes, the Greenville location wasn’t performing as well so it will change things up. READ HERE
 

ADDITIONAL READS

Eighteen months after announcing its partnership with Red Desert Barbecue, the team behind Serial Grillers has opened Boulevard Barbecue & Fixins in Tucson, AZ.

After many delays to its official opening, Oakland’s Horn Barbecue started taking online orders last week, selling out of hundreds of pounds of meats and it may open for real this weekend.

Two new restaurants are now serving customers in downtown Louisville under the same roof -- barbecue joint Smoked on Second and upscale dinner and bourbon restaurant One Thirty Three.

Four recently opened barbecue spots in South Florida are firing up their smokers and serving up some great barbecue.

A Kenosha, WI couple has opened a new barbecue restaurant called Jacobs Smokehouse, which features a menu including St. Louis-style ribs that pitmaster Jason Jacobs perfected while in the National Pro BBQ Tour.

—Susie and Todd Bulloch visited with pitmasters such as Rusty Monson at the Western Legends Festival KCBS Competition.—

WATCH

5 BBQ Tips from the Pros — Hey Grill Hey

Susie Bulloch and her husband Todd spent time at the 2020 Western Legends Festival KCBS Competition. In this video, they hang out at the event and ask for barbecue tips from the professional pitmasters they chat with, including Rusty Monson from The Pitmaster’s Podcast, Christie Vanover from Girls Can Grill, and Phil the Grill from Trap Haus BBQ. WATCH HERE
 

LISTEN

Amanda Riggan — Grab Em In The Brisket

In this episode of the Grab Em In The Brisket podcast, the special guest is Amanda Riggan. She discusses her non-profit Hungry Heroes BBQ. She works hard to fulfill the mission of feeding first responders around the country. She and her support team hope to take Hungry Heroes global. LISTEN HERE
 

READ

How To Host A Safe Tailgate Party At Home — Nancy Loseke

There appears to be no end in sight to the COVID-19 pandemic as numbers of cases continue to rise throughout the nation. For the time being, traditional tailgate parties at stadiums and raceways are being replaced with tailgating at home. Nancy Loseke writes for Steven Raichlen’s Barbecue Bible website about how to safely host a tailgate party at home this season.  READ IT HERE

—It’s hard to say no to an easy way to smoke a brisket.—
 

Simple Smoked Brisket

By Tin Kitchen

For this week’s Recipe of the Week, we chose this video episode of Meat America from Red Meat Lover. They visit Tin Kitchen in Weston, Missouri to learn how to make a simple smoked brisket recipe from pitmaster Sean O’Malley. He gives tips and tricks for making his take on a southern-style smoked brisket. Sean also shares step-by-step instructions for building a next-level brisket sandwich.

—Many of the largest barbecue events of 2020 have been canceled or postponed.—

In light of the constantly changing coronavirus crisis, we are leaving our events section blank for some time. Many events in 2020 have been canceled or postponed thus far. We’ll be updating our events section on our website with the most up-to-date information as we have it.

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