Tools Of The Trade: Simply Marvelous Rubs

If you've ever cooked the first anything from cardboard pizza to a hamburger to a steak to the fanciest of the fancies, you know everything needs the proper seasoning/rub to help enhance the flavor.

When it comes to BBQ rubs, everybody has (says they have) the best. Rubs are just like BBQ in general, as long as it comes out good, and you like it, you did it right. As long as the meat comes out and taste good ... the rubs good. There's really no such thing as a bad rub.

You can ask my fiancee, I've bought and sampled my fair share number of rubs in the past few years, so I feel like I have a good idea of what's really good and what's an OK rub. 

If you're a BBQ noob, I would recommend purchasing a few rubs that are really good to start with. When I first started (and it still happens now) I didn't always make amazing food. Sometimes a rack of ribs or a butt will need to cook longer than the same exact one you cooked last time and you'll be lazy and not check it like you should and it'll be tough. If you use a good rub, the leather you have for dinner will at least have a great flavor to it as you chew on it for 5 minutes.

Simply Marvelous has a line of rubs that are all very good rubs. There full line of rubs include Sweet & Spicy, Season All, Pecan Rub, Cherry Rub, Spicy Apple, Peppered Cow, and Sweet Seduction. 

I've tried the Pecan, Cherry, Sweet & Spicy, and Sweet Seduction, and I can tell you ... every one is amazing. 

Out of the 4 I've tried, Sweet Seduction is probably my favorite with the Pecan coming in a close second (I love all things Pecan so I'm biased). When I've done my rub give-a-ways so far, I've given a sample of the Sweet Seduction to the winners. 

The Cherry and Sweet & Spicy are good as well, but I just haven't used them as much as the other two. 

You don't have to cook BBQ to try rubs. A lot of rubs are good for pork, chicken, and beef or good for two out of the three, so you can try them on different meats to see what the flavor gives to each animal/cut. 

Simply Marvelous has switched up their site, and apparently doesn't sell direct anymore. If you'd like to pick up a bottle or 7 for yourself, you can do so by clicking here.

Tools of the Trade: Digital Thermometer

One of the most important parts to cooking is internal temperature. The main reason that's important is so you don't kill yourself or someone else with raw food. (kind of kidding, kind of not)

The best way to make sure you're not killing anyone, to make sure your meat is exactly where you want it (and to keep eye on your temp from the couch when it's 20 degrees outside) ... is to get a digital remote thermometer. 

I have 2 Maverick remote thermometers and love both of them. The first one I picked up at Bed Bath and Beyond when I first started, and haven't had the first issue with. 

My second thermometer is the ET-73, which comes with a meat probe and a temp probe. This is perfect to hang through the grate, so you can read the cooking temp near your meat too. 

If you want to find these or more thermometers you can go to Bed Bath and Beyond or visit Amazon.com

Tools of the Trade: Latex Gloves

This week's special is one that I don't know I could do with out now. When cooking with raw meats, cleanliness is extremely important so you need to wash your hands every 5 seconds to keep from contaminating everything. However, if you use Latex Gloves, you can just toss the glove and go on with your business. 

No, you don't HAVE to use latex. You can use rubber or anything else, but unless you have a latex allergy this is probably going to be the easiest, cheapest way to go. 

Without gloves you'll have to unpack your meat, wash your hands, (can't let anything jump over to the other knives) grab a knife, wash your hands (just kidding here), trim your meat, wash your hands, (can't get messy hands all over the bottle for the next time) add rub, wash your hands, (can't get gew all over the door knob) carry your food out to the grill, wash your hands again. 

Do you really want to go wrist deep into a raw chicken cavity? 

Now, using latex gloves you can simply toss the gloves as they get dirty, and then throw on another when the time comes. If you're covered is pork guts and need to add rub. Pull one glove off, grab the bottle of rub and go to town while using the other hand that's still covered to rub it on. Once you're done, take the other glove off  and you're done (I usually wash here just in case). When it's time to take the food to cook, put on a new set of gloves and go to work. I'll normally take one glove off to open the door to go back in, using the other hand to carry the cutting board or whatever I'm using. Once everything is put away, toss the gloves and wash up one more time just in case.

Washing your hands once or twice instead of 5 to 10 times a cook will save your hands and a ton of time. 

I mean, doesn't this look a LOT better?

No more chicken gunk all over the place. 

Heck, you can even use the latex gloves for the wienies that are scared the hot wings will burn their fingers. 

You can pick up a box of gloves from your local Walmart, Target, or Pharmacy, but if you need a specific size, they're on Amazon starting out around $9 for a box of 100. 

The First "Tools of the Trade": Heavy Duty Tin Foil

The first Special of the Week will probably be one of the most basic, simplest and cheapest that I'll ever do. It's none other than your good ol' kitchen favorite, tin foil. Now, you can use regular tin foil, but I would recommend Heavy Duty Tin Foil. Regular tin foil is like putting down wet paper. It rips every time you try to do anything with it. HD tin foil is like putting down dry paper. It's not going to hold 100lbs, but it'll do a lot better than regular tin foil. Also, when smoking, the heavy duty will give a bit of a thicker barrier from the smoke. 

Tin foil has it's place in every cooks (inside or outside) kitchen. If you're in the process of cooking and notice that your food is darkening more than you want, but you still have longer to cook, cover it with tin foil. The tin foil will act like a magical cover for your food and save the outside while continuing to cook from the inside. Yes, this is why everyone cooks their ribs for a period of time and then covers them for a period. It's to keep the outside from burning. 

It's a bigger help when I'm cooking a lot of food, because not everything is going to cook at the same pace. I just throw whichever pieces are cooking faster in the foil, and let the rest cook the way they are. 

Another big use I've used, and seen others due, is to help clean up. I will lay some out on the counter and then put the pan or cutting board or whatever I'm working on, on top. Then once I'm finished I can just pick up the foil and toss it. (Of course I still wipe down the counter, but you don't have to worry about all the gunk going everywhere). I've even see some people cover their grill/smoker handles, trays, racks, or just about anywhere else that can come in contact with raw food. Then again, once they're finished with their work ... they pull it up and it's clean again. 

One of our favorite uses of it is for our grilled corn. We'll cover the corner with butter and seasoning and then wrap them in foil to help keep it all together (and of course protect the corn). 

I don't have any pictures of it, but you can also cook with foil to "steam" whatever it is you're cooking. Like you would do with a Turkey on Thanksgiving. You add a liquid to the pan, and then cover it with your foil. That foil will then keep the moisture in right around your food. 

There's countless uses for tin foil in the kitchen, so I'm not even going to pretend to try to touch them all. Although regular tin foil will work for you most of the time. If you need something a little stronger and more sturdy  Heavy Duty Tin Foil is the route you need to go. 

If you have any questions, suggestions, or want me to try something out. Leave me a comment below.